Monday, February 26, 2007 Update

Happy Monday! We are sitting here at Panera Bread, which is across the street from the place our next meeting is at. We came early so we could hook up to the Internet and blog for you. Our trip to NC was long. It took us 10 hours instead of 7. Traffic was wonderful around Washington DC area...NOT. But we did make it ok.

We went to church with my parents on Sunday morning and it was really nice to see everyone. We went back and spoke in the evening and had a really good response. They blessed us for speaking and said we would be hearing from them very soon. They are giving, we are just not sure how much and how often. They are such a blessing to be with.

We rested some today and are now here in Matthews, NC near Charlotte for the dinner/sharing time with Scott's cousin. We left the boys at my moms so they could rest and visit. We were not sure what to expect here at the restaurant.

Well, that is about it for the moment. Scott is doing such a great job speaking. I am very proud of him. He is a tool for Jesus!

Bless you all and will write again soon.

Lela and the boyz~

Saturday, February 24,2007 Update

Good morning and Happy Week-end! I wanted to write a little about last night's dessert night.
It was just as God wanted it to be. We were honored to have the Pastor's Wife, Nancy, from Mike & Cindy's church come and talk with us. She asked many questions and was very interested. She told us that her husband, Lou, was out of town but really wanted her to come and talk with us. They just finished the Perspective's Class and are eager to get involved in Missions. They only want to support missionaries who have a connection with their body. She was excited to see that we were related to Cindy & Mike. She asked how long we were going to be here because their next missions meeting is March 8th. We told her what we were doing with traveling and all and she asked if we had any extra video's that we could leave with Mike & Cindy and if they could & would stand in for us and give the Mission's team a presentation on our behalf and then if the team wanted to meet with us personally if Scott would consider coming back. Scott said absolutely!! Mike and Cindy said, "what have we gotten ourselves into? ha ha" but agreed to do it. Nancy said that she really wanted the team to hear our story and be able to decide, she liked what she had heard. She said she thought it was really great! Their church is newer, about 2 years old and has 2 services of about 250-350 each. They are a non-denom./community church. (sound familiar??) They have formed a missions team to hold them accountable and help pray through things. (again, familiar?) We told her that was how our church worked and that we totally understood. We found that it was a very positive meeting and was at peace about the whole evening. Cindy kept feeling bad that more didn't come, but I told her that our prayer team and us had prayed for this trip and that God was in total control and we were not worried about it. She said she appreciated our calmness and understanding. Since they have only been going to the church since Dec., they really don't know many people yet. We told them that we would come back in a year and do it again. ha ha :-)

So, we are excited about our stop in Maryland and what the Lord is up to here. Today we are getting ready to pack up and move on to NC. Jeremiah is doing better, we think he just got too hot playing with his cousins and in a room with a wood stove that was being burned. Nathaniel is still croupy coughing. He is kind of loosing his voice, it sounds raspy.

We are doing great and appreciate your prayers!! TTFN (Ta Ta For Now) as they say,

God bless,
Lela and crew

Friday Morning Prayer Request

Just wanted to update you real quick. Please cover the kids in health. Last night Jeremiah started throwing up and this morning Nathaniel woke up with a very croupy cough.
Jeremiah only throw up the one time but when we all got sick over New Years and he started it for our family, he was in bed with his cousin Wesley and throw up on him. Last night he throw up when it was time to go to bed and he was suppose to sleep with Wesley. Wesley still hasn't gotten over the last time yet and really didn't want Jeremiah in his bed. I don't blame the poor kid. They are both 4 years old. Jeremiah was crying and kept saying he didn't want to be sick again, thinking he would be up all night. He cried a few times and wasn't sure, but didn't get sick any more. I pray that today he will be fine. His Aunt Cindy said she thinks it is their family that causes it (she said this laughing) but please remember him.
Nathaniel...please cover him. Strep throat is going around down in NC really bad. I desire protection over him and the rest of us.
Thank you. Just wanted to let you know.
Lela

Our Tour Begins...February 22nd

Hi guys,
So far we have had a great trip. We spoke last night in Akron, OH and it went really well. The people really interacted and asked a lot of questions. They took an offering for us and really blessed us. It was great to see a lot of old friends again. We stayed with the pastor and his wife, Jim & Myrna Ellis, who has been the pastor for 31 years and is now in the process of retiring. Scott will fill you in on the great legacy being left by this couple at our next meeting. The Ellis' have watched me grow up and as I was leaving his home this morning, he looked me in the eyes with tears and said, "I am very proud of you and what your doing. Don't be afraid to dream!!" That means so much to me!

Today, on our way to Maryland, Scott received a phone call from Mack & Mary Lu's friend. He is blessing Scott with tools that he will be needing. Scott and Mark will be meeting when we return home.

We made it to Maryland safe and sound. All of the kids are excited to see their cousins again and Scott's sister, Cindy, had dinner waiting for us. It was very tasty. We are off to make smores in their fireplace right now, so I will sign off for the moment. Thank you for your prayers!!! We really appreciate you all!!

Blessings,
Lela and Scott along with the boyz~ :-)

Was Advised To....

Just letting everyone know that we were advised to change our monthly quota, along with those who currently are at MMS, to match their new policy of being at $4,200.00 per month instead of $3,875.00 per month. On the advice of our prayer team and our churches Missions Team, they felt we needed to apply to the new policy, even tho we were given a grandfather clause of not having to change before arrival. They felt the larger quota would only help us in the long run and would rather us go fully funded than to go and struggle. If we had chose to keep the old quota, we would not have been able to up it for 4-5 months after arriving at MMS and only under a special request and review would it be considered. It was either now or a lot later. It does mean we need to raise even more funds before we are able to arrive there, but it is better now than later. Please continue to pray about this and for it not to delay our arrival too much. :=)
To God be the Glory Forever and Ever!!! He Reigns!!!!

Just wanted to keep you all posted.
God bless,
Lela and Scott

Scott is back in school!

Scott has received word from his professor that his last class starts on March 13th and runs for 5 weeks. He will then be all done with his classes and be able to graduate with his B.A. in Religious Studies. YEAH!!!! He is so excited!!

Please keep Tuesday nights in prayer for his class and travel times and for all of the other study times needed for this class. We are so thankful to the Lord for answering this prayer. Way to go God!!

He is so Awesome!! Praise the Lord!

Lela and Scott
& Boyz~

February 13th Update

Good morning!! I have a few things to share with you.

• I went to the Neuro-specialist yesterday for my appt. and gave her all of the updates that has been done/said since she referred me in Dec. I gave her all that had been done with the Pain Clinic and what was to come next. I also gave her the update that the spine surgeon said and showed her the brochures that he had given to me regarding the type of surgeries he would be considering. She was not pleased with one of them saying that specific type of surgery is usually done to people who are 70-90 years old and she felt I needed another opinion. So, she is sending me to a neuro-surgeon for another opinion. This doctor works out of MI Brain & Spine Institute and is a partner in the Michigan Pain Clinic...yes, there is where I go for all of these tests. Interesting that he works with the doctor I have been seeing for all of these tests. So, I am going to be scheduling an appointment with Dr. Brodkey after their offices open up this morning. Please pray for me that I have discernment on all of these "opinions". My Dr. pointed out to me that finding the RIGHT surgeon is very important because I will only want to go through this one time and once a surgeon has done a procedure, another surgeon will NOT touch it. (Clean it up) so to speak. So, she said if we needed to get 5 opinions, we will. She wants me to have it done right and so do I. I really like her!!

• Another great thing that has happened is...Mary Lu King, one of our prayer partners, came over Friday for coffee and we visited for a couple of hours. During the visit, she mentioned the gentleman that her husband, Mack, had talked about during one of our prayer meetings that he used to work with that was a pilot and mechanic that possibly had some tools that he could "give" to Scott. She said that Mack didn't feel comfortable to call this guy since it had been so long since they had talked. I said I understood and we moved on in conversation. Later that night I received an email from Mary Lu stating that after she got home from my house, 2 hours later, that gentleman called her and asked if Mack and her would meet him and his wife for dinner on Sat. night.? She couldn't believe it! She asked us to pray for the dinner/meeting. She was so cute, she said she put all of our newsletters, MMS newsletters, tool shower invitation and tool list and anything else she had regarding us into her purse to show this guy. Well, she called me with an update and said, "Mark was very impressed by you giving your life to God in this way. He looked over all of the information for a very long time. He owns the Romeo airstrip and owns many private planes (he flies/maintains them), he is a corp. pilot and a lawyer. He is the corp. co. in-house attorney. He is a Christian and had two boys, 15, 12 (same as Shaughn and Matthew). He said that he definitely had tools for Scott and would be giving him a call. Mary Lu was so excited. She added that Mark did not know about Mack's heart attack and surgery last fall and that was not why he had called them, he just had Mack on his mind for a while and felt he was suppose to call him and have them meet again and meet their wives. Way too cool. Mary Lu wants us to make sure we call her as soon as Mark calls Scott. :-) She also added that when she sent me the first email telling me of the phone call, that she had just painted her nails and couldn't wait for them to dry so she typed the email with the eraser of a pencil. TOO CUTE!!
• Scott is suppose to call one of the purposed churches back today between 3-4 p.m. to speak to the Missions Director. Please pray that God's will is done and that if we are suppose to speak with them while we are there, that it will work out and if not, that God closes the door. :-) Hard to believe that we leave 1 week from tomorrow. (Pray for me as I am nervous about "sitting" for long periods of time in the van.)
  

Well, that is the update as of now...more to come. :-)
Bless you all,
Lela

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007

I am sitting here thinking that I need to update the blog site because so many people are writing me; asking me how I am feeling with my back, so here I go.

Basically since Monday's appt. I have not felt much improvement. I still hurt about the same and am waiting for the "great relief" to kick in any time. A nurse called me today to check in on me and said not to give up yet, that sometimes these shots can take up to a week to "kick in". So, from that I take it as there is still hope for it to work. Which would be great.

Otherwise, I am still taking it easy and still in pain. Thank you all for your prayers and concerns. I really appreciate you all so much. God bless you!!

Blessings,
Lela~

Feb. 5th Pain Clinic Appt. Update

Hi everyone. Just wanted to let everyone know what went on today with my appointment at the pain clinic. Ed came and picked me up and drove Shaughn and I there. Stephanie stayed with the other boys and made us dinner. Bonus!! :-)

We arrived and my wait time was very short. I went back and proceeded to get ready for what I thought was going to be a discography procedure but when the doctor came in, he had decided to change the procedure and try ONE more thing before doing a discography. He said he felt before having me sliced open, that he wanted to exhaust all other options. He wanted to try this procedure first and see what happens. He said that a discography is basically a prep for surgery and he hated to see me go through that just yet. I was shocked and said, "Ok". For this small procedure, he gave me a sedative and out I went.

I woke up in the recovery room and was told that I will be sore for a couple of days and not to make any "important" decisions during that time frame. Ha ha, I asked if that included what I had to fix for dinner. ha ha I am home now sitting on ice and taking it easy. My sweet mother-in-law made dinner for us in the crock pot so I don't have to worry about that decision. ha ha

The procedure they did was called a Transforaminal Epidural Steriod Injection at the nerve roots near the disc's in pain. If this doesn't work, then on to the other. He wants me to come back in 2 weeks but he is completely booked, since he has been on vacation for 2 weeks and just came back, but the nurse told me to keep calling every day or so to check for cancellations and try to get in by the 19th. So, that is a matter of prayer as well as this whole process.

Thank you all for keeping me in your prayers and for your encouragements.

Bless you,
Lela