Aria in the news - helping a charity called Blake's Miracle

Blake's Miracle is a charity that provides music and massage therapy at the hospital for children who are sick.  Every year, SwimUSA holds a Swim-A-Thon that helps raise money to support the charity.

Last year, Aria was asked to hand out the ribbons to the participants. She was not able to swim due to just getting out of the hospital after her fifth brain surgery. It was the fourth one in less than six months.

This year they wanted her to do it again but they also wanted her to swim. They also asked if she would be part of the promotion attempts to raise money and so Aria has been in the newspaper and on Fox 10 Morning show this week.

East Valley Tribune article

Fox10 Morning Show - Aria has had 14 surgeries but only five of them have been brain. Four of them were last year. Anyway, we tried to clarify this with them but they still messed it up. Oh well.

If you'd like to help support this charity, go to Blake's Miracle

Sue Anderson's Birthday today - RIP

My mom would have been 73 years old today. I always remember the year because she used to say that it took 4 days for the effect of her birth to reach Hawaii. I guess it was her way of remembering one of the biggest events to happen during her lifetime, the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

I remember sitting in class at school one day and the teacher mentioned the date of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and I had an epiphany. I remember thinking, "My mom's 40 years old!" At that age, 40 seemed old and a long ways away.

She's been gone for twenty years but I still miss her and wish she was around to see her grandchildren.

If you knew Sue, my mom, would you respond to this post and tell a short story about her or something that you remember about her?

HOPE KIDS - Restoring Hope. Transforming Lives.

My daughter, Aria, is a Hope Kid and I want to say how glad we are to be a part of such a great organization. Hope Kids is a non-profit group that helps families who have children with severe health problems be able to go out as a family and enjoy time together. Anyone who has had health expenses knows that usually the first thing to go is any sort of recreation or family fun time together because the family can’t afford.

This organization allows families to have fun together without have to worry about the expense of it, except for the gas to get there. We’ve been a part of several activities in the past four months since we joined. A couple times we went to family fun center where the families were treated to a movie, bowling, laser tag, and a free game card for each child in the family.

This past weekend we went to a family carnival that was sponsored by a local preparatory academy where the families had access to free food, lots and lots of games, face painting, music, zip line, bouncy house, and lots of prizes. It was a great afternoon that we were able to spend with our family that we would not have been able to enjoy without being a part of Hope Kids.

In December, they will be hosting a Christmas party where all Hope Kids will get a day of fun with snow, Santa, and a gift individualized for each Hope Kid.  It's going to be a real fun event for the families.

THANK YOU, HOPE KIDS!!

Our Dark Cloud OR God's Plan

Last week I had to tell my boss about going out of town in June for the trial in NH and I gave him a quick rundown of Tina's life and what we've been through over the past four years of churches, media, trials, etc. He said, "that beautiful, young woman who I met a couple weeks ago has gone through all that?" I said, "yes, she's beautiful and she's been through that and much more. I'm just giving you the Reader's Digest version."

He's been my manager for the past nine months and so he's been told about Aria's five surgeries since last October and what she's been through. He's extremely amazed at our strong, sweet, little girl whom he met once when she came to my job.

He knows that we're in the middle of trying to sell our house to pay down some our debt.

On Friday, I told him that our dog's not doing well and we may have to put him down. He doesn't know yet that we did it. He was just amazed at one more thing going "wrong" in our lives. He joked that we have a "dark cloud" over our lives and moved himself back from desk.

I thought about that and I can see why people might wonder how we keep our sanity. On some days, it's not easy.

I don't see this as a "dark cloud." No, it's not easy or pleasant but it's life. It's the path that God has given us to walk and we won't turn back and we won't sit on the sidelines and we won't quit.

Here's what I believe.

1. This is God's way of showing us that He's in control.
2. This is God's chance to show us His grace worked out in our lives.
3. This is God's method of bringing Himself glory.
4. This is God preparing us for the future and what else He has planned for us.
5. Our lives reflect God's control, His grace, His glory, and God's working in our life to our friends, co-workers, and relatives, if we allow it through our faithfulness and willingness to accept and do what God has set before us.

Isn't that what life's about? Yesterday, the youth pastor made a great point as he preached to our church. He said, "God's not just a part of your life, He is your life."

My prayer is that as our family goes through the trials of life, or as some people may see as a "dark cloud," that they see God's Hand. They see a witness of God's power and grace and that God is magnified through our lives by us being faithful to Him.

R.I.P. Charlie

Today we lost a close companion that we all loved, Charlie. He was such a great dog. He loved the kids and was very protective of them. He was a very kind and sweet dog. We will miss him greatly.

A couple weeks ago we noticed that he had trouble with one of his front legs. It seemed to get better and then it was hurting again. About a week later, we noticed that he was having trouble with his back legs and was having trouble getting up and down the stairs.

On Monday, we took him to the vet and she told us what she thought he had degenerative disc disease and gave us some medicine. Throughout the week, he got significantly worse, especially starting Wednesday night. We mentioned to the kids that we didn't know how long we'd have Charlie. They cried themselves to sleep that night.

By Friday, he could barely move and his back legs would only support him with great difficulty and he couldn't hold his bowels and so we called the vet again. We went as a family but the prognosis wasn't good and we decided that the best thing was to put Charlie to sleep.

You can't imagine how devastating that was to the kids. They cried and hugged and said their goodbyes. Nothing prepares you for that. How do you comfort your kids? How do you prepare them to lose someone so precious to them? We hugged them and hoped they understood that it was for the best.

Our hearts are broken tonight.

We'll miss you, Charlie. As the kids said, "No dog will ever be as good as Charlie." I'm sure they're right.

I know the kids are hoping to see you in heaven. I hope so too!

REST IN PEACE, CHARLIE.

WHY I LOVE MY WIFE

My wife texted me and said, “I love you.” I responded “I love you, too.” She responded, “why?” I thought about it for a little bit because I wasn’t sure what to answer. I texted back, “because you’re awesome.” It’s the truth, but is that really a good answer?

There are a lot of things that I love about my wife but they’re not the reason I love my wife.

I love that my wife is beautiful. I find her very attractive and time won’t be able to change that.

I love that my wife is frugal. I can’t tell you how much time and energy my wife puts into saving our family money. It’s awesome!!

I love that my wife is a great wife. She takes really good care of me.

I love that my wife is a great mom. She always has their best interests at heart. She’s heavily involved in their safety, medical care, school education, training, and anything else you can think of.

I love that my wife is a great cook. I have many people, not just my kids that can attest to that.

I love that my wife is creative. One of may things she can do is sew and this has allowed her to make Easter dresses for our girls that past few years and she's made hats for my daughter so she doesn't have to feel uncomfortable after Aria's brain surgeries.

I love that my wife is friendly. People love my wife. They love talking with her.

I love that my wife is caring. People reach out to her for support. A person may just want to talk and they'll know Tina will listen and that she'll care. Sometimes a person will want advice and they'll ask Tina. They know she'll give them an honest answer. 

All these things above could change. It won't matter. It won't matter why the change. It won't matter if she can't do them any more. I won't matter if time takes away these things or if chooses not to do them any more. I will love my wife.

I love that my wife is my wife. I can't imagine my life with anyone else. I don't want anyone else to be my wife. 

I love my wife because she is my wife. I love her because I choose to love her. I love her because I WANT to love her.

If I choose to love my wife because of the things that I love about it, my love is conditional. My love is based on the things that I love about her.

If I choose to love her because I WANT to love her, then when and if those things change, I can still love her unconditionally without worrying about her changing and not being the person I think or want her to be. I can love her through the tough times. I can love her through the times when I don't "feel" like it.

I love her and I always will. No matter the time that passes, the circumstances that happen, or the changes that occur, I will always love my wife because I made that choice when I married her and I WANT to love her for the rest of my life.

I'm Relating to Jesus' Disciples when they doubted Jesus

Have you every doubted your faith? Do you ever go through times when you doubt the goodness of God?

For the last few months, I've been going through that myself.

Is God real? Why doesn't He answer? I've done what the Bible says but I'm not seeing any results.

I came across this blog post, The Correct Theology didn't help these guys, that was written by this guy, Ed Cyzewski, as a guest post, who wrote a book called Unfollowers: Unlikely Lessons on Faith from Those Who Doubted Jesus. I have not read this book but I will when I get a copy of it.

He wrote some things in the blog post that I really related to and are some of the lessons that I'll learn when I read the book. We sometimes forget how flawed the disciples were before, during, and even after they met, traveled with, and said goodbye to Jesus on the Cross and then at His Ascension.

Below are some things that really spoke to me.

They witnessed miracles. They listened to hours and hours of perfect, undeniably correct teaching. They’d even had the future predicted for them.

They still doubted.

When calamity struck, they bolted. They didn’t join their friends in prayer. They didn’t wait for clarity. While they had every reason to believe, they couldn’t make sense of their experiences. Doubt was too much for them. 

I take comfort that Jesus showed up even as they ran away.

He reveals himself to the incomplete, the uncertain, the wandering, and the unattached.

I relate because I've seen God's work in my life. I've seen Him answer prayer and guide me in my life but when you don't see those answers and you don't see the results of what God is doing in your life, it's easy to have doubts.

I have my doubts and fears and struggles but I believe in God. I believe in the God of the Bible. I believe in my heart that He knows what's best for me and my family, especially my little girl. I'll keep believing but I'm being honest when I say that it's not easy and at times I have a lot of doubts.

I take comfort that the disciples who lived with Jesus and was taught directly by Him, still had doubts, still didn't understand but when the time came, Jesus (God) came to them and helped their unbelief and didn't chastise them but understood them, loved them, and met them where they were in life, and used them greatly to serve Him.

They witnessed miracles. They listened to hours and hours of perfect, undeniably correct teaching. They’d even had the future predicted for them.
They still doubted.
- See more at: http://redemptionpictures.com/2014/03/26/the-correct-theology-didnt-help-these-guys/#sthash.fVYTybJv.dpuf

They witnessed miracles. They listened to hours and hours of perfect, undeniably correct teaching. They’d even had the future predicted for them.
They still doubted.
- See more at: http://redemptionpictures.com/2014/03/26/the-correct-theology-didnt-help-these-guys/#sthash.fVYTybJv.dpuf

They witnessed miracles. They listened to hours and hours of perfect, undeniably correct teaching. They’d even had the future predicted for them.
They still doubted.
- See more at: http://redemptionpictures.com/2014/03/26/the-correct-theology-didnt-help-these-guys/#sthash.fVYTybJv.dpuf

They witnessed miracles. They listened to hours and hours of perfect, undeniably correct teaching. They’d even had the future predicted for them.
They still doubted.
- See more at: http://redemptionpictures.com/2014/03/26/the-correct-theology-didnt-help-these-guys/#sthash.fVYTybJv.dpuf

They witnessed miracles. They listened to hours and hours of perfect, undeniably correct teaching. They’d even had the future predicted for them.
They still doubted.
- See more at: http://redemptionpictures.com/2014/03/26/the-correct-theology-didnt-help-these-guys/#sthash.fVYTybJv.dpuf