Ear Drum---pum-pum-pa-pa-pum-pa-pa-pa-pum

Regan has been fussy the last few days. Brian and I worked to try and figure out why. Last night we both decided that it was her ear. So, at 9pm Brian and his step-dad Ray took Regan to Children's Hospital here in Kansas City. They diagnosed her with a burst ear drum. We do not really know when it burst usually that causes a release of pain instead of increased pain. She is now taking antibiotics for the infection and ear drops for pain. Today she is doing well and the ear drops seem to be helping her rest. So, healing is on its way. So, please pray for the antibiotics to not cause other problems. We praise God that he is always with us no matter what city that we are in, no matter what time of year it is.

Merry Christmas

We are in Oklahoma with my family. It is good to be with them. It has been a while since we have been here this long with Regan doing so well. We leave for KC tomorrow. We look forward to a few days with Brian's family.
Regan is doing fine. She has been a little fussy but much better. It seems all the gas has passed. The diarrhea has stopped but her BM's are still very loose. So we will work with Cybil when we get back to continue to get the feedings right for her. Please pray for her fussiness. We think it is her back hurting. Her spine curve is grown to 64% which is simply horrible.
Rylee is well. Brian and I got her a Karaoke machine. She loves it. She and Jacie (her cousin) are having a fun time singing Carrie Underwood songs. Since we are IN Oklahoma it makes the songs even more fun. She can hardly wait to get back to Lincoln to sing in it with Ashley, Danielle and Hannah.
Ryder is great. He is the only ten year old boy I know who loves to get cloths for Christmas. He also go some CD's and movies. This morning we gave him some Pirates which he is enjoying. My mom got him a shirt that says, "Those who think they know everything annoy those of us who do." So Ryder!
Brian and I are getting ready to celebrate our 12th anniversary in five days. We finished season five of 24 last night. Brian is happy and all is well with the world except Jack is now on a slow boat to China. I can't stand to see him all beat up. Anyway, I feel blessed to have Brian as my husband. I find it amazing that our love continues to grow stronger. I love him more than ever. I feel loved by him more than ever.
We know that with out the peace of Christ we are unable to have peace with anyone else. Jesus coming as a baby started the whole opportunity for peace.

Never know what a day can bring

Well you just never know what one morning might bring. Many of you know that Regan has been struggling with diarrhea for several weeks. Yesterday Brian changed one "blow out" at 4:30am then Julie changed two more before Regan was out the door for school at 9:30am. So, I called Regan's nutritionist, Cybil, and she suggested some "Benafiber." Come to find out not only does fiber help with constipation but also with diarrhea. This morning Regan started crying at about 7:30 this was an unusually cry. I thought it might be kidney stones but when I looked at her stomach I knew it had to be something gastro. Regan's old GI specialist moved to Chicago so we are considered "New Patients" with the new guy so we could work a new patient in today. We were afraid that Regan might have to be admitted in to St Johns to get her leveled back out. This was upsetting considering we are leaving tomorrow for OK and KS for Christmas. So Cybil called Dr Rogers who is our surgeon in on the case. So with Dr Rogers, Cybil and Leona (Dr Rogers nurse) on the case I knew all would be fine. Her Colan is full of air and they think she is lactose intolerant. For three weeks she has been on 2 additional TBS of powdered milk in her feedings. This is what caused the diarrhea and now the bloating. She is now laying on the sofa crying in between happy sounds when the gas is passed. For the next couple of days she will be off her normal food and on pedilite.

On my way to Springfield I knew several of my friends here in Lincoln were praying for Regan. I saw God's hand so many times this morning.

• The admissions lady at the hospital worked us in instead of making us wait because she hated to see Regan cry.
• The girl who drew Regan's blood was kind and did it through a finger prick instead of arm draw.
  
• In Cybil's love and compassion for our family and in her dedication to getting Regan taken care of.
• In Dr Rogers' love her his patients that flows from his love for God. He is straight forward, kind and compassionate.
  
• In Leona's attention to details..she walked over to a different department just to let me see the out come of Regan's labs and offered to help me to our van.
• In Mr Horn (a man from our church) who happened to be at St John's and helped Regan and I get to the the van because I had a lot to carry.
• In Jen's ( the receptionist at the Clinic) remembering details of our lives she makes it feel like home.
  
• In Dr Gabriel's (Regan's orthopedist) ordering of a pelvis xray to sooth Brian's mind.
  
• In Julie's (Regan's helper) ability to put her arm around me while I cry and feel no need to say anything. I admire her.
• In Brian's love for Regan and I. It is amazing how text messaging can draw two people together.
  

I wore my bracelet today from my friend Stacy Woods. She is a friend from VVCC days. She gave it to me as a reminder of God's faithfulness. I was already in the van but came back int he house to slip in on. I thought I needed to "tie it around my wrist" today.
It says "LO I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS." Jesus... the Emmanuel... "God with Us." He was and is with us. He presence resounds through his people caring for his little one.

15 Minutes

So I am wondering...what would you do if you had an extra 15 minutes. I subscribe to my favorite magazine "Real Simple" it is a simple pleasure in my life. They pose a question every month and people answer it. I am wondering what many of you would say? Did you know "Take me Out to the Ball Game" was written in fifteen minutes. So if you want post your activity for your extra 15 minutes.
If I had an an extra fifteen minutes today I would sit and stare at my Christmas tree. I love it. Actually this morning I got to do that. This morning was wonderful because I was reading the prayers for today from the "Divine Hours" and watching the tree blink. Brian was reclined on the sofa grading papers. The background music to lovely scene was Rylee and Regan playing together in Regan's bed. They make the sweetest sounds when they play.
Now that we are done with the pressing responsibilities Brian ((who finished his grading today) and I are indulging in one of our favorite things...season five of our favorite TV show "24". We are like little kids watching the Disney Channel. We are even comforted by the intro music. In Brian's words "Now that is sick." When we watched season 4 last Christmas a couple times we would get back out of bed at midnight just to watch "one more."
have Garrett and Kate Regan is still struggling with the breathing issue. Continue to pray for that. Ryder and RyleeMaupin spending the night. So they are in their rooms playing. Thanks for taking to to keep up with us.

SWEET!

Last night was the last official gathering for my SFG (small group of students that I met with each week for spiritual formation). I have been with for three years. We had a party for them here at our home last night. We invited several (25 or so) of their friends to come over to hang out. They arrived at 7:30 and the last group left at midnight. Great fun! It is very hard to let these three go because Megan is going to Guinea, Shannon will move to Joplin, MO for a few months and then move to a small African country no one knows about and Amanda is here in Lincoln for a while but will graduate in May. Amanda and I will continue to met together this spring. We have a tradition of reading the Divine Hours together. It always hits us right where we are. Last night's reading said this "Watch over our welfare on this perilous journey, shade us from the burning heat of the day, and keep our lives free from evil unity the end." AMEN!
This is the second SFG that has grown up on me while I am here in Lincoln. It is painful! I believe this to be true; This pain is good. Wouldn't it be sad if they were leaving me and I felt nothing. Or if I was happy. The pain is part of what makes the relationship sweet. It is only because I experience Christ when we are together that makes this moment painful. The lose of these girls is huge but even greater is the joy that our relationship brings me. Thank you Jesus that you not only dwelt among us but you knew we needed to dwell among others too! We should praise God for that!

Regan's breathing is labored. I checked her stats out on her breathing monitor this morning to try and bring some relief to her daddy's worries about her. She is stating at 97% which is awesome for her. Once again, she is amazing. Will you praise our heavenly Father for that too! I actually think Brian's breathing is worst than Regan's. Ryder and Rylee have early dismissal today. So I am hoping to get the house cleaned so we can have some together time.

Free

I am free. My professor for my preaching class told me I didn't need to hand in my last sermon because "You have done excellent work all semester." I only had about an hours work left on it but any break is big. So after I said thank you to God and my professor I was reminded of something I have said over and over in the past few day (besides Come Lord Jesus Come). I had some level of peace about not getting the sermon done because I couldn't figure out when else I could have done it. I made choices to sometimes give up family time for the library and other times the library for the family. I think God taught me today that when you try to worship through each activity in your life God is honored. I don't at all expect this to happen ever again but the work paid off.

Ice pack for Jesus!

I got up early this morning to work on my last sermon for "Preparing to Preach." I have to hand it in tomorrow. I am beginning to lose the joy of the study so I need a break. I hope I can get done. Brian is sick again. He was down all day yesterday. Regan's breathing is bad. She is just coughing all the time. The treatments do help.
In my study I a revisiting my favorite book of the bible "Joshua." One he is a warrior...all girls love a guy how fights battles for the kingdom. I have a picture in my mind of what he looks like but I can't say...Brian might get jealous. Second he loves God. God says and he does. ....all girls love a guy who obeys the King. Thirdly I love that God makes no sense sometimes. In chapter 5 we find the Israelites have crossed the Jordan armed for battle, the enemy lands are "melting with fear". Yet instead of God striking while the iron is hot he has Joshua circumcise them and they eat the Passover. So we have the strong army of God laying around with ice packs between their legs for four days while eating horseradish.
God is not concerned about our weakness. As a matter of fact he would rather us be weak and obedient. So here I find myself. Thinking...Lord I'm weak...Regan's weak...Brian is weak. Aren't we all weak. We don't have ice packs in between our legs but we might as well. So, I find the Lord here this morning confirming an obedient life. I feel him saying:
"take off your snow boots girl.....for this is holy ground."

P.S. I can't turn in the "ice bags" illustration in my sermon so I guess I will let it lie here. Thanks for listening.

Tickled to be Pickled!

It is a crazy time of year. Going so many places....where are we going? Doing so many things...what are we really doing? Modern convince doesn't often seem convenient. The refrain for today's Divine Hours is:
"The Lord loves those who hate evil; he preserves the lives of the saints and delivers them from the hand of the wicked."
Aren't we glad we are preserved by God. According to Dictionary.com the word preserve as a verb can mean "to keep alive, to make lasting, to keep safe, to keep up, to resist decomposition, to maintain and reserve for later use" Amen! During all this craziness of going when we feel like there is not enough time in the day, hours in the night, or strength to make it through..we have this promise.
HE RESISTS THE SAINTS DECOMPOSITION
HE KEEPS UP THE SAINTS
HE RESERVES THE SAINTS FOR LATER USE
HE KEEPS US ALIVE
I don't know about you but I am glad to be pickled! Praise God Regan's seizures have slowed down and has barley had any in the past few days. Ryder had his band concert Tuesday Night and his band tour on Wednesday. He is first chair trombone. God has given him a gift. Rylee is feeling better and they both have their church music performances on Sunday. Brian is wrapping up another semester. Pray for his strength. I am trying to finish up with my two classes only two assignments left. I just keep singing "Come Lord Jesus Come!" Then I can write the best sermon ever because I will know all truth! All together now, "Come Lord Jesus Come!"

Lights Please!

We were among the 2.4 million people to lose power this past weekend. We lost it Thursday around 1am and it came back on Saturday around lunch. We stayed the night in one of our smaller boys dorms at LCC. They were very hospitable but since we bring basically a hospital with us we are glad to be home.
We had a boys room and a girls room plus Moby. Rylee threw up six times. At one point she said, "I want to go home, my stomach really hurts, this must be what it is like to feel homesick." She had a vicious case. She is better now we think it was just twelve hour stomach flu. Thanksfully none of the rest of us got it.
Regan's seizures are back. They are really ugly. She had four in the night in the dorm. So, between Rylee and Regan I got up 10 times between midnight at 7. You do the math..it is not pretty.
All of this reminds us to have a light you have to have a power source. It doesn't matter what kind of light it is it needs a spark to get it started. We are glad to be connected to our source, Jesus.