a huge thanks.

I am so thankful for all of YOU! I have the greatest friends anyone could ask for. I am so thankful for all your kind words, encouragement, prayers and the lovely flowers that decorate our home. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You all made a bad week much more bearable-and we are thankful for that!

We are doing good but frustrated and sad that our dream did not become a reality just yet. I had a doctors appointment on Friday which confirmed what we already knew was the inevitable. My doctor has no answers at this point. In 8 weeks I can do some lab work that will hopefully give us more answers. Right now the guesses are that I have a blood clotting disorder or that my arthritis and the inflammation in my body are causing my body to attack and fight off anything "foreign." Right now we just wait.

A friend loaned me a couple of books that I haven't been able to put down...Stepping Heavenward-One Womans Journey to Godliness which I haven't been able to put down! It is written in diary form and takes place in the 1800's-I recommend it to anyone looking for a good read! The second book is The Valley of Vision-A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions.

The very first prayer is this:

Lord, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is up, that to be low is high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in darkness, thy life in death, thy joy in sorrow, thy grace in my sin, thy riches in my poverty, thy glory in my valley.

Isn't that beautiful? I love the consolation that a good book can bring!