Update on My Bro : )

God has placed my family on quite a journey with my brother Stephen...so much has happened in the past 2 1/2 years with him.

Incase some of you are out of the loop with my brother, he was diagnosed in May of 2006 with a brain tumor. He had surgery 2 weeks after being diagnosed but they couldn't remove the tumor because it was directly inside his optic nerves. Meaning, if the doctor had removed the tumor then he would have woken up with no vision. But, we praise the Lord that he gave the doctor wisdom not to take the tumor out. After the surgery, he went into 28 treatments of radiation to stop the tumor from growing. We didn't really get major results back about the radiation treatment until early 2007. The radiation had done it's job! It had stopped the tumor from growing for a time. Due to all of the surgery and radiation and already deterioration of Stephen's eyesight, he isn't able to drive because he has a very limited peripheral vision.

Despite all of these different items which might sound hard, uncomfortable and discouraging...God has proven Himself to be faithful in the midst of these hardships, the Comforter when discomforts arose and the Uplifter of our hearts when times seemed dark.

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Two weeks ago Stephen had multiple appointments with his Brain Surgeon, Radiation doctor, Neurologist...and many other doctors to discuss his improvements. There have been many, which is so neat to see! His MRI results back in 2006 show the tumor to being bigger than the size of a quarter, but it is now smaller than a dime. Wow. Pretty neat, huh? The really awesome part about all of this is that when the tumor was a quarter size...it was really dense. Like a big mass on the MRI results. But at his recent appointment, not only was the tumor drastically smaller but it was visibly less denser than before. The doctors were saying the tumor is breaking up!* Stephen just sat down beside me to tell me that the doctor's said it has shrunk a total of more than 50%* And Stephen's Radiation doctor mentioned he has never seen such drastic changes in a brain tumor like Stephens. Of course, we know that God has His hand in all of this...nothing goes without Him knowing. Certainly, He knows when the sparrow falls - how much more than does He know and care about the goings-on of His children?

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So I just wanted to send a little shout-out to tell everyone thank-you for your prayers. We, as a family, have felt them and are encouraged by all the love and support. Stephen was so excited 2 weeks ago when he came home from his many appointments...he talked on and on about it!

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As I am finishing typing this up - Stephen is still sitting next to me : ) And he has some prayer requests that he would like to mention.

1. Eyesight - yes, the tumor is shrinking...but unfortunately, my eyesight is getting worse. My left eye has Macular Degeneration. I am seeing alot of changes in my eyesight often and it's hard to deal with at times.

2. Heart attitude - that I would be o.k. with the stage my eyesight is at right now. That I would learn to accept it and deal with it.

3. Alot of my problems in life stem from my eyesight and so you can pray that I would learn to be satisfied first with my eyesight, because this is where God has me right now. I just need to learn that this is where God has put me and I need to serve Him in whatever capactity He has put me in...even with the little eyesight I have. Because there are still things to be done, and I need to be diligent in doing them.

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Please keep praying for my brother Stephen, he is such a great brother; but he has hardships that he is going through that I can't understand alot of the times. Pray for understanding on my part and a willingness to help him in whatever way he needs...that I would take the basin and towel and serve him with a diligent and joyful heart.

Here is a picture of the both of us...this was taken a few minutes before he was whisked away to surgery. The little dots on his head are what Stephen likes to call his "gps" system. Stephen was kindof like bionic man for awhile ; )