Page20

 It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood! We are cruising at 30,000 feet, snacking on Oreo Thin Crisps, and sipping ginger ale…life is good! We are going to Vegas, baby…for a little business, some relaxation and some fun!

What a difference two and one-half months makes with the power of prayer. We wanted to start out with some prayer requests for some other friends who also have needs:

Lydia Bank, Terry & Zig Krawiec’s daughter, is going through some serious medical issues. Terry was my assistant for 15 years and is second only to Norma in having the longest string of having to put up with me…yikes! (Mom’s have no choice). Lydia and her husband Ed were recently blessed with the adoption of their son John, after years of attempting to adopt. On April 1, 2008, Lydia had a colon resection (ascending colon) in which a cancerous mass was removed. The surgeon said it was contained and had clean margins. However, two of the nine lymph nodes were involved. In addition, Lydia also has a spot on her lung that all are concerned with. Please pray for Lydia, Ed, baby John, Terry, and Zig as they move through this very difficult time so that Lydia can truly enjoy motherhood and be totally healed.

On Monday afternoon, March 31, 2008, our good friend Lela Halderson fell through an open hatch to their crawl space at their home that was unfortunately left open by a repair technician. Ralph and Lela are good old camping friends who recently offered us the use of their Florida condo when they heard of Norma’s disability. She broke at least one rib and bruised some others as she fell through the opening before landing in the gravel, four feet below. Anyone who has suffered a broken rib knows that it is very painful to breathe…and there is no cure or cast…it just takes time to heal. We pray for a speedy and pain-free recovery!

I thought you might want to read an inspirational story about two young parents named Kari and Jared Schneider who need your prayers for them and for their second child. Her name is Camille and she was diagnosed during pregnancy with serious birth defects. We are very proud of Kari and Jared for their courage and want to thank them for sharing Camille with us. Yes, life is precious, even if it is short… Again, we are on God’s time and we must make the best of it. They have! Kari is Dave and Sally Petersohn’s daughter. I went to school with Dave and Sally from junior high school and later, Norma and I went all through college at NIU with them. They are among our best friends. They are a testimonial to parenthood. We know they are very proud parents and grandparents! Please pray for this awesome family.

Please also pray for Sharon Wilkie. Sharon is one of my part-time assistants and is Mom to Debbie Dewane, one of my fulltime assistants. (First, please pray for them because they work with me!) Sharon's feet were pulled out from under her when her granddaughter's dog, (that Sharon had on a leash) took off after a truck. Sharon hit her head on the cement and had to be airlifted to a trauma center to be treated for a head injury, which turned out to be a small bruise on her brain. After spending two days in ICU, she was released to go home. While Sharon was relaxing on the sofa, the dog climbed up on her so she spent some time petting her and scratching behind her ears. As soon as Sharon stopped, the dog attacked her. In protecting her face, Sharon's right arm and hand were punctured, and it was back to urgent care. So please pray for Sharon as she recovers, and…please keep her away from the “big” dogs for a while. She needs a clean break…no pun intended! (Also, please pray for the family as they try to decide what to do about the dog. They were hoping to take her to a no-kill shelter, but nobody will take her because she is now marked as a dog that bites).

Speaking of “big” dogs and small dogs, I wanted to share an e-mail that my assistant, Marti Drase received on March 15 from Dave Augustine, just prior to our little Maltese Scooter’s passing on April 10. I hope it proves once again that there are “angels” among us.

This is one of the kindest things I’ve ever experienced. I have no way to know who sent it, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the U.S. postal service.

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.

I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her, you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love Meredith.

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to “God/Heaven”. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, “To Meredith” in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, “When a Pet Dies.” Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away. Abbey isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I’m easy to find. I am wherever there is love.

Love,

God

Please also pray for Marti’s and Ken’s son Matthew. Marti is also one of my full-time assistants and Ken has done a lot of work for Norma and I in our home as well as in The Chalkboard stores. Matt is an outstanding young man with a “never give up” attitude. Matt suffers from Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disease which was diagnosed at the age of two. His parents were told at the time of his diagnosis that the average lifespan for a child with this disease was age 13. Matt is now 33 and teaches high school marching band, symphonic band, and jazz band fulltime. Although his life has become progressively more difficult due to his health issues, he has never let his ailment get the best of him. He gets up on his good days and on his bad days. He puts one foot in front the other…and he does his best to breathe in and breathe out, even though his condition makes it much harder for him to do that than for most of the rest of us. We admire Matt! Be proud, Marti and Ken. Job well done!!

We have one more prayer request. One of the agents in my Northwestern Mutual office has a two-year old nephew named Hudson who needs a kidney transplant. Several members of the family have tried to donate but were not suitable matches for one reason or another. However, there is one family member who has gone through the various testing stages and there is a lot of hope that this one may be a match. Will you all pray that this time there will be a good solid match and a kidney for Hudson?

Norma, Mommer and I have just returned home from church. We were preparing to attend a neighborhood pig roast hosted by our neighbors Gere and Janet Lagerloef (of the now famous Catering Gourmet service in downtown Sugar Grove. They wanted to try out their new double-wide, custom made grill which they will use for outside parties.

The doorbell rings at about 1:00 p.m. and it’s our good friend Dave Torres. Dave grew up next door to me and my family on Aurora’s east side. Dave served as a police officer in Aurora for 30 years before retiring a few years ago to Las Vegas, Nevada. We haven’t seen him for a long time, even though he has made a few attempts in the past to stop by and visit us when he came to town. Until recently, Norma and I were rarely at home…so fate and timing were in our favor this time. Dave has been faithfully following Norma’s website and praying for us often. So after our initial hugs, Dave said, “Well, now I need your prayers!” Dave went on to tell us that he had just flown in on Friday, April 18 so he could help out and visit his Dad who now resides in southern Illinois. His Dad is also having some health issues so please pray for Mr. Torres. Dave told us that shortly after he arrived, he received a call from home that his girl friend, Marcie Smith, had just suffered a heart attack. She was stable but still very serious. So we can pray for Dave and Marcie as the “stingrays” of life continue.

Short and sweet – Gary and Amanda want to start a family. Please pray that they will be happily successful!

The plane has landed safely so we are off to the Las Vegas Hilton. More later. Thanks for everything.