The Rosebud

It is only a tiny rosebud, a flower of God’s design;

But I cannot unfold it with these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers is not known to such as I.

God opens this flower so easily, but in my hands they die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud, this flower of God’s design…

Then how can I have the wisdom to unfold this life of mine?

So I’ll trust in God for leading each moment of my day.

I will look to God for guidance in each step of the way.

The path that lies before me, only my Lord knows.

I’ll trust God to unfold the moments, just as He unfolds the rose.

author:unknown

Simple Woman's Daybook March 15

Outside my window... the neighbor's 5 globe light on a stand. Pretty neat looking.

I am thinking...I probably should go to bed before someone wakes me up. (does that even make sense?)

I am thankful for... my parents getting here safely and a good first night with them.

I am wearing...german flannel nightgown

I am remembering... that I have not posted my Project 365 pictures lately!!

I am going...to take my parents sight seeing this week.

I am currently reading... Yada Yada Prayer Group (love it!!) as well as various other books.

I am hoping... for good weather this week.

On my mind... prayer requests and friends

Noticing that... I feel very peaceful

Pondering these words.. "But when the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is over, because out of it will come the ability to follow Jesus truly, which brings inexpressibly wonderful joy." from updated version of My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

From the kitchen...quiet now. We had Thai Chicken Salad for dinner and it was delicious!

Around the house...everyone asleep.

One of my favorite things...quiet. :-)

From  my picture journal...

Brittany and Emily dancing in 2003
It just came to my mind tonight and I had to go find the picture.

Check out The  Simple Woman's blog if you would like to read more day posts or join  in! 

Thoughts gathered, hopefully

I know a lot of people have been waiting to hear how our appointment in Kansas City went.  I have had to gather my thoughts together and coalesce all the information before being able to spit it out and share it with y'all.  I thank you so much for the prayers, they were answered in so many ways. 

First we had our ENT appointment. The doctor remember us from 3 years ago when we got Kaedra's tubes put in. I thought that was pretty amazing! Or course, Kaedra is pretty amazing, so maybe that is why she is remembered. :-) The surgery to close her trach hole is a little more complicated than we thought. The doctor will be first stitching the trachea, then the muscle layer, then the skin layer. There are a few very bad side affects that can happen from the surgery, so she will be kept in the hospital a few days to watch her carefully.

Next we had our appointment with our surgeon, Dr. Nigel Price.  The appointment went WONDERFULLY and really quelled all my fears and settled any problems I had with his program.  We were able to talk a little about where Kaedra is headed in the next 10 or so years and what we can expect along the way.  We also talked about our overall goals for Kaedra by being in the VEPTR program: to increase her lung space and give her rigidity in that chest wall. It does not look (at this time) like she will need any VEPTR rods to straighten her scoliosis. Her curvature is relatively minor (31%) and has not grown very much. If it was to grow, he thought it would be when she hits puberty.  If so, we would discuss what to do at that time: ie VEPTR or spinal fusion. Plans were made for Kaedra to have an expansion on May 21st. 

Our last appointment was with a plastic surgeon. Because of the lack of skin and muscle across her back, any further surgeries really have the potential for the titanium rods coming through.  (like one did a few summers ago)  The plastic surgeon is going to assist in the surgery, hopefully decreasing that potential.  He will also put a layer of artificial skin in between the rod and her skin.  He is hoping that one time will be enough to make the skin thicker but he said that if it wasn't he would continue to do the same thing at each surgery. 

All in all, we got a lot of information and we were happy with all the appointments. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Yudi Yohana Arango Morales, the child we are sponsoring

Compassion International

Kahri suggests that you check out the Compassion International web
page below.

http://www.compassion.com/sponsor/default.htm?referer=33769

Personal Message From Kahri:

I am so excited about the child we sponsored! She is from Columbia and she has the same birthdate as Kaedra! I feel like we have a new adopted member of our family. The feeling is indescribable.

I have to be honest...I never ever ever watch the commercials when they come on TV. They were too sad and I just turned the channel. However, one of the blogs I regularly read, MckMama

, is in Kenya right now blogging for Compassion International. Through reading her blogs, I learned about the program and the children. I followed one of her links and fell in love with the children. I talked it over with Michael and the kids and we decided that we really wanted to sponsor a child. We want to eventually adopt, but since we are unable to at the moment, this is the next best thing. We can definitely eat out one time less a month and not buy some extras to help sponsor one of these innocent children. We didn't care where the child was from but we did decide to sponsor a child that had been waiting more than 6 months. That just broke our hearts to think they had been waiting so long.

We get our sponsorship packet sometime in the next 15 days. I can't wait. We can write to her as much as we want (I am sure Emily will be prolific!) and we get to send her presents a few times a year. We can also send a present to help her whole family. At least three times a year she will write back to us with the help of her teachers.

I read some stories of Compassion International children and their sponsors meeting. Wouldn't that be amazing?

Anyway, we are EXTREMELY excited and I will be sharing more with you as we learn more!

Here is an email from Compassion:

I just sponsored a child on Compassion's web site. Visit http://www.compassion.com/sponsor/default.htm?referer=33769 to learn more about how you can sponsor a child too.

-You can view photos of children who are waiting for a sponsor. You
can also search for a child by birthday, age, gender, country, and
more, or you can select the child who has waited the longest.

-Through Compassion, a Christian child development organization, you
can be personally linked with a child in a developing country who
needs your help.

-Your support will bring a complete package of benefits to a child in
need, including learning opportunities, health care, food and medicine as
needed, social development, and even job skills, through a local network
of caring Christian adults. Most important, the child will encounter the
gospel through regular Christian training.

What do you do?

Have you ever had a friend who wanted your advice all the time...

But when you gave it, they never listened...

always did whatever they wanted to do, anyway,

and always made the wrong choices and decisions?

What do you do with this friend?

Do you give up on them?

Decide that it is a bad relationship?

Or do you keep trying, feeling like you are knocking your head against a wall over and over and over?


What do you do if the person you are trying to help is yourself?