URGENT PRAYERS NEEDED!!

Hi Everyone,

As you may remember, my husband, David, was placed on furlough, with benefits, Feb.25th and was assured it would only be for approximately 2-3 wks. His company was in the process of securing several new contracts and it appeared to be only a matter of time before he would be starting a new project. However, things have not gone so well.

Last Friday, all employees who did not already have an active site to manage were laid off indefinitely AND all benefits were discontinued. Their amazing benefit package included, but was definitely not limited to, an incredible FAMILY healthcare plan provided at absolutely no charge, and a brand new retirement plan they just established and signed employees up for in late January

Today is the end of the 4th week we have gone without David earning any income. The unemployment ‘benefit’ is barely ¼ of his usual bring home pay. He has been scouring Alabama and Georgia for work, but has been unsuccessful so far. We really are trying hard not to worry. However, after his lengthy furlough in November and December, my continued medical expenses, Morgan's college tuition and many other unexpected associated costs, a HUGE jump in our auto insurance premiums after Bekah's accident last Fall, and now this – we have pretty much exhausted ALL our savings. Therefore, it is very hard to fight our human flesh and NOT be a little afraid sometimes.

But we quickly remember that we serve a mighty Lord and we know none of this has taken Him by surprise!! We know scripture tells us that He has a wonderful, amazing plan for us and His timing is impeccable! How awesome is that?? If HE is for us, who can be against us? YES!

Thanks SO much for stopping by and taking the time to read. I know I haven’t been around much lately, but I am trying my best to get better and be here more often. I hope you will continue to keep my family and me in your prayers as we wait upon the Lord.

Thank you so much! Have a fantastic weekend.

{{{HUGS}}}

THANKFUL THURSDAY

These are the things I am so very thankful for today:

1) My Savior, Jesus Christ, who continues to hold me up through all of life's storms and always reminds me that I am His.

2) My amazing, wonderful husband who works so hard to provide for our family and then comes home every evening to take care of me, regardless of how exhausted he may be, and never complains.

3) My 2 youngest daughters who have given so much precious time out of their lives to help care for me, when it is I who should be caring for them. I don't know how I can ever thank them enough.

4) The happiness in my heart that I still have since I was able to see my oldest daughter last week. I have also spoken to her several times on the phone since then. That has really made me happy.

5) All the wonderful, encouraging comments I receive in response to my posts. They make me smile and give me the motivation to write another post.

6) All of my prayer warriors! I truly feel your prayers and they really lift me up, especially during a long, difficult and pain-filled day and/or night.

7) Our sweet neighbor down the street who continues to occasionally bring us dinner. It is such a tremendous blessing to us and helps us out more than she can possible know.

8) For the incredible men and women (and their families) who serve in our military, to help protect each and every one of us from harm and keep our great nation FREE!

9) The upcoming graduation of our middle daughter, Morgan, from high school. I am so proud of the wonderful woman she has become and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for her future!

10) Last but definitely not least, our wonderful, amazing group of friends who have offered to plan, prepare and host Morgan's graduation party so that we can check that off our list and won't have to worry about a thing! This is a HUGE, HUGE blessing for our family and an enormous burden lifted off our shoulders. You guys are AWESOME!



Thanks so much for stopping by. I'd love for you to join us in Thankful Thursday and take a moment to share what YOU are thankful for. Visit Sonya at Becoming a Strong Woman of God as a Wife, Mother and Friend to link up.

Blessings,

Teresa

WORD-FILLED WEDNESDAY

During this 'much-too-hot-for-me' spring break, I am finally spending a couple of wondrous nights all alone with my amazing hubby.
This is the first opportunity in a VERY long time that we've had this chance!
I'm enjoying every minute of it and giving lots and lots of thanks!! :0)

I have not stopped giving thanks
to God for you.
~ Ephesians 1:16 ~

WFW is being hosted this week by Penny at PennyRaine. Please take some time to visit her blog for even more encouragement or to link up and join us. It is amazing!

Have a great week!

Blessings,


Teresa

FLASHBACK FRIDAY ~RESCUE 911~

As many of you know, my husband, David, and I met while working as Paramedics for one of the largest EMS providers in the Atlanta area, DeKalb County EMS. Not too long after we met, we were working on separate trucks at neighboring fire stations, only a few miles apart.

One day, a call came out in the territory my partner and I were working. It was for a person down, stabbed in the abdomen. The 911 dispatcher stated that the caller was a child and that she stated the victim was also a child. After the initial call was dispatched, my husband and his partner, Cathy, believed they were closer to the location, so they 'jumped the call' from us.

I won't tell you the rest because I can show you! You see, that call my dear hubby stole from me ended up being on the TV show Rescue 911! And, ahem, no....I've never let him live it down. :0)

The other day a dear old friend from our EMS days told me that the episode is on YouTube so I thought I would share it with you all. Please keep in mind that this was 21 years ago AND they were made to make it look all Hollywood. Very rarely do public safety workers (Police, Fire, EMS) actually slide sideways up to a scene in their vehicles and then get out and run! That is extremely dangerous for many different reasons.

Anyway, without further ado......

Here we are today, married almost 20 years! And, I really did forgive him. :0)

Thanks for watching! Have a great day!

Blessings,

Teresa

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Hello to all! This is Teresa's 'Guest-blogger' (and husband), D. You might have noticed that she's been, well - invisible - during Invisible Illness Awareness Week. Teresa was admitted to the hospital once again this past Monday, September, 14th, after developing symptoms that had us thinking she might be septic again; and, unfortunately, we were correct.

In the interest of time...and my total lack of experience at this sort of thing...I will save all the details for a real blog-post later. Mostly, I just wanted to keep everyone informed and ask for your prayers. It is possible that she will be going home early in the week (hopefully, tomorrow). If so, SHE will be the one to bring everyone up to date soon. However, don't be too disappointed if you see me updating you as she recovers from this past week.

We truly would appreciate it if you joined us in praying that she really does go home tomorrow, that she has the most speedy recovery possible and that the doctors find the reason behind the repeated visits for this sort of thing.

Thanks to you all for your support, thoughts and prayers!!

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I found this totally awesome blog called TRUTH 4 THE JOURNEY.  She sets aside one day a week to blog about the 5 things she is most thankful for that week.  She calls it THANKFUL THURSDAY.  This is especially exciting to me this week because I am about to bust at the seams to tell someone our latest good news.  It's wouldn't be overly huge under normal circumstances but it means a ton to us at this point!

The 5 things I MOST thankful for this week are:

1) Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.  My Forever Friend.  I'm thankful that He loves me so much that He gave His life so that I could live for all eternity.

2) THE most amazing husband in the world who treats me like a queen every single day and my 2 youngest daughters who also sacrifice a huge part of their lives to helping me and caring for me.  I honestly do not know where I would be without all of them.

3) My mom and dad who are always ready at a moment’s notice to help out, no matter what I/we need.  They never, ever say no!

4) The fact that my oldest daughter, Whit, and I have been talking a lot more lately.  She will turn 23 years old this weekend and I couldn't be more proud of the woman and mother she has become.  

and last but certainly not least.....

5)  Our good news.....today we learned that my husband will DEFINITELY be keeping his job for at least the next 12-18 months!!  (We were afraid he was about to be laid off.)  Not only is it an incredible job but they provide us with truly amazing benefits, including our health insurance which they pay for 100%.  This is an amazing answer to prayer!  Hallelujah!

If you'd like to participate in THANKFUL THURSDAY or just read what others are so thankful for, hop on over to SONYA'S BLOG and check it out!

See ya soon!

NEW KID ON THE BLOG

Well, it is official. I have finally taken the plunge into the real world of blogging. It has taken me forever to get it all figured out, and I still have a LONG, LONG way to go, but I think I'm headed in the right direction. There have been some pretty major set backs lately, but I'm really pleased to say that I'm at least getting it started.

As some of you know, I did a few posts on what some might would consider a 'blog' on Facebook but I just didn't seem to have much of a following there because 1) it is hard to find readers there because it is difficult to navigate and 2) the sane folks who still haven't gotten lured in by 'the housewife's equivalent to crack', AKA Facebook, are not able to read my posts there without signing up for an account. Plus, I have not been feeling very well the last couple of months, so I haven't been keeping it updated as much as I would have liked.

Therefore, I thought I would start fresh with a new blog here where anyone can read it if they want. I plan to use it as a tool to continue to educate my friends and family - and even strangers who happen to stop by - about my disease and how it affects my life and the lives of my family. I will also use it to keep everyone up-to-date on what all is going on in our lives. Most of the time, there won't be a tremendous amount to write about but at least you will know what we're up to. I also believe it will be a great outlet for me to share some of my feelings about the struggles I face as I deal almost daily with pain and fear, anger and guilt, disappointment and frustration. However, I will also share all the good stuff, too, like the complete love and faith I have in my awesome husband who always treats me like a queen, the tremendous gratefulness I have for my awesome family who is ALWAYS here to support me on the good days and the bad, my thankfulness for our loving church family and friends who have always stood by our side through thick and thin and, most of all, my joy which I continue to find in my Lord and Savior each and every day. Without the awesome support group I have in my family, friends and my walk with my Savior, I honestly don't know where I would be today. No matter what, I am one blessed lady!

See ya soon!

Blessings,
Teresa