Celebrating birthdays and victories

This week Victoria celebrated her seventh birthday. Hallelujah! In all seriousness it is a major Hallelujah! when you consider what she has been through in the past few years. We are grateful to God that she is still with us. Victoria is truly a reminder of the grace God has shown our family.

Earlier this year the Starlight Foundation made a video of Victoria and our family about the impact of the granting of Victoria's wish to go to the snow. All the Starlight Fundraising dinners have finished for the year, and the video is now available on You Tube. If you want to view it, please click on this here and go to Victoria's starlight story. Having a box of tissues nearby might be a good idea.

Thank you to everyone who was praying for the success of the hand training Victoria was doing during the holidays. Victoria achieved all three of her goals with great success. She even had time to work on a couple of other goals, such as spreading icing on cupcakes! We are very grateful to the therapists that are conducting this research, for their creativity and immense patience! 

The approach taking in this training is called CO-OP - Cognitive orientation to daily occupational performance (CO-OP). If you are interested, here is the blurb about it.

 'CO-OP enables children to discover the answer to problems themselves. We don't give them the answers, however we can make it obvious to them by talking through the activity and bringing their attention to specific components of the activity. Rather than telling, we can ask lots of questions. Try to break tasks down and work on one thing at a time, so as not to overwhelm your child. Celebrate the successes your child achieves.'

The strategy they used for achieving each goal was called - Goal, Plan, Do, Check

GOAL = something you want to do

PLAN = how you are going to get the goal done - the steps you need to take to reach the goal

DO = carrying out the plan

CHECK = checking to see if the plan worked, it you reached your goal

This strategy resonated with me, coming from a background in Project Management. Victoria has been able to use the strategy at home with other activities, such as cracking an egg. Goal - to crack the egg without getting any shell in the cup. Plan - hold egg over cup, tap egg with knife until a crack appears, gently press on crack with thumbs whilst holding egg, don't push fingers through the back of the egg, using thumbs pull the egg apart so yoke drops into cup. Do - do it. Check - look in the cup to see if there is any shell.

It is a very practical way to teach anyone anything, but it does require a lot of patience, time and 'keeping your mouth shut' whilst they learn from the mistakes and continually refine their plan!

The whole learning experience, skills gained, goals reached and other children Victoria met was a huge blessing to her. And praise God we survived the 8am starts each morning in the holidays!

Part 3 and 4 of my strategies for dealing with Low level depression have been published on ABC Open in the past couple of weeks. If you want to read them, please click on these links. If you know of anyone who might benefit from these strategies, please pass the links on to them.

Part 3 - Learning from other people's experiences

Part 4 - Making positive life style changes

As you know, Jesus is the Rock that I have been standing on throughout this entire journey. This passage of scripture best sums up the what I believe about Jesus and the trials we have faced. I pray that it is encouraging and gives hope to others who are facing trials of any magnitude in their lives.

Praised (honoured, blessed) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)! By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. [Born anew] into an inheritance which is beyond the reach of change and decay [imperishable], unsullied and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, Who are being guarded (garrisoned) by God's power through [your] faith [till you fully inherit that final] salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time. [You should] be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations, So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed. 1 Peter 1:3-7 AMP

Thank you for everyone who continues to pray for Victoria and our family. We are thankful to God that Victoria continues to thrive and be a blessing.

Perseverance pays

Here is the beautiful Lily who has helped out twice a week for the past 6 weeks with Victoria's leg stretches. Lily has been such a blessing to Victoria and indeed our whole family. Not only is she proficient at stretching, she is fantastic at braiding hair! Alexandra is always the first one in line!

The physio confirmed last week that all the stretching has been worthwhile. Victoria's hamstring muscle is now well within an acceptable range. Her calf muscle is still on the threshold, however it hasn't gotten worse. So Victoria is still standing on the wedge daily for 20 minutes and wearing the night boot to give the calf a good sustained stretch while she sleeps.

The first week of hand motor training has been successful, with Victoria achieving her three goals in some way. There are still improvements to be had, but her focus and determination has been paying off. 

One of Victoria's goals was to tie her shoelaces. There was one small hitch to this goal, Victoria didn't have any shoes with laces! We were going to use an old pair of Charlotte's shoes. However, when we were at the hospital last week one of the nurses gave the girls some shoes, one pair, which fitted Victoria perfectly, had laces!! We are so grateful for the generosity people continue to show to our family, and for God's perfect timing.

The other benefit of this group training is that Victoria is meeting other children who face similar physical challenges to herself, giving a sense of 'normality' to her physical world, that she doesn't often get.  

This post I wanted to share some statistics relating to Camp Quality, an organisation that has helped our family enormously since we began this cancer journey. As we get wrapped up in our own world it can be easy to loose sight of the number of children and families that are also doing this journey. Here are some of the statistics relating to Australia.

3,137 families living with cancer, spread all over Australia, are part of the Camp Quality family.

7016 children living with cancer across Australia have access to Camp Quality programs

In the last 12 months Camp Quality teams across Australia have successfully delivered 73 family camps, 96 family fun days, 55 kids camps catering for children from the age of four to seventeen.

There are many ways you can support Camp Quality, if you want to know more, please click here.

On my last post I shared a link to some writing I have posted on the ABC Open site about low level depression. Part 2 of this writing has been now been posted, Moving out of the mire of low level depression. If you want to read it, please click here. Or if you know someone who might benefit from my thoughts and strategies, please pass the link on to them.

Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for Victoria. We know that God has His hand on her and that He is faithful.

Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is he who has the God of [special revelation to] Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, Who keeps truth and is faithful forever. Psalm 146:5-6 AMP

Therapy, therapy and therapy

It seems as though there is always something significant going on in Victoria's life. This last month has been no different. She has continued diligently each day to do the 40 minutes stretching of her left leg muscles. We will find out on Thursday what the next stage is in that therapy.

Monday afternoons have been filled with fun in the local hydrotherapy pool, again with the goal of stretching out the left leg muscles. This will continue for the next few weeks.

The riding adventures on Sprinkles have definitely been a highlight of the last few months. Victoria was invited to participate in the Riding for the Disabled Regional Mounted Games at Raymond Terrace. She competed very well, remembering all she has been taught regarding steering Sprinkles in the right direction, and giving commands for stopping and starting.

The stopping command with the reigns is tricky for Victoria. Having less strength in her left hand and arm, when she pulls on the reigns to stop, Sprinkles often veers to the right, as she naturally pulls harder on the right reign! Needless to say, the riding is very good therapy for strengthening her left arm.

All the training paid off, with Victoria winning 3 ribbons in the Led Rider events, 1st in Flagging, 2nd is Bending and 4th in Barrels. Of course I cried when she received these awards, so absolutely grateful to God that she has had this opportunity to be involved in this sport, and has been able to achieve so well. And so very grateful to all the volunteers at RDA who have made the training possible, and have shown such care and dedication to all the riders. They are another of the many blessings we have received despite the circumstances.

School holidays commence on Monday, but there will be little rest for Victoria, as she is participating in a research study entitled 'Functional splinting effectiveness in children with neurological conditions'!  The study aims to find effective treatment options to improve hand use in children with neurological conditions. 

As you can see from this photo, Victoria has limited movement in her left wrist. Yesterday, Victoria and the Occupational Therapist involved in the study came up with 3 goals for Victoria to achieve over the 2 weeks of daily 1 hour therapy sessions:
1. Tying shoelaces

2. Playing keys on piano with all fingers on left hand

3. Doing her own hair in a pony tail

These might all seem like simple tasks to use who have two fully functioning hands. But for Victoria with limited strength and functionality these tasks are very challenging. It is a blessing for Victoria to be a part of this study, and hence receive extra therapy to increase her independence.

During the therapy sessions, and practice sessions, Victoria will wear this splint to give her hand extra support. She has already given it a name, 'the spy glove'. Please pray that these therapy sessions will be effective and Victoria will be able to achieve the goals she herself. 

So as you can see we have been making the most of these treatment free months, helping Victoria to physically improve as much as possible. On the 3rd October it will be 12 months since the chemotherapy treatment stopped. I know I have said it before, but I will say it again, we are so grateful to God that Victoria is so well, and thriving in every way. 

This time off treatment has also given me the opportunity to reflect on all that has transpired over the past few years. There have been some very deep lows and some very big highs. At times the lows have been very very difficult to navigate through. In an effort to encourage and help other people who may find themselves in a similar situation, I have written about my own experiences of being a carer, suffering low level depression, and the strategies I used to get through. My story is posted as part of the latest ABC Open project, Speak you mind. If you are interested in reading about it, click on this link The Carer needs to be cared for

I had so much to write about, it has been split into 4 parts and will be posted weekly over the next 4 weeks. If you know someone who you think might benefit from this information, please share the link to this post.

Ultimately it has been my ever faithful God that has pulled me through, accompanied with the love, prayers and support of family and friends. Thank you to everyone who has helped me in some way get to where I am today, in a very good place!

Keep and protect me, O God, for in You I have found refuge, and in You do I put my trust and hide myself. I say to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good beside you or beyond You...The Lord is my chosen and assigned portion, my cup; You hold and maintain my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good heritage. I will bless the Lord, Who has given me counsel; yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety, For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the place of the dead), neither will You suffer Your holy one [Holy One] to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16;1-2, 5-11 AMP

Please pray that Victoria will continue to be her namesake, victorious and a conqueror, in all areas of her life. And that Ken and I will be alert to any attacks that may come prior to the next scan on November 3rd. Thank you

MRI, TV Filming and Stretches

First things first, the MRI indicated the tumour is stable! Praise God. Thank you to everyone who prayed for this result, and that Victoria could again to the MRI without the General Anesthetic. This result means another three months treatment free. It means that Victoria will be able to complete an entire year of school without being on treatment. The next MRI is scheduled for 3rd November 2014.

Such is the diversity in Victoria's life, an MRI in the morning, and then filming at Swansea Library for a segment on the Today Show, about the BaRK reading program in the afternoon! The library phoned a couple of weeks ago, wondering if Victoria would be part of the promotion for the program. Of course she said yes, as BaRK is such a great program.

We were so proud of Victoria as she read so clearly and with so much expression! With the help of extra reading support at school and the BaRK program, Victoria's reading has improved by almost 10 levels since the beginning of the year.

Being able to complete the year of schooling with minimal interruptions will position her so well for next year.  We are so grateful that this prayer has been answered.

Alexandra and I had the privilege of attending the book launch of 'Dogs that make a difference'. A book published by the Delta Society Australia. It is a collection of stories from the volunteers about "the people they have come to know, lessons they have learned and the ways they have seen firsthand how a bundle of soft fur, a wagging tail, and a wet nose can make a difference to someone's life." The dogs that Victoria has had interactions with both in hospital and through the BaRK program, all did an autograph dog style (paw print) in the book! Alexandra enjoyed catching up with Zac.

In my last blog post I asked for prayer for Victoria's left leg, as the plantar fascia muscle, calf muscle and hamstring muscles had all tightened substantially, giving Victoria considerable pain when she walked. Anyone who has suffered from plantar fasciitis will know exactly what I mean. Speaking from personal experience, it is painful! 

Victoria's physiotherapist gave her some stretches to do each day; a 20 minute sustained stretch of the hamstring combined with a foot massage, followed by a 20 minute sustained stretch of the calf muscle. The photo above is Victoria standing on a 'wedge' which helps to give a better stretch of the calf. 

Thankfully a combination of iPad games and home-reading helped to pass the time. Also, a lovely teenage girl has come to help out with the stretches for a couple of afternoons, which has made a huge difference to me and given Victoria a bit of variety. We are so blessed by the community we live in.

The prayers and stretches have worked, another Praise God! When we visited the physiotherapist this week, she advised that the muscles were just in the acceptable range, so casting would not be required. However, we do have to continue with the daily stretching routine for at least another month. We have now set up a reward chart for both Victoria and myself! I have already chosen my reward.

We are very grateful for these excellent results regarding the tumour and Victoria's leg muscles. The 'havoc' of the two weeks leading up to the scan has once again been proven to be nothing other than mind-games and an attempt to steal our peace. Thank you again for your prayers and support as we continue on and Victoria Grace continues to live out her name - Victorious, Conqueror, Favour and Blessing.

Finally, as for me, the mother who feels so deeply for all her daughter has overcome and will have to overcome in the future, this scripture sums up my heart and mind:

But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God and made Him my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works. Psalm 73:28 AMP

Exams, Anxiety and Truth

What a blessing to have three daughters who love to dress up, sing, dance and laugh! They certainly help to put a smile on my face. This photo booth was just some of the fun we had at a recent Camp Quality family camp.

As usual life has continued to be very full. On Wednesday Victoria helped out with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians clinical examinations for paediatric specialists. Victoria played the role of patient for three candidates. It was fascinating to see them go through the diagnosis process, combined with their nerves and learning experiences to date. Victoria was the model patient, and thankfully didn't tell the candidates what tests they should be doing (eg do you want me to do the walking test now, or do you want to hit my knee with that hammer thing?). When the examinations were completed Victoria said to me, 'Mum I understood most of what they said, except for some of the really big words!'

This whole experience could have been very confronting, listening four times over, in the space of 4 hours, to people describing Victoria's disability and possible causes for it, . However we chose to view the experience as an great opportunity to give back to the medical profession that has done so much for Victoria. 

As we were waiting for the various candidates to come in, I continued to read some of the book 'Parenting your powerful child' by Dr Kevin Leman. Here is what I read in the section about 'special children'...

'Don't ever let a diagnosis - whether Down syndrome, Tourette's syndrome, Asperger's syndrome, ADD/ADHD, or anything else - define your child. And don't let that diagnosis be an excuse for you as a parent to allow inappropriate behaviour either. Neither one does your child any favour. But encouraging their talents and unique contributions not only rewards them with positive self-worth but allows them to contribute to more people's lives than you could ever imagine'. (p84)

So indeed that is what happened for Victoria on Wednesday morning, given her unique circumstances, she was able to make a unique contribution to the paediatric specialists of the future.

As Victoria's next MRI draws closer, next Wednesday 6th August, the devil has been up to his old tricks again. Thankfully we are getting wiser to them, in Jesus Name. We know this truth..

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Ephesians 6:12 NIV

And we know this truth...

[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross]. Colossians 2:15 AMP

In light of this spiritual battle, today I thought I would give you a picture of just some of the tricks he tries to use to increase our anxiety, 2 or 3 weeks out from a scan. These tricks are all symptoms that could be interpreted as there being growth of the tumour, or they could be just normal problems any child would experience. They include things such as, during the first week back at school, falling over every day, with both knees being continually having to be bandaged; waking up with headaches at night and bedwetting.

With being confronted with these symptoms our anxiety levels do increase. Here is what I have learnt to do to combat the anxiety. I am sharing this in the hope that it might help someone reading this who is struggling with anxiety in some area in their life.

1. Write down the symptoms that are manifesting. 

2. Write down all the possible causes for the symptoms, other than tumour growth

3. Confess my anxiety to prayer partners and ask for specific prayer covering.

4. Re-read the promises God has given me for Victoria's life, and proclaim them out aloud. Here is one of the scriptures God has specifically given me for Victoria.

Because Victoria loves me, says the LORD, I will rescue Victoria; I will protect Victoria, for Victoria acknowledges my name. Victoria will call upon me, and I will answer her; I will be with Victoria in trouble, I will deliver Victoria and honour her. With long life I will satisfy Victoria and show her my salvation. Psalm 91:14-16 NIV

Thank you for your prayers at this time for Victoria and our family. We know that God has Victoria and us covered. Please pray that she can again stay so marvelously still for the MRI next Wednesday, and that the left side of her body continues to be healed in Jesus Name.

One last scripture for today, the truth shall set us free ...

Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all you concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in the faith [against his onset - rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favour], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you. 1 Peter 5:7-10 AMP

Fear, Faith and Fun

As always we have had an eventful few weeks in the Robinson household. On Saturday afternoon it appeared Victoria was getting unwell. As her temperature climbed above 38 degrees, and she still has the portacath in, we knew where we had to go! After a 48 hour stay at John Hunter, Victoria was feeling and looking much better. Even managed to get a spot of teaching done, checking Mummy's maths skills. Victoria got to see all her old friends....

Captain Funkytown, one of the Starlight Captains visited with the balloons and some magic tricks. 

The clown doctors, from The Humour Foundation, visited with more balloons and jokes.

And left Victoria and Poppy with a big smile!

Sister Alexandra and cousin Jade had some fun with Captain Sweetheart, another Starlight Captain, who is a very clever face painter!

Charlotte too lined up for face painting.

A trip to the physiotherapist last week had resulted in the news that Victoria's left calf had started to tighten up again, so a night boot was needed again. When Victoria was feeling better we made a visit to the physio department and a new nightboot was made. One of the pink variety! Please pray that this boot will enable the calf muscle to stretch out.

It has been about 10 months since Victoria has had to go to hospital as a result of a fever. I had even unpacked all our hospital emergency bags. It was very challenging for the siblings to see Victoria in hospital again, connected up to the drip etc. Alexandra made us all laugh when she said to Victoria, watch out for that cord coming out of your bottom!

Thankfully the work we have putting into making them all more domesticated over the past 10 months is starting to pay off, as they did some great breakfast cooking of pancakes and bacon whilst Victoria and I were away. They even bought some pancakes up to hospital for Victoria and I. The next area of domestic learning will be room tidying, putting on the washing machine and hanging out, bringing in, sorting and putting away the washing!

Thank you to everyone who prayed and helped out in some practical way whilst Victoria was in hospital. We all appreciated it.

From an emotional perspective it has been heavy going for me, being back in J1 ward for our daughter, rather than just visiting other people. The whole question of what is God doing was front of mind. We are continuing to trust God for Victoria's healing, but when something like this happens, or when we get a scan result showing stable, but the tumour is still there, giving the threat of another 12 months of chemotherapy,  it is a huge challenge to keep trusting God. I always have to return to the Bible, scouring it for encouragement, and put on some worship music and bath in His presence. On my Wendy, a God Girl blog I have written more about the way God is helping me to be an overcomer in this area. Please click on this link if you want to read more about that. I am choosing to continue to trust God with our precious little girl. 

Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. 

Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.

Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Psalm 143:7-8 NIV

Thank you to everyone who has donated blood and contributed to The Conqueror's goal of 50 lives saved. That goal has been reached! The next goal is 100 lives saved  by 31st December 2014. If you are able to donate blood and haven't yet, please do, as it makes such a tangible difference to lives, including many of the children we have met in hospital.

We have had some fun over the past couple of weeks too, courtesy of a Camp Quality Family Camp at the beautiful Myuna Bay. For us now these Camps are not just about hanging out as a family doing lots of fun activities, but they are also about meeting up again with families we have gotten to know over the past few years and having a good laugh together. All our experiences are slightly different, but many of the emotional challenges we have faced are the same.

Victoria and Alexandra enjoyed the craft table as per usual!

And were very proud of their final creations.

Especially Alexandra.

Victoria lined up for the egg and spoon race.

After numerous races in an effort to win a prize, the toll was beginning to show. Perseverance is just one of the many character traits God has built into this girl. 

Needless to say, she didn't win a prize.

Archery was next on the schedule, with everyone participating.

I think Alexandra wins the prize for the 'most determined' look.

Charlotte showed plenty of style.

After lunch it was time for the giant swing.

All kitted up, Charlotte was ready to swing.

Up, up, up and ...

away!

Marshall too kitted up, and went ..

right to the top,

And enjoyed the view.

It was a fabulous weekend away. Ken and I particularly enjoyed the parents dinner out at the Toronto Yacht Club, whilst the wonderful Camp Quality volunteers looked after all the children! We are very grateful to everyone who donates time and money to this organisation to enable families living with children with cancer to come together and have some fun.

So that is a snap shot of the highs and lows of the Robinson family in the last few weeks. We thank God for the blessings of the fun family times, and for the strength and faith to make it through the not so fun times. He is our Rock.

I love you, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.

He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:1-2 NIV

Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for Victoria and our family. You are all a blessing to us. Victoria's next scan is 6th August.

Reading, Riding and Remembering

Over the past few weeks Victoria has had the opportunity to participate in the Lake Macquarie Library's BaRK program. BarK - Building Reading confidence for Kids involves reading each week for 15 minutes to a dog, provided by Delta Society, over an 8 week period. The aim is to build children's confidence with reading. 

Victoria has enjoyed reading to Zac, a trained therapy dog. The Delta Society is the group that also provides the therapy dogs that Victoria met during her hospital stays. It never ceases to amaze me the many many ways people are helping others and being so generous with their time, gifts and talents.

Riding continues to be part of Victoria's therapy program too. Last week she had the opportunity to do some grooming with her left hand. 

This week was a little chillier, so had to pull out the warm jackets. Victoria had to navigate some of the natural 'hazards' when riding outside this week.

Alexandra, one of Victoria's most loyal supporters, had some fun in the mud this week at RDA. I praise God that He bought Alexandra into our lives, when we thought with 3 children our family was complete. Alexandra brings so much joy and laughter to our family. She has resilience and maturity well beyond her years. Alexandra Fay you are a blessing to us all! Our Heavenly Father always knows best.

Over the past few weeks I have been participating in a Redkite counselling telegroup, designed to help parents transitioning from having a child on treatment, to moving to a 'new' normal life. As life never returns to how it was before the child's diagnosis. The discussions have been very emotional and encouraging. Emotional, as we talk about what we have been through, the impacts on our children, marriages and families. Encouraging, as we realise how resourceful and resilient we have become. 

For me, these therapy sessions have taken on another aspect too. As Victoria continues to live with the tumour, from a medical perspective, the prospect of more treatment is inevitable. We continue to trust God regarding the necessity and timing of further treatment. However, should further treatment be necessary, these therapy sessions have helped me to evaluate the various strategies we used before and formulate some different strategies should they be needed in the future. 

These Redkite therapy sessions have also reminded me how much closer I have drawn to God over these past three years. I have written a bit about that journey on my latest God Girl blog entry if you are interested in reading more about that, just click on this link.  His word has truly become my life's blood. This scripture sums up where I am today in my walk with Jesus. I hope it encourages you to.

I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,

the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed.

I remember it all - oh, how well I remember -

the feeling of hitting the bottom.

But there's one other thing I remember,

and remembering, I keep a grip on hope.

God's loyal love couldn't have run out,

his merciful love couldn't have dried up.

They're created new every morning.

How great your faithfulness!

I'm sticking with GOD (I say it over and over).

He's all I've got left.

GOD proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,

to the woman who diligently seeks.

It's a good thing to quietly hope,

quietly hop for help from GOD.

It's a good thing when you're young

to stick it out through the hard times.

When life is heavy and hard to take,

go off by yourself. Enter the silence.

Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions.

Wait for hope to appear.

Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.

The "worst" is never the worst.

Lamentations 3:19-30 MSG

Thank you again to everyone who continues to stand with us in prayer and support us in so many practical ways.