Hannah Update 12.25.08 (Christmas)

It is early on Christmas morning, and I have a few things on my heart that I want to share with all of you who have been so faithful to pray for our family over the last several months. No one else is up yet....the girls no longer wake us up before dawn begging to open their presents...as teenagers, they would much rather sleep in, and open presents whenever they happen to wake up. We no longer have to stay up late on Christmas Eve putting toys together...the "toys" they want now are high-tech gadgets that they have to open up and figure out how to use themselves...we're of no help to them in that department. We have always lived a few hours away from both sets of the girls' grandparents, so we have rarely spent Christmas Day at home over the years...we're usually at one or the other grandparent's house, or traveling in between on Christmas Day. Circumstances did not allow us to travel this week (platelet infusions yesterday and tomorrow in Little Rock), so we will be spending all day at home, just the four of us. And while we are praying for Hannah's healing and trusting God that our family of four will spend many more Christmases together; we are fully aware that, in His sovereignty, this could be our last. And that is not only true for our family in our present circumstances, it is true for every family who is reading this email. We do not know what the future holds for any of us...so please, this year more than ever, enjoy the time with your family, treasure the memories you make, and be sure that you know the One whose birth we celebrate on this day.

Intense fatigue seems to be Hannah's biggest battle right now...we are hoping to travel to Mountain Home and spend a couple of days with my family (my brother, sister-in-law, and niece Julia, who are missionaries in Indonesia, have just come home for a six-month furlough) after her platelet infusion on Friday. We are also hoping to spend some time with Brad's family (his sister and brother-in-law just welcomed their first baby, Faith McKinley Sartor, on Tuesday) next week. Please pray that Hannah will have the stamina to enjoy these visits...she loves spending time with her extended family. She is due for another chemotherapy treatment next Wednesday (New Years' Eve), and we assume that is the source of the fatigue she is experiencing.

How can we ever thank all of you for all of the prayers, cards, emails, calls, visits, gifts, meals, etc.? Your love and support has carried all of us through this journey, and we will be forever grateful. A dear friend once told me that God's grace is like a fitted sheet....He gives you just enough to fit your particular mattress. This friend knows the truth of that statement, too, as she and her husband lost their baby girl to meningitis several years ago. God's grace is sufficient...and He is truly good, all the time.

Wishing you all a blessed Christmas,
Jill