I started WBR yesterday. It's not bad at all. I have to wear this mask on my face, which is kind of constricting and the worst part of it all. Otherwise, I just lay there for a few minutes and they laser away...ha! Tomorrow I go for a spinal tap. I've heard it's not bad...we'll see. I haven't taken any new pics of Mocha's pups yet, so I'll try to do that tomorrow. They really are so cute. I think they should start to open their eyes sometime this weekend. I'm not sure if it's up yet, but if you get a chance I would encourage you to listen to my pastor's sermon from this last Sunday. You can click on my home church's website on the right side of the page and once you are on the website you can click to listen to the sermon. Also, I don't know if you've heard of the African Children's Choir, but they are AWESOME and are going to be at our church in May. I'm so pumped!! You won't want to miss it, so if you're able, come! Well, the head is starting to pound, so I'm signing off. Talk to you later..

sarah

New York was awesome! I love it there....that place never ceases to amaze me. It was a good and busy week. We arrived in DC Tuesday at 2 in the morning (we were stuck in traffic for 2 hours). Wednesday morning we were out the door at 7 and headed to the metro. We took the metro to Union station and then took the Amtrack to New York. We got to New York, took a cab to our hotel, dropped our bags and then headed to Sloan Kettering. The doctor was in agreement with the doctors here. I started chemo last Friday and will start whole brain radiation this week. So, it was good to hear from someone else that we were on the right track. After the doctor's visit, we went back to the hotel and off for some dinner. Then we crashed!!! Thursday we just did some shopping and sightseeing. And, don't worry, we had cheesecake three days in a row and it was sooooooo worth it! Yesterday we headed back to DC via the train and today we came back to WV.

Another fun thing: My mocha had her pups when we were gone. I was actually really sad because I wasn't here for it, but I got a phone call every time a new pup came out. She had 9 and they are all black. I can't believe it. I wanted her to have a yellow boy, but she didn't. They are super cute. I have lots of pictures to post, but I'm too tired to do it now. Hopefully I'll get to it tomorrow.

That's all for now. Hope you are all doing well!

:)
sarah

I'd like to take a minute to thank Nick and Mike (the guys who made this website happen). Some of you have noticed some issues with getting on the site the past few days. They are working to try to figure out what the problem is. They have been so gracious and giving of their time and resources and without them, this website wouldn't exist, so thanks Mike and Nick!!!

Last week, I met with the neurosurgeon, the oncologist and the radiation oncologist. The course of action was to start chemo, which I did last Friday. The next step was to start whole brain radiation. I'm still not sold on WBR, but if that is what we have to do, then I'll do it. This week, we were able to get an appointment in New York at Sloan Kettering. We will meet with a doctor there Wednesday at 3:00. If he agrees with the course of action presented here, then we'll go ahead with WBR starting next Monday. He might also present us with some other options we can try as well. I am looking forward to meeting with him and seeing what he has to say. I love New York, so I'm excited to see the city again as well.

Last night at church we had a prayer service that was just awesome. I love my church family and am so grateful for them. They have shown me what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Thanks again for all your prayers. I'll be sure to update as soon as I know anything further.

:)
sarah

A couple of entries ago, I wrote and said that my PET scan was good (meaning the cancer is stable from my head down). I had an MRI of my brain last week and the results weren't as good. The cancer has come back and it looks like there are several places, but all in the same general area. I met with the neurosurgeon today. Tomorrow I meet with the oncologist and Friday I meet with the radiation oncologist. I have a general idea about the direction we will probably go, but will know more after I meet with the rest of the doctors this week. I am optimistic and hopeful that we can tackle this issue quickly and with positive results. The power of prayer is evident. God has worked many miracles throughout this journey that can't be denied. I say that because I plead with you to not be discouraged. God is good and works all things for good (Romans 8:28). He is all about His glory and I'm willing to submit to His sovereignty no matter what state I'm in. Thanks for your prayers!

:)
sarah

I'm just going to dive into this one today. We as Christians must be very careful to "screen" what we perceive and believe as truth, meaning that we must take everything we learn back to the bible and make sure it is in alignment with what we know is truth. Paul says in 2 Cor. 11:3 that, "I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ." Just because a book is being sold in Christian bookstores does not mean it aligns itself totally with the bible. There are TV evangelists that to be quite honest are leading people down wrong paths and people are falling for it. Why? Paul warns us of this in 2 Cor. 11:14-15. "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve." There are three questions we can ask to help us determine if the teachers we listen to and the authors of what we read are true followers of Christ. 1) Do the teachings confirm Scripture? (Acts 17:11), 2) Does the teacher affirm and proclaim that Jesus Christ is God who came into the world as a man to save people from their sins (1 John 4:1-3), and 3) Is the teacher's life-style consistent with Biblical morality (Matt. 12:33-37). (Those questions come from my life application study bible..the NIV version).

Whatever it is we listen to, we must take it back to the Word and see if it is truth. The reason I am so passionate about this is because I witnessed false teaching first hand when I was working in D.C. As a ministry we visited churches in the surrounding community because we felt it was important for our families to have the opportunity to get involved with a local church family. Sadly, that never came into fruition while I was there and that was because things that were being preached from the pulpit were not aligned with the gospel.

Now I'm going to take a change in direction and speak about one particular topic: healing. What is healing? Just because we are Christians, does that mean we get whatever we want? Do we get to name whatever it is we want and expect that it will be done just because we are Christians? If you are a Christian, does that mean that everything will go perfectly in your life from now on? Absolutely not! Look, we live in a fallen world. The reason Jesus came to this world was to deliver us from our sins so that we can be reconciled to God the Father. If we truly understand that, we realize that it is only by grace through faith that we have been saved. It is by nothing that we have done or can ever do to be saved. So, are we going to get whatever we want? No! But, my gosh, we are given the greatest gift of all: eternal salvation and we will live forever with God if we only believe.

So, are we going to experience trials and tribulations while we live here on earth? Yes! Just read the accounts of Paul in the New Testament and Job in the Old Testament. Now, does that mean that we can have hope and expect God to do great things among us? Absolutely! Just read the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and we see over and over miraculous things that Jesus did.

The bottom line is this: I know that my God is a big God and can do anything He wants. If He wants to heal someone according to His will, then He will. I heard a great teaching by Beth Moore that I believe is a teacher who is very doctrinally sound. It's from her Daniel Study. We were studying chapter 3 of Daniel. This is when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were making king Nebuchadnezzar mad by not worshipping the gods he had set up. He summoned the three and told them they would be thrown into a fiery furnace if they didn't worship the gods. I love the response to the king. They said "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown in the furnace, the God we serve IS ABLE to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But, EVEN IF HE DOES NOT, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3: 16-18)

She asked us to consider three different scenarios when people of God face a fiery trial and she used cancer as the example (even though she used cancer, we can apply this to many kinds/types of trials that we will endure).

Scenario 1: We can be delivered from the fire. Dividend? Our faith is built.

Scenario 2: We can be delivered through the fire. (John 11:4) Dividend? Our faith is refined.

Scenario 3: We can be delivered by the fire straight into His arms. Dividend? Our faith is perfected. (James 1:12, Phil. 1:12)

What I'm trying to get across is this: As Christians we should have hope and believe that God can do big things, because He can! However, we also must acknowledge that He is the one who is Sovereign, not us. He is the one who created the heavens and the earth, not us. And, He is the one who will prevail in every situation and it will be HIS WILL that is ultimately accomplished, not ours. I love this quote I heard from Beth Moore. "This is my present reality, but God can change those. Let God do the calling- He is Sovereign! Faith invites the miraculous. We want "our" miracles, but my God will be miraculous in my life according to His will!"

I would rather be healed from the inside out than from the outside in. I would rather Christ work a miracle in my heart, making me more like Him, than for Him to work a miracle on my physical body, because I know that one day I will have a perfect body in heaven. But, it is only here on earth with this one life I have to give my heart to Christ and ask Him to work a miracle on it.