My Papa

Well, seems like the news just isn't getting any better. We found out yesterday (Sunday) that Papa's cancer is in Stage 4 and that he's not going to be able to beat it. The doctors said that if he does the treatment he will have an average of about a year left and if he decides not to do it he has around 4-6 months average.
I am overwhelmed with so many emotions right now, it's crazy! Everything came as such a shock because it all seemed to happen so fast. I mean, one day they are in Rome on vacation for 10 days and a week later he's got cancer in 3 major areas!! The whole family has been a bit overwhelmed! The amazing part of the whole thing is that I've seen God more through this experience than I probably ever have. Maybe it's because I've really had to lean on Him to get me through this and I wasn't doing that as much when I didn't "have" to. I'm ashamed to say it but it's true. It seems that's God's showing me now that I really do NEED Him. He's the only one that can bring me peace. I'm sad when I think of how many times I've probably not noticed God working in my life just because I wasn't in tune with Him. It's amazing to me how "real" he has been in the past week.
I'm so thankful for the family I have and how each one of them is turning to God at this horrible time. My mom was down in Montgomery with Mimi and Papa most of last week and I got to hear lots of different emotions coming from her. Just to give one example, my mom and uncle Chris had been at the hospital all day one day last week and were feeling pretty down about Papa's condition. He seemed very weak and wasn't eating and it was just a very depressing day. Uncle Chris had told my Aunt Susie (his wife) all about this and after they hung up the phone she began to pray that when Mom and Chris got back up to the hospital that night they would receive some encouragement from the situation. Well, when they got back up to the hospital Mom said Papa was a completely different person. He was sitting up in bed, had a little color, and seemed in a better mood, though he still hadn't eaten. They had made little goodie bags for the nurses who had been helping them at the hospital. When Papa saw this he told Uncle Chris that he wanted some candy! Chris said "Okay Dad, what kind would you like?" Papa said "Snickers." After he got done with the snickers he looked over at my mom and said "I want another candy!" Mom said, "Okay Dad, do you want another snickers?" Papa said, "No...I want something different...I don't want to get bored!" (Mom- I paraphrased what you told me, hopefully it's pretty much the way it all happened) Isn't that hilarious??? I was so excited to hear that Papa hadn't lost his sense of humor completely! It was just the laugh that Mom and Chris needed to keep them going. That's the power of prayer!! I thought it was such a good story I wanted to share it. There are many others but I don't have the time to write them all out. It's definitely been highs and lows of all different kinds of emotions but I'm blessed to be a part of a family that puts its trust in God. He will get us all through this tough time. I'm thankful for all the friends who are praying for our family. Keep it going we definitely will continue to need it.

Please Pray...

We found out on Monday of this week that my Papa, my mom's dad, has been diagnosed w/ lung cancer and it has spread to his liver and his adrenal gland. At this point we aren't sure what the treatment options are b/c they aren't sure as to what kind of cancer it is. They did a biopsy yesterday and we're hoping to get those results back later this afternoon. Please pray that it is a type of cancer that can be treated and that Papa will be determined to beat it. Please pray for my Mimi (his wife) and my Mom and uncle Chris as they are down in Montgomery now with him. Please pray that God will bless them all with strength and peace of mind. To be honest, when we found out it came as quite a shock b/c at the time we all thought he had pneumonia. I took the news pretty hard at first but since then I've been thankful that God is giving me a peace about this situation. Papa is a godly man and I know that if anything were to happen to him he'd be in Heaven receiving his reward.
I want to thank my Life Group for having a special prayer for Papa last night. It meant a lot to me and I know my family appreciates it as well. God has surrounded Jarred and I with wonderful people and I'm so thankful for that. I'll keep you all posted with more news as we receive it. Thanks again to everyone for praying!!

This is new for me!

Well, this is my first time blogging! I've been an "anonymous" user for quite some time now so I decided to go ahead and start my own blog. Hopefully this will be a great way for my family members to keep up with what's going on in our lives. It's been hard to stay close since we all live in different states (my side of the family anyway). It's even hard staying close to the family we have here in Arkansas. Isn't that crazy? I mean we live about 15 minutes from Jenn & Scott and about 45 from Jarred's parents & Jeff & Terrian but we hardly ever see them. Jordan will be moving in soon so we'll get to see him all the time!! But for those we don't see often enough, this is my solution...we'll see how it works!!

Here are some photos from the summer...just to catch you up on what we've been up to.

Those above are from my trip to meet w/ my college roomie (Tina) and meet her daughter for the first time. We met in Branson and it was great. Isn't her daughter adorable??? Congrats Tina on #2, Carter is so cute, I can't wait to meet him!

These are my awesome parents! Aren't they cute?These are a couple of the crazy amounts of pictures we took on my family beach trip this summer. We always go to Pensacola Beach around the 4th of July. It was so much fun! I don't have a group photo of the entire group b/c we didn't take one this year but it's my Dad's entire side of the family...his 2 sisters and their families and his parents. We had a great time!

We missed this picture b/c Jarred wanted to walk around the entire stadium...oh well...These were all from our weekend trip to Atlanta w/ the Connett's & Tappe's (this was mid-July). We stayed at Melea's parents house and saw the sights! This girls picture above is taken at Stone Mountain, the guys didn't make it. That Saturday we went shopping and to the Cheesecake Factory and then to the Braves game that night! Great trip.
This cute little guy is Eli...he's our good friends Curtis and Alison's little boy. They live in Fort Walton Beach so we never get to see them except for when we go to the beach so we try to go as often as we can! :) Eli is wearing Jarred's sunglasses but he's poked out the lens...too cute!
These were all taken on our beach trip to Destin w/ 5 other couples at the beginning of August. We stayed RIGHT on the beach and it was wonderful! Well, I guess I will end my first blog ever...there will be more to come...