Friday, October 3, 2008

Oh God!


This morning when I got to work I read an e-mail from Amanda's best friend from high school, Shelley (Vardas) Colbert. They found out yesterday that her daughter Abigail (Abbey) has leukemia. She is a little younger than Caleb. She is in the children's hospital in Cleveland. It is so difficult to understand God's ways and His steps. I trust that He knows much more than we do and loves the Colbert family and especially little Abbey more than we do. Shelley asked for prayer for the following things.

Pray please for Abbey, that she will not have a lot of pain. Pray that she would sleep good at night and not get too homesick (she kept asking us to take her home today). Pray that they would find no cancer in her bone marrow (they already said that they have never seen it not spread there with what her numbers are looking like), but we know God can make there be no cancer there. Pray that it would not be in her spine. Pray that we could be creative in keeping her happy, comfortable and occupied. Pray for lots of good talks with her about God and His care for us. Pray that she would be able to really experience God's love for her. Pray that her little body would handle all of these medications o.k. and that she would be able to bounce back quickly. Pray for strenght for Jim and I ... that Satan would not be attacking our thoughts. Pray for our relationship, that it would be strengthened. Pray for sleep for us at night. Please pray for Jacob and Micah as they will be away from Jim, myself and Abbey a lot. Pray that Micah would switch to formula easily. Pray that we would be a light on this hospital floor. That people would see Jesus through our family. Pray for my mom and step-dad as they are traveling through the night to get home from their vacation. Pray for Jim's parents as they come into town tomorrow. Pray for strengh for our parents as they care for our boys. Please pray for her to completely beat this.

I am praying that God will work Paul's words from Phillipians 4 for Jim, Shelley, Jacob (Ben's age), Abbey and Micah (Molly's age).

Phillipians 4:6-7
6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

6 comments:

Sharon said...

No words make any sense at a time like this. My heart aches for all of them. I will pray.

Anonymous said...

I remember the many years of Shelley and Amanda being "joined at the hip" while at CVCA...and my heart aches for Shelley and her family. I pray for God's mercy in their lives, and healing for their precious Abbey.
Shube

mckeefamily03 said...

Although I don't know them, I will be praying for them. My heart weeps for this little girl and their family.

Andrea said...

Hi Andy-
I am a friend and former neighbor of Amanda's when their family lived in Cleveland and I'm still living in the area. In addition to praying for this family, please let Amanda know that if she wanted me to do anything for Shelley on her behalf, I could be her arms and legs. Also, if she is at some point going to come out this way to see Shelley and needed a place to stay, she has one.

Love in Christ,
Andrea (Tyreman) Anderson

Brittany said...

Andy - I don't know if you and Amanda remember me (Huyser at Taylor), but Shelley's brother-in-law is my new assistant coach at Taylor University. Anyway, the Taylor family is praying for this situation, and in case you guys are coming down for Homecoming, he'd be one you'd want to connect with on this situation. Anyway, I found your blog through Shelley's blog...

Brittany Huyser Smith (TU'00)

Anonymous said...

No words...just sadness. We will pray.