Merry Christmas Daniel!

"We really appreciate the blessing that the Love is Louder than Cancer foundation has blessed us with. Daniel has been hospitalized four times within this past year with complications from Medication and procedures from his diagnosis of PreB ALL leukemia. This has caused major financial strain on our family as we have missed work due to the hospital visits and stays. Daniel has an upbeat spirit and keeps us looking to God for all kinds of miracles. Your organization has been that for us as we have been praying for months for help with Christmas for Daniel and to have food on the table. His Medicaid ran out in October and I was hospitalized that same month as well. We have mounting hospital debt from both stays and I have been unable to return to work as of yet. Please keep our family in your prayers and we pray God's blessings on your generosity with this organization. 

Sincerely, Erica (Daniel's Mom)"

The folks here at the organization will INDEED be lifting your family up in prayer!
We wish you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!   

Meet Sydney!

"My name is Kivon and my daughter's name is Sydney and we were recently diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer, called Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor. It only effects about 0.05% of women that range from 13-35. She's only 6. These last three months have really been an eye opener!! We have been truly blessed throughout the whole experience! And we are so grateful! Her older sister hasn't taken it so well, but we have a really good support system at home. Unlike common cancers, we don't have a support group for our type, so our family as been amazing and so have the wonderful doctors at children's! Our oncologist is the best doctor at that hospital if you ask me. She ended up losing her ovary, which was the size of a softball. So I thank you all so much!"

We sincerely appreciate you having shared your story with us AND our community.  We believe that by sharing one another's stories, H O P E is offered to other families also fighting!  May you enjoy a CHRISTMAS filled with JOY!          

#sertolileydigcelltumor #ovariancancer #pediatriccancer #loveislouderthancancer 

Sweet Angel

"Hi thank you so much it helps in so many ways! My sons name is Angel he was diagnosed with leukemia on June 15th of this year he was only 4 months old. We went through the whole process of waiting to see if he had a bone marrow match we knew that was the cure for is cancer. The type of leukemia he as diagnosed with was jmml. It is a really really rare kind doctors say out of the whole world there have only been 15 cases of it. It was hard for my husband and I to know that our baby had cancer. Doctors said that we were going to tests his sister and brothers to see if they were a match it would be the best for angel. But only 1 out of every 4 sibling  are match. We were scared that none of them were a match. We are Hispanic and hardly any Hispanic donate so angel being on we thought we would never find a match. We tested his siblings and are blessed that both of his brothers were a match for him. We went with his older brother Luis who is 5. Luis was so excited to be able to help his brother not be sick anymore and for him to be home with him. We did transplant on the 19 of August. Luis was so excited and happy that this day he was going to give angel his blood to help him feel good! When Luis back for his bone marrow he did not cry he was excited and happy. When he came out from procedure and woke up he didn't cry or wasn't scared all he wanted to do was see his little brother his wish came true and he went and saw his brother. On the 18th of September we got the good news that there are no more cancerous cells and were discharged. We went home that day but a week later we were back in hospital he got an infection in his central line and we count out that we were going to have to remove his spleen we got all that token care of and now we are home and have 2 doctors appointments a week in Dallas witch is 2 hours from our house but we couldn't be more happier to be home. Again thank y'all so much." 

God Bless this family.  Luis, you're an AMAZING big brother for being so STRONG as to donate bone marrow to your baby brother!  Family, enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving together at home!              

Meet another strong survivor, Trevor

"Trevor was diagnosed on July 4th with Hodgkin's lymphoma stage 3b . He has put up a good fight. He just finished his 4th round of chemo. The next one starts September 30th. He is a brave 13 year old. He will have 14 straight radiation treatments after chemo is finished. We are very hopeful that he will make a full recovery.

Let's all come together to pause for a moment today to pray for sweet Trevor and his family.  Thank you to everyone who donates to make our Wallets of Love program a success so that families like this who need us can reach out to help.

Introducing Jeanie.....

"I am a 42 year old mother of 3 that was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia on April 1, 2015. I was in Dallas for daily IV chemo for one month of inpatient and then daily outpatient iv chemo up until the end of August.  I have returned home to Abilene to my family and it is wonderful to see my children daily. I will be on oral chemo for 2 years. I have monthly follow up appointments in Dallas and your gift cards will be very useful during this time. I am an RN and was the director of a Home Health Agency up until the day of my diagnoses. I am no longer employed. Finances are a huge struggle, but I am very grateful to be alive and here to worry about them! Your gift will definitely help so much! Thank you again!"

Another wonderful survivor who is receiving a Wallet of Love today from our program and who needs your prayers today, please join us in lifting her up today with healing thoughts!  Thank you for sharing your story with us Jeanie, we are all praying for a FULL recovery!

Meet this beautiful survivor Nicole!!!

"My name is Nicole & I am a breast cancer survivor. I am a 41 year old single divorced mother of 3 & I have custody of my 1 year old great nephew whom I have been raising & taking care of since he was 2 months old. I went & had my very 1^st Mammogram on September 26, 2014 after I turned 40. I put it off a little while but one day when I was taking a shower that’s when I felt the huge lump.  After my mammogram appointment I was sent for a biopsy & that’s when I was told I had Invasive Ductal Carcinomia.  Everything went crazy for me! I cried & was afraid. I prayed a lot. I was told I had to have a mastectomy. I had my left breast removed & had to go through chemotherapy. I have had 4 surgeries so far & I still have one more to go on.  My life has truly changed a lot. The good thing about my diagnosis is that it gave me a closer walk with God. Its been hard for me because I am a single parent, but I won't complain because I’m just grateful to be alive.  If I had to give any advice for others going thru this, I would say trust God, remain positive & enjoy every single day that God gives you! I pray nobody has to endure this & I pray that they find a cure. God bless you!"

We see you and hear you Nicole, you WILL beat this and be so much stronger because of it. Nicole is one of our Wallet of Love recipients for September!!  THIS is what we do with your wonderful donations!   Everyone, please lift Nicole up today in prayer, what a wonderful, STRONG woman she is and a great example of my favorite verse, Proverbs 31:25 "She is clothed with strength and dignity and laughs without fear of the future."  You have an army of prayer warriors going to work for you today Nicole, be ready to RECEIVE today!!

Another sweet family we are helping, meet the lovely Emma

This family particularly touched our hearts because of how young Emma is, she will turn 1 this month and in January was diagnosed with AML Leukemia.  Please keep this sweet family in your prayers, they certainly need lots of positive energy flowing their way!  Sweet Emma's smile is certainly a big part of that!  These are a few words from this amazing little family who we helped last month through your generosity:

 

"Thank you so much for your generous gift! All those gift cards will come in handy and go to good use!  Our little girl is Emma and was diagnosed on January 5th 2015 with AML Leukemia.  We are still at the Childrens Hospital in Dallas 130 miles from home after 4 months and 4 rounds of Chemo.  We are praying that we can start the Bone Marrow Transplant next month and be home back to a normal life by September! We look forward to keeping in touch with your organization and being a future donator and supporter.

 

We attached a picture of my family and one of our daughter Emma!

 

Thank you so much for you support!

 

Jason and Hailey"

We are helping an average of 6-10 families each month, but can only continue to do this through your generosity.  Please consider donating online at www.liltc.org , all donations are 100% tax deductible, we are a registered 501c3 charitable organization and it just feels good to give, doesn't it??  Please pray for this family in the days/weeks/months ahead!  Keep fighting baby girl, you've GOT this!  Love is LOUDER!!!

Life is all about perspective

Life, I’ve discovered over the past year, is all about perspective.  Our Lainey started losing her precious hair again back in March when she was hospitalized.  This isn’t necessarily “normal” during this stage of treatment, but it’s also not abnormal, at the same time, it was definitely an unwelcome surprise.  This time though, she was older and when we suggested cutting it all again, she said, “No way Mommy, my hair is beautiful!”  Who was I to argue with her?  So, for the past couple of months, she has held on to that last bit of her hair, literally.  She pulls down the little bit left on each side all the time, twirls it around her fingers and says, “Mommy, my hair is getting SOOOOO LOOOONNNNGGG, LOOK!”  Each time, I say, “Oh yes, it IS getting long and how beautiful!”

You see, on the very back of her head, all of the hair came out though.  I was standing behind her in the mirror one night recently, helping her brush her teeth and she pulled on those long strands and commented about how long her hair was getting, I looked at her reflection in the mirror and that’s when it hit me.  All she sees when she looks in the mirror is two long sections of hair on each side.  It does, in fact, look like her hair is much longer, from her perspective.  She doesn’t know that those two long sections on each side are all of it and she doesn’t have any in the back. 

That’s when I realized, life is all about perspective.  Tomorrow will be my last Herceptin drip at the cancer clinic and I hope, the last time that I will have to get anti-cancer drugs through a port.  It’s hard to believe that I started this journey a year ago.  When I did, I thought this would be the most awful year of my life.  A year later, I have a different perspective.  It has definitely been one of the hardest years of my life, but awful, I don’t think so.  I’ve been given the gift of perspective that few of us attain in life.  I’m crystal clear now on what’s important and what’s not, who I want to share my space and time with, and definitely who I don’t.  I’m so thankful for that perspective and the blessing it has been and will be for the rest of my life.  I’m a better wife, mother, friend and Christian because of it. 

So, my Lainey and I are a lot alike, we both see life differently than everyone else.  From her perspective, her hair is growing a mile a minute and from mine, life is abundantly full of hope, people are good and I am blessed beyond measure for all of the things that have happened to me over the past year.  What would somebody else say?  Doesn’t matter to me, from my perspective, simply put, Life IS Good!

A whole lot more than just a chalk paint project

Ok, so just before I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, I decided to start this refinish project for our table and chairs in our breakfast nook.  Unfortunately the black leather seats had some tears and the finish on the table top had been well "loved" by our girls, lots of fork marks and glitter glue that would never come off, you get the idea. So, after a late night on Pinterest, I had this "vision" that maybe instead of selling this gem on Craigslist and buying a new one, I could actually turn it into something I would love again. If y'all knew me, you would know this is not something I would typically do, but I was on this "I can do anything, I'm running a half marathon soon for the first time in my life" high and decided it was a good idea. March 22nd of last year, I posted this picture on Facebook of the first chair that I refinished and reupholstered.  I was SO excited and so proud of this project, I couldn't WAIT to finish the other three and then tackle that table, this was gonna be AWESOME!  And then, on Good Friday last year, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, 9 months after my youngest, Lainey, had been diagnosed with leukemia.  Needless to say, my project was put on hold......

That one, very lonely, very pretty chair kept the other three "old" chairs and that pitiful table company for many months in our breakfast nook.  My husband thought it was a lost cause and would always comment about it, saying how he wanted to bet me $50 that I would never finish them all.  The truth is, every time I looked at that dining room set with one finished chair, it was a reminder for me that I had cancer and my life had been abruptly interrupted, just like my refinish project.  There were days I was going through chemo and I would sit at that table to eat and wonder if I really would ever see it finished. Not because I didn't want to finish it, but because maybe I wouldn't be around to finish it.  Doubt and worry are a devil to fight when it comes to cancer.  There were definitely times I felt like it was winning, but I always relied on my faith that God had a plan and everything would be ok.  At some point after I finished chemo, I slowly started tackling one chair at a time.  Fast forward to two weeks ago when my parents were here helping while Dave was traveling for work, I decided it was time.  God love my dad, he never has been able to tell me no, so I asked for some sanding help/advice for refinishing the table top and dug right in.

Well, drum roll please.....I would like to introduce my BRAND NEW dining room set that I absolutely LOVE now!!  Y'all, I have FOUR matching chairs, count 'em, FOUR!  I have a beautiful refinished table top that will probably take my kids 3 days to destroy again, but I don't care, I will savor this moment!  This Friday is the one year anniversary of me being diagnosed with cancer and as I sit here and type this, I am CANCER FREE with only two more sessions of Herceptin ahead of me and have reconstructive surgery scheduled in June!!  Life is good friends and now I have this super duper, fantastic, do it yourself project under my belt and can't wait to enjoy it with my beautiful little family.  I'm already looking around the house for what else I can redo!  Oh and to my lovely husband, you get paid this week and I'll be looking for a nice, crisp $50 bill laid right in the middle of this shiny table top for me, ha, love you Babe!  Blessings to all of you for not just a Good Friday, but a GREAT Friday, because I know that's what I'll be having this week!

We need YOU to run with us for an AMAZING cause!

Ok, so for ALL of my Dallas peeps, May 31st is calling your name! We are all coming together to run the Disco 5K/10K run with Dallas Athletes Racing AND raise money for Love is Louder at the same time. WE NEED YOU!!! Click the link below to start your own fundraising page and signup. For my non-runners, it's only 3.2 miles for the 5K folks, you CAN do this! Our goal is to sign up 50 people, we have 4, so yes, I'm talking to YOU! I will be making my running comeback that day too, let's all be INSPIRED, run, celebrate life and HAVE FUN!! Click the SHARE button to recruit your friends! 100% of the money you raise goes to our Foundation to help families fighting AND you can win cool prizes the more $ you raise!http://loveislouderthancancer.myevent.com/

Presenting sweet Charlotte, another wallet of love recipient!

Some of you might remember this sweet girl from a while back when Lainey had chemo, she met Charlotte and they were fast friends!  Here is her story, courtesy of her mom, "Charlotte is 3 years old and will soon be 4 in June. Back in April 2014 Charlotte had developed a knot on her head. We had taken her to many different doctors trying to figure out what was wrong and how we could make it go away. All we got was the run around with everyone. We weren't getting any answers. In October we were finally referred to a plastic surgeon that did an MRI and a biopsy of the bump. We still received no results but they referred us to an oncologist just in case. The oncologist told us from what he saw in the MRI and the abnormalities of the biopsy that Charlotte had Pre-B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. We had already prepared to be in the hospital for 4 days to get her started on her chemotherapy in her induction phase of her 3 year treatment plan. Our 3 years started October 16th, 2014. She's been strong through all the treatments so far. She will be 6 years old before we are 100% done with treatments. We have a long hard road ahead of us but we are survivors. Our love keeps us strong."

Thank you mom, for sharing Charlotte with us and know that we are all here, praying for you both! Don't forget friends, visit our website at www.liltc.org , and click on the Donate link to make a tax deductible donation to allow us to continue to help families just like sweet Charlotte's!

40 Day Random Acts of Kindness Challenge

Lent is a season where Christians focus on simple living, prayer, and fasting in order to grow closer to God.  But in recent years some have taken Lent in a different direction.  

We would like you to consider participating in our 40 Day Random Acts of Kindness Challenge.  There are so many different things you can do to put a smile on another’s face and HELP SPREAD LOVE – and we want to see our followers do just that!

Do you want to be held accountable?  Consider printing our 40 Days Random Acts of Kindness log sheet.  If you complete all 40 days you may post the completed form on Monday, April 6 to our LILTC Facebook page and receive a free LILTC cotton t-shirt.  

Also, here are a few other ways you can kick off Lent this year if you are looking for something a little different:

•        Try an electronic “fast” - give up electronics for 1 full day each week or go further & give us social media for the entire 40 days (but we will miss you at Love Is Louder Than Cancer!)
  
•          Start a prayer rhythm - before you text someone…pray for them
  
•          Give up Starbucks, Sonic or whatever your choice of drink is - consider giving the money you spent on this item to your favorite charity : )
  
•          Create a daily quiet time - spend 30 minutes a day in silence and prayer
  
•          Be kind to someone each day – surprise your neighbor, friend, coworker or even a stranger with a small act of kindness each day
  
•          Volunteer - one hour or more each week

Always remember...LOVE IS LOUDER!

Another fighter who was sponsored in January, meet Dilon

Dilon and his brothers on transplant day

Dilon and Emily (Spouse)

"We cannot thank you enough for your generosity! Dilon has been out of work for treatment for two years so this is an incredible blessing! Dilon was initially diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma at the age of 17 years old.  It has been an ongoing battle with a few relapses over the course of his early adulthood.  On January 8th 2015, he received the most incredible gift of his identical twin brother's stem cells.  He is currently in remission and is being discharged from the hospital this week! Dilon has been such a fighter and now looks forward to many years of health and happiness thanks to his loving brother.  I have attached a few photos of Dilon, his twin brother, and family throughout the stem cell transplant process over the past month."

Dilon and Emily, we are so excited to be able to help and are celebrating fantastic, CANCER FREE days ahead for him!

Meet Franchesska, one of our January Wallet of Love recipients!

"My name is Franchesska.  I am 39 years old. I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast cancer on July 11, 2014. After being diagnosed my world turned upside down.  I had a whirl wind of medical appointments and a lumpectomy in September.  Unfortunately, I lost mobility in my arm and had to stay out of work an additional two weeks. I'm sad to say that in October my company felt that it did not make good business sense to keep me on because I had missed so many days with medical appointments and they knew that more than likely I would miss more, so they stated it was better to lay me off. I found myself unemployed on top of having to deal with cancer.  I filed unemployment, but they denied my claim based on the fact that the state of Georgia requires that you are able to work full time without illness to collect. So I was a cancer patient and unemployed with no income.  I was the only income in my home because my mother had previously lost her job due to her own medical issues.  

My time as a cancer patient has been very difficult.  I have experienced horrible side effects so my doctor told me I would not be able to work anyway. I am sick for 9.5 days after chemo. My mother was ignoring her own pain to care for me. She recently was in the hospital December 30th and was diagnosed with stomach and ovarian cancer. Her pain is so severe that she can no longer help me. So now we have two cancer patients in the home and zero income. 

God is teaching me to walk by faith and not by sight. This journey is truly a faith walk. Being without income since September (I used all of my medical leave on doctors appointments so I had to go out on leave without pay for surgery), God has provided for my house through the kindness of many. Though this journey is extremely difficult,  I thank God for people or organizations such as Love is Louder than Cancer to help me continue the fight.  I look forward to see what the Lord has in store for me. This battle cannot be for nothing.  I feel the journey God has my mother and I on is for a greater purpose."

What a beautiful, strong woman, who is putting her faith in God to lead her path.  Franchesska, we are all here, praying for you and your mother and do believe God most certainly has a plan for this trial in your lives.  Love is always louder than cancer and we are certainly sending a lot of love your way today!  

Celebrating a lifetime of love

I’m writing with a heavy heart tonight, as my Mamaw, that I introduced many of you to a while back on her 100^th birthday, is about to be on her way to her heavenly home.  Of course, we’ve known this day was coming for some time, but as my mom said, “It doesn’t matter how old you are and how old they are, you never want to lose your mom.”  She’s surrounded by her children and medicated to try and make the transition easier, she’s been quiet today.  I’ve had a range of emotions lately, memories from my childhood about growing up on her old farm, sleeping upstairs with her handmade quilts piled on top of me and remembering stories my mom told me about my mamaw’s childhood.  She grew up in Martin County, in rural Kentucky, the eastern coal field region.  She had two brothers and six sisters, growing up and working on the farm where her family raised tobacco, vegetables and her Pa boarded horses.  My mamaw was quite the looker in her day and honestly is still a beautiful woman today.  They had pie dinners back then in her small country community where single girls baked a pie and the young men bid on the pies just to get a chance to sit and eat pie with the girl.  My mamaw said she always had plenty of bidders on her pies J.

She married at 26 and went on to give birth to 10 children, yup, I said TEN y’all.  She has outlived four of them, which is incomprehensible to me, to think of losing one of my children, let alone four.  She taught herself to play guitar and played in the evening on the front porch of the old farmhouse when my mom was growing up, singing Jesus Loves Me, Clementine and other songs.  She was a very hard worker, raising her children on a farm and was a wonderful southern cook, her fried chicken and biscuits were the best.  She was what we would call very “resourceful” in today’s world, which really meant that she somehow fed all of her children with little to no money, living off of the land.  She has always been kind, loving and generous to us all.  I asked her one time how in the world she could have raised all those kids, when I felt overwhelmed with just two.  She said that at some point the older ones started helping take care of the younger ones and they just figured it out.  My mamaw grew up in a time where you didn’t give up, you didn’t expect somebody else to take care of your family and times were very hard, but you made the best out of it.  Without a doubt, that’s where I get my resilience from. 

She has always had an amazing, unshakeable faith in God.  I think it would be hard for most people to have lived her life and still be so bold in their faith, but not my Mamaw.  I have no doubt that the gates of heaven will be wide open to welcome her in, with her children meeting her at the gate.

None of us know what really happens when we die.  Sure, lots of folks have reported about their near death experiences, but nobody really knows.  When you’ve been diagnosed with a life threatening disease, I think it’s only natural to think about dying.  As a Christian though, I am comforted because I have no doubt where I’ll be going and I know this life is only temporary.  Still, your mind wanders when you think about it.  For some reason the movie from the ‘90s, “What Dreams May Come” with Robin Williams comes to mind.  I do think of it that way, “A whole human life is just a heartbeat here in heaven.” It’s a place where anything is possible and you feel overwhelming joy that never ends.  I had this conversation with a good friend recently when I said, “I’m not afraid of dying, I’m only afraid of leaving.”  My fear has always been leaving these sweet baby girls, but never for me, not what I would miss out on, but what I feel THEY would miss out on.  I would never want them to live the rest of their lives without a mommy, without having that person who knows you like nobody else does.  When you’re 16 and you think the world is ending because your boyfriend broke up with you, that one person who can hold your head in their lap, stroke your hair, brush away your tears and tell you stories about when you were a little girl and cried because we took your bunny/lovey away for good, all to just get your mind off of the heartbreak you’re feeling at the moment.  Then, that same one and only person who will tell you stories about when she was a teenager and then follow up with something like, “Who cares about some dumb boy, let’s go shopping, get our hair done and eat ice cream!”  Those are the things I think of and don’t want them to miss out on, I so badly want to be here for all of that.  I also feel pretty solid that I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, but what I know is that I’ve been given a gift by seeing life in this way that many folks never have the opportunity to see.

As I sit here tonight, praying for peace for my Mamaw and our family during this difficult time, I can almost see the preparations that are being made in heaven at this moment for such a bold, life-long servant of God.  I don’t know what happens when you die, but I do absolutely know what happens when you LIVE.  If you truly embrace your family, your friends, your gifts, your struggles, your faith, I think that’s what happens when you really live.  To honor her best, I’m celebrating all of those things today.  What an incredible blessing that we have all been given to have her with us for 100 years.  I feel like I won’t need to wait for the phone call to know that she’s gone, I’ll simply have to listen for the sound of an old guitar with the sweetest voice singing,

“Jesus loves me still today,
Walking with me on my way,
Wanting as a friend to give
Light and love to all who live.

Yes, Jesus loves me! He who died
Heaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.”

We're all cheering for Kaitlyn today!

Happy Sunday everyone!  As you're heading out to church this morning, I have a wonderful story about an amazing girl fighting cancer that can use your prayers.  We are so excited that we were able to spread some holiday cheer to brighten Kaitlyn's day this Christmas!!Remember, share our website and story with others so we can continue to raise money to help fighters just like brave Kaitlyn!

From her mom, "My thirteen year old wonderful daughter Katilyn is on the drill team and an AP honor roll student; she started having trouble with headaches to the point of tears. Her pediatrician sent her to a neurologist where she received an MRI of her brain because of these headaches, from there she had a brain biopsy and on July 25, 2014 ironically “the same day in 2001 Katilyn’s father died”, she was diagnosed with an inoperable High Grade Glioma, stage 3 brain tumor “Anaplastic Astrocytoma”. I was told the cancerous tumor is located in the center of the left thalamus, and couldn’t be surgically removed. 

Katilyn was immediately fitted for a radiation mask and began radiation therapy in August 2014. She will be treated with radiation five days a week for a total of 33 visits at UT Southwestern, in conjunction with an oral chemotherapy 3 times a day. The Neuro-oncology team hopes this will shrink the tumor.

Katilyn had a MRI and we found out that her tumor had swollen much more than they had expected, two days later we ended up in the ER and admitted to the hospital for 6 days during that time, she lost feeling in the right side of her body enabling her the use of her hand or to walk without the assistance, and the doctors decided to start her on infusion chemotherapy in October,a month early,in hopes to help with the swelling of the tumor.  
The day after she was released from the hospital her drill team dedicated their performance to her and presented her with flowers. She was so excited and overwhelmed she forgot about the pain and she was so happy. I was so amazed and humbled by the generosity of all of our friends and community, Zahid Arab from FOX4 and even strangers that don't know us. Thank you!"

Kaitlyn, you have an entire community of people praying for you!  We are all asking God to give you and your mom strength, courage and faith to know that He is working in ALL things, even this trial.  We are all most definitely in this together, thank you for continuing to be a light shining brightly for all others to see,so that in you they might see Him.