Welcome to my home page. I hope you leave with an added blessing on your heart. Presently, the articles are not working. What I had was deleted and so I will put them back once it starts working again. And don't forget to sign my guest book!
Last updated March 13, 2002.
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* * * * * * * * * "It is better to put trust in the Lord than to * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * put confidence in man. I shall not die, but live, * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * and declare the works of the Lord. This is the * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Psalm 118: 8,17, & 23 * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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THE word "life" has all sorts of meanings. It can mean that a person is actually alive. It can refer to how busy one is or how busy one is not. It can refer to things that happen in life: i.e. "That's life for ya," "Life's tough, deal with it," "Life's a bowl of cherries," or "Life's a beach." But when I say that life is a gift from God, the word "life" means all those things.
"Life doesn't always turn out the way you planned" as Lucy in While You Were Sleeping was told by her dad. Isn't that the truth? My parents had no idea back in 1978 that their life would turn out as it has; and as many struggles as we have had, I think we are glad that it happened the way it did. I think we consider our trials as gifts, as James says, because they are what have kept us dependent on the Lord.
I was born on July 6, 1978. I weighed out at 7 lbs. and 11.5 oz. and was 21.5 in. long - a normal size for any healthy baby. But I did not stay healthy for long. I was constantly coming down with a cold or pneumonia. I weighed only 15 lbs at eleven months and was finally diagnosed with a life-threatening disease called Cystic Fibrosis (CF). It is a genetic disease that affects mainly the respiratory and digestive systems. I spent endless days in the hospital receiving IV meds until I was two, and even after that. When I was two, however, my visits were cut down because my mom learned how to run my meds at home.
By the time I was 7 years old, I weighed only 36 lbs. and was not expected to live to see Christmas. My parents were planning my funeral and even had my casket picked out. But the Lord had other things in mind. I was given a Hickman catheter, which is like an IV, surgically implanted to allow me to get intravenous meds indefinitely. It was just what I needed. It gave me the strength and energy to join my classmates as we played My Little Ponies and G.I. Joes. It took a while, but I was also able to gain 20 lbs. - a big feat for a Cystic! During my third grade year, I was home schooled; and when I returned, I was able to join my class in fourth grade.
I didn't do too badly until I was about 12 years old when my health again took a dive and a double lung transplant was given to us as an option. (For those of you who do not know, that is a procedure in which the old lungs are removed and a donor's lungs -are put in place.) That was a scary decision. I can't really say it was hard, but it was scary. During the procedure, they would need to put me on a lung and heart machine to keep me alive - in other words, there was the possibility I might not even make it through the surgery. But we saw this as something the Lord had placed in my path -not a cure, of course, but it would definitely better my quality of life. So, we started the long process of getting me okayed for the list and getting me ready to be on it. My Hickman was replaced by a portacath - it did the same job as the Hickman, but it was under the skin and was accessed by a needle. (Now that in itself was an act of the Lord. Hickman's don't ordinarily last even close to my six years of having it. They get a blood clot or something in the tube and quit working. For sometime, we were not able to draw blood out of it, but we were still able to put meds into it. Anyway...the day before I was scheduled to have it replaced, it closed up completely. The Lord took care.) I had what some refer to as a roto-rutor job on my sinuses to get out most of the CF junk. I also had a feeding tube put into my stomach; I only weighed 57 lbs. and needed to be more physically ready for the whole ordeal. On April 15, 1992, I was placed on the list and given a beeper so that I could be notified immediately when my lungs were made available.
It was sort of like waiting for the rapture - I knew it would happen. I just wondered when and if I would live to see it happen. In the time that I waited, things got pretty bad. I ended up on oxygen at night though I probably should have been on it all the time; but I was too self-conscious. I ended up eating nothing except for what I was fed through my feeding tube; and as pleasant as it sounds, I threw up a portion of it every morning after a coughing spell almost without fail. I gained 20lbs. and stopped. When out on long walking excursions, I sat in a wheel chair. I couldn't walk up a regular flight of stairs without taking a break half way up to allow for coughing and catching my breath. I couldn't do my hair because I couldn't breath with my arms above my head. I slept with several pillows. I couldn't make my bed. I was in a bad way. I waited for 19 months.
Then on November 15, 1993, my lungs came in. We got the call at 1 in the afternoon. My mom was a teacher at the school that my brother and I attended and so we went from there. Everyone at the school was excited and praying for me. My dad - the Lord worked this out - was only working about 10 minutes from the hospital; normally he would have been working an hour or more away since he is in construction; so he was able to meet us there. The surgery lasted about six hours. I was in the hospital for fourteen days. I only missed seven weeks of school, two of which were Christmas vacation. I returned healthier than ever. I went to physical therapy for three months. I gained about twenty-five pounds in almost no time at all and grew about four inches. I no longer looked anorexic (Though I thought that I had looked normal. It wasn't until after my transplant when I saw pictures that I realized how sickly I looked.) I played volleyball and basketball during my junior and senior years and even got my letter: a W for BMF Warriors. I graduated along side the class I started with in Kindergarten. My donor's family was even present to help celebrate the occasion. In the fall, I attended a small Bible college in Tempe, Arizona for a year. That summer, I volunteered at a Christian camp in the desert for three weeks. I then went to a community college for a year and also took two courses at a Bible institute. My year at the JC was not fun. In fact, I hated it. But were it not for that, I would not have made the decision to go to Pensacola Christian College in Florida. The one semester I was able to spend there, were the best months of my life. I met one of the best friends a girl could ask for and I was able to have a part in a play put on by the students called Pride and Prejudice. I only had a small part, but I loved every minute of it. I majored in English - I love English and Literature. I was not able to return - talk about a major DISAPPOINTMENT! - because my kidneys decided to fail a week before I was to return for the spring semester. I have never had good kidney function, but it had been sufficient. We were finally able to stabilize everything, but it was unwise for me to attend a college so far from home. What a disappointment it was! I decided to not return at all. But the Lord provided me with a volunteer job at the school I graduated from teaching dramatic arts as needed. I love it even though it can be trying at times. I was also hired at a Creation research institute as a front desk receptionist. I have been there a since November of 1999, and I love my job and the people I work with.
This last Christmas, I was in for another surprise. I started to feel extra tired and run down. I thought it was perhaps because I had worked for 5 days the previous week. I usually work three. Well, our family headed up to the mountains for a short vacation with a family from church. We stopped in the little village for a bite to eat. I was feeling weak but I went to use the bathroom and it wasn't long before my mom came in to find me on the floor: I had fainted. My dad carried my out and I rested for the rest of the evening. But the next morning, I started vomiting, so we packed up and headed back home to the hospital and to my familiar doctors. Come to find out, my kidneys had bottomed out. Early the next morning a catheter was put in so that I could get dialysis. That night I had a seizure. The doctors never did figure out why I had it. My white blood cell count was also high and so they thought I had an infection of some sort, even though the infectious disease doctor could find nothing, I was treated with three for four, maybe five antibiotics. I was in the hospital for eight days. Six days later, I was admitted again with a temperature of 101.5 and a severe stomach ache. That all turned out to be a result of all the antibiotics they had me on the first time I was in the hospital - the antibiotics had killed all of the good bacteria in me and so I got sick. So, I had the privilege of staying in the hospital for about four more days.
I can't say that this was easy. Never in my life has my health so affected my spirits. Because I have assurance of going to heaven when I die, I wanted to die so that I could get away from the pain and confusion I was going through. My faith began to dwindle. But people were praying for me - a whole bunch of them. It is because of their faithfulness and God's love that I am doing as well as I am today. My spirits are as good as ever and on the outside I am doing quite well. It is the inside of my that is not. The Lord is not finished with me here on earth yet. I have been reminded again of what a wonderful Lord He is. He is always there, whether we feel His presence or not. He said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” I am in awe of His power and His love. We are working more seriously toward a kidney transplant now. It will be live donor, so I won't have to wait on a list. I am excited about that. Right now, I am on a special diet of things I can and can't eat; and I have dialysis three times a week. There still is hope that my kidneys will return to the condition they were before Christmas; but for now, I am stuck with this new lifestyle.
And to all of you who read this, let me say this: I don't like going through all this. I would rather be healthy and had never have seen the inside of a doctor’s office, but this is a sin cursed world and we can't always have things the way we want them. So under the circumstances, I wouldn't change a thing. I hope you all learn someday what a great God we serve. Nothing is impossible with God. "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" - Eph.3:20 The Lord has always taken care of me so why should I doubt His goodness and faithfulness now?
As for my lungs - they are wonderful. Doctor’s listen to my breathing and can’t believe what they hear – nothing! November 15, 2001, marked my 8th anniversary. Ah - the Lord is good! I have not returned to the hospital for anything lung-related since the day I left 14 days after my transplant.
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Some people call it luck; if only they had a personal relationship with the Lord they would learn that luck has nothing to do with it. To know the Lord and live on His provisions is better than anything luck has to offer. Many of you who will read this, know me personally. You have seen all the wonderful things I have been blessed with. But the one gift I have received that is better than two good lungs is the gift of salvation. It truly is a gift: all we have to do is ask for it. God gives it freely, just as Jesus gave His life on the cross because He loves us. Romans 10:13 - "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him, should not perish but have everlasting life." Salvation is so simple. My pastor defines faith simply as "believing God." Many have tried to add to believing and having faith; but when they say that faith alone cannot save you, they do not believe God. Instead, they have been sadly deceived by the world's philosophy and verses being taken out of context. I have read much of the Bible and am still working on reading it all the way through. The message of faith is so clear throughout both the Old and the New Testaments.
If you are one that has not already asked the Lord to forgive you of your sins and to save you from hell, please do that today. Don't put such an important decision off: we never know when we might take our last breath. We can't put it off until our death bed because we may never reach it; we may die suddenly in a car accident or get shot - anything is possible. Today is the day of salvation. Don't put it off. Do it for yourself -do it for me. Please, ask the Lord save you.
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~~The credit for my graphics belongs to "Grandma George" found on the internet.~~
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~~I would also like to point out that it was not my idea to put the astrology and horoscope link on the "links list." I disapprove of it very strongly. It is demonic in nature.~~
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