Pray

I just found out today that Baby Ethan, who has been battling Leukemia for over a year passed away a couple of days ago. This is such a sad time for his family, but also a peaceful one because their baby boy is no longer suffering but has the most ultimate peace with Jesus. Please cover the Powell family in prayer. They have been through so much and I can't imagine it. Cancer is such a terrible disease and I don't know if I will ever understand why it continues to take our loved ones.

Baby Ethan

Ok I haven't updated on this little dude in quite a while, but this is the little baby boy that has Leukemia that many people have been fighting HARD for the past year with prayers for. Please continue to pray for this family and for this precious child. They just had some tests done to see if the Leukemia has returned, because from the outside looking in, it seems like it has. But they just got a preliminary test back saying NO LEUKEMIA!! Now there is another set of test results to come that are more telling, so please please hit your knees for this family right now. They have been through more than I can even begin to imagine. Thanks!

http://www.ethanpowell.com/ (click on Updates)

Diet and Fertility...

Ok, before you jump to conclusions, I am definitely NOT trying to get pregnant. This is just a subject that really interests me, and of course one day, it will be personal. I know many women struggle to get pregnant...I may end up having a hard time myself, who knows. But I want to prepare myself and get my body healthy and ready no matter what. I do firmly believe that our diet has everything to do with how unhealthy Americans are in general, and why we are the most obese country, so it would only make sense for diet to affect this as well.

I read an article recently from Newsweek called "Fat, Carbs and the Science of Conception." I don't know why there hasn't been much mention of the possible connection, it seems pretty obvious to me that if diet affects how healthy you are, it would affect your fertility.

In this article, they talk about a diet high in fats, sugars and unhealthy carbs has a pretty substantial adverse effect on a woman's ability to conceive. A diet high in fiber, fruits and veggies and good (whole grain) carbs is a recipe for baby-makin success!

Many women with PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (which is said to be the leading cause of infertility) made some heated comments on the article, but in my opinion, they just probably felt the need to be defensive. The article is not saying this is THE cure for infertility, it's just saying it could be the cure in some cases. So...what are your thougths? Anyone care to share your own conception stories and whether or not you agree with this theory?

My Dear Friend

I sent out an email about Katie so I thought I would just paste the same one as a blog post. (the picture was taken about a year and a half ago.)

Many of you already know this, but I wanted to share with you that my (and Bethany's) good friend Katie passed away a week ago along with her unborn baby boy, Bascom. She was one of my very best friends from home, and was diagnosed with Leukemia December 20th, 2006...exactly one year ago from the day she passed away. Katie is in the arms of Jesus now, experiencing a kind of peace that we can only imagine...and we will see her again some day. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for her and her family, and who have called or sent me sweet messages. I love and appreciate you so much.

I cannot say that I completely understand why Katie had to die...someone so young, so in love with God. Or why so many were believing and praying for her healing and God chose to not heal her here on earth, but I'm starting to understand a little better how He took something so aweful, and turned it into something so sweet and life-changing. I wanted to share with you some things that I believe the Lord wants us to take from Katie's life. He put her on this earth for a specific purpose that she so obviously fullfilled, and I believe we must carry on that purpose with her amazing story of faith.

If you didn't know Katie personally, you really missed out. Many people who didn't know her have told me that she has touched them. And that's just Katie:) The funeral home and church were packed with hundereds of people; people that Katie showed sincere love and care for, some of whom I and our close friends may have never even noticed in high school. And that's all because of Katie's unselfish love of others. If I have learned anything from Katie's life, I have learned that truly loving people is our main job on this earth. Never has anyone touched so many lives than through genuinely loving others. The more I learn about God and the closer I get to Him, the more I realize that's what we're here for. And Katie's life was just a testament of that.

I actually overheard a few people talking about how they gave their life to the Lord because of Katie. WOW. And I can tell you this...I never heard Katie preaching to anyone. She just showed honest and sincere love to them. Jacob, Katie's sweet husband shared with us the kind of person Katie was in private, which is even more astounding. He said that Katie had hundreds of names written in her Bible that she would pray for every single day, and many who were not yet saved. He said that when someone did give their life to the Lord, she would then add their family member's names:) Her life was truly spent standing in the gap for others, praying for their salvation, and loving them. I'm convicted, encouraged and inspired all at once. May God bring me to that completely unselfish place as well.

Please keep Jacob, Katie's husband and Merriwether, her precious 1 and a half year old daughter in your prayers. And her sweet parents Kurt and Melody, and especially her sister Annie who was extremely close to Katie and needs comfort and wisdom to understand and to be at peace.

I want to end by sharing the last email Katie sent to us, just a few days before the Lord took her and her baby to Heaven. The day she found out she was having a boy. :) May the Lord speak to you all through the faith He bestowed on my precious friend, and especially in her last days on earth. I will strive for this faith and love for others as long as I live.

From Katie, on Thursday December 13th, 2007:

To my most precious ones....it's a BOY. And the rush of joy I felt to hear that he is just perfectly fine despite the fact that he is living in this sad little body of mine is beyond anything I could ever describe. The short curls over my ears were soaked with tears that had streamed down the side of my face. I have been praying since August that if my body was ever failing this baby that God would take him in His own arms and cradle him for a while. Perhaps he has spent some time in the hands of angels but right now he is with me because he is kicking (smile). Just pray that he keeps kicking and growing. The best ultrasound picture we got is one of the bottoms of his little feet. This baby isn't more special than any other...this is the kind of protection God offers to all little babies given over to Him. That is something true that I thought as I laid in the ultrasound chair thinking about all the other little unborn babies floating down the halls of the obstetrician's office. That is why I get up in the mornings and pray for healing...because there are so many living without Christ, so many, and it makes me shiver...and it makes me hungry to share the ways in which He has blessed me over 26 years. And the peace I have even after the world has afflicted me in the worst way is just a testament to the power and omnipotence of the God I serve. My favorite verses in the bible have always perplexed me because I knew that I could never obtain such surrender own my own. I have lived under such a great canopy of love and acceptance all my life. With this disease God has offered me a chance to move, if only for a moment, out of the shadows of this rich world and into His arms. "Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ." Philippians 1:12-13 I am in chains for Christ. I am powerless and weak and have no provisions to offer my husband, children and myself apart from the relationship I have with THE GREAT CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, THE ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE LOVER OF MY SOUL. From where I sit...that's just not too sad (smile). My cup runneth' over. Pray for me like crazy. And by all means tell somebody about Jesus. Tell them what He's doing for me. Merriwether is clueless about the baby and clueless about the disease. She is just so happy, dancing and tearing up ornaments and loving on Maggie!! I love you all and rest easy believing that each of you sincerely knows that I mean that to the moon and back. Katie

Katie Update-Prayers needed

Just to give you an update on Katie's situation (refer to previous blog about Katie) she has chosen NOT to go through any chemotherapy because of the risk to the unborn child. She believes this is best, and is believing for a miracle from the Lord. Please help me to pray for my dear friend who needs healing URGENTLY. She has a husband and a one and a half year old little girl. I just can't imagine this world without her.

I think of this verse every time I think of Katie's unwaivering faith...

Matthew 9:20-22
20Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him (Jesus) and touched the edge of his cloak. 21She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."
22Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment. (emphasis mine)

Thank you for praying and believing with us!

Startling...

Ok, I just read one of my blogging friend's blog today and have to share! Apparently, Autism is RAPIDLY growing, and there has to be a reason for it. Check out her post on this. Scary stuff. The more I read about this, the more I believe in a big connection between processed, non-organic foods and childhood vaccinations with Autism, allergies, and even cancer.

What are your thoughts or experiences with this?

Where in the world is Kelee Crisman Hall???

Ok so for those of you who knew Kelee in college and got to know the awesome, fun, touchy feely, crazy girl she was, I would like to clue you into who she has truly grown to be...an amazing woman still with all her craziness and natural ability to have a good time, but she also has the most compassionate heart for others and a love for Jesus that has made her into an amazing woman of FAITH! If you recognized my "Carmen SanDiego" reference in the title of this blog, you probably figured out that Kelee has left the country! Kelee officially joined the US Peace Corps this summer and is stationed in SOUTH AFRICA for 2 YEARS! She is in The Northern Cape, which is the most desolate province, and her village is called Madibeng and you won't be able to find it on a map. It's 8 hours from Johannesberg, close to the Botswana border, and it's near the Kalahari dessert for those of you who are dorks like me and want to figure out where exactly she is:) She is the farthest west PC volunteer! I will be periodically updating you all on her adventures as a Peace Corps volunteer as I hear from her. PLEASE keep Kelee in your prayers! This will be such a growing and learning experience for her, but she will need to know that we are lifting her up in prayer every time we think of her. That's what I've committed to do. I am just so proud of our Kelee and how she just LEAPED out of her comfort zone to accept her calling. We can all learn from a faith like that!

By the way, this picture is of her and one of her kindergarten students here in Nashville if you were wondering.

More to come on the adventures of Peace Corps Kelee!!

Baby Ethan Update

If you have followed this story at all, you know that this little boy has been through SO much, battling Leukemia, and the Lord has brought him through so much. This story is not only about Ethan's sickness, but it is about all the lives this baby has touched and changed, and he doesn't even know it yet.

As you probably know, Ethan's Leukemia went into remission a few weeks ago. Praise God! The journey is not even close to being over though. This family needs your prayers, desperately at this time. Ethan has had some complications with seizures, and on top of that, they have done some testing and have found some abnormal, probably cancerous cells hiding in his body. This is not good. If they determine that the Leukemia has returned, the doctors have told them that there is nothing more they can do. He has already been through every chemo treatment option his little body can handle. There is a big purpose for this child, and we have to believe that God is going to bring that purpose to fruition. Please join with me in praying for this family and all they've been through. Pray and BELIEVE that God will heal this baby once and for all, and give his parents the supernatural strength to keep going, to keep believing and to keep fighting.

www.ethanpowell.com

Thank you!

Poison...in my GUM??

I just found out that aspartame is in almost every type of chewing gum. Did anyone else know this? I have totally been in the dark. If anyone knows of a type of gum that does not contain aspartame, let me know. It's poison people! And yes, you diet-cokeaholics, it's in there too. Put the bottle down, I plead with you! :)

BIG NEWS!!!

If you haven't noticed, I'm a bit obsessed with baby Ethan and his fight with Leukemia. I just wanted to share with you some GREAT news!!! After the cell-engrafting procedure, where his dad's cells were transplanted into Ethan's blood, the doctors said this had a slim chance of working...well??? Results came back, and the cells definitely engrafted and they are 100% DONOR CELLS! What does this mean? 0% Leukemia!!! I just wanted to share with you how awesome our God is and what prayer and true believing can do:) Go to the website to read it for yourself. This picture below is of Ethan and his dad Ben.

What's been going on...

Well we've had a busy couple of weeks with moving into our new place, my mom and sister joining my dad and brother and completing the whole family living in Nashville now, and our great friends Eryn and David Jones coming to visit (for a brief moment!) We are thankful for the busy times...it means our lives are FULL! :)

Update on Kelee's mom: For those of you who don't know, Janis had a milignant tumor on her spine and they removed it last week. She's having some complications with lack of feeling in her legs, but they think this will come back over the next couple of months. They still are not sure if the cancer had spread from another part of her body, so please pray about that. Kelee is still planning on going into the Peace Corps to South Africa (after a long talk with her mom about it, they decided she still needed to go). She will leave mid-July, so also pray for her safety and for the Lord to lead her to people who need to know of His love. Pray for the Holy Spirit to speak through her in her words and actions.
Here are some pics from Kelee's going away party...we got her a "chunky" watch, and she was very happy about it:)

One more thing...if you haven't gone to baby Ethan's website (on my links) please do so. This is a potentially really sad story, but thousands of people are rallying together lifting up this little guy in prayer every second of the day. Please pray for June 18th: this is THE day that will decide the rest of Ethan's life...although we know that our God is not tied down to timelines. Please just take a moment to pray for complete healing! That's all for now. Oh and one of my very good friends is pregnant so that's super exciting. I won't say who it is just in case she doesn't want it broadcasted yet:)

Congratulations Michael!!

Ok, so we just found out that Michael is now the new Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Trevecca! YAY!! He as only been there for 6 months and already getting a big promotion! It's amazing. God just continues to bless us! Well just thought I'd share the wonderful news!