Happy Thanksgiving

Psalm 100

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.

Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations. (NAS)

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, we just wanted to take a moment and let you all know that we are SO thankful for each of you... for your continued support in prayer and for the many blessings each of you have poured into our lives.

Please take some time today, along with us, to express how thankful we all are to God for His abundant goodness, His overwhelming lovingkindness, and His unfailing faithfulness - and for His amazing love, His saving grace, and His great mercy poured out upon us through His Son, Jesus Christ!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you - as always, we love you! Steve and Michelle

Quick Update

Hi ya'll!

Things seem to be going well with Michelle... she continues to heal from the angiogram, as well as all the other "stuff" she has gone through, and each day she feels a little stronger. The only nagging thing apart from some continuing tenderness from the angiogram is that the "pressure" in her chest is still there. We have no definitive answer as to why she is feeling it but at least we have ruled out any real problems with her heart. So we patiently wait while praising the Lord that it was not her heart!!! Amen...

We will head out tomorrow for SoCal to spend Thanksgiving with family! As I was considering the holiday, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 came to mind. So often we run around crazily in this life trying to determine what the will of God is for us, as in what He would have us do, where He would have us go, who would He have us involved with, etc.. Have you ever stopped long enough to look to the Word of God with that question in mind - have you ever done a search on the will of God in the bible? If you have, you have found something unique.... it is SO not about those things we think it is! For instance, look at what the above mentioned verse says:

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Did you catch it? The will of God in Christ Jesus for us is to rejoice always, pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks!!! So what's the point, Steve? Simply this: As you celebrate Thanksgiving with family this Thursday may you fulfill the will of God in your life, may your day be filled with rejoicing regardless of the peripheral things of life that may be swirling around you, being be punctuated with spontaneous and constant prayer, and may you acknowledge the very foundation of our thankfulness, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, lifting up thanks for all He has done and is doing in your lives!!!

Blessings to you all - we love you! Steve and Michelle

Saturday Evening

Well, it is Saturday evening and I am sitting here preparing things for church tomorrow - what an absolute joy! As it always does, the excitement is building for Sunday morning to get here... there is something about it, isn't there? To be able to come into the Lord's house, whether that is an actual church sanctuary or a converted middle school auditorium (as in our case!), and corporately, with our brothers and sisters, worship the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Creator of Heaven and Earth... Messiah, Immanuel, Savior... Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace... the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last... the Almighty God!!! I trust the awe and wonder of being in His presence is still there for you - please, NEVER take these most precious of times for granted!!! Hallelujah... I feel like preaching!

Michelle and Sarah spent the last two days at the Women of Faith Conference here in Phoenix.. they both came home absolutely glowing and giddy about all the Lord did and the wonderful time they had being a "Mary" the last few days - simply sitting at the feet of Jesus. My prayer for them and the ladies who attended with them was that they could put "Martha" aside for a couple of days - it appears the Lord answered that prayer, as He is so faithful to do! From the sounds of it, I may just have to try and crash that party next year...

Michelle is still pretty sore at the insertion site of the angiogram and I don't think the activity of the last two days helped at all. Still, it seems for her it was well worth it all! We go back to the doctor in a little over a week and there really is nothing new to report. Some of the symptoms that sent us to the Cardiologist to begin with still come and go, but we are praising the Lord that it isn't what it could have been. Please pray for her continued healing and that the residual discomfort she feels will completely go away.

Allow me to thank you all again for your prayers... the Lord certainly hears you and is answering in ways that only He can. In it all, His glory and radiance continues to shine through Michelle and her testimony of faith continues to grow and spread to His praise! Please, please, please do not forget to thank Him for His great goodness and graciousness... and worship Him with all that is within you, for He alone is worthy! There is NO ONE and NOTHING like our God!!

Father, our prayer for each who read this is that they would experience your presence more intimately, your power more mightily, and your peace more abundantly than they ever have before! Bless them, keep them, protect them and guide them... in the precious name of Jesus! Amen...

We love you all - Steve and Michelle

Doing Okay

I wanted to take a minute and thank all of you who have e-mailed, called us, or left a message here - it has been encouraging for Michelle and we have both been blessed by your words of encouragement and support. She continues to do pretty good yesterday and thus far this morning, though she is pretty stiff in her right hip area - the point of insertion for the catheter. Still, the discomfort is tempered by the fact that the news could have been A LOT worse and therefore bearable for sure!

Michelle did absolutely nothing once we got home on Tuesday which was doctors orders and she has pretty much taken it easy since - though she did accomplish home schooling the kids yesterday and is back at it this morning. Those of you who know her are not surprised by that, right!? She will be taking it easy the next few days as well, though on Friday and Saturday she and some of the other ladies from the church, including Sarah, are attending the Women of Faith Conference here in Phoenix. That was the biggest issue for Michelle when we were discussing dates for the angiogram, "Will I be okay to go to the conference by Friday?" In the midst of the stress of the moment I couldn't help but chuckle inside!!! I know all the ladies are looking forward to it - especially since Beth Moore is the featured speaker Friday morning and early afternoon! Please pray for Michelle to heal up well enough for it not to be a distraction for her while attending.

Other than that, the journey continues on... please be praying for a couple of friends of ours. One is battling breast cancer right now and is getting ready to start chemo; another is going through the same heart testing Michelle just went through - he is doing so today; a third is currently undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with them - please join us. We love you... Steve and Michelle

Finished and Home

Thank you for all your prayers - the Angiogram went fine, no problems with the procedure at all. We are now home and Michelle is resting comfortably, taking the rest of the day off! She seems to be doing well and is not experiencing any real discomfort which is a blessing...

The results of the test were good - not perfect, but good. Her main arteries are clean and clear and the rest of the heart looks really good. There was only one area that showed any problems whatsoever - it was in an artery that branches off one of the main arteries and it showed about a 30-40% blockage. It is in an area that a stent cannot be used and therefore the only repair would be surgery, which they will not even consider doing unless it is 70+% blocked. Our Cardiologist seemed unconcerned by it at this time and feels that it is 100% manageable, though it could explain why Michelle has been experiencing some of the symptoms she has. We will meet with him again in 2 weeks to go over all the results and determine a course of action, but that will most likely include only some dietary changes (she already eats pretty healthy!) and perhaps some medications if her discomfort persists.

Apart from a perfect test result, this is the best of news and we are praising the Lord for His goodness and graciousness to us - we are thankful for His continued presence in the midst of all Michelle is having to endure, as well as His hands of healing and protection!

I will be posting again soon to let you know how she is recovering from the Angio, as well as bringing you all up-to-speed on all that has happened - both on Michelle's health front and our move to AZ. In the meantime, continue to pray for Michelle's healing from today's procedure and that the Lord would protect her from any of the potential side-effects. We love you all - Steve and Michelle

And the Journey Continues...

Well, I would love to be able to write to you about all the Lord is doing in the church here in AZ (and He IS doing great things!) but at this point I need to share with you an update on Michelle, seeking your prayer.

These past months have been challenging for us as we have made the transition from living in the Midwest and serving in post-prison ministry to living once again in the desert and serving in the local church. Not so much because of the change of location or ministry, both of those have been a huge blessing for us. It has been due to Michelle's continued treatments - continuing to receive Herceptin once every three weeks until here recently and also her almost 7 weeks of radiation treatment. She made it through the radiation treatments just fine, finishing about 4 weeks ago now, though having to deal with some pretty nasty burning from the treatments. In the midst of that, her MUGA Scan results took a dip, dropping to 47.2 and therefore postponing her Herceptin treatments. As we drew closer to another MUGA a few weeks back now, she began to feel some pressure. and at times more acute discomfort, in her chest. Since she has now taken two different drugs as a result of her two bouts with breast cancer that can have adverse effects on her heart, prudence said let's check with a Cardiologist to be sure all is well.

A little over a week ago, Michelle went through an Echo Cardiogram and a Chemical Stress Test and just last Friday we found out the results were not as good as we would have liked. The stress test results show a POSSIBLE blockage and, because of her treatment history over the last 6+ years and her recent radiation therapy, the Cardiologist feels the best course of action is to do an Angiogram this Tuesday morning (11/13) to see what the situation really is. It could be nothing or it could be something... the something could be minor or the something could be more than that - we don't know any more than that at this time. It seems just when we think we are on the other side of things we find ourselves right back in the middle of it all.

Please be praying for Michelle - pray for her health and for strength, comfort and peace... pray for the Angiogram she will have on Tuesday - that it will go well and that the results will show no blockage... pray for our kids as they have to stand by as their mom endures another procedure.... and pray for all of us, that we will continue to glorify God in the midst of the storm! We continue to take great comfort that we serve a God who sees all and knows all... and has our future in His hands!

Thanks for your prayers - we love you all! Steve and Michelle

New Post Coming

WOW... I can't believe it has been since August that I have posted; we are so sorry! We have been busy trying to settle in while hitting the ground running in ministry. I will be uploading a new post soon; there is more news to share and more prayers needed!

Be back soon... we love you! Steve and Michelle