In Christ Alone our Hope is Found

I looked out my window today and saw buds on the trees and flowers blooming. It's the start of a new season. It's exciting! The more I think about it, I am realizing that I love change. I love the freshness and the feeling of different. When I was little, the smallest thing like the change of my desk location or raising of the height of my desk gave me joy. A new day started with a fresh pencil and an unused eraser made me giggle. Opening a brand new phonics book and feeling the stiffness of the pages filled me with excitement.  (Just so you know, the pencil, eraser and phonics book delight, hasn't changed! (: ) For a while we lived in an orchard in Vineland. When the blossoms on the cherry trees came into bloom it made my steps feel lighter. At another time, we lived in the middle of farm land. When the crops started to grow, I was amazed and watched, measuring the height against my body. When the time came for them to be harvested, I was just as excited to see the...

Usually when we get news, I make the calls to family, then jump on facebook and my blog to let everyone know. I did facebook, but I actually have a post swirling in my mind with lots of words and thoughts, that I was hoping to put down in the same post, but I haven't been able to get it down. (Maybe next week! (: ) Now it's been 3 days since we got results! Micah's scan came back clear. God is so gracious, merciful and kind. We praise Him! As of this past Monday, Micah has been cancer free for 3 years. His lung surgery was on March 25, 2010. On one hand it seems like a life time ago. On the other, it could have been yesterday. God has blessed us more than we could have possibly ever imagined. His gift is so precious. Please thank the Lord with us!

Thank you so much for your all of your love and prayers in the last few days.  We are home. We surprised Ken and Josh and showed up 24 hours earlier than expected! (: Micah's scan and check up are done. The scan was a little rough. The IV poke was extra rough. The scan was an hour and a half instead of forty-five-ish minutes. A lot of the time he just laid there without the machine going. He was clausterphobic and hot. It made him cry. It was frustrating. We are thankful it's done. I was frustrated until I sat in PMDU, in the waiting room, with the little bald kids and watched moms rock their babies, who were attached to feeding pumps.  How quickly we forget our blessings and choose not to be thankful in all things. Thank you Lord for perspective.  The doc says he looks good.  I agree. She said we are going to do 2 more scans 6 months apart (assuming this one is clear). So that would be one in Sept and one in March or April. Then we may go to a y...

The VanderDeen family needs prayer. We got to know this family when Ken taught at his first highschool (PRC).  Richard, who is fifty-one years old, has a kind of Leukemia (I believe) and needed a stem cell transplant. It looked like things were going well for a while, but in the last few weeks things have changed. The transplant has failed and they need to find a new plan. Could you please pray for this family? Here is their  BLOG . The VanderDeen family This past weekend we went to St Thomas. We need to step into the country every 60 days for our travel insurance and Friday was our 60th day out of the country.  We had such a nice weekend with our families. The time was sweet and it was hard to leave. We are very content in our new life here in MI, but every once in a while we are reminded of what we left behind. It stings a little. Six months have passed, so this coming weekend, I am taking Micah, Natalie, Josiah and Grace back to St Thomas for Micah's scan. He h...

It has been such a long time since I have really sat down to write on my blog.  A few people have asked where I went and how things are going, so I thought I would let you know! (o: First, Connie, you left a comment on my last blog post asking for an update on Mike Maartense. Here is a link that will give you up to date information on him. His wife usually posts every evening. You do have to put your email address and a password in to log in. If you have trouble, just email me (belindapennings@live.com) and I will gladly send you updates. Sorry I didn't see the comment until now, so you couldn't tell your bible study ladies.  )O: Here is the link:  http://www.carepages.com/carepages/MichaelMaartense/updates/3470992?client_code=spectrumhealth&ipc=mur If you haven't been praying for the Maarense family, please do. The Lord has been near to them and has given them strength and a beautiful testimony of His grace, but that sure doesn't take away the pain of the situa...

There is a family who needs your prayers. I know I come to you often for prayer....  It is a beautiful thing to part of the family of Christ. The other day a man from the Heritage Reformed Church, here in GR, hit a tow truck on the highway and has major head injuries. His name  is Mike Maartennse (41 yrs) and his wife's name is Pam. They have 4 kids: Caleb, Grace, Micah and Abigail. I am thinking the oldest is 11. Thursday: Dear Friends, I'm just back from a visit with Pam Maartense & her family. She asked me to update everyone on Mike's condition. He multiple and extensive skull fractures and bleeding in the brain. Though he did come through brain surgery the surgeon said that Mike is not doing well, and that there is no way to predict if and how he will come out. On a scale of 1-5 he said Mike is a 4, one above being brain dead. Please continue to pray for Mike and Pam and the entire family.  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth"...

We have had a few days of snow here. It is so beautiful! It took me a few days to get my "driving feet" under me!  (o; Josh was 'hired' by the church across the street to keep the front of their church shovelled. You see that truck in the parking lot? It does our driveway. Nice! (o: Ken started his new semester this week. It's hard to believe how fast things are going. We really enjoyed having him home. For the last few weeks, he has spent most of his time in his office working ahead for his courses. What a blessing that time was for him and we still had him here! I am still learning not to interrupt him. It's so tempting, he is RIGHT there! I am still a little kid in some ways! (o: Yesterday, I FINALLY found my crockpot and coffee maker. We have been here for 6 months and I couldn't find them anywhere.  How do you lose such big things? Well, I found them in a tote that had camping stuff on the top. I figured it couldn't be in there, bec...