Praying for MIRACLES?

Do You Have Faith to Pray for Miracles for Yourself or Your Own Loved Ones?

It was with great joy and bolstering of faith that I reported to you last week about Cyrus. and life kept going. Tristan began to experience some higher than safe blood sugars without any known cause. We called his Dr. and made some adjustments to his pump and it helped a bit for a day. Then back up into the 300's he climbed. "Drink lots of water, go for a jog, add a little insulin." I would suggest. I did mom. It's not working. "Is the pump working?" Yes. It went from 355 to 328. That isn't really all that good. No key tones. "Well it's prayer at church tonight and bible study. We will ask them to pray for you. And tomorrow is Home Group. We know they will pray for you."

They crept higher. We overshot and dropped him like a rock. They crept back up and we did the same thing. Tired, frustrated, exhausted, he climbs into bed, down from previous numbers, a new pump inset in place, and hope worn thin.

Home Group night at last. Let's pray for him as a group. Better yet, they suggest. Let's put him in the "Hot" seat. This is an affectionate term for being placed in the vulnerable position to sit out in front of the group so they can come lay hands on and pray for you specifically. We begin to pray for complete healing and restoration of his pancreas or better yet, that God would just give him a new one. I believe with all my heart God is capable of this miracle and in fact this would be small beans for Him who sits on the throne. So... when and why did I stop praying this for my son? Do I think my family is less important to God to trust him with my pleas? Cyrus, with terminal cancer prayed in faith with nothing to loose and everything to gain. The woman in the bible who touched the hem of His garment and was healed, reached out with nothing to loose and everything to gain. I have that kind of faith for others. Am I afraid of how I will feel if He chooses not to heal him. Am I afraid of what others will think if God doesn't "come through" for Tristan? Am I afraid to be disappointed by a "NO"? Will it hurt to see my son realize that God said no or not now to him? Why not for my own son?


God forgive my unbelief as I join in fervent prayer for the total healing of my son. You know this is the desire of both his and my heart so we ask for a miracle for Tristan.

Into the Double Digits She Goes!

Terin

Leigh

Mikkelson

AKA

Miss T

T Leigh

Hollywood

Our girl turns 10!!! What a crazy bundle of girliness this one. From fashion and friends to family she is full speed ahead. We are blessed with the opportunity to have her in our home. She inspires thought with her insight into life. She thinks and loves deeply. Her compassion for those around her knows no bounds. She loves to be silly and crazy and yet she can be very bashful at times. She is sheer poetry in motion when she picks up her violin. God has put a passion in her heart for hurting people both those she knows and more recently those she doesn't. We give thanks at this time of year for blessings in our life and be sure we thank God for our children and today we thank Him for our precious Terin.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!

As amazing as the miracles of the bible seem, have you ever just stopped and tried to physically insert yourself into those scenes? Have you imagined yourself in the crowd when Lazarus came walking forth from the grave, still wearing his grave clothes? Once the fear, wonder, and aroma passed, what would your mind register after witnessing this miracle? Would you have words? Could you even manage a cohesive thought? What unspeakable joys might your heart have felt to be a friend of the woman who had bled for years, only to have her come to your home one day barely able to speak as she shares with you the news. "Finally! It's over!" Just think, this is not a man decked out in a black suit with tails, a red cravat, and cameras walking around doing street magic. This is a simple carpenter, sent here to bring an eternal miracle to you and me. We don't have to have tickets to see these "magic" shows. He brings his miracles to testify to the glory and majesty of His dad. And get this... we can call him friend, Abba, or savior if we choose to.


I write to you today, feeling like I am reporting on a miracle of New Testament proportions. I received an update on someone we have all been praying for, Cyrus. Just in case you are unfamiliar, I will explain. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor much earlier this year. They operated and were only able to remove so much. They said it was rapid growing and that ultimately it would win, in at best 5 years. We have been praying and journeying with them through this valley of the shadow of death. My spirit rejoices to report to you that he, Cyrus, just this last week stepped out of the valley. He received word from his physician that not only is this tumor not going to end his life early, it isn't going to end it at all because Praise be to God on high, the cancer is GONE! He is completely cancer free. I can only imagine how far reaching the tentacles of this miracle will be. He is good, all the time! To quote his wife "the only thing left to prove he had brain cancer is the hole in his head where the tumor once resided and the scar and lack of hair on his head." The family is asking for God to be moving in the lives of all the Dr.s involved. By name they are Dr. Manning, Dr. Smith, Dr. Han, and Dr. Zucherman. Let's continue to pray for the family and thank God for what he has done and ask God to continue to use them in this for His Glory.
To read more on this miracle for yourself, go to cyrusmccrory.blogspot.com


We need to keep Stephanie in our prayers. She is still fighting her fight in a second round of chemo. She has been sick and is feeling so very week. Lord I pray that your joy would be her strength. That even in this pit of despair, her joy filled heart would be good medicine to her spirit and her body. Be ever present with her.

An Elder and a friend from our church has been in the hospital with pneumonia. It has been a real bugger for him to shake, but he was finally able to come home. God as he comes home and continues to recover, we ask that you would use this time to give him your perfect rest. Let him rest soundly in you. Allow him to feel the blessing of the body of Christ through out the next weeks, as he has blessed so many others through out the years.


Psalm 89:1 I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make our faithfulness known through all generations.

Apples, Apples, All Over the Place!

We have the fabulous fortune to know someone who's family has both an apple orchard as well as cherries in Yakima. We have digressed back to the days of creative acquisition. Bartering. He brings us boxes of the yummy fresh fruits and in exchange we give him the more durable canned form. It is a win win for both of us.

After trading and getting my goods, the arduous task of preserving this 100+ pounds of Cameo apples begina. Sadly, they don't stay fresh longer because they tasted amazing. Anyway, we canned applesauce by the quarts. This is where Gavin comes in handy. He has been known to to make applesauce taste like dessert with little effort. We all love it. We made and canned apple pie filling. Have you ever tried dehydrated apple rings with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on them? Again, Gavin. Delicious! We did plain, healthy ones too. We had Carmel apple dip with our apples (so easy by the way and way better than the store bought stuff). French Apple Custard is to die for, apple crisp, apple crisp muffins, apple pie, apple cider.....

For applesauce: quarter and remove any soft spots or "friends" if your apples are from untreated trees. I also remove the cores. Put them in a big pot with several cups of water and let them simmer until they are tender.

If you happen to have one of these gadgets, scoop mounds of your apples, peels and all into the sieve and press it through to get the sauce.
Return the hot sauce to the stove and season. Here he used a combination of honey and brown sugar and a generous helping of cinnamon.

Ladle the boiling applesauce into hot prepared jars. Wipe the rims down and add hot lids and rings. Flip the jars upside down and they will seal. You can also hot bath process them for 10 mins. for a heavyier seal.

The apple pie filling has to be canned.

So, is anyone else ready for Pumpkin Pie about now?

Carmel Dip

1 Pkg cream cheese

1 cup brown sugar

1 T. vanilla

A Little Goes A Long Way...

Gavin and I went shopping recently with some of the money he has raised for his Haiti project. He discovered that a little bit of work would provide shirts, supplies, and shoes for many. At JCPenny's we asked if they would give any additional discount since the shirts were going to Haiti and they did. It was great! He got a huge stack of shirts for $45 ish. He was thrilled. Along with the shirts, he sends several pairs of crocs, tooth brushes and tooth paste, and bar soap. He isn't new to the heart of giving but something extra special about this gift is that his dad gets to deliver it. He isn't quite done with his shopping. He still has more money to buy supplies. His thanks to all who supported him by buying something yummy. We'll keep you posted on the delivery.