A Year in the Bible

I found a 52 Week Bible Reading Plan that I thought was absolutely fantastic!

Designed by Michael Coley . Here's what he has to say about it:

"Here's the Bible reading plan that I use. Each day of the week, I read anywhere from one to six chapters out of a different part of the Bible. Each week, I cover one or more chapters out of each major area of the Bible. But, by switching areas daily, I don't get bogged down several days or
weeks on an area that I might not currently find as interesting. I made this plan up myself, after failing at my annual goal of reading through the Bible every year. It has worked well for me for six years and counting!"

On The Other Side

Got this as an email today and it was too good not to share!

A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said,
'Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.'

Very quietly, the doctor said, 'I don't know.'

'You don't know? You're, a Christian man, and don't know what's on the other side?'

The doctor was holding the handle of the door. On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, 'Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing...

I know my Master is there and that is enough.'

A Celebration of Life

We met at Seaside, OR for Dalynn's "Celebra-tion of Life" memorial. We remembered her with stories, things we recalled especially about her. We talked of her crafty side. How good she was at restoration of old throw away furniture, turning them into lively, new pieces. How she was also very adept at taking old, worn out clothing and making them into new items. We spoke of her love for her children. They meant so much to her. All her life, all she wanted was to be a mother. We talked of her crazy 21st birthday. One of her very few "wild" times.

When the talking ran out, we watched a DVD that my husband put together. Very sweet indeed. It shared parts of video taken while she was at the hospital, many pictures of her growing up years and pictures of her with her children.

Afterward, we shared a meal of all Dalynn's favorite foods. She loved Mexican food (as does all our family) and was a GREAT cook. We had beef and chicken enchiladas, as close to homemade tortillas as possible, provided by Chevy's Mexican Restaurant. Dalynn was really good at making from scratch flour tortillas! I made her recipe of Mango Salsa and Avocado Salad. My cousin made her famous Seafood Salsa. We had a variety of chips. Then, for desert, we ate chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling and white buttercream frosting, made by Costco, and Oreo cookies. Dalynn's favorite deserts. Didn't Costco do a great job with the cake? The flowers are purple and pink, but my camera seems to have made them look blue and pink.

After the sky grew dark, we had planned to take floating candles down behind the home where we were staying at, light them and float them on the river that leads to the ocean. But, the weather was having none of that idea and topped over the first candle. So we lit candles inside instead. And I think it turned out just fine.

The home we stayed at and the second smaller cabin that my dad and stepmom stayed in were both very generously donated. There was also money donated for the food for the weekend. Although we have thanked them and sent them cards, I want to state here also the gratitude we feel for this very large gift you all have given to our family. Thank you so very much.

On a sad note, Dalynn's children were not allowed to attend her memorial and be with her family. If you would, please pray for her kids and pray for her husband. He is a very lost soul.

I want to say here to him:

I forgive you, Charls. I forgive you for your attitude toward Dalynn throughout your marriage. I forgive you for the inconsiderate, cold-hearted way you treated Dalynn at the end of her life. I forgive your treatment of the medical staff who was trying everything in their power to extend her life. I forgive your behavior toward our dad. I forgive your hatefulness toward me. I forgive your heartlessness toward your children in this most difficult of times.

I forgive you Charls, not because I am turning a blind eye to all these things that have been done, but rather, because I have been forgiven.

"Genuine forgiveness--pardoning an inexcusable, devastating injury--is a miracle. If we are to understand what forgiveness is, we must see it as God sees it.

God did not excuse our sins. If it would have been enough to cite our inherent weakness or some extenuating circumstances, the Father would never have sent His Son to suffer the torture of crucifixion. God does not pretend. Our pitiful pretense at independence from our Creator, our negligence, and our sins are inexcusable. The only rebuttal to sin is the bold, unilateral deed of the Offended One: "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

Neither did God meet our defiance by denying His hurt. The pain when we're deceived by a casual acquaintance is nothing compared with the pain of being betrayed by one we hold dear. Our Father refused to lessen His hurt by disowning His love for us. His love will not let us go.

At the bedrock of our faith lies this assurance: "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8, NIV). Forgiveness is the outworking of God's love.

A trivial injury or one that's excusable needs no forgiveness. Forgiveness is pardoning one who has truly wronged us, "Just as God in Christ also has forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32, NASB).

We can't divorce God's forgiveness of us from our willingness to forgive those who have injured us. We pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matthew 6:12, KJV)." http://www.joyfulheart.com/maturity/forgive.htm

Dalynn... you will be missed always! The middle of our "three musketeers".

(Taken April 2001 @ our dad's wedding)

PCOS Awareness

I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). The disease is one of the endocrine system. It wreaks havoc on your whole body. A great many people think its only a disease of the ovaries, but our body's systems are so interconnected that having cysts on the ovaries creates mild to extremely severe problems in other systems.

My diagnosis didn't happen until after I was thirty! I've struggled with horrible menstrual cycles, migraines and extremely profound mood swings since I was nine years old. Many of my symptoms could have been prevented if PCOS had been more widely known. I'm spreading the word! If you have PCOS, please stand up and shout! Get the word out!

Death

My sister, Dalynn, passed away March 31st @ 4:50 AM (PST). I feel like I'm in shock! I knew it was probably going to end this way, but still, you have this glimmer of hope, ya know?

She made it 90 of the 100 days "in the clear" of the bone marrow transplant and was informed that the leukemia was back. They gave her 4 weeks. They wanted to try a very aggressive chemo which has a 10-20% success rate, which they did, but instead of doing what they expected, she tailspun downward. She lost all muscle control, her cognitive reasoning and speech became barely nothing. She was mostly in deliriums. I spent 3 1/2 weeks with her. Bill was there the first week, when she was still somewhat lucid and could talk. He flew home after that first week, while Jordan and I flew back home this last Thursday. However, we saw that small glimmer of hope Thursday. She was awake, alert and her fever was very low. It had been hovering at about 103 for almost a week, with no success of getting it down below 102.

She was able to visit with her kids, although she didn't say much beyond yes and no directly to them. She was able to speak a little with me. Her sentences were broken and she lost her train of thought often, but she was talking! Friday, I was able to talk with her on the phone a bit. She actually said, "hi Darelina". That was great! But, she had gone back to yes and no by the evening and was running a high fever again. They put a feeding tube in her nose Sunday night and she began bleeding from her nose and vomiting blood. Her entire abdomen was dark and swollen, so we believe that she died of internal bleeding. Won't know for sure what all happened until the autopsy results are back a few months from now.

I must say this though, the staff and the entire team of doctors @ OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University) Hospital were absolutely wonderful both to Dalynn and her treatment and to all of us. We couldn't have asked for a nicer experience during such a traumatic time!

I'm flying back out to Oregon on the 11th to do a family life celebration for Dalynn. It was originally intended to be a "make a wish" thing for her, since she'd never been to the beach with her kids. We're hoping that we'll be able to take the kids with us, but at this point we're unsure. Her husband is a creep at the highest level! Please pray for the kids and pray for Charls. He needs help. I keep praying that what's happened will finally bring him to his knees. And I remind myself of Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

It'll just be me flying out there. Jordan is going to stay with Bill.

In addition, in June, we're flying back to Oregon to pick up my grandmother, my mother and my uncle. All are in need of caregiving and they aren't getting adequate care where they're at. My uncle is probably the least needy. My mom needs care on her bad days. And my Nana is up for 24 hour care now. She has Alzheimer's and is now having some difficulty walking and reasoning. She's currently in a nursing home until we can come get her. I'm tyring to figure out how to get all the monies in order so we can move them, while also making sure we're in a new home that will adequately accommodate everyone! Its making my head spin!

Thanks for all your prayers everyone! They're much appreciated!!

Rollercoaster of Life

Well... things have been up and down and all around the last couple of weeks. My sister, who some of you know, was diagnosed with leukemia last year, has been readmitted into the hospital. The leukemia has come back quickly and more aggressively than was expected, after a bone marrow transplant and 3 months of treatment of long treatment. Just as she thought she was going to be able to go home from her hotel hiatus, the last MRI flagged that there was too much white matter in her brain.

We were informed that she has somewhere between 4 and 12 weeks left to live. Then, they let us know that there are still some treatment options that might throw the leukemia into remission. She's been hallucinating severely the past few days as they increased her steroids and have been giving her the chemo treatments. Its been very interesting, to say the least!

In addition to her having to deal with her health, she is having a great deal of trouble with her husband. He has been completely unsupportive throughout her entire illness and has brought her children to see her very little. In addition to this, he has been doing a poor job of taking care of the children, leaving the house in disrepair and not feeding them properly and consistenly.

Please, if you would, pray for her and her family.

Priorities and Moderation

Hi everyone. Thanks for visiting my blog even though I've not been here much myself.

Lately, the Lord's been dealing with me a lot about my priorities. My first priority is time spent on my face with my Lord, studying His Word, and listening to Him. My second priority is my family. I've been doing alot of work on how to discipline Jordan with a firm, yet consecrated hand, rather than out my anger and frustration. I've also been trying to add more Bible time with her. We're currently learning Bible book names and memorizing Ephesians 6:1.

Third, is my home. I've been very lax here. I have not been "in the mood" to clean house properly and that's my flesh talking... so... I've been dealing with squashing that part of me.

The internet (and this blog) have been put on the back burner while I've been working on these things. These are trivial things and must be done in moderation. Its been hard to let go of, but in realizing just how hard it is, I realize that its sort of an addiction. That means my heart has been in the wrong place. I made the choice to remove myself from Myspace and Facebook and have kept only my email and this blog. I will not be on much, I'm thinking, but I will try to visit a few times a month.

Dear Christian Family, please pray for me to continue to make God my first priority so that all other things will fall in their perspective places.

In Him,
Darelina