November 30, 2009

Because I told you to...

Go to your nearest theatre and watch the movie Blind Side...you will be inspired and you will possibly cry ( like I did...four times.)

It will be a MUCH better and uplifting experience then watching, say, Twilight: New Moon, which was so incredibly awful that you'll have to laugh just so that you will not cry at the state of the world, a world that thinks that this is quality....Although, there is this one scene where Bella's ( whiny so-called-heroine) head gets a teeny tiny bit of blood on it, and Jacob ( the probably manic-depressive warewolf) WHIPS OFF his shirt and starts dabbing at her head.
I mean, I didn't blame him...if I had had to take steroids, and therefore put my body in serious risk, at the tender age of 16 so I could get that buff...well, I'd probably make every excuse to show it off too....
Anyway, that's what I got out of THAT movie...and the moral of the story is, go see Blind Side.

In other news, this weeks goal is to make friends. I had a very short lunch date today which was progress and I was invited to a party tomorrow night which will hopefully be more progress...wish me luck, I must be at my winning-est. hehe.

November 28, 2009

Any time...

So, I think I've "rested" enough...Feeling a bit on the bored side today. Its not that there wasn't enough to do...Brett and I worked on various to-do lists that we'd both piled up-but I think the major thing is that we've have no social circle as of yet. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a Sunday-the idea of getting to go to church where we'll get to talk to OTHER PEOPLE is mindblowing.

Also...I think my southern accent is coming back. Fabulous.

November 27, 2009

The Big Picture...

"All the end of the earth shall remember and turn the Lord,
and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.
For the kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations."
Ps 22:27-28

I'm excited about this holiday season, may we ever focus on what's truly important: His kingdom come!

November 25, 2009

Getting shinier

So, here we are. This is Georgia. A Georgia which is apparently nice and sunny most of the time, but decided to make me feel nice and at home since arriving-thus being bleak and rainy. Nice. Thanks Georgia for pulling out all the stops ;-)

Anyway, last night Brett and I were driving home from a dinner engagement and we discussed how TIRED we were! Yet once we stopped to think what had been going on in our lives the last few weeks it was concluded that we were more emotionally tired than anything. In short, new lives are tiring to get.

How's this new life going, you ask? Well, that's tough to say...I've been waiting to write this particular blog post until a time when I wouldn't burst into tears at the slightest thing and I think that'll be today! hahaha! In short, I am continually impressed that while I keep thinking that with each move it couldn't POSSIBLY be MORE SO than the LAST move ( aka. I am prepared this time), I am always surprised to find there are NEW things to get used to and new things with which to rely on the Lord for strength.

This time the major blow came about a week into our cross-country trek, when the Woods called and offered us their home to live in for 6 months. Now, I'm going to take a big deep breath and try to explain what this means:

Ok, so the Chuck and Deb Wood are a Navigator couple who are actually over the Navigator Army ministry altogether. This basically means that they travel for MOST of the year. Before they took this job, they ran the Nav ministry here at Fort Benning. In fact, it was through Chuck that Brett got involved with the Navigators back in 2004/2005. Brett actually lived with the Woods during the 18 months that he was at Fort Benning...which brings me to their house. They have a "ministry" house. Its basically a nice sized four bedroom home, but it also has an added apartment ( with a kitchen, living area etc-this is where Chuck and Deb now live when they are in Georgia between travels) and also an added meeting room and a bunk room. All of this added together and you get a house that is perfect for having guys move in and live so that they can have closer discipleship training-which is one of the key principles and main focuses of the Navigator ministry. Its also great for bible studies and ministry functions...

Annnnywho, the Woods called us up and said that starting in January there would not be anyone living in their main house-and they were wondering if we'd like to move in.

Pause for dramatic affect.

I think I've been very disappointed with everyone that I've told about this piece of news, because EVERYONE has been excited for us and said what a great idea it is...when deep down ( ok, it hasn't been deep down at all) I have been crying and moaning and complaining about this EVER SINCE THAT INITIAL invite....why the complaining? Well, because it meant putting all of our things in storage. It meant moving again in six months ( remember how much I HATE moving?), it meant sharing my first months back with my husband with more ministry demands, it meant putting on clothes when I leave my bedroom ( no roaming a house where there are other people in your PJs!), it meant living in a house where my iphone gets zero reception, it meant living a good 20 minutes from any stores or coffee shops...and countless other "inconveniences".

In short, I was faced HEADLONG with my very shallow/selfish/spoiled ( hey! Look! I'm an alliteration of character flaws!) self.

Now, I'll be honest with you...I spent a WHOLE YEAR diving head long into ministry. I was ALL about it! I was one hundred percent on board. And some little part of me thought that I DESERVED a break. That I deserved to have what *I* wanted for a change...and wow. Until this whole housing thing came up, I didn't even realize that's what I was thinking...

So yesterday I woke up to an email from my dear friend Tabitha-who laid the proverbial slap down on me ( it should be noted she did it in this oddly encouraging/ nice way that I should really try to master) basically equating me with Jonah. Ouch! She was right! And THEN to pile on the coals of Truth...I went and did my quiet time...and I JUST SO HAPPENED to be reading about Moses going to Pharaoh and asking over and over again that Pharaoh do what God was asking ( and Pharaoh kept hardening his heart) and yeah...we all know how THAT turned out. And THEN I turned over to my New Testament reading and I JUST SO HAPPENED to be reading about the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew. DOUBLE OUCH. Here I was crying over an iPhone and here was a dude turning his back on following Jesus because he couldn't seem to give up his riches.....I don't think it takes an English major to see the parallels there.

As you can see...this move has not been an easy one....and I'm going to go ahead and say THEY NEVER WILL BE. But what I WILL go ahead and say, is that if you'd like to shake up your pre-existing assumptions about yourself, your relationships and most importantly your priorities and walk with God...you should consider moving. It'll be hard, but I have great faith that at the end of this I'll be a little bit shinier ( think gold being refined illustration here).

OH and I'm keeping my phone. It gets reception pretty much everywhere but in the house, and even there I still get text messages and voicemails...so I still feel pretty in touch.

*Other business:
If you'd like the new Brett and Abigail address and the new Brett and Abigail landline phone-number you can email me or message me and I'll get that to you right away. ALSO some of you have been asking if Brett has a cell phone number. He does not. I you still have his 817 number, delete that...you'll disturb some poor old lady if you call it. He'll be getting a new number soon!

November 23, 2009

Too much personal growth

So, you may be wondering why you haven't heard from me since arriving in Georgia/Alabama...well, the reason for this is mainly because I'm being asked ( by life) to do SO MUCH personal growth right now that I literally had to take a nap because it was so tiring. And, well, personal growth is definitely something I like to talk about AFTER THE FACT so that I don't look so self-involved and lame.
This, of course, means we'll have "testimony worthy" blog posts in like a month or something after all the holiness and the growing happens-but until then I'll just have to hope that any post I do will not have the complaining and whining seeping through TOO MUCH.

Oh, and remember when I posted that little video of me talking? The one where I shared the last message that I shared at the Navs study in Washington that I did?! Well, I talked about "first weeks" in that little talk. I talked about how totally horrible and bleak everything seemed and that in times like those you have to have faith and read your bible and be reminded of His promises etc. etc.

Well, turns out I need to start preaching to myself pronto, and it also turns out that when you're in the middle of "first weeks" it is INCREDIBLY HARD to see the light.

And just so you'll know kind of the general direction from which I'm coming from...my iphone does not work on the street where we're living. ZERO COVERAGE. It works pretty much EVERYWHERE ELSE but here. It's pretty much like life slapped me in the face and then laughed at me.

November 21, 2009

In lue of a party...

So tomorrow I turn 26.

I know that I'm going to become an adult because for the first time in my whole life I did not do a count down to my birthday, and I did not tell everyone, including strangers on the street that my birthday was in *so many* days for an entire month...and I have not gone on and on about it on my blog.

Of course, as much as I would like to say that the reason for this change is that I have become super mature in the last year, this is probably not the case. Instead, I'm going to point to the incredible amount of LIFE going on around me that I do not have the time to stop and celebrate such blasé things as my birth.
*psssshhhh*

Haha! Just kidding! We're going to celebrate anyway! We're going to celebrate in newest fashion: By starting a brand new season of life and by counting the blessings of the past and present.

Tomorrow Brett and I will be crossing the border into Georgia and begin a new life there. I admit I'm scared. And I admit that I've never been more homesick than I am right now. Its on your birthday that you miss your friends the most ( and as we all know friends and family are our home). But I count my blessings too. I have Brett home from Afghanistan and I thank God every day that He got us through a year long deployment. If you believe in miracle, just know that a successful deployment is the longest drawn out miracle that you can ever witness....

And for the past four days we've spent some lovely time with Brett's family in Texas ( and a teeny tiny bit of my family scattered in for bonus)...and I am struck yet again by how blessed we are to have such supportive families. ( Oh, and a big shout out to Jillian who I am TREMENDOUSLY glad to count as part of that family now that she's finally an official Vermeulen-not to mention a fellow army wife! YAY!)

I am also glad that we got to go to my church for prayer meeting on Wednesday and thank God for those lovely saints there who prayed for us and supported us while Brett was deployed. I am glad that they are as much our family as anyone....and speaking of such "family"-I am also thankful for the beautiful last day in Washington-where we got to spend the day with Judy and with Bethany and Amy and Karissa and Ash and Lindsay and Isaac and the Strouds and the whole STS gang....it was pretty much the perfect day. Perfect.

And I am thankful for all the many wonderful wonderful friends that I carry with me wherever I go....even so far as Georgia.


So here's to the year 25. It was a doozy.

And here's to 26 no doubt it will be JUST as interesting.

November 17, 2009

Week One & Texas

So, tonight we arrived in Texas and gave our family a giant huge....how far we've come! And for Brett this was the first time seeing our families in a year and half ( seriously?!? wow!)..but before all that we had to get from the Grand Canyon to Nacogdoches....


So, there are no pictures with this post, probably because my camera got stuffed down at the bottom of a bag-and, well, bags once they are packed and unpacked every night for days and days on end-things start to oddly expand. Sufficient to say you'll have to make do with my wordy accounts of what happened next:

After the grand canyon we were off to Santa Fe ( with a stop over night in Gallup, New Mexico). Now, some of you thought we were headed to a hotsprings spa in Arizona, and well, so did we...but turns out thinking really loudly doesn't ACTUALLY get you reservations so...oopsy.

And thus we headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico instead...this is a place i have thought little about in my life and had done absolutely ZERO research on before arriving. However, this was a little pre-view lesson of:
Life Can Go On Even if Abigail Has Not Planned And Or Prepared For It. And we ended up having a lovely, albeit over-priced time...
Highlights of Santa Fe:
80 minute massages. The movie Away We Go. The mailbox that looked like R2D2. Comfy Beds. walking in the snow. Dinner at the unpretentious dinner after a pervious meal at a snobby restaurant.

After Santa Fe ( which ended up being a better stop because it was a nice distance between our pervious destination and our NEXT destination which made for more enjoyable driving days) we headed to Lubbock, TX to stay with Brett's college friend Stephani and her husband Jason and their ADORABLE 3 month old son Alexander. Seriously, had the sweetest disposition and the brightest smile...and I could have totally eaten him up-if Baby Eating wasn't so frowned upon.

And then that brings us to today! We hightailed it across Texas to arrive in Nacogdoches in time for Dinner with Brett's family and then a quickie before bed chat with my parents...

And then, then I had to write this post-because, to be honest, even though I didn't actually talk about anything life-altering in this post, I've actually had a pretty life altering week...and blogging is one of my greatest "calms". I cannot tell you how good it is to get at least a FEW ( if not the most straight forward and surface) things "on to paper" so that they will no longer plague my mind.

I am hoping that in the next few days I will be able to steal a moment away to type up the HARDCORE post and the only hint I'll give you is this over-dramatized facebook status update that I made a few days ago:

"Giving things up for Jesus stings, but it's totally worth it."

So, there you go! I'm basically giving away the surprise ending there...but believe me there is PLENTY more to that story to come!!

November 13, 2009

A Grand Maker indeed!

I think sometime God has things a little bit difficult just to remind us that He's there. If today had started out bright and sunny and perfect, I'm not so sure I would have seen His magnificence in quite the same way...
As it was, we woke up in our hotel ( that we'd arrived at late the night before) near the Grand Canyon to pouring down rain. Not the "clear weather" I'd prayed for, for our one day to see this wonder of the world!!!

But, we decided we'd go look at the "big hole in the ground" ( I just came up with that...clever, I know) anyway, since we'd come ALL THAT WAY...and surely we'd be able to see something!?! RIGHT!?!?

Well...not really.

When we arrived it was super de douper cloudy and rainy. And yet I dutifully took pictures of the canyon anyway. ( looking at them now, they are basically pictures of clouds).

Example:



But then, AMAZINGLY ENOUGH, it started to clear!!! And it was as though God just unfolded this beautiful piece of artwork that He'd created just for us!!





We then got super into it and started to think we should spend MORE time there than we'd allotted...but just as soon as we got greedy and started thinking about going back and getting more pictures...the clouds started to roll back in. Time to head back on the road!!

And just in case, I wasn't fully aware of God's providence on this whole trip so far, this is what we saw driving into New Mexico from Arizona:

November 10, 2009

California: Redwoods

Yesterday Brett and I high-tailed it out of washington and made it all the way to California and found a lovely hotel by the sea and woke up this morning to the sound of waves crashing. We then spent a day driving through Redwoods-which, I gotta tell you was something I've wanted to do since I was young and saw in some book a picture of a car driving through a tunnel in a Redwood tree! I felt very blessed getting to spend the day with my hubby taking in some of the splendor of God's creation!



A Tina Update

Well, friends, I'll be sharing from Brett and my travels in the next few days...but first I have something amazing to share with you! Yesterday I got to spend some time with Tina and she was good enough to let me share some pictures from her experience with you...now, normally I would not be down with sharing this kinda pictorial story with you-because I don't have the strongest stomach...but seeing as I had to experience it in person and so many of you were so faithful to pray for her even when you couldn't see her, I know Tina would want to share with you some of the incredible detail of the miracle God performed in her life.

Bare in mind that these first images were taken only two weeks ago and the last two were taken yesterday!
( isn't she beautiful!?)

Once again, thank you for praying for Tina and thank you for continuing to lift her up as she deals with recovery from the traumatic experience. She texted me today to say that she was able to READ her bible during her quiet time ( without listening to the audio Bible) for the first time today. God continues to heal her body!







Into Northern California

I'm currently working on a "Tina Update" and "Last Day in Washington"
post but it's hard to find Internet time that's not my phone... But
until then the trip is going great... And this is what we woke up to
this morning in Crescant City, CA...

November 07, 2009

Stage one: complete

So, I'm currently sitting in the Kansas City Airport, getting ready to head back to Washington and thus stage one of "The Master Plan" will be complete. "Master Plan" seems a bit much, but that's what popped in my head so we're gonna go with it...besides I'm a bit much, so there you go....

First of all, in my last post I promised I'd give you the stalkerish run down of what the next two weeks hold for Brett and I and now I will fulfill said promise:

Stage 1: Already complete! That consisted of coming here to Kansas and re-unite with Brett. Done and DONE! (Yay! Being married is infinitely better in person. And if you're ever planning on getting married yourself ( if you aren't already), take it from me....have it be an "in person" marriage as much as humanly possible.

Stage 2: Return to Washington.
I'm currently doing this right now, and Brett will be doing it in a couple of hours. This is excellent news, since for a little while we thought he wouldn't get to leave until tomorrow. But, now I'll get to see him again at 7pm tonight! yay!

Stage 3: Spend a moment in Washington.
Basically a day. But, Brett has people he definitely wants to see ( fair enough)...and its already hard for me to think about having to say more permanent goodbyes to our loved ones in Wash....but at least we'll get to do it together! So we're spending tomorrow with as many packed in good moments as we can!

Stage 4: Start the road trip! We'll be heading down the West Coast towards San Fran and in the early part of next week we're hoping to hit up a childhood friend of Brett's ( seriously, they met in elementary school and re-connected via the magical facebook) and see the Redwood Forests ( a childhood dream of mine realized. Are they really that big?! We're going to find out!!!)

Stage 5: We'll continue on with the driving and break it up by stopping by for a quickie visit with Brett's college friend The Newtons. I'm going to go ahead and call them my friends too...because they're super cool and the kind of people that I feel that geographical challenges are the only thing keeping us from being super tight. hehe.

Stage 6: Finally get out of California. And now to another Abigail Childhood Dream. A little bit off the trek but TOTALLY worth it...we're going to see the Grand Canyon. ( is it really that awesome of a hole?! We're going to find out!!!!

Stage 7: And just in case you think we're ONLY going to be driving ( although the previous stages don't mention it very much)...we'll be stopping to spend sometime at an Arizona Natural Hot Springs ( and spa! which I doubt is natural...but perfectly wonderful nonetheless).

Stage 8: Hot tail it onwards....stopping to visit The Biggs Family for a moment in time. ( Sadly bad timing meant that Brett and I are missing out on a Reunion Weekend with his College Buddies...but we thought we'd fit in as many of them along the drive, as we could to make up for it...it won't be the same, but we PROMISE to try to make it to the next one. Meh!) ...and then continue on with the driving.

Stage 9: Now that we're finally in Texas we'll enter into full-on Family Mode and that'll start with a visit with Brother Joshua. ( Sounds amish when I say it that way. awesome.) and then do another All Important Detour to....

Stage 10: Nacogdoches! Where we'll be spending every possible second with Brett's Mom as we possibly can. Sadly we won't be there for Thanksgiving-but we're hoping to make up quantity with quality here.....

Stage 11: ( I'll turn 26 somewhere around here...and while Birthday's are a VERY BIG DEAL to me...It looks like it might just get passed over this year, and for once I don't mind AT. ALL. I must be finally growing up(!!) )
And finally the fun will be over and we'll put our heads down and start REALLY HARDCORE driving and finally end up...at FORT BENNING, GA. Where we will live....


*Editors Note*: It has been FAR TOO LONG since I've had my husband around, and this was made self-evident by how many times I had to go back and change the word "I" to "we". Seriously, Army....you stink sometimes.

November 05, 2009

surrealness

So you have totally not experienced Surreal until you've lived in Kansas for two months, had to say good bye to your husband for a year and THEN 12 months later RETURNED to that same Kansas where you use to waste time all day in preparation for your husband to leave you...only to find yourself WASTING TIME all day AGAIN in preparation for his return.

Anyway, because that last paragraph was a bit on the murky side, let me re-cap:

Yesterday I spent alllllll daaaaaaay ( until exactly 11:25pm) waiting to get Brett back from the LONGEST DEPLOYMENT IN THE HISTORY OF MY LIFE* ( * I say this because there have actually been much longer deployments...and for the families and soldiers who have dealt with that over the many years of the United States Army...all I can say is "wow". )...anyway, a goodly part of that day was spent dealing with the ILL-TIMED BREAK-IN that happened to my car while parked at the Ghetto Apartments in Washington. Luckily I have two non-ghetto friends who live in the Ghetto Apartments and they took care of it like PROS. ( although this is the SECOND time I've been in Kansas and had Amy call me to tell me that my car window is broken. THIS is a pattern I'd like for us to break. for reals.) ...and the rest of the day was spent in levels of praise and thankfulness as I thought about how AMAZING God has been to Brett and I in the past year.

I can honestly say that God took something awful and hard and uncomfortable and lonely and painful and scary and He USED IT! He used in all sorts of amazing ways. I am actually really proud of how I spent my year. I know that sounds pretty self-involved but this blog is self-involved so deal with it. But, yes, I'm proud. And I am amazed by the work God has done in the lives of those people that I've spent the last year with...seeing how much they have grown and how much their lives are a testimony of Christ...well, it was an honor to be a part of that. All by God's grace.... Yesterday I spent a few hours with the girl that I lived with when I was here in Kansas the first time around and it was truly incredible to see how God is working in HER life! Just one more way in which God has shown himself to be faithful.

Anyway, back to yesterday: Finally at 11:25pm I got my husband back and it was oddly normal. It was SO normal having him in the car with me...so normal talking to him. I had to remind myself that it was actually MONUMENTAL. And I also had to keep reminding myself that it was permanent. That two weeks from now he will NOT leave, he'll continue to stay. Of course, one of the reasons I have to keep reminding myself of this is because the Army makes it HARD TO BELIEVE. Namely because Brett had to be BACK AT WORK at 5am this morning. Which....mathematics time....FIVE HOURS after getting Brett back, I had to return him to the Army until 6pm tonight. And then we have to do that again tomorrow. So, yeah, I have to pinch myself. Because the Army doesn't like to make it easy...

Stay tuned for what I'll call How to Best Stalk Abigail over the next month...when I will give you a play by play of the COAST TO COAST roadtrip that Brett and I will be taking to get from Washington to Georgia.

And now I will leave you with the first picture of Brett and I reunited.

November 02, 2009

taking off the fancy pants

So, today I said goodbye to the Fancy Pants apartment. And while I will miss the magical fireplace and the giant shower, as well as the perfectly manicured lawns and well behaved neighbors and easy access to Starbucks, I am ABSOLUTELY 100% excited about moving to Georgia. ( and all 100% can be attributed to Brett).

As I left the fancy pants apartment I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders and I felt like I could finally start to get excited about Brett coming home. I mean, don't get me wrong I was excited before but the excitement was hiding underneath my mountainous to-do list. But, now, now I only have about 5 or 6 things left to do before Brett's homecoming and that's hardly ANYTHING! And so the excitement can finally bubble over like it should.

Oh, and before I forget let me just tell you that God performed a MIRACLE today in the Fancy Pants apartment....you see, remember way back when my fridge totally had that awful smell coming out of it?!? Well, that week was a bad week for the apartment in general. Not only did the awful smell happen, but I broken one of the window blinds and then Lindsay was opening the microwave and the WHOLE HANDLE came off in her hand!!! It was good thing that I left for Texas a few days later to break the cycle of damage or seriously the whole place would have been destroyed! It was insane.
Anyways, we basically had to leave the handle to the microwave off and just open it up by grabbing hold of its insides for the past few months ( ghetto) and then yesterday Bethany and I super glued the handle back on-just in time for the Fancy Pants managers to come in and go through the place with a fine toothed comb.
I honestly didn't think they'd open the microwave at all, but I was still nervous about it. I mean, I knew that with one good tug that handle would be off-so I just prayed that it would at LEAST look good for the twenty minutes the inspection would last....
HOWEVER, about two minutes into the walk thru and I KNEW I was in trouble. I had gotten the "MANAGER-manager" instead of the "manager-manager" and thus it was as though Barney Fife was going through my apartment check list. NO ROCK was left UNTURNED.

And so...of course, I saw in slow motion MANAGER-manager going for the microwave. And so I held my breath...and LO!! something that can only be described as a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE occurred! The handle stayed on! And not only did it stay on when she pulled it, it stayed on when she slammed it shut!!

UN. BE. LIEVE. ABLE.


I pretty much wanted to run out of there right then..... Ahhhh! glorious!

And thus the end of an era. The Fancy Pants Apartment is no more.

all the sighing that will be done...

So, Brett's officially out of Afghanistan and is in K-stan....

.....

and that sound you heard right there was the biggest sign of relief in the history of the world.
How grateful I am to God that we are finally through this year of our lives! YAY!

And now, Brett just needs to have quick and easy flights...and HOPEFULLY that would mean I would get to see my husband again on Wednesday night!


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

365 days. GONE. OVER. DONE.
GOLD STAR BRETT AND ABIGAIL!


But, first I've got a lot of things left to do on my to-do list tomorrow, including doing my final walk through on the fancy-pants apartment ( I'll miss you!) and turning in the keys tomorrow...and then I'm off to Kansas and another big huge sigh of relief will be made.

November 01, 2009

Tina update and its November!!

I just had to throw that last part in because I'm so excited about it...it means that Brett's coming home in, like, FOUR DAYS!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

But, the praises don't stop there, yesterday I went to visit Tina and I was incredibly encouraged by our time together!

First of all, Tina is staying with a wonderful couple who she lived with a few years ago when she was going to Community College, getting her prerequisits for nursing school. Tami met me at the front door and I immediately was hit by her love/motherliness. I KNOW Tina is in good hands staying there, and she has a whole little suite to herself and her visitors!
Praise #1: Tina has a loving, comfortable environment to recover in!

When I walked into the room Tina was talking to some friends and telling them about her ordeal. She was sitting up straight on a couch, using hand motions, cracking jokes, animation was everywhere. If you know Tina you this is what we've been missing the last week and a half!
Praise #2: Tina is herself again!

The other thing about seeing Tina sitting there on that couch like that, was how she looked. One of the most shockingly awful things about Steven Johnson's Syndrome is that her ENTIRE body was covered with this horrible, bubblingly rash-and it was dreadfully hard to see such a pretty girl like Tina ravanged with red/purpley boils. But the recovery is going so well!
Praise #3: Tina's wounds are recovering wonderfully! Her face is looking especially good, and all her wounds are scabbing and coming off beautifully!

And now for my FAVORITE part of this story, the part that I think absolutely PROVES God's hand upon this whole horrible ordeal that Tina has been through and that we continue to pray her through....

Miracle #1:
Several months ago Tina turned 23 and therefore lost her military insurance that she had through her Dad. So, of course, she needed to get some other insurance...buuuuut that cost money, and she was never ever sick so she put it off. But, she finally made some arrangements through her school and filled out some paper work. But she still hadn't paid for it or officially gotten the insurance coverage. Well, I may get these dates a little wrong-but Tina said that the Monday before things really escalated ( on the Friday), she had gone to class anyway, and she was feeling terrible so she was going to go home immediately after, but a friend of her's reminded her to go turn in her insurance check before. So she did.
And Miracle #2: The insurance company processed her check on the day that they received it. and...
Miracle #3: Her insurance went into effect the DAY BEFORE she went to the emergency room and spent the next week in hospitals.

Whoa.

That right there is how God has incredibly provided for Tina and I know that He will continue to answer our prayers concerning her recovery!!!!

Tina's prayer requests are as follows:

Prayer Request #1: Tina's eyes are still a concern. She can see a little, but its VERY blurry and she definitely can't read or watch things on T.V. or see a computer screen very well. Pray that her eyes would continue to heal and recover FULLY!!

Prayer Request #2: Tina's nursing school supervisor is going to visit her this next week so they can discuss a course of action regarding her schooling. Tina was on track to graduate in December and she wants with all her heart to graduate with the classmates that she has been with since the beginning! Please pray for her instructors to work WITH Tina to make this possible even through this ordeal!

Prayer Request #3: Tina's insurance miracle WAS incredible, but there will still be medical bills and financial strain even with the insurance. Pray that the Lord would continue to provide for her ( and if you'd like to donate some money to Tina's medical fund, I can put you in touch with Jamie Fischer who is taking care of that angle!)

Thanks to all of you who have prayed for Tina over this last week! How beautiful to be able to share such a report so SOON after such a scary time! The Lord is good!