Saturday, April 28, 2007

URGENT PRAYER NEEDED FOR AMY

Dear friends--
Please look at Amy's website for the latest update: www.freewebs.com/labagnara
Amy's health is not good. The pneumonia is completely destroying her lungs. She's on total life support. The family is completely exhausted. Amy has a 10 year old daughter.
Please please pray for a miracle.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Hummingbirds, Lizards and other things

Thank you all for continually checking our blog. Time goes so fast-I can't believe it's been over a month since I last updated.

Well the weather is not as warm as it was a month ago-although it is still very nice. Our little container garden that Aaron faithfully works on is beautiful. We have several trees-including a lime tree!-that are five or 6 feet tall. We have two beautiful flowering vines and two hydrangeas that are blooming bright pink and a purpley-blue. We also have a hummingbird feeder that is drained every day by these hungry little birds. They are so fun to watch. Sometimes when I sit out there, they will land just inches from me. Aaron was actually able to touch one the other day. But I don't think this bird was doing very well; we haven't seen him for a few days. We also have lizards that love the warm stucco of our patio walls. I think the hummingbirds feel threatened by them as they dive bomb their heads whenever they come around! Tulip and Edi, our cats, sit at the door all the time and watch what happens on the other side of the screen just out of their reach. I think it must be torture for them!

I don't think that before I got hurt I would really have taken the time to watch hummingbirds and lizards! Sometimes I feel like I'm wasting my time when I find myself just staring at them and laughing at them. But there's something very peaceful about taking the time to watch God's creation-even if it's only on our apartment patio.

As of last night, April 17, 2007 at 9 p.m. Pacific standard Time, I have completed all the requirements for my Masters of Divinity! I was very excited and relieved to finally be done. Graduation is the first weekend of May. Even though this is a big accomplishment for me, it feels so anti-climatic in light of everything that has happened. I originally planned on graduating in December 2005. Then our accident happened. I then planned on graduating in December 2006. Then we lost our dear Bryan. Now that I'm graduating in May, my parents are not able to come because of my dad's health. So in a sense, I don't really care about the ceremony. I suppose I will go, but mostly I'm glad I don't have to worry about doing homework anymore.

People always ask me what do I plan on doing now. I really don't plan on doing anything much differently except try to become more involved in church. We don't plan on moving, and I have no big career plans. We are content where we are and still trying to figure out a few things.

My dad's health is not very good. He just completed his third round of chemotherapy. He has not showed much improvement. Please continue to pray for him and my mom as they struggle through this. Aaron and I and John and Cyndi (my sister and brother-in-law) plan on going to Omaha this summer.

My brother, Dustin, is still in Iraq. We know very little about his situation there and unfortunately do not hear from him very much. But we always think that 'no news is good news'. Please continue to pray for his safety and also his spirits as I'm sure it can be very discouraging and lonely. Also pray for his children, Colton-10, Sierra-7 and Savannah-5 as they are without their dad for so long. I know he misses them terriblyand I'm sure they miss him too.

Aaron is still plugging through his last eight weeks of school. This has been a very challenging year for Aaron. Pray for his strength to finish well.

Aaron's brothers, Dan and Rick and Rick's wife Desiree, are planning on going to Rwanda this summer! Rick and Desiree were able to go last summer as well. Please pray for their safety and fund-raising efforts. This is a mission trip through their church. Rick and Desiree have a refugee foundation that reunites war refugees with their families. Many of the refugee families are from Africa, so being able to go to Africa is very important and special to them. If any of you are interested in their refugee foundation they have a web site: www.trafonline.com -- there is also a link on their web site for Bryan House. This is a plan to buy a house, in Bryan's name and memory, to house refugees.

Also many of you have asked about my new caretaker. Her name is Anna-she has been with me almost 3 months. She is doing a fantastic job! It was difficult to see Sarah go-but I am thankful that we were able to get such a great replacement.

I guess that's it for now-please pray for our families as we persevere through so much loss and illness. Thank you everyone for loving and supporting us! We could never do this alone.

Love, Kari