For those of you who are interested, here is a link to help the Howells.
Because they live closer than 50 miles from the hospital, they are not able to use the Ronald McDonald House. But because Kari is nursing her 1 month old, they need a place close by. They got a room in a hotel across from the hospital. This way Kari can go over to see Kayla. When she returns to the hotel, she has to shower and change clothes so that the baby won't get infected. It would be very critical if he got it.
Another link is to go to Facebook and ask to join Praying for Kayla.
They do not know how long she will be in ICU and then recovery, so expenses are adding up. If you are able to help, that would be great! For locals who know the family, you may want to take a meal. Contact me on Facebook or comment and I can connect you with the girl who is helping with that.
Do not forget to pray for the other families who are still dealing with their sick children too! They may not be as sick, but it is still difficult for the moms. And they are worried about the siblings getting it too. There are several little 1 year olds and other age siblings who have been exposed.
Today our Bible study group all signed up for an hour throughout the day to pray.
Amanda gave us ideas of what to pray for. Perhaps you can pray too?
That the kidney function levels would go down.
That her dialysis port will work properly.
That she will be calm and at peace in whoever's lap during dialysis
For her understanding of things, her confusion, fear, everything going on in her little mind
For her thirst, and that she'll not be upset when she can't have water.
Strength for the family
Sleep
That Jackson won't catch it
That Kari's body will stay healthy, that her milk supply won't be affected by the stress
That God would draw them to Him during this time.
Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I AM your God! I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
My last 2 blogs were about our young mom's Bible study group. I LOVE this group of women! I am posting this blog to ask anyone who reads this to be in prayer. Recently, as the end of the year tradition, we had a couple of play dates. A few days afterwards, some of the children (5 now) have come down with E.Coli. They all have had various complications. One was not severe at all, but 2 ended up in the hospital. One child was released today, but sweet little Kayla has turned worse. She is now fighting HUS - Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, a complication from E.Coli 0157-H7.
Today her kidneys quit working. She went through her first round of dialysis to help her kidneys get back up and functioning. Would you PLEASE PRAY for this child? And for her family. The parents are Justin and Kari. They need strength and endurance. They are having trouble sleeping. You can only imagine the anxiety, the not knowing. You can ask to join a prayer group for her on facebook. Look up "Praying for Kayla". And pray for the other children who have symptoms; diarrhea, vomitting, fever. One little boy's family was headed to Colorado for vacation and have turned around to come back as he turned ill. Here are some pictures from the play dates.
Such precious children!
As Sarah and I drove to the hospital today, we read some promises from the Lord and prayed for them.
Psalm 18:6
But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.
Isaiah 43:1 “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.
Isaiah 16:8
I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
John 14:27
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
Last week our granddaughter graduated from kindergarten!
So proud of you, Emeri!!
Sophia is finishing up kindergarten soon at her school also. And Hannah will graduate from the 3rd grade! They still have another week to go.
As school ends, so do after school activities, like ballet. Sophia had her ballet recital and she did beautifully! No pictures allowed so I didn't take my camera. Only my phone camera, which doesn't always perform.
After the recital, we did our traditional ice-cream run.
The children are not the only ones "graduating".
Emeri and Eli got a butterfly kit this year and it was time for the butterflies to leave the nest!
They got the butterflies when they were just caterpillars.
Hannah and Sophia did this a couple of years ago also.
The butterflies are so tame!
They would even fly back onto their hands after they had been released.
Their new playground.
It will be only too soon that the children will have grown up and fly the coop so to speak!
Last month all of us in Bible study received this awesome invitation from Sarah He.
The ninth of May, save the date!
It's Moms' Night Out, the kids can wait!
After a day of scrubbing the floor,
When hubby gets home, you walk out the door!
We'll carpool to Wichita, eat at Doc Greens,
When our tummys are full, hit the movie scene.
The premier of "Moms' Night Out" we'll see,
The life of several moms told in Christian comedy.
Be ready to relax, chat, eat, drink and unwind,
The fun times and laughter won't be hard to find!
We took 2 van loads from Newton, and several met us in Wichita since they live close by or were shopping for the day.
1st stop - Doc Greens! I had a Thai wrap. Oh my!!! So very good!
Sarah W and Rachel didn't make it. They were too busy shopping for Rachel's birthday gifts! And Beth was going to meet us at the theatre. And Kendall at Starbucks.
On to the Warren to watch this amazing film called "Mom's Night Out!"
We took up one whole row!
We all liked the movie! I think we have ALL been stress-paralyzed before with children.
Oh my, I remember quite well as a young mom needing to get away! Being with other friends helped so much! We had play dates (we didn't call it that in the 80's) or being in a babysitting co-op so we could have a couple hours to our selves.
Being a mom can be overwhelming at times. I remember feeling hopeless even, on occasion. Tired. Depressed.
But there is such JOY in being a mom too!! Really! There is nothing so sweet as getting a hug and kiss from your children (or in my case, grandchildren!). I wouldn't trade being a mom for anything! Hang in there girls!!
After the movie, we headed to -
Kendall had just finished a photobooth session and joined us. Here is a pic of her and her husband.
If you want to rent them sometime for a party, you should contact them!
thewichitaphotoboothcompany.com
Baby Hannah and Baby Jackson's first time at Starbucks! The babies got passed around.
"Lord, You are my strength and my song. You ARE my salvation!
I come to You, because You said 'Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest...learn from Me and you will find rest for your souls.'
Lord, I seek Your strength, Your joy and Your rest.
Thank You for emotional rest. You give me Your peace.
You know all about me, because You formed me in my mother's womb.
My friend Sarah and I began leading a young mom's Bible study many years ago. At first, it was with the young leaders' wives of the small groups we had at church, but it has grown.
Here we are wearing "matchy, matchy".
(Sarah, I do believe we've aged.)
Sarah is such a dear friend! Sarah moved next door to us many years ago and what a friend she became!! Love praying with her!
This is our group this year, minus a couple who were missing that day.
Heidi (who is expecting!!)
Julie (who has moved away now)
Each week we would get together at church and would begin the morning with yummy food. We all took turns bringing the breakfast. And we'd share recipes of course!
Usually there was an opening question, like "Where were you on Sept. 11" (since we met that day), or "What was your nickname when you were growing up" (when we talked about Paul's name being changed from Saul).
We shared God moments -
something He had done that week,
something you read in your devotions that blessed you
or an answer to prayer maybe.
We all took turns telling the story of our lives. We would pass around photos of our growing up years and tell about our family, our moves, how we met Christ and what He is doing in us.
This year we studied "Galatians" by Tim Keller.
.
In Galatians, there were people who were saying that Jesus was critical and crucial to getting saved, of course, but that faith in Him alone was not enough to grow you into full acceptance with God. That you needed to adopt a full range of Mosaic ceremonial and cultural customs. They were telling the young believers that performance mattered in order to be acceptable to God! So Paul was pretty upset.
Salvation is God's doing. His action. His work. There is nothing in who we are that saves us. We are too sinful to contribute to our salvation.
The Gospel is about God's grace in sending His Son and in calling us to faith in Him. We are saved by belief in Jesus' work on the cross - nothing else. If we were able to earn it, what was the point of the cross.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
What a blessed year this has been -
to see God at work in each of our lives.
We've had the joys of new babies, the heart break of a friend's birth of a very preemie baby that we prayed home (the doctors said he would not make it).
We prayed for Sydney, Amanda's niece who had leukemia and had bone marrow transplant and is doing well at this time.
We've been praying for health for one of our mom's
and also for the health of another yet unborn baby.
We prayed that one of our girls would be able to get pregnant and she did.
We prayed for our husbands
and our children. Being a mom is such a challenge!
It has just been incredible to watch God at work through the good times and the hard times! He's working on us, but how wonderful that we don't have to strive for perfection in order to be accepted.
