pancreatic cancer

please pray for my dear friend jane who just found out that she has pancreatic cancer. she and her husband are so active, so young (early 50's, but look and act like they're 30), are brand new grandparents...this is such a shock.

she had been having problems with what they thought was her gall bladder, and when they were looking at that, they found the spots on her pancreas - praise the LORD they found it when they did!! there are apparently two kinds of pancreatic cancer - the "good" kind and the "bad" kind. they're 85% sure that she has the bad kind. the good kind will let you live for 5 years. the bad kind only months. please join me in praying that God wipes it out COMPLETELY!!! He doesn't care how long anything gives anyone to live. He is the author and giver of life. only He makes the call.

in a similar vein, check out these two videos. the first one is a worship song. listen to it. the second one is the story behind this particular performance. believe it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4xsWldmqAo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ_ny8hMgRY&feature=related

monumental day

today, july 25, 2008, christopher signed his name close to one million times to officially make us HOMEOWNERS. and it was actually FUN. as i was sitting there in the tiny room with all the papers flying, i stepped back (metaphorically) and marvelled at God's blessings. josh (one of the sellers) and chris are friends and play music together, rebecca (the wife of josh) and i work together (for a few more days until they move away), our mortgage guy is chris' cousin, and the title lady (see how i know all the technical terms for all these people?) goes to church with josh and rebecca. (she actually said she had been encouraged to thwart the closing somehow to get j&r to stay in town!) the atmosphere in the room was peaceful and calm. kim the title lady was SOOOOO nice and helpful and informative without making us feel like dummies. it was AMAZING. and THEN j&r, chris and myself went out to lunch together. that's how it should happen, you know? you sign a contract, make a deal, and then break bread together (it was rice this time though - thank you hiroshis!!). when we were parting ways, rebecca actually said "wow, thanks for letting us squat in your house for a few days!!" it made me cry...good tears!! i have pictures, just no way of uploading them right now.

in other, slightly related news, jency franklin is my hero. i asked her off-hand "you guys don't happen to have any boxes lying around, do you?" oh my friend. she LOADED her pathfinder with boxes - not one more would have fit - and brought them to me. some of them were HUMONGOUS which is precisely what we need, and some even had bubble wrap and packing paper stuffed inside!! what a blessing she is!! speaking of blessings, josh and rebecca are AMAZING in that they cleared out the crawl space of the basement and are letting us fill it with as many boxes as we want!! we've already moved two loads over there. speaking of blessings AGAIN, our small group leader, totally voluntarily, said last week "...and i'm taking off work on the 31st to help you guys move..." are you KIDDING ME??? amazing. we are SO loved.

i just got an email saying that IJM is being featured on dateline tonight. here's the email:

Dear Lyndsay,

Dateline NBC this evening will feature a special update on
IJM undercover work in Svay Pak, Cambodia that resulted in the rescue of 37
girls. The Dateline NBC story, entitled “Children for Sale,” originally aired in
January 2004 and has received significant airtime as well as two Emmy awards.

Tonight’s update will include a new interview with Gary Haugen as well as
interviews with several of the young girls rescued by IJM in the original
raids.

9pm EDT/PDTDateline NBC

Please watch and spread the word to friends who may be new to
IJM!

Gratefully– International Justice Mission

P.S. Feel free to visit https://netcommunity.ijm.org/NETCOMMUNITY/page.redir?target=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ijm.org%2fpresscenter&srcid=29592&srctid=1&erid=2957281 for previous Dateline NBC footage along with recent IJM media coverage. For more information surrounding the Svay Pak operation, please read Terrify No More by Gary Haugen.

you should read "terrify no more", but if you don't do that, you should DEFINITELY watch this program tonight, friday, july 25. their organization is stinking amazing.

have you prayed against the abortion clinic being opened in chattanooga today? i've been being led to pray through psalm 139 - we have ALL been fearfully and wonderfully made!! pray that God will intervene and this clinic will NOT be opened!!! (see the post below this one for more details...)

pray against a chattanooga abortion clinic

i'm going to use my friend's words b/c i'm in a hurry to get home, but she pretty much sums it up. this is hard news - please join us as we pray against this!!

A few days ago, I received an email concerning the opening of an abortion
clinic in Chattanooga. To even speak this, makes me sick to my stomach! I have
since verified this information through several means, and found out, that there
is indeed a location, with an address, verified owner of the building and that
the 'company' who seeks to open this also has clinics in Knoxville and Raleigh.

I spoke with AAA Women's Services today and learned of how the abortion
clinic was closed down in 1985 in Chattanooga. There has NOT been one since. The
stories are amazing, miraculous and also heartbreaking. As concern grew in the
area, then, people took action through prayer, counseling, and money was raised
to purchase a particular building that became AAA Women's services. That story
in itself was miraculous. The heartbreaking part was that the two doctors who
performed abortions fell ill, and then died. I pray that they came to the Lord
before they died.

I feel strongly, VERY strongly, that if our brother's and sisters in this
region were aware that this was about to open, the Body of Christ in our region
would stand up against this.

I don't know how you are to be involved. Only the Lord can speak to your
heart concerning this. However, I do believe that our region is set apart for
various reasons of the Lord. I believe that this is an attempt to thwart God's
plans for our region. It is an act of satan!!!

I have contacted Family Action Council, on how we may be involved. I am waiting
to hear back from them. AAA told me that they are aware of this threat, and that
FACTN, can help concerned citizens with information on how to get involved:

http://www.factn.org/

Please, will you pray that this horrible clinic does NOT come to
Chattanooga. That the enemies plans are thwarted! Will you please share with
family and friends around you about what is attempting to come? Will you seek
the Lord to ask Him what you can do?

I personally feel so strongly about this, that if the Body stood up against
this, they would not open their doors!!!!!! We have authority in Jesus, and I
KNOW this is NOT in His heart.

The rumors have been on the news, in the paper and on the internet. Yet,
they aren't taking appointments, yet. (Rumors were August opening). Please pray
for the doctor, that he would repent, and understand that he or she participates
in murder. Right now, this thought just came to mind, that for us to pray that
the Lord would give this individual dreams about the babies and children playing
and that the doctor would see the childrens' destinies in his/her dreams!
Anything is possible with God!

I pray that the pastors of our region would quickly be informed of this
news, and that the Body of Christ would not sleep, but speak and declare truth,
love and hope!!!

Forrest and Alex's Wedding Festivities!

how blessed am i to have such an amazing brother and new sister in law??! i can't wait to get to hang out with them as a married couple!!

this was a coed shower that was given for them. we didn't get too many pictures, but here's some of them opening a pretty huge gift of outdoor furniture!! alex is saying "shoot girl! are you serious????"














the happy couple!!!














one of their friends had just had a baby (4 or 5 days before!!) and forrest got a chance to hold her (him? shoot. i can't remember.) i LOVE the look he's giving her!!














alex's bachelorette party was an absolute blast!! we laughed a LOT that night!! :)














hot pink sash and feather boa, sparkly tiara and giant fluffy veil?? it's the bride!!! :)














all the ladies!!














the morning after at ihop. MMM!














thursday night before the wedding, forrest and all the guys went to the lookout's game where tw arranged him to throw in the first pitch!! here's a little video of it too!!














july 11-12, 2008 were two perfect days!! the rehearsal was great!














i was giving liza instructions about what to do. lila couldn't be there b/c kendall was in labor with little josephine!! :)














the rehearsal dinner was beautiful and delicious! lots of wonderful things were said about this amazing couple. (that's tallulah june in laurie's arms - NOT a new towns baby!!!)















the day of the wedding! in alex's words, she was "so chill" all morning.



















most beautiful bride EVER!!



















woo hoo!! look at those red shoes!!! :)



















lovely ladies all dressed up and ready to go!! i LOVED getting to spend time with these amazing women.















the only picture chris was able to get during the ceremony b/c of the lighting. liza and lila walked down the aisle together for about 5 rows, then lila turned around and picked up every petal liza had dropped. she slowly made her way down the aisle (so slowly that alex was almost kicking her heels as she and her dad were coming down!) picking up every single one!!! HYSTERICAL!!! i love that girl. :) and i LOVE the look on forrest's face here!!















this is all they did for the entire reception - talk to the more than 600 people attending!! they are truly surrounded with good friends!! (you can see forrest's ring in this one!)















the walkers are off to florida!!!

overwhelmed with good stuff

as you all know, tallulah june whitmire was born on june 27. i think she's officially my second cousin (my first cousin's baby), but i claim her as my neice.














friday, july 11, josephine pearl crowder was born!! again, technically a second cousin, but she holds the place as my 6th neice. :) :) :)















saturday, july 12, alex liner and forrest walker were welcomed into the wonderful world of being ONE!! (they got married) i will, of course, post more pictures when i have a minute...















wednesday, july 23, chris and i will close on our first HOUSE! and then we move in at the end of this month!!















wednesday, august 6, christopher starts his new job teaching!!!


so much good stuff going on!!!!

new blogs and mysteries

i stumbled across this blog yesterday and haven't been able to do much else but read it - http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/. if you read it, you should scroll down and click on january and start from the beginning. it is such an amazing story of a christian family's walk through unimaginable pain. she is so open, so honest, such an encouragement!

i have just been a participant in the biggest mystery ever to take place on earth. we should enter it into unsolved mysteries! on friday, the 4th of july, chris and i were running late going up to be with my family for the july 4th parade - hooray!! i'll post some pictures soon. our "check engine" light came on, which never comes on, so we pulled over. the only thing either of us knows how to do is check the oil. so we did. and it was bone dry. we tried again. still bone dry. shoot! why didn't the "low oil" light come on?? so we called our friend nathan to come rescue us. our motorcycle riding savior came riding up about a half hour and two games of 20-questions later. he checked the oil and it was, of course, bone dry. so we added 4 quarts of oil which filled it up a bit too much, but that's better than bone dry. so we drove off and arrived to catch the last 50 feet of the parade and spent some good time with family.

on our way home, we were driving up a pretty steep piece of road and donovan (our car) started trembling and bright white smoke started pouring out the back, but it was really out of the hood, just streaming behind us. oh crap! we blew up donovan's engine!! long story short, we got him towed, and they finally called yesterday and said "nothing is wrong with your car except that there was 4 quarts too much oil in it....the check engine light came on because your gas cap wasn't screwed on tight enough" "excuse me? did exactly 4 quarts too much?"

weird and a half. and i mean, that's great that there's nothing wrong with him, but it feels weird that he was BONE DRY. i'm telling you. there was NO OIL in him. and i would be doubting myself more if nathan (the man who knows more about cars than any mechanic in chattanooga) hadn't checked it too.

weird. weird. weird.

i have an announcement to make: never take your car to may brothers automotive in chattanooga. they charged us $77 just to change the oil and reset the computer to make the check engine light go away. seventy-seven dollars. GROSS.

we close on our house in about 2 weeks. AMAZING! once we're settled, we're getting internet b/c chris will need it for his work, which means i'll be able to put a bit more thought into my posts. huzzah!

jeni! you tagged me to post the contents of my purse, which i'm trying to do, but blogger won't let me post pictures right now. i know not what is the matter. i will do it soon.... :)

have you gotten ben shive's album yet? we didn't listen to it for about a month, and then put it on a few days ago and it was like having an old friend over for tea. it's just a marvelous piece of work. seriously. http://www.rabbitroom.com/

oh and you'll notice the new blog url. i've been wanting to change it for a while, and chris might be posting some, so now it's OUR blog. so there. :)

sweet tallulah june

friday, june 27 was amazing. it was monumental!! it was bill gates' last day of work. it was chris' last day of work. it was our small group leader's last day of work at his old job and his first day at a new job. one of our friends' fiance's started his new job. wall-e was released. it was alex's bachelorette party. and (drumroll) TALLULAH JUNE WAS BORN!!

now i'm no country star, but there needs to be a song about sweet tallulah june. she's my newest cousin! well, technically, she's my cousin's newest baby, but i claim all of those amazing girls as my cousins. these are some of my favorite pics. i've been sick (dangit) so i haven't met her yet, but i (hopefully) will tomorrow!! hooray for 4th of july parades!! :) (she's not in it, but we're all invited...)

mae mae giving her a sweet kiss.













liza's a big sister now!!!













alice lovin on her.



















the whitmire girls!!













family of SIX!! :)














in other news, today is our 25 month anniversary. amazing!

so i've been sick since last wednesday. then on monday i threw my back out for the first time in over 4 years. today is my first full day back to work and we have tomorrow off. amazingly short week!! we're housesitting the slatens' house, and chris has been sick too (of course he got what i had) which means we've watched A LOT of movies and tv. movies: mean girls, jurassic park, my best friend's wedding, nanny mcphee, ratatoullie, wall-e (that was on saturday in the theater while i was getting sicker), the game, pieces of the others, star wars episodes 3 and 4, be kind rewind, the prestige, probably more that i'm not thinking of. tv: cosby show, gilmore girls, friends, scrubs, price is right, good eats, iron chef, cooking contests, the office, the golden girls, america's funniest videos, definitely more that i'm not thinking of. in other words, chris and i, the two who don't own a tv and hardly ever watch anything, feel GROSS. and i think i'm addicted.

my dear friend jenn hand blog-tagged me a while back, so i had to answer some questions. do i have to tag someone? well i'm gonna. i tag jennifer glass and mandie slaten. TAG! now you have to answer these questions and put them on your blog!! :)

Jenn’s survey:
1) What was I doing ten years ago? i was working as a camp counselor at my home-away-from-home, camp vesper point! it’s where i met my sweet husband, although not that summer.

2) What are five things on my to do list today? 1) make a huge dent in the copying i have to do for work; 2) tell as many people as possible about the new ben shive album; 3) go home early!; 4) rest my aching back; 5) read a giant chunk of exodus.

3) Snacks I enjoy: oh brother. the list could be endless b/c i just LOVE food. just a few: really cold grapes, cinnamon graham crackers with peanut butter, ice cream, cereal, dried apricots and almonds, trail mix, granola, pretzels....see? long list.

4) Places I have lived: signal mountain, tn; birmingham, al; chattanooga, tn

5) Things I would do if I were a billionaire: figure out a way to actually help the poor; donate a giant chunk to compassion international; pay my student loans; buy our house with cash money

6) People I want to know more about: Jesus – sadly, i don’t know nearly as much as i should about him; my family members that are no longer living; i don't know. i always know the answers to these questions before i'm asked...

7) Two things I have in common with Oprah: we both have two eyes, a nose and a mouth. that’s three.

8) You can tell a lot about a person by: what they spend their money on, what they think about, and what they spend time doing; also by what’s in their purse. :)

9) Are you a yeller when you get angry? unfortunately yes. one or two words will pop out in a yell and i’ll usually catch myself. hopefully Jesus will reign this in before i have kids...

10) Have you ever danced in public? of course! ropers baby! and chris and i dance randomly all the time.

11) What did you do to deserve your first detention? i never went...i don’t think.

12) What did you do to deserve your first paddling? i never got paddled. i did, however, throw the blame on my brother OFTEN and he got paddled a LOT. ;)

13) Name 3 things you like about the town you live in: 1) both of our families are here and we get to see them all the time; 2) it’s really beautiful and close to lots of outdoorsy places to go; 3) all of our friends that we’ve made and kept through the years.

14) Name four things you love to do now: 1) spending time with my wonderful husband; 2) hanging out with friends in creative ways; 3) reading; 4) being outside in any capacity

15) Name something unusual you carry with you wherever you go: deodorant. i never leave home without it!

16) What's your favorite website: too many to narrow it down to just one....here’s five. 1) http://www.andrew-peterson.com/ 2) http://www.rabbitroom.com/ 3) icanhascheezburger.com 4) reachsouthasia.blogspot.com 5) http://www.worldnextdoormarket.com/

17) When and where was your first kiss? on my front porch with his family, who was dropping me off after a night out with them, watching. *shudder*

18) What would an enemy have to say about you? i’m really moody. [friends would say that too]

19) Favorite childhood memory: too many to list!! playing easter egg baseball with my entire family; climbing the evergreen tree beside my bedroom with my brother and cousins and shouting at passing cars “fart all you want! we don’t care!”; playing in the woods for hours on end with my brother; going to the pool with my brother; going on family vacations to the beach; going camping with my family at least once a month; field day – i LOVED field day; and the list goes on and on....

20) Any regrets? not living like Christ has created me to live. also smoking cigarettes in high school. every time i walk through a cloud of smoke, i secretly like inhaling...gross.