Prayer For A Friend

I have a dear friend who is fighting cancer.

 Due to some complications with chemo, she is on a ventilator.

 I chose to take a shift on a 24 hour prayer chain for her.

I just came off my 30 minute shift which easily expanded to 45.

There is no distance, time, or space where the Holy Spirit is concerned.

So following the lead of the Godly woman who formed this chain, I read, sang and prayed for my friend through His power.

Many tears were shed as God touched my heart again and again.

Last night as I went to sleep with her beautiful name upon my lips in prayer, I tried to think what it must be like--lying there--cognizant, yet sedated somewhat, knowing I was on a ventilator.

I prayed for her to have a peace beyond comprehension.

And as I drifted off to sleep while still in prayer, I feel that God not only answered my prayer for her but touched me also.

I awoke this morning feeling better than I have felt in two months.

I do believe my God is working a miracle in her and in me.

Tonight as I was praying for her this is the verse that I seemed to come back to--Jeremiah 17:14.

I pray that this verse will minister to you tonight wherever you are and whatever need you have.

Love and prayers,
Dianne

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2014

A Purple Peek

Here is a small peek at the room we painted eggplant--it's in one of our bathrooms and I am really loving it.

The room is almost finished except for a shower curtain.  I will show you the whole thing when we get it completed.

I love the way the eggplant color brought out all the purple in this picture that was already in there.  The walls were a sea foam green before and strongly emphasized the green in the picture.

The color itself was quite pretty but the fixtures are gray and the gray and green looked too much the same--actually looked like someone had tried to match it and missed--not attractive at all.  The strong purple calms down the gray and makes it look more creamy--more neutral.

I have lots more to show you but it is going to be a while.  We have several things going in several rooms and none of it completed.

We're looking forward to having it all done but a lot of the fun comes from the process and the hard work that it requires.

Hope you are having a great week.

Love,
Dianne

© ALL ART, PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT PROPERTY OF ELIZABETH DIANNE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 2008-2014

Unspeakable Blessings!

My son, Chris, holds his daughter and sister in Christ, Noelle, after he baptized her this morning.

I didn't get to make the trip to Tulsa because of the health situation but thank God for technology.  I got to see it by video moments afterwards.  How great is our God!

Sending Bubbles Your Way

There are so many blogs to read--so many good ones too, but we can't filter through everything, can we?

Sometimes other people can do it for us and I have one for you that is so good. I sure hope you will give this one a look.  This was written by my online friend, Barb.  Way to go, dear Barb.  This was so good--I just had to share it.

And while you're at it, please know that I am sending bubbles your way.

Much love,
Dianne

Here is the link.

My Peonies Are Blooming

Peonies may be my very favorite flower. Ours are blooming right now.

We've had some really cold weather lately (very cold for the middle of May) and I caught this one on its way out.  It's still beautiful to me though.

I am in my third week of physical therapy and am doing somewhat better.  The range of motion in my back is exponentially better and I am thrilled about that.  Still lots of pain at times but not the debilitating type of a few weeks ago.

My daughter in law, Traci, continues to amaze me with her strength and courage.  She could not have her chemo last week because of low white cell blood count and low platelet count.  She has shaved her head and got some cute little head scarves, hats, and wraps.  She looks beautiful with or without them.

God continues to amaze me with His great love and care for our family.

We are doing a little bit of redecorating in our home.  It started out very simple.

I talked to my husband about getting a decorator friend of ours to help me hang some pictures and maybe rearrange some furniture.  Well, I won't give all the secrets away as I will be posting what we have done and are going to do in the next few weeks but let it suffice to say, I got a church pew today!

I have always wanted a church pew and I think this one is going to be so functional.

Can't wait to get things in good enough shape that I can share them with you.  Oh, there is some purple paint also--

But some things I don't have 'before' pictures for so you will just have to use your imagination.

Hope you have a wonderful, glorious weekend.

Love,
Dianne

An Update

My heart has not been in blogging lately so I thought I would share with you part of the reasons why. I just haven't been able to write about it but will share with you what my son, Michael,  shared on Facebook today.

FYI--their Elite Family is a group of people whose daughters play basketball for Team Elite.

For those of you who haven't heard, my wife Traci was diagnosed with breast cancer in early March. 

She is undergoing 20 weeks of chemo followed by surgery sometime around the end of September. The outpouring of love by our friends and family has been astounding. 

Yesterday we came home from a night away in Heber Springs to our yard being cleaned up by a bunch of friends from our Elite family. 

This is one of the most humbling experiences of my life. To think about the time and effort these people put in to try to help my family out and make our life easier right now is amazing. 

I can not express to everyone just how encouraged I have been by your phone calls, texts, meals, gifts, prayers & love. 

The picture is of our front flower bed and the pink flowers planted in the shape of a ribbon, symbolizing the fight against cancer. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!! Coach Hogue

--So sorry--could not get this picture to rotate.

 


One of the other reasons why concerns some health problems I am having.

I've always had some form of back trouble but about a month ago I got really down with severe pain in my hips.

My GP took some x-rays and they were not good.

Scoliosis--

Severe arthritis up and down my spine--

A bone several inches long protruding from my lower spine--we don't know if this has always been there--a genetic defect--and is just now giving me problems--which  probably is the case since my brother just had surgery for this same condition 3 months ago--or if it is something new.

My faith is in tact.  I trust God with myself and my family.

My daughter-in-law's faith is strong and she trusts God with her whole heart.  She has been a mighty witness and testimony through the last few weeks.

Jesus said, "My peace I leave with you."  And that is what He is giving us.  He is always good and we know He will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:19

I just needed some time--I hope you understand.

We covet your prayers and thank you in advance.

Much love,
Dianne