A Season Of Helping

I have been helping others for as long as I can remember.
My Mama and Daddy did for as long as I can remember.

It's like breathing.
I was brought up to believe It's just what you do.

I believe with every fiber of my being that we are placed on this earth for
TWO REASONS
and that is

1. To Give our Hearts to CHRIST and Serve HIM.

2. To Help Others

The sooner in life we realize this the sooner our lives begin to make since.
BUT
Be aware,
For that's also when the devil will begin to attack, trick and try to lure you away from the Amazing Plan God has for your life.
Young people, I know this from first hand experience. Don't fall for his tricks.

Stay focused on God.

Stay focused on your Ministry.
Yes, we All Have A Ministry.
It involves serving God and Helping others.

Stay Focused on your Mission.
God will lead you to those HE wants you to help and HE will also lead you to those who are to help you.

               Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

We Fall To Our Knees

"What we do with our knees gives evidence of what we believe in our hearts."

Each morning after Trammell and I have Bible Study I fall to my knees, take Trammell by the hand and we Pray.
We've done this his entire life.

This morning I pondered the significance of why we fall to our knees to Pray.  I began to look up Bible verses that talk about this.
Then I ran across this wonderful quote.

"What we do with our knees gives evidence of what we believe in our hearts."

We must have a humble heart.

We must humble ourselves before the LORD.

I Believe when I am falling to my knees to Pray that I am relinquishing Any and All power I may have or rather, Think I may have over my own life to our Father  in Heaven.
I am humbling myself before CHRIST and giving HIM Full Control over me and over all aspects of my life.
Not only that but I am showing Honor and Respect to HIM.

  I guess we should ask ourselves, why would we
NOT fall to our knees to Pray.

This week in our lives is a perfect example of
the Power Of Prayer.
Again we saw
Miracle after Miracle.

As we are Still dealing with our house Nightmare ,Trammell and I had to drive to Columbia Wednesday for me to testify.  We were gone for 12 & 1/2 hours.  We had to have nursing care for David during that time, which, of course we had No money for.
BUT
on Tuesday we received a phone call telling us that the Respite Voucher I had applied for months ago had been approved and that we could begin using the Nursing hours the very next day.
Talk about an ON TIME GOD.

Then on Wednesday as we sat in the Hearing it was truly like David and Goliath as the other side came with two Attorneys and four witnesses and there we were, just Trammell and me.
The only difference was WHO else we had with us. Our LORD.
HE was and is ALL we need.

After an almost 5 hour hearing the verdict came in and we were PRAISING GOD All the way home, even through 5:00 Traffic in Columbia.
God got us safely through THAT too.
HE continues to carry us Safely Through All Things and we Fall to our Knees and
Praise HIS HOLY NAME.

 Ephesians 3:14-16
 "When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,
the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit."

SLEEP

Our son Trammell saw a T-shirt online this week that read,
"I Love Sleep
It's like being dead
Without the Commitment"

FUNNY

He read it to me when he saw it because he knew I'd get a kick out of it.
Sleep is a REALLY Big deal to me because of the Lack of it in my life.
As a matter of fact during the  past few days I have been experiencing something that's happened to me once or two a years since our family's Journey began.  Where my body feels like it just wants to shut down. Where I am So Exhausted that my whole body aches.  I whin with every chore I do, every diaper I change.  All I want to do is lay down and SLEEP.
For the past two nights I've managed to get all my night time chores done, get David ready for the night and get in the bed by 8:00.  I am asleep before my head hits the pillow.
I vaguely remember Trammell coming in my room around 12:30 to tell me he checked on David and he's resetting my timer.  I've then been getting up between 2:30 and 3:30 to check on David and change his diaper. He's usually always wet around that time. I check him again around 4:30. Then I'm up to stay between  6 & 7.
These past two nights have been easy nights for me. Catching up on sleep but Trammell is now dragging from picking up the slack.

As any Caregivers knows first hand, you are ON DUTY 24/7/365.
One way to describe it for those who have never been a caregiver for anyone who's  bedridden, is, well, it's like the first few weeks and months when you bring a newborn home.  Yep, but instead of weeks or months, it years.

I started my new job Monday.
I was disappointed to see that I was only getting to work around 18 hours for the entire month. We are is such desperate need of funds just for necessities and with CHRISTmas coming I was in hopes I'd make enough extra to get Trammell and David a nice gift.
But maybe God is telling me they would rather have me here and healthy than to work myself to death.
I know HE Will Work All Things Out For HIS GLORY.
Not going to worry about a thing.

I want to ask that you all be in Prayer this week as Trammell and I have to drive to Columbia for me to testify in one of the cases involving our house Nightmare.
May our LORD'S GLORY Shine in this entire situation. May HIS Will be done. We Give It ALL Over to HIM.

   Isaiah 41:10
The Lord said, "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you;  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

I Got The Job

We are Still PRAISING GOD. 
I got the job I had Applied for!

This will mean so much to our family. 
We Know
   that God will work out a way for us to have care for David when Trammell can't care for him and I am at work.

We Know
   that our Lord will give Trammell and me the strength and energy to do ALL of this.

We Know
   HE will continue to carry us through.
HE has carried us through
SO MUCH.

We Know
that this is another one of
HIS Amazing BLESSINGS.

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

The AWESOME Way GOD Works In Our Lives

Friday morning as I stood at the cash register at our local Sam's Store, trying to fight the lump in my throat and the tears begging to be released from my eyes, as I paid for our groceries, realizing as I swiped my debit card, that there would be no money left to pick up my much needed RXs for my thyroid
and my stomach and that our family would be left with only $19 to survive until the 3rd of next month, I could only Pray. 
This was so unlike me to be this emotional over something like this.  I am guessing after being so sick for the previous week I was just worn down.

Month after month, since our  Nightmare began our family has run out of funds about halfway through the month. 
But month after month God has continued to carry us through. We've seen MIRACLE  after MIRACLE unfold. HE has showered us with BLESSING after BLESSING. 
And this day was no exception.
Even though the day got worse for a while, by the end of the day not only did I have my RXs and $100 in our checking account BUT I received a call from the Promotion Company that sends people to give out samples and promote products in all the Sam's stores, asking me to come in for an interview.
An awesome thing was only minutes before the call I was thinking about the application I had filled out for them weeks earlier. I had never heard back.
I thought to myself I would look up the info, get their number and give them a call BUT before I could do that, they called me. 
Our God Is Truly
AN ON TIME GOD!!!

If I get this job, which the gentleman who called said he was almost 100% sure I would, this will mean so much for our family.
I'll have only a 5 minute drive to work.
Trammell will take over caring for David for the 24 hours a week I'll be working.
I know God will give me the strength and energy I need to do this.

PRAISING our LORD FOR HIS CONTINUED BLESSINGS.

            Isaiah 65:24
I will answer them before they even call to me.  While they are still talking about their needs,  I will go ahead and answer their prayers.

Quick  UPDATE -
PRAISING GOD!
I GOT THE JOB!

Abundant Blessings

    This week has been full of Blessings, as are most of our weeks.
    I was Blessed this week to be able to go to a Beauty Salon for the 2nd time in over 2 years.
    Amanda, a dear sweet friend of ours gave me a gift certificate for my birthday, for a wonderful place in Liberty, SC where I spent Thursday morning being pampered.  Another dear sweet friend, who by the way brought several meals over to our family this week, drove me over.
(We only have enough in our budget each month for one tank of gas, so making an extra trip that far was out of the question.)
    Then I was contacted by Tracy, a lady who had called AIMs telling them she had some adult diapers for someone who was in need of them.  They gave her our number. She had given us several cases before. This time she gave us 8 packs of diapers!!! What An Amazing Blessing!! We were down to 2 packs!
Our Lord is Truly
An One Time God!!!

    Then two dear Sweet Friends, Peggy and Ariel came over last night.  Peggy bought 2 pizzas and Trammell made Brownies. We had a wonderful time talking and laughing the evening away.            David really enjoyed his dinner and oh you should have seen his face when I gave him his brownie.  His eyes opened wide in childlike excitement as I placed his dessert plate in front of him.

    I believe of all the many Blessings this week, we are most excited about a phone call we received from the Peace Center in Greenville, SC telling us that Food Network Star, Alton Brown's people and the folks from the Peace Center had read Trammell's story and were so touched and impressed by him that they wanted to invite the two of us to come and see Alton's Live show at the Peace Center this coming Wednesday night. 
    Our seats are right down in the orchestra pit near the stage. Great Seats! PLUS Peggy and Ariel have volunteered to take care of David so that Trammell and I both can go.  PLUS I received birthday money from my sister Friday that will pay for the gas there and back!

     Yes, we were
Truly Blessed This Week.

We know without a doubt that EVERY BLESSING Comes From our LORD JESUS CHRIST and we are Truly Grateful.
     And So Excited to think about what HE has in store for us next week and all the weeks that follow.

2 Corinthians 9:8 ►
    And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

   

No Nap Time

First let me say that we are PRAISING GOD because all my test results were Normal!!
AND
Trammell's new doctor says he is not too concerned about the 7 lumps in his lymph nodes but he does want to run more tests in a month if they are still there.

NOW
Over the past few days a couple of friends have asked, when Trammell answered the phone because I was too busy to get to it, if I was taking a nap.  A NAP?
To one Trammell replied,
"A Nap!?" He laughed,
"Do you know my Mom?"

  Although I have gone almost 8 years now with Less than100 nights of SLEEP there is absolutely NO time during our whirlwind days for me to even think about taking a NAP.

  That's why I continue to encourage everyone who knows a Caregiver to PLEASE let them know someone out there cares enough to give them some relief. 
Never Assume that someone else is doing something to help.
   Remember, you could be in their shoes tomorrow.

Matthew 11:28
Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.