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)

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!

Katie

Please pray for my dear friend from home, Katie (Hammontree) Whitlow. (picture is of all of our best friends from high school at my wedding, namely, Katie) Some of you know about Katie's battle with Leukemia just last year. The cancer has returned and seems to be more aggressive from what we've heard. We also just found out that she is pregnant which changes everything. They don't know if she will go through chemo and bone marrow transplant again because they believe this baby is a miracle from God, seeing as Katie wasn't "supposed" to be able to have children after going through her treatments last year, they are believing that God can heal without the help of any medicine that may hurt the unborn child.

I know Katie would hate for anyone to let even an ounce of doubt creep in that God will not heal her fully. I'm believing with her and her family that the Lord God in Heaven will show us once again his love and awesome power through Katie's astounding faith. Please stand with us in prayer for Katie's life even if you don't know her personally. I can tell you that if you did know her, you would never be the same. She touches every life she meets because the Lord is leading her life, fully.

Thank you.

Kelee Update!

Thanks to Skype, I am able to talk to Kelee more than I ever dreamed! We've actually been talking once a week to once every two weeks at least. I miss her so! She is doing just great, and has already done some pretty cool things. She LOVES the family she's living with and she says that she lives with one of the more wealthy families in the village (which of course is nothing like "wealthy" to us).
She was also telling me about how in South Africa, especially where she is, it's like going back in time to the 60's as far as racism goes. When she meets the "white" Africans, they cannot believe that she's living with the "blacks" they say. Some of the things she was telling me were seriously blowing my mind...racism is a major problem there, but I know that Kelee can at least plant some seeds of equality with God's help.

I will post more pictures when she sends them to me. Keep our little ambassador for the Lord in your prayers!
Eating smores with one of the local women at a bonfire. (by the way, they are telling Kelee all the time that she is too skinny. Being fat is a beautiful trait in South Africa!)
(Right) This is Kelee receiving a gift from some locals. They all LOVE Kelee:)
I thought this was hilarious. Kelee came across a giant COW HEAD while walking through a kitchen one day! And if you know Kelee, this was probably very cool to see:)

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!

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.

Baby Ethan...

(7/17) Ok I had to add to this post so I could share with you some encouraging news about Ethan. To give you a heads up, this cell engrafting procedure was said to have a very slim chance of working. Here is part of the update from Becky, Ethan's mom from yesterday afternoon:

This update could go on forever, so I'll cut it off by giving you the latest updates on him. His ANC is 128!! (It was 200 this morning, but they said it can fluctuate.) Anyway...he has an ANC!!! His white blood cells are to 1600! They drew a lab this morning to check to see how much of his blood is his and how much is his Daddy's. They said we probably won't know the results from that until Thursday or Friday. PLEASE PRAY for the cells to be 100% donor (Ben's cells)!

How cool is that!! Keep praying, our God is Awesome!!


(7/16) Baby Ethan needs your prayers like none other. Please go to his website and read the latest update. There is a picture there of Ethan that might rip your heart out, but let that not hinder us from believing in God's plan for this little boy's life! Just think, this could have been your child. They need us to hit our knees in a desparate way! Thanks. www.ethanpowell.com

Important Day to Pray!!!

Guys, this is a critical day for baby Ethan. Today he gets his first batch of "Killer Cells" from his dad. This starts the process of his dad's cells taking over any of Ethan's bad cells and with PRAYER, FAITH, and BELIEF is the cure for Ethan's Leukemia!! Please remember this in your prayers today. Take 1 or 2 minutes out of your day to lift them up in complete Faith for Ethan's healing. They are asking that everyone truly BELIEVE with them. There is no room for doubt. Ethan's life depends on it. Go to the website (under "blogs I read") to read the update. It's inspiring:)

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:)

URGENT Prayers Needed...

I was just reading through blogs on the internet today, and I just happened to stumble across this website for a little baby boy named Ethan who was diagnosed with Leukemia 8 weeks after he was born. I think they are from Little Rock, AR. They are at St. Jude in Memphis now. His mom and dad update this website every single day, and I ended up going back to the February posts (when he was diagnosed) and reading through all of them up to today. I was so touched by this family, their BIG faith in God, and their big need at this time...and the fact that one of my best friends was diagnosed with Leukemia in December and God healed her (Praise the Lord!)...I feel like I came across this website for a reason. Yesterday Baby Ethan began the last attempt of Chemotherapy and this is apparently the strongest kind he could go through. As I was sitting at my desk reading this, tears were streaming down my face. If you read through all the updates from the beginning, you will see why it cannot be time for this little warrior to leave this world. God has a huge purpose in this little boy's life, and I just feel compelled to tell as many people as possible to pray for complete healing for him. Please, do the same, and pass along his website to your own prayer warriors. This is the most critical time of their whole journey. Also pray for his mom and dad who have been through a lot.

Here is his website www.ethanpowell.com
go to the 'updates' link to read their posts. There are also pictures and videos. Here is the utube video link www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJX2JwaWmbc
of Ethan's journey. Beware, it's a tear jerker. I have also put the links to his website and utube video in my "links" section.

There is also going to be a nation wide prayer vigil for Ethan, this Sunday, June 10th. They are asking that everyone spread the word to their churches to take a moment during the worship service to pray for Ethan. Please spread the word!

I don't know why I came across this website...or why I feel so strongly about this family that I don't even know...but I do know that they serve the same God I do, and I have witnessed time and time again God's miraculous love and healing that he provides when we seek him.
Let's stand together in praying for God to put his healing hand on Ethan once and for all.