10 Reasons I CHOOSE to Submit to My Husband...........

Submitting to my husband is a CHOICE that I've made as his wife.  It's not something that he has forced me to do, or something that he expects me to do but something that I WANT to do!  Here is why....

1.  I am a very strong willed person.  I can be very opinionated and passionate about certain subjects and because of this I'm absolutely certain I had quite my share of temper tantrums when I was a kid!  Sometimes I need someone to make me humble.  I need someone to say, "Hey, you are wrong and you need to sit there and think about what you've done!"  (not that my husband actually says this) But I need that balance in my life of someone else who shares the same passions but isn't afraid to tell me when I need to "simma' down" a bit, or even at times, get more up in arms!  

2. I respect and honor my husband.  He is a very intelligent man who has inspired me immensely to go after my dreams.  I believe in him just as he believes in me.  I have learned so much from our conversations and debates and never stop learning from him.  He has taught me so many things about the bible and even just life in general.  

3. My husband respects me.  He holds me in high regard like his very own princess.  He really listens to the things I talk to him about and he never pushes me to the side because he is too busy.  I come first in his life after the Lord and his love for me is obvious.  

4.  He is my best friend.  We shop together, laugh together, have children together, eat meals together, do laundry together, clean the house together, pray together, and worship the same God together.  

5.  It creates unity in our home.  Submitting to my husband isn't what the world thinks it is.  It's not just me sitting back and keeping quiet and letting him make all the decisions.  It is being partners, having respect for each other so much that you don't WANT to make a decision without consulting the other person.  I am not required by my husband to ask him before I make a decision, I love him and value him so much that I WANT to include him in all my decisions.  For the most part we talk about everything together and we make decisions together!  If there is ever a situation where we do not agree (which never happens) then my husband will get the final say.  I don't have to like it, but that is the way it will be.  

6.  God says!

Ephesians 5:22-24: Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

But God also says:

Ephesians 5:25; Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

YES!! My husband is commanded to have so much love for me that he would die for me just as Christ died for our sins.  

7.   Because my husband loves me this much he would NEVER be bossy, rude, conceited, or selfish with the fact that I have chosen to be a submissive wife to him, but he is thankful, gentle, thoughtful, and receptive to all my opinions, passions, and temper tantrums!! 

8.  It is healthy for us to learn how to serve others besides ourselves.  Being submissive not only  has brought us closer together as husband and wife but it has taught both of us how to think of the other before ourselves.  He is always putting my needs before his, and I him.  Sure there are times we let ourselves get a bit selfish but because we have a great relationship where we can say, " hey I think that was a little selfish" to one another...we usually get right back on track.

9.  It keeps the sparks alive.  Well, we have 6 kids...need I say more?  :)   We love each other more today than we did the day we got married.  Because I've CHOSEN to be submissive it causes my husband to value me and adore me.  When you have someone who thinks of you first in all things, it makes you want to do the same for them and that can be very attractive!

10.  We have a great marriage.  Neither of us feels insecure, nor do we ever bring up the "D" word in our arguments.  We have disagreements, and get angry at one another BUT we know that in the end we will always have someone to hug and make up with when it is all over.  

You see being submissive is a JOY!  It doesn't steal away my rights as a woman or an individual but it brings me JOY as a wife, friend, and Child of God.  Trust me it was a struggle in the beginning and even now some days it still is, but the rewards and blessings that come out of our marriage is more than worth it.  

WE ARE HOME OWNERS!!!!!

Well folks....After 486 days of waiting, fighting, and praying- WE OWN OUR HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

At 3:00pm Today, Nathan, I and the girls met up with our Realtor, and for the first time since this started over a year ago, were able to meet the other people who have helped with the fight to get us our house!!  We had an amazing Loan officer who not only did everything she could to get us a fantastic rate, but also prayed with us through the entire process, as well as an Attorney and Realtor who did the same! We had tons of family and friends praying for us as well!  God had given us an army of saints who rallied behind us in our time of need!!  There were LONG hours, and days, and tears, and prayers for our home and in the End, God came through EVERY TIME!!  The Lord put in my spirit from the first day we saw this house that it was ours, and we didn't stop fighting until it happened!  I am so thankful for these people who stood behind us during this long draining and discouraging process....but I pray that it helped to strengthen their faith and that they were able  to see the face of God working in our lives along the way!

I have never in my life experienced such miracles over and over, one after another before.  I've come to see that God has everything planned out for us and had his own agenda for when and how it is going to happen.  I went through a period of time the last few years where the whole world was a dark place and the presence of God in my life was really hard to find.  I would cry out to the Lord daily in the midst of that darkness but the light was always so hard to find.  God has used an amazing chain of events from our baby Joy that we lost, to the birth of our baby Vaerity, and now the whole house situation to teach me that I can not control my own life!  I HAVE to rely on Him and only Him for guidance, because He is the only one in this world who knows what they are doing!  God does so many things that are hard to understand in our lives, but if there were no suffering there would be no need for the Lord.  "His strength is made perfect in our weakness."

After our closing we drove to Steak n Shake for a Celebration dinner!  When we got home we had a surprise waiting for us!!  It was the PERFECT ending to our long journey!!  Thank you Lord for all you've done for us!!  "My God has supplied all our needs"

House update.......we are ALMOST THERE!!!

Well, the last house update was back in November.  We ended up on the news and the Senator even stepped in to help us after the house was being put up for auction.  Since then, after a ton of prayer- we finally received approval from the first mtg company; however, we could not move forward because we had to yet again get the 2nd mtg. holder to approve the sale again and it seemed like they were taking their time.

The biggest issue coming up was that our home inspection was expiring on January 10th and that would mean that we would have to pay another 450.00 to get it done again!  Our loan officer was able to get some type of extension on it but it would still cost us another 100.00!  It was obvious since yesterday was the 6th that we weren't going to be able to close by friday!

Last night before bed, I prayed and asked God to again take this over.  I asked him to please allow us to close before it expired so that we didn't have to waste anymore money!  

We received an email this morning from our loan officer stating that she re-calculated the days and our home inspection does not expire until the 16th!!!!  Then an hour ago I received another email from our attorney that the 2nd mtg. had been approved!!!  (talk about late in the midnight hour!) 

If  I've learned anything through this process it is  how important it is to have an ARMY of God's Children around us to pray for us!!  I know we had hundreds of people praying for us and our house situation and I am beyond thankful that Christ would give us so many amazing people in our lives who care so much about our well being......

We are ALMOST there!!!  Thank you LORD for answered prayers!!

Cooper Family 2013 Review...

So each year I like to write a little blog post, kinda like a New Years Letter to not only let our friends and family know about what we did last year but also to reflect on the things that God taught us in our lives this year.  No year is ever complete without having a learning experience from the Lord and for our family 2013 was JUST that!

Pumpkin (7), will be having her 8th birthday in almost 30 days!  She has shown a more grown up side this past year and I cannot believe she is no longer my little baby!  This year I have witnessed all our labor and hard work molding her into a child who LOVES the Lord, pay off!  She is very strong about telling people that she isn't allowed to do something that she knows mom and dad wouldn't approve of, she has become very honest to where I know I can believe whatever she tells me and I know she wouldn't tell a lie.  She is so helpful around the house and always completes her chores happily without complaint!  She is in 2nd grade this year and is doing so well with her work!  She is definitely better at spelling and math than I ever was!

Little Bear (6), is in first grade this year, she is doing really well in math and does all her work very well.  She is my little fashionista and is always designing new outfits and hairstyles for the other kids.  She has stepped up this year as my "little mommy."  She LOVES the babies and has a sweet way about her where they all just love her!  She loves to hold the baby and rock her, and speaks so sweetly to Goobies and helps with changing diapers without me asking her at all.  I've made a point to not ask them to change diapers or take care of the babies because I just feel that it is my job to do those things, but she loves to help with the babies.  She has also started to blossom as such an encourager.  She loves to make Nathan and I little notes here and there to tell us how much she loves us and cares about us.

Hobble-bobble (4) is starting to hear her conscience.  Used to be, when the little ones would start getting into things they shouldn't, she was right there next to them doing the same thing.  But now she come to us and tells us that they are doing wrong instead of joining in.  This year she is too young to do school with us so she does learning websites online.  She has actually learned to read this way!  She has started reading easy stuff and really enjoys learning.  She has been begging me to start Kindergarten this year but I'm determined to wait till she is 5 so that I can group her with Sweet-Pea and do K with both of them next year like I did with Pumpkin and Little Bear.

Sweet-pea (3) has had a blast playing in our new house!  She is OBSESSED with Twilight-sparkle on My Little Pony, and the color purple.  This kid would watch My Little Pony 24/7 if I let her!  She has started trying to be "mommy's little helper" especially when I'm in the kitchen.  She loves to feel like a big girl and loves to help make dinner and treats for the whole family!

Goobies (2) still has a love affair with her passy.  This child is the ONLY child I've had who was A. attached to a passy, and B. had one past 1 year.  When she turned 1, she picked up a passy that she found one day and I haven't been able to get it away from her since.  This coming year we will be starting to phase out her passy!  She is also in the temper tantrum stage.  She HATES to be told no and it begins with a soft whine and ends with  full out spread eagle on the floor!  LOL  Gotta love the two's!
Baby Dumplin' (4mo) is doing great!  She is still nursing and growing.  She has taken a love to a new bear lovey we bought her for Christmas and will sleep well as long as it is touching her cheek.  She is sleeping through the night now and has recently put herself on a every three hour schedule with her feedings.  She is itching to sit up and look around so she also got a bumbo seat for Christmas as well to help her with that longing.


Nathan & I are doing great, our marriage is wonderful and our love for each other grows with each passing day.  His back pain is off and on now- some days it seems under control but others he is in a lot of pain.  We've been researching other natural remedies to help him with it and are still in the process of that.  I will be starting classes back through LU Online in a few weeks and looking forward to continuing my degree.

Our family has gone through a ton to ups and downs this year with trying to purchase our new house, but we've also seen God do so many miracles in the process.  We put the initial contract on it in October of 2012, and had to have that contract re-approved three times.  It was even put on the auction block and we were only notified 24 hours before hand.  We were on Channel 6 news twice and Senator Tim Kain stepped in to help us save the house!  Only God could have made all that happen for us!  Our girls were able to watch God's hand at work this year as we prayed as a family daily, asking God to give us this home and one by one he answered each and every one of them!  We still have yet to close on the house, but we've been living here for 4 months now!  We have complete faith that God will make this happen for us in 2014!  If there is anything we've learned this year about the Lord it is that he is FAITHFUL!  God WILL supply all of our needs!  HIS plan is the best plan, not our own.  But most importantly we've had to learn to let go of our own plans and realize that God is always in control...good, or bad, we are always right where he wants us to be right when we need to be there!!  After three years of heart ache, and even at times (for me) questioning if God was even hearing me, He has shown his face to us this year!  Any doubts I ever had about God before have all been blown away this year.  Through everything we've gone through we just kept holding on and saying and believing that "God is in Control!"   And thank GOD that he was!

We are looking forward to 2014- we KNOW that God has HUGE plans in store for us again this year, and even though those plans may not be our plans, or what we would like to happen in our lives, we know that His way, is the BEST way!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  

God's way is the best way.....

One of the things I love most about my husband is that since he came into my life he has challenged me intellectually!  Nathan is the most intelligent person I've ever met in my life!  It was very attractive when we first met; however, when we got married and he would easily win our 32 hour arguments over biblical theology, (when I knew if I had the smarts to get across what I knew the correct way, I would win) his intelligence became completely frustrating!  I loved that he was smart and knew so many things but I hated that I didn't have a fair fight!  After several years I began to love reading!  I started reading everything in sight!  Pretty soon, before I knew it I was pulling out Nathan's old College level books and reading everything I could on the bible.  Before I knew it, we had a fair fight, (and I started to win quite a bit more)!  Of course I didn't completely, ONLY, decide I needed to do this to win a fight, it was more because I realized that there were a lot of people out there like Nathan that I had been running into over the years who would listen to someone who had proper training and intellect and can tell you WHY they believe something over someone who tells you something like "I just know it!"  Yeah, big difference!

My journey to becoming a life-long learner started when I enrolled as a first time student at Liberty University Online in December of 2011.  My intentions in going to college is that when I graduate with my four year degree I will be able to walk up to someone like Nathan and tell them WHY the bible is the truth, not just because God said so but also because there is real physical evidence, and I will know exactly what that is!  In the meantime this journey has put me on the path to other projects.  

When I had my miscarriage last year I went into one of the health food stores in the area.  I talked to the woman there about Nathan's back condition and how we've been trying EVERY form of therapy and medication we could to keep his pain at bay so that we didn't have to go through surgery.  She mentioned that there may be some essential oils that could help his back I might want to look into.  I did a few searches on the internet but let it go because I wasn't able to find much.  I hate that he has to take the medication he is on because while it may be prolonging his ability to go without surgery and pain, it is internally deteriorating his organs and health and shaving years off his life.  I need my husband he is my best friend, my other half, and I don't know how I EVER functioned in life without him!  I need him to be around for our six girls!

After learning this past year that Nathan has high cholesterol it forced me to take a look at our diet and the things we've been allowing in our bodies!  I started reading a book called "Real Food, What we eat and Why!"  It was amazing!!  It opened my eyes to so many things about our eating habits that I never knew before!  While I knew it would be a challenge for me, I knew I had to change the things I fed my family!  The junk going into our bodies from fast food and processed foods was killing us just as fast as Nathan's medications would!  While I knew that going completely organic right away for our family would not be effective because of cost, I knew that making small changes one by one would make a huge difference.  So we started with Raw milk.  Then we went on to eliminating canned foods, and boxed foods and we only buy fresh or occasionally frozen veggies.  I buy a lot of whole chickens, bake them and make my own chicken stock.  I've basically learned the basics of a good diet this year.

This road lead me down several other roads!  I saw a woman post in an online forum about being a Young Living Essential Oil distributor.  I immediately was interested because I knew that there was oils out there that could help Nathan and potentially get him off his medications.  I signed up and completed all the training courses for the first step within a day in a half!  I wanted to lean as much as I could about how these would work for my family!  If I had learned anything from learning about eating healthier it was that God has created all things to work for us naturally and everything just gets messed up when Man interferes!  God has supplied all our needs to help us with aches and pains, diseases and ailments and when we take certain medications that are man made we are trading one pain for another, or one discomfort for a more long-term discomfort.  This lead me to researching and learning all the combinations possible to treat my family!  So far we've been able to treat eczema, ear infections, exhaustion, temper tantrums, back pain, insomnia, and more, ourselves!  Every dose of tylenol, or advil that we take may help to relieve our symptoms for the short-term, but the long term effects it will have on us will end up being significant!

And again this lead me down another road.  I have a fb friend who has been posting a lot about vaccines and what is actually in them.  I have six children who up to now has all had their vaccinations on time and without question.  In the seven years I've been taking my children to the pediatrician I never ONCE thought "hmm....maybe they don't know exactly what they are doing."  Until now!  I've spent my entire night (between refilling milk cups, nursing a baby, and sharing my bed with two toddlers), trying to research the vaccines that I allowed our pediatrician (without question) to inject into my children.  I am walking away from that research completely shocked and sick about what I've discovered!  There is SO many different things I could say about what I've learned but let me just make a few points about it so this isn't a complete novel.

#1 According to NBC News in an article written 12/15/2010 Traditional cribs  that have a drop-side have been recalled and outlawed after more than 30 infant deaths within the last DECADE.

So, because of just 3 infant deaths per year for 10 years, they outlawed these cribs. 

#2   Most hospitals require or even automatically administer the Hepatitis B vaccination to newborns that are 12 hours old.  Hepatitis B can only be contracted  A. From IV Drug abuse, B. Sexual Activity with an infected partner, C. Blood transfusion, or D. from the mother.    (information received from articles.mercola.com) Between 1992-2005 there were 36,788 adverse reactions to the Hep B vaccine, and of these 14,800 were severe, life threatning or debilitating, and 781 people were reported to have died.  This is thought to also be an under estimate of deaths because most babies deaths were reported as SIDS and not as a reaction to the Hep B vaccine.

So you are telling me that after only 3 deaths per year for 10 years they OUTLAWED a crib; yet, after 36,788 adverse reactions within 13 years along with 14,800 life threatening and debilitating reactions, OH and PLUS 781 deaths- We are still REQUIRED to pump this into our newborn children three times over the first three months of their lives!    Does this seem outrageous to anyone else?  Not to mention my newborn will not be abusing drugs, or having sex.  If they ever need a blood transfusion all donated blood is completely tested for any sign of Hep B.  AND mothers can be tested for the HEP B virus to make sure their babies will not contract it.  So with all that in place is it worth risking the life of a newborn to get these vaccines?

Let me just give you one more little fact here I came across before I sign off...

#3 Pertussis: a highly contagious respiratory infection.  It is recommended that your child receive 4 doses of this shot between the ages of 2 months and 15 months.  According to the nvic.org website one of the main ingredients in this vaccination is formaldehyde!

When you look up formaldehyde on wikipedia.org, it states "Formaldehyde is highly toxic in all animals, regardless of method of intake"  they also state, "In June of 2011 the NTP report on carcinogens changed the listing status of formaldehyde from "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen to KNOWN to be a human carcinogen!!!"   SO, they knowing put carcinogens in our vaccines that we are REQUIRED to give to our children?!  So we are as parents have to decide if we want to  trade an immediate solution to a disease that our children may or may not get for a long term problem later in life with cancer?  

My purpose of this blog post is to just put it out there that as parents we owe it to our children to make an informed decision on their health.  I regret that it took me THIS long to check it out myself but now that I did I know that we will be re-evaluating our choices from this point on.  Every decision we make will effect our children for the rest of their lives!  I've totally learned my lesson on the importance of research and knowing what we put into our childrens mouths as well as their bodies.  God had a perfect plan of how to combat our diseases naturally with the way we eat and the herbs he provided for us, why not trust his ways since they have been proven over and over again!  God's way is the best way!   

Do not be anxious........

Phil. 4:16 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God"

This has been the verse I've been clinging to this weekend!  Friday we received word that our attorney has been in contact with the mortgage company's attorney and that we should receive word "early next week" on their decision with the short sale agreement!

My stomach has been in knots and my sleep has been lacking, but my faith and prayer life have never been better!  The nights have been long and the days have been short, and those long nights have been spent praying and petitioning the Lord to give us favor!  During the day I feel shaky and distracted and completely panicked unless I can continue to be in prayer!  Prayer is the only thing that keeps me calm and focused the last few days.  When I lay down to sleep I begin praying until I fall to sleep, but that never happens...I just keep praying!  During the day I have to stop and have everyone come together and pray together at random times.  I can't even imagine God not answering our prayer after we've gone through all this so far.  Through the whole process God has constantly showed up and taken the impossible and made it possible!  Throughout all this, I've been able to say "I'm not horribly worried I feel like it will work out" and through it all it has worked out even when it has been bad news!  This time- I feel it's a final decision, this is the end, this is what we've been praying for, for SO long!  It's a bit scary to be honest!

If it's bad news, we will again fight for the house as long as we can until we have to legally pack up and head to the streets, but if it's good news this house will be used for God's glory!  This house will be used for Him to do his work!  My life is not my own, but His to do with it what he will- and I know he has plans to prosper us, and not harm us!  His will for us is better than my own!  Keeping these things in my head and remembering that "we are right where we are supposed to be, right when we are supposed to be there" and  that this is all part of His plan for us is all that keeps me going some days!

Thank God that we are able to flood God's news feed with our prayer petitions and he doesn't "De-friend" us but adds us as a "close friend," subscribes to our life and is able to "like" each prayer letting us know he hears us!  What an amazing God we have!  No wonder he tells us "Do not be Anxious" He has it all under control!

Our long week, and the continuance of the house saga......

Well this week has been a complete whirl wind for our family!  Emotions have been everywhere, but our worship, and prayer life has never been better!  My last post I filled you in on the fact that we found out that our home was put into foreclosure and was now up for auction in just 24 hours!  I'm happy to report that the auction was stopped!!!  Within 24 hours our family lived out a real life story of Jericho!

Monday Nathan and I were both on the phone to lawyers, SCC, Attorney General's office and finally at the end of the day we found out the name of the Law firm that the mortgage company was using and we were able to contact them!  Monday evening Nathan and I spend our night on the couch, him playing his guitar and both of us singing praise to God.  That brought back so many memories from when we were dating- that is how we spent our date nights!  We did a lot of praying that night, asking God to intervene.  We both feel like God has given us this house and I'm not sure why but we now have to fight for it!  For years we've asked God for a larger home, and for years we have waited for this home, and for 15 months now we have been walking and praying our circles around this home, and on November 26, 2013, God said "Time to sound the horns!"

I put our my last blog post on November 25th asking if anyone had any connections to media or lawyers who would help us.  I had a friend contact me saying she had a contact to WTVR 6 news.  I emailed her contact Tuesday morning asking for help and within 15 minutes I was told I would be contacted by a reporter, and given the name of a organization to call, called H.O.M.E.  I immediately called H.O.M.E. but was given a voicemail. In the meantime our attorney was putting together a package to send out to the mortgage holders attorney to see if they would stop the foreclosure.

I received a call from Shelby Brown of Wtvr, she informed me that she had a friend who works in Senator Tim Kaine's office who used to work for H.O.M.E.  She called Paula and read her my email and I was told she was SHRIEKING after every line!!  I was given her number and told to give her a call in an hour!  When I spoke with Paula she had already started to make phone calls on our behalf to the trustees office, attorney's office, and even to the Mortgage company themselves!!

In the meantime Channel 6 new came over for an interview!  They were here for two hours yet when the clip aired there were only a few clips from what was actually said in the interview.  I guess that is how it works with all the editing.  While they were here we received word that the auction on the home had been postponed for 30 days!!!    God had done a miracle!!

Here is our first interview:
http://wtvr.com/2013/11/27/family-caught-up-in-short-sale-almost-loses-home/

I felt like they kinda tried to make us look like idiots with the comment from the other realtor, but in reality, people move into their homes early ALL THE TIME!!  We have a contract to do so, so it wasn't just a stupid decision that we made lightly!  We really prayed about it and felt like God was going to take care of things!

That night after we found out the auction was cancelled, the song from Veggie Tales popped into my head and I sang it the rest of the night:

"The Lord has given this Land to us, no need to fuss, He knows what Hes doing, we know that He will take care of us, if we will follow Him!"

Wednesday morning, I woke up with joy as the girls and I prepped the kitchen to begin making our Thanksgiving feast!  I was missing some lemons and sent Nathan to the store to pick some up when I received a phone call from WTVR Shelby Brown, asking for another interview!  I called Nathan, got everyone dressed, and took a shower and they were here within an hour!  I felt like that interview was a lot better than the first one.  I was able to talk about God and how our family had prayed that God would save our home and it was an answer to prayer.  Nathan and I talked before the interview that we knew they would edit a lot of it out but that if we did anything in those interviews we wanted to make sure the Name of God was honored!  So we both talked about God as much as we could and in each interview they has at least one blurb of me talking about how we prayed for this house, or how God answered our prayers.

After they left I went back to my cooking. (I don't have a link for the second interview yet) I cooked for 29 hours!  This would be the first Thanksgiving we ever hosted in our home!  But I tell you it was WORTH the 29 hours!  Our meal was amazing!  I wish I had taken a photo of the finished product but I didn't, here is just a peek at what it looked like though.

The day after Thanksgiving, we laid around the house and today is Sunday and I still don't think I have re-cooperated from my cook-a-thon!

Thursday evening Nathan and I hit a few stores and was home by 1am.  I began feeling upset while we were out because the memories from last year came flooding back to me.  Last year on black Friday, we left Thursday evening and ended up stopping on the way for a pregnancy test.  My test was positive!  We were beyond excited!!    A few days later I was in the ER because I began to lose the baby.  We became pregnant again just 30 days later which was a huge blessing, however I cannot forget!  I wonder if it really was a girl, or maybe that was the boy we've been wanting!  Wonder what she would have looked like, how she would have interacted with the girls, who would she have been...I didn't realize how badly it still breaks my heart till Thursday evening.  I know she is in a better place, I just wish I could have held her in my arms!

So that was our week in a nutshell.  Our fight is FAR from over!  We have 30 days to convince these banks that they need to honor our contract.  Right now we have complaints in with S.C.C, Office of Attorney General, Consumer Financial Protection Buero in Washington D.C, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.  We aren't going out without a fight because like a friend of mine reminded me "What God has given, let no man take away!"  Now that we've blown our horns and the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, we have a lot of rubble to sort out!  Keep our family in your prayers as we continue through the holidays fighting this fight!

I also cannot even begin to explain to you all how humbling it is to see so many of my friends and even people I have not met so up in arms over our situation!  I'm not used to having so many people fighting for me.  I'm usually the one on the other end of that, fighting for others so it is such a blessing and so humbling to see how many people really care about us!