Mary and Stacy.

Mary has been working as much as she feels up to because she knows that she won't be able to after surgery. She looks great, but when she stands she is a little unstable, and she is still in pain, but she doesn't want to sit and mope at home so she comes in to work. I haven't really had any chances to really talk to her, but pray for oppertunities. 

Stacy was gone all this week, and I didn't know until today why. Her grandfather died. Stacy was really close to her grandpa, but hasn't seen him in about two years. She was talking about him just last week saying that she really needs to visit him. But a couple days ago, he excused himself from the table because he wasn't feeling well, and an hour later he was dead. His heart failed him just like that! So now Stacy is beating herself up that she didn't visit him (he lived in Mass.) The point is, God is really, really working on her! But, please pray for her and her family as they go through this time. 

Thanks!

Rachel

Another update:

Mary's tumors are cancerous. They scheduling surgery within the next 10 days to try and take it all out. However, the Doctors said that the cancer seems to be very advanced, and it doesn't look good at all. Also, Mary was living with, and taking care of her sister who is very sick also. Now that Mary is in bad condition there is no one to take care of Lee. Please pray for that angle of this whole situation. 

Also, keep praying for Stacy because I'm afraid that this whole thing might push her away from God instead of bringing her to Him. I really believe that only through our prayers will she realize that God is in control no matter what. (We also told her that we would ask our church and our friends to pray... so please remember!) 

Some of you may have gotten this in a email, but if you could maybe share a verse of an encouraging thought that we could share with either Mary or Stacy please send it to me and I'll make sure it gets to them.. Several people have already done this. I know both Stacy and Mary would appreciate that people, who don't even know them, are praying and caring! 

God is watching over!

Rachel

Update:

Chrystal called Stacy today to see if there were any new updates on whether the Tumor is cancerous or not. Stacy hadn't heard of any, but is planning to go visit Mary tomorrow. We did find out however that both of Mary's parents died from cancer, and that Mary is too weak to even dress herself right now. I was shocked because I just worked with Mary last Sat. and she seemed fine. Stacy thinks that Mary - who never complains anyways- didn't go to the doctor because she couldn't afford it. 

Chrystal was also able to talk to Stacy for about 20 min. in which time she shared her testimony and also prayed with Stacy. Stacy -who doesn't have a very good opinion of Christians - didn't mind at all. God is definitely using this situation to soften her heart!

I am going to be working the next three days, so just pray for opportunities with the other co-workers as well as conversations occur.

Keep Praying!!!

Thanks, 

Rachel

Please Pray!!!!

Some of you may have heard about this at church, but I would really appreciate your prayers for my co-worker Mary. She just found out she has a tumor that is very possibly cancerous. She is in her 50s or 60s and not saved. Also, Stacy (another co-worker whom many of you have heard us talk about) is taking this really hard because she and mary were really close. Stacy is either 22 or 23 and def. not a christian. Anyways, Stacy called the other day simply to ask Chrystal and I to pray for Mary, and to have our friends pray as well. She said she knew she could depend on us. That in itself is a huge step for Stacy! Also, it's neat that she knew she could call us because we have never outrightly told her that we are christians, but somehow she knew! So, you can pray that I will have opportunities through this to share Christ with them. The Lord is trying to get ahold of Stacy, and already I have seen her softening. 

I know you all will be praying, so thank you in advance!!!

I appreciate  you guys so much!

Rachel

Maine Trip

As most of you probably know... My family went on a camping trip to Acadia, Maine. The easiest way to express how amazing it was is just to say that it almost ties Algonquin  for first! (almost... anyways.. ;) The weather was perfect almost the whole week! Which is something I am especially grateful for because it always rains when we go camping!!!  Anyways, I am not going to go into much detail because most of you probably don't care to hear them all... but I'll mention a few of the highlights.... 

The hiking was everything I hoped it would be! Precipice was awesome! (Sorry Josh Stauffer, I know you are still mad you didn't get to do it.. but I loved it!) 

Another reason hiking was so awesome was because there were Blueberries everywhere! We were always stopping and picking handfuls to revive us!

Biking was "interesting"... about halfway through I flipped and had to ride the rest of the way with one hand... (my mom didn't want me to hike with my arm hurt, but I convinced her it "wasn't hurting"... lol)

Swimming was COLD... (55 degrees to be exact ... and it was an overcast day... but hey what's life without excitement? - that's what andrew the optimist says anyways...)

The Nature Cruise was def. worth the money, the wind jammer however -not so much- While on the Nature Cruise we saw a Bald Eagle, two porpoises, two harbor seals, and three osprey in their nest. 

Dad and Mom's biplane trip was one of the big excitements of the week! We all pitched in a little to get my dad to go, and pops wanted to do something exciting because this was his 54th birthday and Teddy R. did the river of doubt when he was 54.. (teddy is dad's hero). They got some great ariel pics. 

The Ocean was Gorgeous!!!!! we went out a couple of nights when the moon was full and it was bright enough to read a book!! The moon shining on the water was so pretty... and it made for lots of great pictures. 

Another great incident was when we walked across the Bar to an island....We hiked to the top of the Island and were getting great pictures, but didn't seem to notice that the bar was shrinking.. We ended up walking (rather quickly) through rapidly rising water to avoid being stuck on the island all night.. lol... 

All of these memories are great, but there is one that especially sticks out to me... 

The Mayberry band!!! You had to be there to understand, but it was a band of all elderly people. The Drummer was an old lady in pink shorts who kept the beat, but was hilarious to watch! Oh and the Flautist... A huge man who looked thrilled to be playing! To say it nicely... They weren't any good.... lol...( and yet there was a huge crowd)  So we decided to spice things up a bit ( actually.. it was def. NOT my idea... but i was stupid and went along with it) They were playing in a gazebo so we all got up and started dancing around it like a bunch of maniacs. We went back to our seats and heard much laughter around us. So of course we didn't stop there. The next song we got up and marched around all playing invisible instruments with James conducting us. The next song we marched around with Andrew grinding an invisible organ and us all clapping like monkeys.. lol... by the end we had a big group of kids skipping around as well! When we went back to our seats an old guy called out " good show!... You guys Rock!" - haha! 

So to quote David I would say the trip was sta-mazing, but to quote Mark-John I would say " It was A-MAINE-ZING" haha.... (he thought it was so clever!)

Looking around at all the beautiful views was proof enough to me that God really does exist and he cares about us. There is NO way a big bang created all of that! 

Rachel AKA Chow

- If you want to hear specifics just ask and I can rave for hours!! ... lol

( for those of you that asked... notice Lobster wasn't in the list of highlights... LOL)