Psalm 13-14 - I posted this yesterday, and this morning while searching for something else I found this:

"Even in the midst of great discouragement, in the midst of enemies all around him, in the midst of King Saul trying his best to kill him, David clung to the promises of God. He knew he had been anointed by God to be the next king of Israel. Although at times that promise must have seemed more like a pipe dream, David held to it despite all the obstacles before him.

As far as I am concerned, Psalm 27:13-14 are two of the most encouraging verses in the Bible as David says, "I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord." David believed he would see the goodness of God in his lifetime. He believed he would see the great promises of God fulfilled in his days. AND HE DID!

BELIEVE AND WAIT

What are you and I to do when we face discouraging circumstances? What are we to do when everything inside of us says, "Things are terrible and not going to get better - just DESPAIR!"? Take hold of God's promises and wait on Him to come through. Take courage in the fact that God sees where you are, He knows what you are going through, and He cares for your soul. He has a wonderful plan for all those who will trust in Him and go His way.

AND REMEMBER THIS

God is always working behind the scenes. Even when you think He is asleep in the boat, the truth is He is working in ways you cannot see and do not know. Instead of speaking and praying words of doubt, unbelief and despair, start speaking and praying words of faith."

www.fromhisheart.org

Continued prayers for sweet precious Claire and now escpecially Momma and Daddy. I pray for your strength. God knows that you are leaning on Him. My thoughts are with all the family.

Latest update. This week has been very hard for both Claire and her parents. Especially her Daddy (my nephew).

"The last few days have been intense to say the least. I know that everyone has been waiting for an update, but I have not been able to emotionally recount all that is or has occurred. Claire is sleeping right now and is somewhat comfortable. She is having diarrhea cramping that we are not able to control with pain meds. The only thing that will alleviate her pain is for her white blood cells to come back. This will clear up the mucousitis.

I have been able to somewhat turn off my emotions to get through the past few days. I believe God gave me this ability to help me do what has to be done. I'm sure when we are through this I will have a flood to deal with. God has strengthened me with patient endurance when I've needed it the most.

I praise the Lord for His tender mercy. Claire spiked a fever which we expected. The past 24 hours she did not have a fever which means that all of the antibiotics they were giving her are working. He fever came back this morning and the doctor explained that is most likely an in-grafting fever. This is what happens when the cells are starting to grow bone marrow! Also, she showed some white blood cells in her blood work!! So even though she is at the bottom the ride up is just around the corner. Please pray that the white blood cells continue to grow and that she is relieved very soon. The doctor said that her counts could go back down tomorrow which is very likely. They may go up and down for the next couple of days, but it's a good sign."

Mom's Latest update:

"I don't know where to begin this update. The past few days have again been hard. The positive side is that Claire responded better to the new pain medicine. What I mean by this is that she has stopped screaming all day. She is still in pain from the mucousitis however, and we had to go up the dosage. Her fever comes and goes, but they have taken her off of two of the three antibiotics because she is not showing any sign of an infection. The antibiotics are just making her diarrhea worse. It seems like we have gotten her pain under control for now. Last night she had to get platelets twice because of nose bleeds she was having. Swallowing so much blood made her nauseaus and we had another rough night.

As of this morning, her white blood cell counts are coming up! They are still low relatively speaking, but they are on the rise for good. So, hopefully, we will see more improvement daily.

I'm sorry for keeping this brief. I am just too exhausted for details. Please keep praying for her and please pray for me to have strength to endure."

Seeing what these parents and this child are having to endure makes me think twice before complaining about anything in my life. Please continue to pray for them. Their unwavering faith is such an encouragement to me.

The poor little darling .... my heart aches for her. It brought tears to my eyes when I read about her screaming with pain. Still praying that her pain is eased and that she'll soon be cured.

Finally.......a glimmer of hope.

"There's nothing like a good sleep to make you feel hopeful. Claire and I slept all night for the first time in 10 days, praise the Lord. She began showing some real improvement yesterday afternoon. She is smiling, talking more and playing with her toys. You don't know how relieved I am. She is still having some pain from the mucousitis, but nothing compared to what it has been. This will get better everyday.
The plan is that we will be here until Tuesday the 18th, at which time she will be released to the Ronald McDonald House just around the corner. She will have clinic appointments on the 19th and 21st. After her appointment on the 21st we will be released to go home! Claire will continue to recover and is expected to be fully recovered by the end of the month.

Please keep praying for her throat. This is where she is having the most discomfort. She wants to eat, but it hurts to swallow."

so thankful to read this update Kitty and praying for much improvement and especially no pain for Claire

keeping her parents, especially her mom in prayer. I have had only a glimmer into being the mom of a child with serious health challenges, but nothing like this mother is going through. Please let her know that her clear display of faith and trust has been such a blessing and encouragement to witness.

Continuing to pray for the little one kel. Her family is in my thoughts.

Latest update:


"We have all had full weekend. Fun and full, praise the Lord. Claire continues to improve and even attempted to eat a little today. My mom came down Thursday night and stayed with her. I went home with Seth and the boys and we had wonderful time together. Seth stayed with Claire Friday night through Sunday night.

Me and the boys spent Saturday night with my brother-in-law and his wife and went to church with them this morning. Their church as been faithfully praying for us. It was such a blessing to get to see face to face some of the faithful people praying for us. We have heard of so many churches and individuals praying for Claire. I would love to have the privalege of meeting those saints! What a treasure we have in the body of Christ.

We have been overwhelmed by all that others have done for us. We are so inspired by your faith and your persistence in prayer. Your thoughtfulness has truly touched our hearts so deeply. You have made this burden lighter for us and we feel honored to have you in our lives. I am keeping every card and gift given to Claire. I want her to see what people have done for her and to know that God used all of you to help carry us through.

So I think the new date to go to the Ronald McDonald House is Wednesday. We will be there until Friday and then home!! We will meet with the radiology oncologist and antibody therapy oncologist in the next couple of days to discuss the remainder of Claire's treatment. Even though Claire is in remission, we must continue treatment to reduce her chance of relapse. Neuroblastoma has a high rate of relapse. It can hide cells in the body that wouldn't show up on a scan. Since Claire's cancer is aggressive, we are using every weapon we have to keep her in remission. Please pray for perseverance for us.

Above all things we want to see Christ glorified. My prayer is that I have made Him the star here and not me, Seth, the boys or Claire. He is the only one worthy of our adoration and praise."

I thank the Lord that Claire is doing better.I pray that she recovers. BF