Meet My Friends...

I wanted to use this post to introduce you to some of the blogs I follow, and the people behind them.


Over in the right hand column, underneath my profile, "Hannah's Story in E-Mails", our speaking schedule, and the followers of this blog, you'll see a section titled, "Blogs I Follow". The top six blogs are always listed in a different order...the most recently updated one will be listed first, followed by the next one, etc. Two of those blogs are "Lisa's Little Slice of Life" and "The Latest on Faith"...those belong to my sisters-in-law. "Harper House" belongs to a friend of mine who feels like a sister!

"Jamie Morris's Journal" will give you updates on Jamie, who I have frequently mentioned in this blog...he has been battling cancer for longer than anyone I know, and he and his mom are amazing people. "The McCones" is written by Melissa McCone, who will keep you up-to-date on her husband, Alan, who is battling kidney cancer. I have not actually met them yet, but hope to this weekend, when we travel to First Baptist Church of Crossett to share Hannah's story. "Everyday Miracles" is a blog about Ethan Krawiec, an 18-month-old boy who has defeated JMML leukemia. I've not met this family either (they live in Connecticut, I believe, but have family in Arkansas), but Ethan's mom, Kasey, was unknowingly a great encouragement to me as we traveled our road of cancer.

Most of the remaining blogs are CaringBridge sites, with the exception of "Steve and Laura Persenaire", which is my brother and sister-in-law's website. They are serving as missionaries in Indonesia. We were so blessed that they were home on furlough during the latter part of Hannah's illness and after she went to Heaven. They and their sweet little girls were a great encouragement to us. We miss them!

Now, to the CaringBridge sites: Tim, Ronnie, Lisa, Maggie, and Kate are all battling brain cancer, which, of course, hits close to home for us. Little Kate, in particular, is really in need of prayer...she lives in Phoenix, and I don't know the family personally, but I feel that I have come to know them through their blog. Her prognosis is not good, but they are trusting God. Blayton is a little guy from Crossett whose story I've been following for awhile...again, I don't know this family personally, but through Blayton's battle with leukemia, I feel that I've gotten to know them. Brady's mom is an old friend of mine, again from Crossett, and he has bravely battled (and defeated) neuroblastoma!

The rest of these kids (Job, Riley, Elijah, Sydney, Grace, Luke, and Drew) we got to know while we were making our trips back and forth to Children's Hospital. All of them are at different points in their battles against cancer, and thankfully, most of them are doing well, and have recently gotten good reports. Elijah's family just found out this week that after four years of battling neuroblastoma, there is still disease present in his body.

Cancer is everywhere, isn't it? It's unbelievable how many lives are touched by it. I had no idea until it touched our family. Would you consider choosing one or more of these families to follow and pray for as they travel down their cancer journey? The prayers of God's people are definitely what have carried us through the past year and a half!