Surgery is scheduled

Good Afternoon special prayer warriors,

I first want to say "Thank you" again for storming the gates of Heaven on Sophia's behalf. My entire family appreciates you!

Sophia has had to be given blood this week. She will be given blood again prior to surgery. I do not know the time of the surgery but I know it will happen on Tuesday unless God miraculously heals her. They will take donor skin from her thighs to repair her feet. Pray for better pain control for her. Pray for my sister. She is soooo tired. She has been at the hospital for 16 days straight. She has neglected her own needs and served Sophia selflessly. She is completely exhausted. I am worried about her.

The hearing for Sarah (the mom) is sometime on Monday. We aren't sure what will come of that either. Pray for Ben. He is such a new Christian and this has been very difficult.

Donna continues to care for my mother, Maddie and Faith. She is working full time and has a lot on her as well. My sister Sondie and I are so far away we are of no use to them. We continue to pray and intercede for them all.

I want you to know that we are not defeated. We are Victorious in Christ. We see God's fingerprints all over this situation. He will continue to be faithful and direct us as a family. We have continued to seek God's healing for Sophia. Her feet and toes have been preserved! Praise the Lord! We thought she was going to lose them all, but Praise God she is not going to lose them. He is FAITHFUL!

God Bless you all!

Susan

Tagged! Thanks Sonderella!

Here are the rules:

1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write six random things about yourself
3. Tag six people at the end of your blog
4. If you are tagged, just do it and pass the tag along




1. The picture is me and the watermelon I grew. I like to plant and grow things. I used to grow tomatoes, strawberries, grapes, and this tiny watermelon. My strawberries and tomatoes were the best. The roses out front of my new house might survive. My dad had a green thumb. He could grow anything. He grew an apple tree from an apple he and I ate. It is planted at the house we are about to sell. We are supposed to move it. I pray this happens. He also grew a lemon tree from a seed. Sonderella has it.



2. As a kid we had farm animals. My fifth grade teacher gave me and Sonderella chickens for our birthday. I got a rooster and Sondie got a hen. My roosters name was "Philip Diller" because he had feathers on top of his head that looked like Phyllis Diller's hair! He was black and white. We had cows, chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, sheep and pigs of course. Not all at the same time though.

3. I used to like to sing to the turkeys because they would look up at me. I would sing the song "Dream" by the Everly Brothers. I know this is weird! I actually put this in print! LOL! The funny thing is we had some great turkey dinners! They were the yummiest ever! I know kids today would not think of raising and eating the same animal. It was that or not have turkey.

4. I am a dental hygienist and the joke of the family is: "I hated to brush my teeth and probably never did!" This is proven in the nickname my beloved Sonderella gave me and every kid on the bus started calling me. To say the least, I came home crying that day! The nickname.....dare I share it..... "Susie Sewer". Boy, that was hard to type! Did it correct my lack of dental hygiene....NO! That came with age and education. I am pleased to say I still have my teeth. LOL!

5. I am a teacher. I teach dental hygiene. Why does this matter? I hated school! I was a very bad student!

6. In spite of hating school I was the first college graduate of my family. I graduated with my bachelor degree from WVU in a record four years. My Bachelor of Science even. Once I found a field of study I loved I did very well.

I guess from reading this you can see I "bloomed" late! I am supposed to tag people, but don't know who to tag. I don't think Ken or Lynn have been tagged (if so ignore my tag) maybe Jules (if you are still reading).

Be Blessed today!

Ahhhhhhhhh it's Friday!

Enjoy your Friday! :o)

Sophia's surgery was postponed!

Sophia's feet are healing. Praise the Lord they are healing well enough that the doctor wants to give another week before doing surgery! God is Good! We are continuing to pray that she continues to heal completely without surgery! We are also praying for her hemoglobin counts. It has dropped to 9 and if it drops any further then Soph will need blood. This is happening because she isn't eating!

Thanks prayer warriors! God is Great and Greatly to be praised! :o)

Cutie Pie Piggy

Another update from Sonderella

Monday, September 22, 2008
Court Date

The court date for Ben's wife Sarah is Sept. 29. They are making criminal charges against her, so we are expecting prison time. The courts will also decide that day whether to leave the children in foster care with my sister Donna. We have no reason to suspect they won't leave the kids with her. The kitchen floor was repaired this weekend (Thank you mighty man Joel!)

We do not know what this will all look like further down the road. We do know God is in the details (He even made sure Rose had her hormone patches...vital need!), and that He knows best for my family. Our ultimate prayer is that Rose and Chuck will be able to adopt the kids or that Ben will be able to get them back with his parents helping when he is out of town working. Rose and Chuck will need the ultimate home make over before they can be approved so please be in prayer about their living conditions.

Also pray as we navigate "the system". We have no experience with this and Donna is doing her best with trying to figure it out. Maddie the 10 month old will go to daycare today for the first time...pray for her, oh what changes she has had in her life the last few weeks. Pray for Donna and her very full plate.

Pray for continued healing for Sophie...what a very long road she has in front of her. Pray for Rose who will not leave the hospital until Sophie does. Pray for strength for my family. Pray for home renovations if this is God's plan for the children. Pray for Sarah and Ben, they are so young to be facing such obstacles.

Thanks for the prayers. I think my family has used up our quota this year, but I appreciate how many people have loved us through it all...more than you may ever know.

We will continue to praise Him in the storm!

Originally posted by Sondie

Blessings, Power and Strength

As much as my family has been fighting a battle we are still blessed! We need to be thankful for the blessings we have had over the last week.

We still have Sophia! That is a huge blessing! She has been fighting the good fight. We do have new skin growing. PTL! We are praying for no infection, and super natural amounts of skin to reform on her feet. We have had some bleak news. She will not walk for a least a year. She will continue to need surgeries until she is about 17. But she is going to have some skin grafting done this week. We need to pray the grafting takes or she could still lose her feet and toes.

We have Faith and Maddie with family! That is a blessing. All three of the kids are wards of the state but my sister has become their "foster" care. Thank God they are with people who love them and not strangers!

Mom's kitchen floor has been repaired (another blessing). Joel and his friend Aaron fixed my mom's floor this weekend. It is the first project at my mom's house since daddy died. Joel said he felt like Daddy was there at the house watching over him. This is the first time Joel has spent any time in the house since Daddy died. I know when I visited there was this overwhelming feeling that Daddy was still at the house. I know it sounds weird. I thought it was my way of dealing, but now that I hear Joel say the same thing it makes me wonder if Daddy really is looking over us all!

Ben (Sophia's daddy) and Sarah (Sophia's mommy) have both prayed for Jesus to be their savior! HUGE BLESSING! It is going to be a long road but with God all things are possible.

We are within a month of closing on our house! Another big blessing. We are officially under contract!

Pastor Chad talked about sustaining strength for some of our battles and supernatural power for others. Well, we need a supernatural touch for Sophia. And sustaining strength for the family.

Rose has been that strength for Sophia. She has not left the hospital for the last 9 days. I worry about her. How long can she do this? Well, today I know God will give her sustaining strength to be there for this innocent baby.

God is faithful and he directs our paths. I don't know at this minute how this will all work for the good of my family, but I don't doubt for a minute that when we get down the path a ways that we will see exactly how this has worked for good. I trust God completely!

WE ARE BLESSED!

Sonderella's update on Sophia

Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Update on Sophie- Praise

Thanks to any of you who has read about Sophie and prayed for her and my family. While this is a terrible, life altering event we still have many things to be thankful for. She is still alive. They did have to put in a feeding tube, but they are trying to get her to eat. Her fevers have diminished. She took a few tentative steps with her special booties on. She has "foot scrubbings" twice daily and is heavily medicated for this.

My sister is staying with her 24/7 and is very much a part of her care even though she is still a ward of the state. We found out this evening that my other sister Donna will be awarded custody upon discharge so praise God for that!! Donna is very busy and has not been able to go back to work as she is adjusting to being a 50 year old taking care of a disabled, mildly demented mother, a 5 year old including school drop off and pick up about 30 minutes away, and a 10 month old who has been very attached to her mom and used to being held. Rose will more than likely be moving in to help once she and Sophie leave Columbus.

My nephew Ben has prayed to receive Christ for the first time in his life!! Big praise for that.

Next items up for prayer in this journey:

The next phase is skin grafts...they are trying to save toes and feet.

Continued prayers for strength for my family who is still grieving my dad's death and already struggling emotionally. Although all of us have said a prayer of thanks that dad is in heaven and not here to see this-it would have done him in.

Prayers for a floor. My parents home has been deemed safe except for the kitchen and hallway floors which are a bit heaved in some places and sagging in others. The linoleum has been ravaged by these floor shifts. This has to be fixed before Sophie can live there which is expected to be in about 3 weeks. Mom thinks she, Tina (my dear, dear loving, giving niece) and Donna just may be able to do this....hmmm. Dad was the carpenter who always figured this stuff out (remember he planned and designed his own room to die in) so this will be our first building project without him to tell everyone what to do.

We still don't know what will happen to Ben's wife, Sarah, but have heard the state will prosecute to the full extent of the law. She is 19, uneducated, and from a terrible background. She was negligent by being outside on cell phone with the children inside the house, but she is not abusive. She just never considered that such a thing could happen. I don't think she even understands what all of this means or how serious her punishment may be...that she will lose her children.

That's everything as I know it. Thank you for continued prayer. God is good in the worst of storms.


Posted by Sondie at 8:23 PM 0 Footprints

Sonderella had a great entry so I just copied it here! Thanks Sonderella!

Unexpected Snow Storm

Have you ever experienced a snow storm in the spring? It used to amaze me how spring had hit full blown and then 2 feet of snow would fall. Inevitably on Easter! Well that is what I feel like this weekend has been. A snow storm in the middle of my spring! My heart is still in spring. I can tell by the occurrences of this weekend that we are at Easter in my hearts calendar! Why you may ask? Well, the saving Grace that Jesus offered us when he rose from the grave was seen last night. My nephew Ben, Sophia's dad, gave his heart to Jesus.

After leaving the hospital he could not run from God any longer. My mom has being instrumental in helping him answer the call of the Lord. He was bawling and had turned around to find someone to pray with him. Then suddenly, my mom happen to ring his phone. At that moment, he asked her to help him find a preacher! The heavens are rejoicing! He said God has been dealing with him since my Dad passed away. Praise the Lord!

Update on Sophia-the family is starting to get a little more information from the staff in Columbus. The surgeons team will re-examine Sophia again today, but they think she still has good skin on the bottoms of her feet! Please continue to pray. I appreciate all you prayer warriors out there!

God is Good even in the unexpected snow storms of spring! I knew God was going to use this for Good. Romans 8:28!

Update on Sophia

Here is a picture of Sophia sleeping last night.

Thank you again for your prayers. They are on the way to Columbus right now. Sophia is still a ward of the state of WV. There will be a court hearing tomorrow. Even though the detective believes the mom's story we are concerned about other charges. The parents were allowed to see her within the last 24 hours. I am irritated because they had to wait for Child protective services to allow her to go to the pediatric burn center. It postponed her getting there for several hours. She is going by ambulance and not health net which is also irritating. BUT GOD has been so faithful. The state could have kept all family from seeing her all weekend and I know God's hand was involved to clear family to be with her. The nurse told CPS (child protective services) that Sophia was doing much better since her family was allowed to see her. She has been eating and alert. We are praying for the mother to be cleared and custody to be returned to a family member (if not her mother someone else in the family). We are also praying for favor for the family in Columbus. The nurse in WV really worked with CPS to help clear the family. Peace for the family. Strength for the sister with custody of the other two girls, Healing for Sophia (that she won't lose her toes which is one of the concerns right now), no infection and finally God to restore this young family and hold them together! I can not tell the percentage of burn because the family is being excluded because she is a ward of the state. It is so hard to be left in the dark because we love Sophia very much.

I have seen God's hand in this situation! Thank you again for your prayers.

Sophia Rose Swiney

Here is a picture of my great niece that needs prayer. My sister got to spend the night with her and she is in pain. Her mother passed the polygraph test!

Please continue to pray for this beautiful little girl. Her family hangs in the balance as well as her life.

God is in control. I don't say that in weakness, but in faith, strength and power.

We has christians say, "Praying is all we can do.". But how is that a small thing? Prayer is the most powerful tool we have as a christian.

To all of you who prayed....THANK YOU! I see God's hand moving on behalf of this precious little girl.

Urgent prayer request!

My family needs prayer. My great niece, Sophia is 22 months old. She was injured today. She has 2nd and 3rd degree burns on her lower legs and feet. She was life flighted to the only burn center in WV. She is in critical condition and no one has been allowed to see her from the family. Her sisters have been removed from their parents and her mother is being questioned and given a lie detector test. My sister, her grandmother, is working hard to gain entrance to see her. My other sister is filing for custody of the two sisters. She is the only one in WV cleared by a criminal back ground check right now. It will take time for the others in the family to have the necessary back ground check run. The hospital is attempting to life flight her to a Boston Shriners hospital. However, no information is being given to the family because of the suspected abuse. The state does not have to have permission to move her, nor do they have to tell us she has been moved for up to 14 hours following her move.

I can think of several prayer needs. Strength, peace, angles to surround Sophia as she can not be surrounded by her family. Pray for TRUTH to be known and for Sophia to be in the palm of God's hand. Pray for God's perfect will. Pray for healing. Statistics are not on our side. Statistics are bleak for Sophia's survival.

My heart is broken. My sister is fragile. We are barely 4 months from my fathers death. The thought of the possibility of the death of precious Sophia is unbearable.

I know God is faithful. I know God knows best. I know God has good plans for my family. I KNOW HE IS THE GREAT I AM!!!

Thank you in advance for your prayers!

Have we forgotten?

September 11, 2001 was a day I hope our nation doesn't forget. I think some of us have forgotten. I liked this picture. Freedom is definitely not free! It was bought with blood. Kind of like the blood our savior paid for our freedom from eternity in Hell!

Offers everywhere!

We got an offer on our house! I am so excited! I have not been stressed about having two houses. I just told God the bills were his anyway, so he could provide the money to pay for two houses or he could sell one. We are in the early process of the sell.

I know the title of this post is Offers everywhere so let me explain. I know you are reading this and wondering if we have more than one offer. We do. But not on the house. One offer on the house and one offer for some change at work. I will post more later about that. I am praying for God to close the door if it is not what I am supposed to do. I am excited, but reserved.

I am still basking in the warm SON! God has been blessing me. I have joy in my heart. I actually used the term "loving life" the other day and Joel said he hasn't heard me say that for so long.

Don't get me wrong I still have my moments of Grief. I miss my dad. I haven't written about him in awhile. Mostly because I am choosing to write about the good things in life.

Tonight during worship I was reminded of something. Let me share it with you. We were singing a song about the Lord wrapping his arms around us and telling us he loves us. Well, it reminded me of a time when Elisabeth was small. I was standing in church and she looked up at me and said "HOLD YOU". God spoke to my heart that day. I love my children. But God loves us so much more than we can possibly love our own children. When Elisabeth said, " HOLD YOU". It made me feel so loved and content. So needed. Well, God wants us to ask him to "HOLD YOU". He wants to feel loved and needed. God reminded me of that tonight. I do need him! I do want him. I need him to "HOLD ME". To erase my grief. To be my redeemer.

I recently posted about my small group and I referred to them as "Daughters of the King". I call them that because until we grasp that we are daughters of the most high God we don't live in VICTORY! I want those girls to know WHO they belong to and live victoriously. I think of a princess. She lives a certain way. Wears certain clothes. Eats wonderful food. WELL, we need to think of ourselves the same way. We need to live a certain way. HOLY! NOT perfect, but forgiven. We need to wear certain clothes. I think of a couple things. In our flesh we need to dress modestly. In our spirit we need to put on the full armor of God. And we need to eat wonderful food from the Lords table! We need to feast on his word. I am so humbled to be working with the "daughters of the King". I want them to understand in their spirits what that term means! I want them to live PURE and HOLY lives for our father the KING!

Exercise

We went for a 3-4 mile walk today. We saw all shapes and sizes as we walked. I saw some legs I would trade my legs for. Of course, as Malakhi put it, they would never look right with the rest of my body all jiggly! Aren't kids honest? LOVE THEM! I know I will never look like Barbie.


She is a FREAK of NATURE anyway! Who wants to look like that? ME! But I have long given up on that idea. My goal is to not look like this......





I'm okay for now and I will keep working to be healthy. My elliptical is broken so now I have to find other ways to get my exercise! :o)

AHHHH it's raining!

All we are getting from Hanna is some rain and wind earlier. We really need the rain. We have been so dry for the last few years. I like rain. Especially when I can just RELAX!

Hanna is on the way!

We have a hurricane on the way. I am not worried. It might be nice to have a day off work! LOL!

I am basking in the warm spring sun!

The first picture is the small group I help lead! I love this group of girls. They are so much fun.

The second picture is the leaders. If you can't tell I am oldest. PA paid me the highest compliment! He said in front of all the small group leaders that he couldn't ask for a better "middle school girls leader" than me (it has to be my age-LOL). That I truly knew how to work with that age and that I would be working with one of our brand new leaders to train her. Wow, do I really have that gift? and can I really train anyone? I don't see the things the Lord or others sees. Kind of like the old couple at the counter not recognizing themselves in the mirror (previous post). When I look in the mirror I see things that are not true. Our (my) eyes deceive us(me), ( I tell my dental hygiene students this all the time). But my heart (spirit) will not lead me astray. I don't share this last paragraph to puff myself up, but to express my inability to see it. I want to remain humble to minister and if I don't remain humble I will not be successful!

I have worked with Children and Youth ministry for 12-14 years in some role. After the last year (no need to rehash the rough winter) I was no longer excited to serve. Somehow that has all changed. Spring hit! I am basking in the warm sun. I am enjoying serving these beautiful "Daughters of the King" with honor and feel very privileged to learn from them. We have picked a great book written by Point of Grace. It is in the Girls of Grace series and it is called "Make It Real". The girls all looked at it last night and liked it. It covers topics like.... managing your mouth to include gossip, I think some modesty and picking a life coach.

Something new I learned this week...What is a Life Coach? They are different than a counselor. Life Coaches look to the future and help you to meet your goals. Counselors look to the past. I might want a Coach. They just sound so much more positive. I can not change my past.....I can only allow it to mold me for the future.

Anyway, I LOVE MY SMALL GROUP!