A few days before Thanksgiving, he had a sore throat (strep was going around in the community) and had swelling in the lymph nodes in his neck. The sore throat improved, but the swelling remained. The doctor started him on antibiotics and the swelling went away for a week or two, but returned within a week, and was worse than before. There were no other symptoms, no fever, no fatigue, nothing.

Thank you for all your prayers. There is no tumor, but the lymph nodes are enlarged. The diagnosis is T-cell leukemia. Joshua will begin weekly chemotherapy treatments within the next couple of days.

Thanks! I'll look there too.

Thanks! I can't believe how hard it is to find a dark roast flavored decaf coffee! I like my coffee with cream, but not sugar, so the flavored creamers aren't my thing. I use them occasionally when I have a dessert coffee, but not very often.

Thanks! I'll check Amazon to see if I can also find flavored coffee--hazelnut is my favorite.

Do you know if thFolgers has anything that IS strong? I don't like weak coffee; I prefer it to be BOLD. :D

bump :)

I've been looking for flavored decaf K-Cups, and the few that I find are usually light roast. I prefer a full-bodied medium to dark roast coffee, but I must have decaf, and I want flavored coffee. I live in a small town, so options for buying locally are severely limited; I'll most likely have to order online. Where can I find the K-Cups I want at a decent price? Thanks so much if you can answer this question! ETA: Just wanted to be clear that I am looking for a bold-tasting FLAVORED decaf coffee. (My favorite is hazelnut.)

:iagree:

He is being transferred from a small children's hospital to a larger one tonight. The tumor is apparently in his neck/chest region and is blocking the veins in the neck and head. He has undergone a biopsy and CT scans over the past few days, and results of all the tests are expected tomorrow. Doctors have already said that they suspect the tumor is malignant, but they don't know what type of cancer, nor its extent. The boy is the youngest child in a wonderfully loving, giving Christian family. The mom homeschools and operates a small catering business, and the dad is a pastor. Please pray for them all. The boy's name is Joshua.

I think this perfectly defines "crisis of faith". It is when you are faced with circumstances in your life that force you to decide, "Will I believe, no matter what?" From my observations (and personal experience as well), you experience a crisis of faith when you come to the realization that God is not who you thought He was. One person might determine that he had an incomplete understanding, possibly because he himself was mistaken, and that more prayer and Bible study will further refine his concept of God. And he will continue to believe. Another person, however, will decide that his imperfect concept of God is God's fault for not revealing Himself and His will, and maybe that God is a liar anyway. This person becomes angry at God and refuses to pray or read his Bible. He may choose to stop trusting God, even doubting the His very existence.

I am using this Fossil organizer purse that I bought a couple of years ago at the local thrift store. All their purses are $3. I buy purses only at thrift stores, and would probably not consider paying more than $10 for one.

:iagree: Me too.

The remnants of our Christmas (HoneyBaked) ham is in the fridge, and I'll be using it to make soup tomorrow. According to the HoneyBaked Ham website: "In the refrigerator, the HoneyBaked Ham will stay fresh for 7 to 10 days."

:iagree:

I haven't read any of the other responses yet, but I have had more than one crisis of faith. The most recent came at a time in my life when dh & I were undergoing a period of extreme financial hardship. We were involved in ministry, and in spite of the fact that we were praying continually, seeking God and His will for us, we were struggling terribly. It was hard not to think that we were doing something wrong, or we wouldn't be in such desperate need. We actually felt abandoned by God for a time--felt that He was not hearing our prayers, or at least, He wasn't answering them. It was hard to want to pray when we felt that way, but we kept at it, and gradually, things got better. Looking back on that time now, we can see some lessons that God taught us through those difficult circumstances--things we might not have learned otherwise. I do think that, as you said, a crisis of faith is "common to most people's spiritual journey". I agree with Henry Blackaby, who wrote Experiencing God. Blackaby talks about a "Crisis of Belief": "The way you and I respond to such a moment reveals what we truly believe about God. It also determines whether or not we will ‘Experience God.’"

:iagree:

It's in my signature...

I met my husband the summer after we both graduated from high school. We lived in cities about an hour's drive apart, and met at church when my family visited his church one Sunday. We were in the same Sunday School class. That was in 1978. :)

:iagree: ETA: My dh & I are small business owners also, and I know how hard it is. You're in my prayers! :grouphug:

battery charger for dh, Wii games for everybody. The only near miss we had was that one of the earrings dh gave me broke when I tried to put it on. But I can easily exchange it.

We relax all day. I buy a spiral sliced ham, croissants, cheeses, fresh fruit, egg nog, milk, and juice. I make coffee and I set all the food out on the kitchen counter along with paper plates, plasticware, and that's it for brunch/lunch/whatever all day. Whenever anyone gets hungry, they fix themselves a plate. I don't even heat the ham. If someone wants it heated, they stick their plate in the microwave for a few seconds, and voila! :tongue_smilie:

Mine never did either. Yes, I am blessed, and I know it. Our kids are great. We have friends with teens who are "broody", and it's not pleasant to be around. Adolescence IS hard. Maybe being broody is a personality thing; I tend to think it's more of an adolescent thing, but it's not that way in all adolescents. We laid the groundwork much earlier than adolescence as to what is acceptable in our home and what's not.

Everyone in our family makes Christmas lists, then we make photocopies and pass them out to each other so that everyone has a copy of everyone else's list. We'll usually include some OUTRAGEOUS wishes on our lists; for example, dh & I might wish for a new car. We also include stocking stuffer ideas--candy, socks, slippers, etc. And we include several medium-priced ($20-$25) items so that the others can pick and choose from our list--but no one expects to get everything on his list. One day early in December each year, dh takes a day off from work and we ALL go Christmas shopping together. We drive to a larger city about an hour's drive from home to shop. We start off at one particular large shopping center; we divide up as necessary (usually pairing up) so that we can keep each other's gifts secret, hiding the gifts in huge shopping bags or even trash bags in the back of the car. Then we take a lunch break (our tradition is to have lunch at Olive Garden). After lunch, we go to another shopping center and continue our shopping. Around 4:00 or 4:30, we go for coffee at our favorite coffee shop, then we resume our shopping again. Finally, we choose a nice restaurant for dinner, and then we head home. We look forward to this all year; it's part of our family Christmas gift to one another.