Life in General...

Well I am still in Missouri until this coming Friday. I had only planned on a week here but after many talks with Tara she convinced me to stay for the full 2 weeks. It's just so hard for me because after 20 min. gone from home I was wanting to be back so badly and missing them. Call me weird, but it's true! So 2 weeks has felt like forever....I'm really excited to get back on Friday. :)

Don't get me wrong though, I love my family here and have enjoyed some of the time here. This week I am actually staying at Tara's house. She is on spring break so it's nice to spend lots of time with her. Today we went to lunch and shopping some, so that was fun! I think I'm spending way too much money though! :( Although, I'm set for summer now as far as clothes go! :)

So anyway, the trip has been pretty good, spent time with the Hunt Family, photographed a wedding, did a photoshoot for a very lovely family, painted Tara's room and bathroom, helped powerwash a house with my Dad and umm..shopped I guess! :)

It seems like for all weeks to come home these were the most crucial. In a way it's been a "sobering" trip. :( I had told you all about my Grandma who was in the hospital, well so far it seems like it's all going well. We are going back up to see her tomorrow. She had her hip surgery yesterday I think. So Praise God for that, I'm pretty sure she did well through that. Well, also while I was down here I went to visit a friend of mine, Tom. He has had cancer since 2007 and is in his final stages right now. :( He called me at the end of January to tell me goodbye and I just couldn't handle that. So I've been praying that God would keep him alive until I could come back and see him myself. So I got back here and thought of Tom everyday but was scared of what I might see. Not sure I could handle it. :( I talked to Sage and told her how I had prayed and she told me that I just had to go see him, especially after praying that way. God answered my prayer and kept him alive, why wouldn't I go see him? :( So....I called up the Hunts and they went with me. Boy, was that ever hard. I think I said maybe 5 words to him. I just couldn't stop crying when I saw him. He's gotten So incredibly thin that it scared me, I didn't recognize him at all. He was in so much pain also. His testimony was amazing though. As sick as he was and as much pain as he is in he said that his goal was to just get as many people to Heaven him before he died. Then he explained that he couldn't be mad at God, because God is the giver of life and it's His to take away too. Who says we deserve 80 years? I hope that I can be like Tom when my time comes and I hope I can be an example to so many like he is. Please be praying for Tom also. He is only 28 years old and battling this. Last I heard also he fell when trying to get up and his his spine where the epidural was so it's caused lots more pain. :(

On top of all of this, I found out my stepdad has cancer again and then someone very VERY dear to me has it to. I would never imagine in my whole life she could get cancer but she has now and I'm so scared. It devastated me hearing this news and also brought back lots of old memories. I can't even say who this person is right now because everyone is keeping it very hush right now. If it's possible to pray for her without knowing who she is, please do. And soon I'll update with who it is. I realized that life was just TOO good for the last 7 weeks and that something had to go wrong soon. Then I came back here and one thing after another happened. You'd think I'd be used to this by now. I know though that God has a reason for it all and a purpose for everything He does. Through this all I've also learned what a blessing it is to have family be there for you through the valleys and on the mountain tops. (Thank you guys!)

Thanks for all the prayers on my Grandma who is int he hospital, means a lot to me! :)