Please continue to pray for Caroline and Sydney as they recover from surgery. You may read updates on our Facebook page. God Bless! Megan
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Prayers
Please continue to pray for Caroline and Sydney as they recover from surgery. You may read updates on our Facebook page. God Bless! Megan
Reverse ♥
Son of man, speak to Israel. Tell them, 'You've said, "Our rebellions and sins are weighing us down. We're wasting away. How can we go on living?" 'Tell them, 'As sure as I am the living God, I take no pleasure from the death of the wicked. I want the wicked to change their ways and live. Turn your life around! Reverse your evil ways! Why Die, Israel?' Ezekiel 33.10-11
God loves us more than we can understand. He created us for purposes that we sometimes neglect. He calls us to move, not to sit and live in our own little worlds with our own agendas. The beauty of it all is that you, just normal, every day you, are capable of doing amazing things you never dreamed you'd do when you allow him to use you. Sin weighs us down, and keeps us from living the life he has planned for us. It is so difficult to remain separated from this world and its views, but it is possible. The life he has planned may not be the life we've envisioned for ourselves, but it is so much bigger and more amazing than our own selfish missions. While he will allow us to perish, he surely doesn't want us to. We are his creation!
He's trying to tell you that he loves you today, but along with his expression of love, he's asking you to follow him. Following him requires that you work on a relationship with him, and really change your life. Simply saying you know Jesus and feeling as if you are a good person is not enough. As hard as it is for some of us, he requires surrender. You must come to him broken- we are all broken and powerless after all. To truly know Him is to love him, and when you love someone, you spend time with them and learn as much as you can about them. None of us are good enough or perfect enough to deserve what he has to offer, but that's why he sacrificed himself- that we may be free and that we may be saved! I quote from one of my favorite songs, "Don't you know who you are- what has been done for you?" You are MORE- let Jesus remake you today. You'll soon figure out that you've been missing out, and you'll find true joy and true peace in life, which is priceless. Don't die- reverse! ♥
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Something to share...
This was sent to me in an email, and I thought it would be a good thing to share. I pray that you are hanging on to God today, waiting on Him to bless you in your trials and deliver you. Check out the lyrics I posted below as well. I will post the song from YouTube next. God Bless, Megan
From: Friday, March 18
This week's promise: God cares for the persecuted
Have You Ever Wished You Could Flee?
Oh, how I wish I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness. How quickly I would escape — far away from this wild storm of hatred.
Psalm 55:6-8 NLT
Nothing great was ever done without much enduring.
Catherine of Siena
Resist flight
David was a man after God's own heart and a great, anointed king. But in many ways, he was just like us. Psalm 55 is an example. When the pressure was on, David just wanted to run away.
All of us have had similar urges. When life gets intense and troubles seem to offer no way out, we just want to get out of the situation. Every Christian who has been prepared by God and stretched to his or her limits can relate: There are times when we would do anything if God would just remove us from our trial. We'll pray for ways of escape, but God often leaves us surrounded until His time is right.
God has no scorn for such feelings. He made us and He knows our frailties. He understands our impulse to flee from whatever difficulties we face. But He also insists on our endurance, because it has spiritual results that nothing else can accomplish. And there is no way to learn endurance other than simply to endure. We can't learn it in principle or in theory; only pain can teach it to us.
The good news for those who go through intense trials and suffering is that once the impulse to flee is broken, God delivers. When endurance is complete, God removes the tribulation we endured. Every fear is followed by blessing (Psalm 55:4-8, 16-18). Our God does not leave us in our troubles. He has put us there to discover His provision; He will not withhold it indefinitely. There will be a day of deliverance.
Adapted from The One Year® Walk with God Devotional by Chris Tiegreen, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for May 16.
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House
Laura Story - "Blessings" Lyrics
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise
From: Friday, March 18
This week's promise: God cares for the persecuted
Have You Ever Wished You Could Flee?
Oh, how I wish I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness. How quickly I would escape — far away from this wild storm of hatred.
Psalm 55:6-8 NLT
Nothing great was ever done without much enduring.
Catherine of Siena
Resist flight
David was a man after God's own heart and a great, anointed king. But in many ways, he was just like us. Psalm 55 is an example. When the pressure was on, David just wanted to run away.
All of us have had similar urges. When life gets intense and troubles seem to offer no way out, we just want to get out of the situation. Every Christian who has been prepared by God and stretched to his or her limits can relate: There are times when we would do anything if God would just remove us from our trial. We'll pray for ways of escape, but God often leaves us surrounded until His time is right.
God has no scorn for such feelings. He made us and He knows our frailties. He understands our impulse to flee from whatever difficulties we face. But He also insists on our endurance, because it has spiritual results that nothing else can accomplish. And there is no way to learn endurance other than simply to endure. We can't learn it in principle or in theory; only pain can teach it to us.
The good news for those who go through intense trials and suffering is that once the impulse to flee is broken, God delivers. When endurance is complete, God removes the tribulation we endured. Every fear is followed by blessing (Psalm 55:4-8, 16-18). Our God does not leave us in our troubles. He has put us there to discover His provision; He will not withhold it indefinitely. There will be a day of deliverance.
Adapted from The One Year® Walk with God Devotional by Chris Tiegreen, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for May 16.
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House
Laura Story - "Blessings" Lyrics
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,
‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
For Heart Moms...
I took this from a fellow heart mom who had it on her Facebook page, and thought I'd share it.
A Mother's Perspective
by Stephanie Husted
You passed me in the shopping mall...(You read my faded tee)You tapped me on the shoulder...Then asked..."What's a CHD?" I could quote terminology...There's stats that I could give...But I would rather share with you...A mother's perspective.
What is it like to have a child with a CHD?It's Lasix,aspirin,Captopril...It's wondering...Lord what's your will?...It's monitors and oxygen tanks...It's a constant reminder to always give thanks...It's feeding tubes, calories, needed weight gain...It's the drama of eating...and yes it's insane!It's the first time I held him...(I'd waited so long)It's knowing that I need to help him grow strong...It's making a hospital home for awhile...It's seeing my reward in every smile.It's checking his sats as the feeding pump's beeping...It's knowing that there is just no time for sleeping...It's caths, x-rays and boo boos to kiss...It's normalcy I sometimes miss...It's asking do his nails look blue?It's cringing inside at what he's been through.It's dozens of calls to his pediatrician...(She knows me by name...I'm a mom on a mission)It's winters homebound...and hand sanitizer...It's knowing this journey has made me much wiser.It's watching him sleeping...his breathing is steady...It's surgery day and I'll never be ready.It's handing him over...( I'm still not prepared...)It's knowing that his heart must be repaired...It's waiting for news on that long stressful day...It's ...praying...it's hoping...that he'll be okay.It's the wonderful friends with whom I've connected...It's the bond that we share...it was so unexpected...It's that long faded scar down my child's small chest...It's touching it gently and knowing we're blessed...It's watching him chasing a small butterfly...It's the moment I realized I've stopped asking why?It's the snowflakes that fall on a cold winter's day...(They remind me of those who aren't with us today)It's a brave little boy who loved Thomas the train...Or a special heart bear...or a frog in the rain....It's the need to remember we're all in this plight....It's their lives that remind us we still need to fight!It's in pushing ahead amidst every sorrow...It is finding the strength to have hope for tomorrow.
A Mother's Perspective
by Stephanie Husted
You passed me in the shopping mall...(You read my faded tee)You tapped me on the shoulder...Then asked..."What's a CHD?" I could quote terminology...There's stats that I could give...But I would rather share with you...A mother's perspective.
What is it like to have a child with a CHD?It's Lasix,aspirin,Captopril...It's wondering...Lord what's your will?...It's monitors and oxygen tanks...It's a constant reminder to always give thanks...It's feeding tubes, calories, needed weight gain...It's the drama of eating...and yes it's insane!It's the first time I held him...(I'd waited so long)It's knowing that I need to help him grow strong...It's making a hospital home for awhile...It's seeing my reward in every smile.It's checking his sats as the feeding pump's beeping...It's knowing that there is just no time for sleeping...It's caths, x-rays and boo boos to kiss...It's normalcy I sometimes miss...It's asking do his nails look blue?It's cringing inside at what he's been through.It's dozens of calls to his pediatrician...(She knows me by name...I'm a mom on a mission)It's winters homebound...and hand sanitizer...It's knowing this journey has made me much wiser.It's watching him sleeping...his breathing is steady...It's surgery day and I'll never be ready.It's handing him over...( I'm still not prepared...)It's knowing that his heart must be repaired...It's waiting for news on that long stressful day...It's ...praying...it's hoping...that he'll be okay.It's the wonderful friends with whom I've connected...It's the bond that we share...it was so unexpected...It's that long faded scar down my child's small chest...It's touching it gently and knowing we're blessed...It's watching him chasing a small butterfly...It's the moment I realized I've stopped asking why?It's the snowflakes that fall on a cold winter's day...(They remind me of those who aren't with us today)It's a brave little boy who loved Thomas the train...Or a special heart bear...or a frog in the rain....It's the need to remember we're all in this plight....It's their lives that remind us we still need to fight!It's in pushing ahead amidst every sorrow...It is finding the strength to have hope for tomorrow.
Pray for Caroline!
Miss Caroline and her family are heading to Pennsylvania from Mississippi to endure another heart surgery. Please keep them in your prayers through travel, surgery, and recovery!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Pray for Rosie!
Rosie's cleft palate repair is set for this Wednesday. Please pray that she can have the operation this time and that all goes well.
Pray for Sydney!!
Please remember Sydney in your prayers through the next few weeks. Dr. Ebeid and Dr. Salazar will perform the Hybrid procedure on her this week. Her surgery was postponed a few weeks ago due to her having an awful virus. They will be inserting large stints, and checking out a few other problems during a 4-8 hour surgery. Thank you for your prayers for this very special little girl!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
CHH News
I am thrilled to announce that our first baby blanket delivery was made on Thursday, March 3, 2011! We donated about 50 blankets to the Heart Program, and donated $350 in honor of Pearl Upper Elementary (where a fundraiser was held in February) to the Mississippi Children's Heart Fund. I was so happy to bring my 5th grade student, Victoria Lawrence, along to Blair E. Batson, since she has helped so much by making blankets and sharing her skill with others. I know it was a wonderful life experience for her to meet our social workers, see the Radiothon in action, and even make her own monetary donation to Batson. While we were not on air, I was able to share our story with 96.3 D.J., Scott Steele. Come to find out, one of my doctors who delivered Avery, also delivered his daughters!
The Bluffs and Bayous, March 2011 issue is now out, with a nice article about our story and Cross Healed Hearts. I've stocked up on more fleece fabric (since it's been on sale) and have purchased more Sharpies and heart pillow fabric and supplies with money raised through the heart sticker sale at PUE and CHH hair clip profits. We have begun to work on more heart pillows already, and are making some larger ones at the request of our social worker. We've been told that the patients are loving our pillows, and that they are serving the functional purpose of stability and comfort through heart surgery recovery.
We've also begun another Cross Healed Heart T-shirt sale because several people began asking about them. The sale ends in mid-March, so please contact me via Facebook or email if you are interested! The cost is $15 for toddler sizes and $20 for youth/adult sizes- short sleeves only. I can even ship for a few extra bucks!
I'm constantly amazed at what God is doing in my life and the lives of others, and and totally excited about what he's made happen with this ministry. If you or anyone you know would like to share your story of hope on this blog, or are in need of prayer, please email me today at crosshealedhearts@yahoo.com.
God Bless,
Megan Bell
The Bluffs and Bayous, March 2011 issue is now out, with a nice article about our story and Cross Healed Hearts. I've stocked up on more fleece fabric (since it's been on sale) and have purchased more Sharpies and heart pillow fabric and supplies with money raised through the heart sticker sale at PUE and CHH hair clip profits. We have begun to work on more heart pillows already, and are making some larger ones at the request of our social worker. We've been told that the patients are loving our pillows, and that they are serving the functional purpose of stability and comfort through heart surgery recovery.
We've also begun another Cross Healed Heart T-shirt sale because several people began asking about them. The sale ends in mid-March, so please contact me via Facebook or email if you are interested! The cost is $15 for toddler sizes and $20 for youth/adult sizes- short sleeves only. I can even ship for a few extra bucks!
I'm constantly amazed at what God is doing in my life and the lives of others, and and totally excited about what he's made happen with this ministry. If you or anyone you know would like to share your story of hope on this blog, or are in need of prayer, please email me today at crosshealedhearts@yahoo.com.
God Bless,
Megan Bell
Bluffs and Bayous, March 2011
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