Homemade = happy

Obvious conclusion when mom brings home a 25 pound box of tomatoes!

Naughty, naughty...don't eat the tomatoes! (Ok, I know this is SO lame, but that's like the first picture I've ever gotten with any sort of sun flair, so I decided to post it even though it isn't a particularly good picture of me.)

*drools*

No more pain...

The lady I posted about the other day is now in the arms of Jesus. I am so thankful that she no longer has to suffer pain! Thank God that the battle with cancer is over!

Please pray for the family. Besides the children having chicken pox, the father's dad had a heart attack. This is a very hectic, painful time for all of them. Please keep them in your prayers.

May God Be Glorified

I can still remember Mom's words, "she's pregnant...but there are complications. While she's at the hospital, Cara will be staying here." Cara, my best friend told me that night, "She has cancer . . . I almost fainted when I found out." From there it all news from the family that came from the doctor. "Neither you or the baby will survive." "You need to abort." Gilead Victor was born. God was given glory. "The cancer is gone." God was given the glory. "It's back, stronger and harder." They went to Arizona for a different kind of treatment. Though the cancer was still there, she was mostly healthy. She was doing fine. God was given the glory. "It's time for you to go home." She didn't get worse for some time.

(June 20) "I haven't been feeling as well lately. Most days I have periods of nausea, and I've been losing weight again....Meanwhile, while we hope for healing, I realize that's probably not what's happening."

Her health rapidly declined.

VERY rapidly.

A few days later, the hospice were there. Family was flying in. She was saying goodbye to her friends.

Now is God being glorified?

37 years old. Seven children under the age of 15. She just had her 16th wedding anniversary.
"Why is this happening?" I cried in agony. Cara is my best friend. My parents won't even let me see her. Her mother is dying. A slow, painful death. "God, could this be worse?"

Yes, it could.

Cara came down with the chicken pox. All the children were sent to different homes to keep their mother from getting shingles. Then she got even worse. The pain is terrible. She was sent to a hospice home.

The children are away.

God, let them see each other one last time. Let them have their last goodbyes.

"My heart is breaking," her husband says.

What a testimony this man has! The best pastor I know! His faith has been so strong during this three year journey. Pray that he will keep looking to God, and that he would find daily comfort in His word. Pray for the children. Cara is 14. I know, as a 14 year old, that this is when I needed my mother the most, but Cara won't have hers in the future. She's the oldest child, all the children look up to her. Pray for John. I think of all the children, he is having the hardest time with this. Help him to fill the emptiness in his heart with God's love. Pray for Gilead in the future years. He's so young, he probably won't even remember his mother when he grows up. Pray for all the other children. I heard that all of them understood long ago that their mother was going to a better place. I think most of them, in a way, are ready to give her up, but OH HOW HARD IT MUST BE.

Pray for me, that I would be an encouragement to this family, especially Cara. For reasons I don't understand, I am not able to communicate with Cara much. We get an average of 3 hours per year together, which is hard enough itself, but since I feel obligated to be there for her, it makes it SUPER hard that I cannot communicate with her because of what seems to be selfishness on the part of others.

Please also pray that my spirit would yield to God's will. I do not feel willing to let God take control, and let Him take my friend's mother to Heaven.

Pray that no matter what, I would give God the glory.

Fashion Friday!

Hey everybody! Are you all shocked? I've done three posts in a row! Not to brag or anything, but I've done amazing things this week. I've posted three times, I've written two letters (I usually only write about two a year, and only one of them gets sent. But I finally found some people who might actually write back, so it'll be worth it), And I saved the world from aliens. I take that back. I saved my neighborhood from aliens. We found ourselves surrounded by aliens, and we killed a few, and then I found out how to be invisible to the aliens. It was quite unique, I must say. (It was all my friend's idea. *cough*) But I warn you, they are still about to attack! You can tell during thunderstorms, because you can hear them all running in the sky. Most people call it thunder, but it's really aliens running. Just so you know.

Anyway, last night I took a shower, and I decided to put sponge curlers in my hair. Just for fun. I mean, everybody knows my hair will NEVER curl. Until now. And since I did have somewhat of a curling success, I had to take pictures. And I just happened to be wearing my favorite outfit, and it just happened to be Friday, and I just happen to be on a blogging roll, so I decided to do a Fashion Friday post.

And there just happen to be roses in out back yard. <3

And it just so happens that blogger had decided to be super lame, and not post any more pictures.

Except this one, apparently.

And this one. But it won't let me rotate it. The only fault I've found with Apple. Their iPhoto app doesn't rotate the pictures. LAMESAUCE. So, just turn your head sideways and look at it. =)

Shirt: Thrift store, the brand is Croft & Barrow. And I have no clue how much a paid for it. Prolly only a couple bucks.

Skirt: Thrift store (you're gonna see that a lot), Christopher & Banks. I got it for $6

Butterfly hair clip: Michael's, $1

Shoes: Natural. God gave them to me, free of charge. ;)

Heart ring: Kohl's. I think it's worth around $30, but it was on sale when I bought it, so I don't remember. ;) But I rarely don't wear it, I totally fell in love with it. :p

So. As you all are probably quite aware, I'm really brilliant as far as awkward endings. I never did figure out how to end things, so I hope it looks better to you all than it feels to me. Because every time I end something, it seems really weird to me. =P Just sayin'. So...yeah. Bye! =P

CAMP!

So, as I said in the post before, I'm going to post about what has happened at Grand View Camp in Arizona. First, let me quick explain the properties. There's the Alpine property, which they're currently renting. They're using this for camp while they build on the Grand View Ranch property. This property was donated to them, and all the buildings are brand new. They aren't done building on it yet, but they do have a lot done there. The Grand View Ranch (GVR) property is only several miles away from Alpine, as the crow flies, but unfortunately we don't fly like crows, so it takes almost an hour to get there.

Anyhow, my sister left right after easter to go help out at this camp. It just so happened to work out that she had to be there before the rest of the staff, so she spent a lot of time cleaning and preparing for summer camp. But, as more of the summer staff started arriving, other things were arriving too. Such as wild fires.

And by the time staff training had begun, smoke filled the air. Like, really bad. In fact we had haze here in Colorado because of the fires in Arizona. The fires started getting closer and closer to the Alpine property, and the smoke was so terrible that some of the staff kids were starting to get sick. They decided to evacuate to the GVR property. Right after they decided this, they were mandatorily evacuated. As they drove away, they watched some towers that were 6 miles behind the property burn to the ground.

This was all very disconcerting to me. I could not concentrate on anything, all I could think about was the fires. Did my uncle, aunt, and cousins still have a home, or had it been burnt down? There was another family that hadn't even had enough time to pack before they left, so everything they owned would be gone.

And then they were evacuated from GVR. International Baptist College opened up their dorms to the staff, so they went there. Well, most of them, that is.

While evacuated, they had many chances to minister to others. It was exciting to see all the chances they got to share the gospel with others!

During this time, my uncle went to the Alpine property, and found that all the buildings were there. I'll post a link to his video at the end of this post. At the end it shows how the fire went in between all the buildings, but never touched them. The video shows how close the fire got, but God protected each building.

But the fire danger wasn't over yet, and they still didn't know if GVR still stood. Everything was up in the air as the fire returned to the Alpine Property.

But God would still show Himself real.

And I'm gonna cry about now.

But a while later, the neighbors next to the GVR property called.

The fire split in two "like the Red Sea" and went around the property.

And met again on the other side.

And not one of the buildings was touched.

And the Fire Dept. Said that they weren't going to let the fire get to the Alpine property again. They said the fire had to stop there, because there's a town right behind the camp.

And not one of the buildings was touched.

Well, I take that back. One building at GVR was burned down afterwards. Some flying embers got to the cabin, and it burnt down completely. But it just so happened to be the one old cabin that was there. An old cabin that they wanted to burn down anyway. But this way, insurance paid for it. ;) Speaking of insurance, they also paid for the first two weeks of lost revenue because the fires held back camp for a few weeks.

But they were able to start camp soon after they got back onto the property, and I'll be there week after next! I'm SO excited to be there! It's the best camp I've ever been to! I can't wait to see how God works in my life. And I'll be sure that you all hear a lot about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCjuXolNUW8 (During the part that they are evacuating, it's in the middle of the afternoon, but the smoke was covering up the sun. The smoke spread here to Colorado as well, and was so thick that we could look directly at the sun without hurting our eyes.)

My God is an awesome God!