we spent some time yesterday at the napier's house
to help as the hospital bed was delivered for
hospice care to begin at home for sarah beth. we
were also able to spend some time yesterday
evening with her in her room at the hospital with
mark, kathleen, jeremy, our cousin christy and
friend seth. sarah was very sleepy, eyes open
sometimes. fully with us when our friend dido, who
is a chaplain there, came to visit and sang to
her. dido is from the democratic republic of the
congo and sang "what a friend we have in Jesus" to
her in his native tongue. what a precious time
that was! she enjoyed a little chocolate
pudding,too. =) she was calm and peaceful with her
pain under control.

today is a different story, however. her pain has
increased and is no longer controlled by her meds.
one of her doctors has advised that she not be
moved home but that they stay there with her. he
feels that her time is drawing near. the plan is
to stay at the hospital and to increase her pain
med dosage today to give her relief.

God is in control. not one event of this journey,
not one minute of the timing of any of it comes as
a surprise to Him. sarah beth is firmly in His
hands. we are trusting in Him. He would do nothing
...allow nothing...that was not for her good. and
ours. that's hard to understand when she is
suffering so and we who love her so much must
watch it happen. she has never faltered in her
faith in Christ. i will not. she is in love with
Jesus.

please continue in prayer for sarah beth. my
prayer for her today is that the Lord will not
wait any longer to heal her flesh or release her
from it. but all in His time, for His glory, for
His purpose. and if you know sarah beth at all,
you know that she would not have it any other way.

mark and kathleen (and all of our family) want you
to know that your prayers and support are
appreciated so much. your companionship in this
journey is valuable to us all.

need to update you on sarah beth. the doctors have
told her that there are no more treatment options
for her. she has decided, along with the family,
to begin the process of going home to receive care
from hospice. she's still in the hospital right
now but will be going home as soon as everything
is in place. the care that the hospice staff gives
will be so good for her and for her family at
home. thank you for your faithfulness to pray for
them. keep it up. =)
leigh ann

"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called
your name. You're mine. When you're in over your
head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough
waters, you will not go down. When you're between
a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God...I paid a
huge price for you...I'd sell off the whole world
to get you back, trade the creation just for you."
Isaiah 43:1-4

hi everyone,
just wanted to let you know what is going on with
sarah beth now. she has been battling an infection
in the incision from her surgery in december. the
antibiotics she was taking did not take care of
it. she was admitted to the hospital on friday
afternoon. they are giving her IV antibiotics. she
has had increased pain that has not been able to
be brought under control, so that is being worked
on as well.
sarah had an MRI friday evening. no other way to
say this than to just say it - there is a new
brain tumor, this time in her frontal lobe. i
don't have any details on possible treatment to
share with you at this point.
please continue to pray for her as the Lord brings
her to your minds. we all value your prayer
support so very much.
thank you...and she would want me to tell you that
she loves your guts. =)
leigh ann (sarah beth's aunt)

Here it is, a Friday evening. We were supposed to hang w/ the Blacks and the Hutchison's, but Gracie and Judah are sick so we are going to hang another night. But, it was supposed to be that way. Surprisingly, my brother Jason asked mom and I if we would like an astronomy lesson. Mom and I were in the middle of our small group lesson, but mom said sure. So Jason brings over his laptop and plops down between us on the couch and starts playing a sermon. It's by Louie Giglio and it's called "How Great Is Our God." You can find it on YouTube. It's amazing and I highly encourage everyone who reads this to get on, find it, and read it. I promise you, it will change, renew, encourage, give you awe, and lift you up. The coolest part of the whole thing was while we were listening, I reached over and held my brother's hand. With tears streaming down my face, I realize how small I am, but what miracles we are and how much love I have for my God, family, friends and people I don't even know. My prayer is that we can all humble ourselves to the greatness of our God, even though I don't think we'll ever understand His unsurpassing greatness. I love you all....

lyg,
sarah

I wish i could just hop on a plane and go help. i have little strength and physically wouldn't be able to help much, but i could surely take a pillow and pray with people. anyway this is going to be short because it takes forever to type, so here it goes. i'm still having a hard time keeping my head pain under control, which effects many things. i started pt and ot this week, that in time will make me stronger. that's all i can do for now. hope you all are blessed!

LYG,
sarah