Casting Crumbs

Jaden is 2! His favorite thing is green tractors.

This post is a little late. But better late than never. I wanted to share these cute pics of Jaden turning two! His birthday was October 6th. I can’t believe it has been two years since this little joy-bringer came into our lives. He is a wonderful boy that is hilarious, teasing and full of fun.

Ross’s birthday is the day before Jaden’s, so they shared a party at Ross and Rita’s home.

Birthday Boys!!

I made Jaden an Elmo Cake. It was strawberry with cream cheese frosting. Yum!

He never did get this candle blown out! He kept commenting how the other one was “broken” because Julian had blown it out.

Please stop singing!!

All day long Jaden has sang “Happy Birthday” to himself, but when everyone broke out in song it was a whole new thing. He was so embarrassed and hid his face till it was over.

Uncle Kenny and Evely

Isn’t she cute in her party hat!

Mom had a good report from the lung Dr. yesterday!

Our prayers were heard and answered. She does have some fluid in her lungs. More in the left lung than the right one. The Dr said that as she begins her chemo treatments, that it will take care of this fluid. He doesn’t foresee this being a chronic problem or having to take more measures to drain this ongoing. Yeah!!

Mom was really relieved. She had a very very good day on Friday. My Aunt flew back home Friday night, too.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above you heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. AMEN!

Also, for those praying for Mom and her visit to the Oncologist. It is this Thursday morning at 9:15 instead of Friday. We had the date wrong.

Aunt Carolyn and Mom met us at McD’s for lunch today after a Dr. appointment.

My Aunt Carolyn flew back from AZ this last week for a visit and to help my Mom. She is Mom’s only sister and as you can tell they really look like sisters.

It has been a real blessing having her here this week. I know that my Mom greatly enjoyed the company and the encouragement. My Aunt is a real woman of faith and it rubs off on you when she is around.

Aunt C lovin’ on Evely

She had never met Evely before and hadn’t seen Jaden since he was 8 months old. They really took to her and I think she has enjoyed them, too.

Thanks, Zach and Abby for letting us borrow your Grandma for the week! We’ll miss her when she leaves tomorrow.

Mom and Dad at Silver Dollar City

I feel it very necessary to tell this important piece of the story of Mom’s journey with cancer. This is how it all begins and it is imperative that those praying know this and pray this with us.

Back in July when Mom started feeling bad, we had decided to take off to Branson for a weekend trip. She didn’t even know if she felt like going but decided to make the trip anyway. We had a really fun time at Silver Dollar City and doing some fun things around the town even though Mom really felt awful. She was a real trooper, even walking all those hills at Silver Dollar City!

In the middle of the night, she had got up to go to the bathroom and just wasn’t feeling well. She grabbed the Gideon’s Bible there in the room and thought she would read Psalm 119. Her and my Dad had been going through a study on the Word of God and she thought that would be appropriate. As she read, her mind kept being drawn to the Psalm next to it , the 118th Chapter. There in that version there was a verse set apart from the rest and it said “You shall not die, but you shall live to declare the glories of the Lord.” This verse arrested her and she felt that God was speaking this verse to her. She felt this so much that the next morning when she got up she told my Dad, “I don’t know what this means but I really feel like God told me this last night!”. He of course read the verse and jokingly said “Well good, I am glad you aren’t going to die.”

They had NO idea what was coming in the days ahead. . . .but, God did!

We believe and know that God does intervene in our lives. He wants to bring glory to himself through our meager existence. Our lives do matter and how we live them matters. We don’t know what the days ahead will bring but we know Who does. None of us know the number of our days, but we know Who does. Jesus is Supreme! He CAN heal, bring comfort, joy, peace and walk with us in the midst of our circumstances.

We hope that as you pray and think about my Mom, that the Lord Jesus will draw you close to his heart. That you will experience peace in your circumstances. We ask that you pray Psalm 118:17 with us and believe that God is going to do a miraculous work in her life. Just watch!!

Psalm 118:15-19
The voice of rejoicing and salvation Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
The right hand of the Lord is exalted; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the Lord.
The Lord has chastened me severely, But He has not given me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, And I will praise the Lord.

I am printing off all your encouraging words for mom! Thanks for them!

As many of you know, my Mom is recovering from surgery. She was diagnosed with peritoneal cancer and underwent major surgery on September 21st.

October 20th she will see the Oncologist to set up chemotherapy. They want her to take chemo every three weeks. She is also doing several cancer fighting homeopathic things on her own.

Her main prayer request right now is that the fluid that was building up around her lungs will subside. They had to drain quite a bit of fluid off before surgery, during and afterward. They are monitoring this and said if it became a chronic problem they would put a shunt in so that it could be drained at home. She really doesn’t want this to be done. Pray that the fluid will not be a problem at all. She goes to the lung Dr. this Friday, the 14th, for him to check this.

She is doing well mentally and spiritually. She is amazing. Her faith in God through all of this has really grown. Her life is in His hands and she knows that she can rest in that – even though the road is a long one ahead.

I will keep updates on how she is doing here. Please feel free to ask questions and check on her often. Also look at Encouraging Crumbs for Mom (coming soon). You can leave a prayer, a scripture, something encouraging for her. (She has especially enjoyed people sharing scripture that they are praying for her!!) She really really appreciates these things to uplift her spirit. I will see that she either reads them here, or will print them off for her.

Thanks everyone for your prayers. They mean so much!!!

This is Julian feeding the fish at my Dad’s pond

Crumb Casting is not an art at all! It’s actually living a life of continually casting your care upon a God that cares for you.

“Cast your bread upon the water and it will come back to you”.

This year I have felt that God is wanting to perfect my faith. That sounds so blah to say that, yet He is doing it in a huge way. I have known with my head about faith all my life. I even have faith, but he is teaching my heart what my head has known for years! I am now having to put my eyes on the unseen and not what I can see. . .because I have to.

My life as a stay-at-home mom is one of constant casting my bread upon the waters. Every diaper I change, nose I wipe, juice cup I fill, or meal I make is casting bread. However, I am finding that sometimes I don’t even have a full piece of bread to throw, so I am just Casting Crumbs. Yet, God takes my crumby tries and will use it and someday it will come back to me.

A great friend of mine has been after me to start this blog for awhile. I finally am ready to try it. I am praying that you will find humor, encouragement, friendship and faith in the pages to come. I also want this to be a way that people can be updated on how Mom is doing (more to come in this area).

So come check in now and then. Share in my everyday life, my great kiddos, hilarious husband and my laughs and cries. Come toss a crumb with me!!