Add these to your list!!

Please remember Mandy. She had surgery to put screens around the blood clots and examine the problems in her colon and large intestine. They may have to do surgery on the colon but have not had to do so at this time. They are hoping medications will work to alleviate the problems. Please pray the medicine will work and Mandy will recover without any more surgeries.

Steve and Elizabeth Rose's children Tanner and Brooklyn Rose were killed in an car accident on Sunday. Elizabeth is in White County Medical Center (Searcy, AR) and Steve is in St Vincents (Little Rock). They are both graduates of Harding University.

Current info from Ethan's page:
URGENT UPDATE!!! Please help fire up the prayer chain again. ETHAN HIT A MAJOR ROAD BLOCK TODAY! The MRD results came back ad showed that Ethan now has 38% LEUKEMIA in the marrow. That is a significantly higer number than the 16% that the microscope showed. We are not sure why the large difference, but it really doesn't matter. That is the more detailed test, so that is what it is.

So, here is the next move. We go in tomorrow to sign papers to prepare Ethan for transplant. Given the high number, the odds are stacked against him even more so. But furthermore, if there are any blasts in the peripheral blood when we check in to the hospital Friday, Ethan would no longer be a candidate for a bone marrow transplant.

Basically what I am saying is this. The two likely scenarios are:
1. we will go in and there will be LEUKEMIA in the peripheral blood.
2. we will go in and the LEUKEMIA is even higher in the marrow and we just won't know it.

Either way is very bad. However!!!!!! Our God is much bigger than 38%. If you need visul evidence to BeLIeVe then you have it all wrong. We have to BeLIeVe before we will see anything. So I am going to turn it over to God to answer our cry, and I am pleading with you to help get this prayer chain going stronger than ever. I cannot stress this enough. From every conversation that we've had with the doctors, this is the last attempt. Please continue to pray with us and BeLIeVe... PRAYER WORKS!!!

Prayer needed NOW!

I got this message from MaryAlice last night. Please pray for this situation!

I have been blessed with the opportunity to teach a girls' bible class at my school. All semester, my co-teacher and I have been praying for a specific situation to occur. Well, the prayer has been answered, and we believe the Holy Spirit has brought the situation to fruition. My co-teacher and I will be addressing the situation with our girls' tomorrow during class. Even though we believe the Holy Spirit has orchestrated what is about to occur, I am asking people to pray specifically for us from 10:00-11:00a (the time the class meets). I am asking that people pray that God will grant us wisdom, that we will be completely open to the Spirit's leading, and that His words, not ours be spoken. I am also asking that people pray that our students' will be listening to the Holy Spirit as well, and that the whole class be protected from Satan and his malicious attacks. If you could post this on the blog, I would greatly appreciate it. I will give you an update this weekend as to how it went.

Add this request....

Keisha wanted us to remember this in our prayers! Cary Tucker was in an 18 wheeler wreck... please keep him and his wife Sheila in your prayers. I do not know how bad it is at this time but will keep you posted.

Prayer Request List, December 10th

Nicole gave me this request in Nov... due to computer issues it is just now getting posted! (So sorry Nicole).

One of the ladies in our life group had her baby Monday night at 26 1/2 weeks. Little Reese weighs 1lb 12oz and was 12 inches long. She's breathing and crying on her own, as of last night. Jenni is still recovering, but there's going to be a long NICU road ahead.

I am also working with a woman right now whose child has severe reflux and food allergies. In addition she lost her husband three months ago (he was in his 30's) to a heart attack! She is having a hard time right now so please lift her up in prayer!

Continue to remember Kristen as she deals with the loss of her dad!

Please continue to remember Ethan Powell.

Thank you for praying for the Steece quads.

Ben Lamb is has almost lost 100 pounds so far! Keep his journey to better health in your prayers.

Continue to remember our friends who are pregnant.

Please remember Stephanie as she continues to deal with loosing Keith and Stephanie’s friend Jordan as she continues to fight cancer.

Please continue to remember Emory.

Please remember Matthew and his family as he is fighting cancer.

Please pray for eight year old Bailey as she is dealing with a brain tumor.

Remember our HU friends who have gone on to become missionaries... also Butch and Mary Lou Cope as they work with Gospel for Asia.

**If you have any prayer requests, updates or changes please e-mail me at RackleyMay19@hotmail.com. Right now the replys to current messages are defaulting to an e-mail address that is not functioning right! Sorry for the confusion!

Add these prayer requests....

Please pray for Kristen Hicks. Her father passed away at about 5am this morning.

Continue to remember Ethan as he fights leukemia. He is undergoing an experimental chemo right now and will have more testing done this week to determine how it is working.

Ethan Powell... chemo did not work this time.

Ben just posted this update about Ethan.... I don't think I need to tell you that they need your constant prayers right now!

I have some devastating news. The test came back and the LEUKEMIA is holding stable at 18%. The CHEMO was not a success. At this point, they have exhausted all options of standard CHEMOTHERAPY. You might ask... "What Next?" At this point, we are not sure that they will give us any other options but to go home. Over the next two to three weeks, they will give his body a chance to recover from this round of CHEMO and they will attempt to find any other option possible. The quality of life conversation has come to the forefront. The doctor doen't feel comfortable saying that he will survive until Christmas. OUCH! That hurts. But do not lose sight... we are praying to move a mountain not a hill! It is important to BeLIeVe! Fight the urge to call and console us, we would prefer you pray with your family. At this point, we are not really up for explaining the details everytime the phone rings. So we will vow to update as regularly as always to keep you current. Just be assured... I am not crying. I am still sitting here in my chair, right next to the little guy, imagining the miracle that I BeLIeVe will happen. As soon as we know more we will update. Thank you for continuing to BeLIeVe... PRAYER WORKS!!!

Ethan Powell...

The previous prayer requests are still current so please remember those people in addition to this updated request for Ethan.

Apparently there is the possibility that Ethan may need brain surgery to remove a growth that appears to be causing the seizures. These seizures could prevent additional chemo so please keep this situation in your prayer. In addition he will be having testing done today to see if their are leukemia cells in the bone marrow still. Please pray for this test to be clean!!

For more details please check Ethan's site. The link is in the sidebar!

LOVE YA!

Emory...

Happy 1st Birthday Emory-angel!
Just a PRAISE GOD for the beautiful baby we have been praying for, We love you Emory!

Updated November 5, 2007

Thank you for your prayers for Tori Magness. She is at home recovering.

Please pray a TON for Ethan Powell! The little guy has been through quiet a lot! Right now they are requesting prayers that the seizures will stop ad the chemo will be effective. Please continue to pray for a complete healing for Ethan.

Thank you for praying for the Steece quads. Pray for Joe and Suz and they take on all the load of caring for these precious babies! Pray for Savannah's reflux to be mild and that there will be no more episodes where she is unable to breathe.

Ben Lamb is back home and back to work! He has (yay) lost 80 pounds so far and is feeling much better! Keep his journey to better health in your prayers.

Continue to remember our friends who are pregnant (all SIX of them).

Please continue to pray for Kristen's mom Carol as she continues to deal with Marvin's death. Pray that what ever decisions she comes to with regard to the home and business they shared will be finalized with as little stress as possible.

Please remember Stephanie as she continues to deal with loosing Keith and Stephanie’s friend Jordan as she continues to fight cancer. (Please check out their blog links on the sidebar).

Please continue to remember Emory.

Please remember Matthew and his family as he is fighting cancer.

Please pray for eight year old Bailey as she is dealing with a brain tumor.

Remember our missionaries... The families mentioned below who have recently had some difficulties (the Smith, Roland and Westerholm teams) also Butch and Mary Lou Cope as they work with Gospel for Asia.

I just wanted to take a minute of time to thank all of you wonderful friends who have been praying for us, please keep them coming! We have two things we are praying for right now and we just ask that you please pray that God will answer those prayers and guide us to His will in each situation! Thanks again!

ETHAN POWELL....URGENT!

Please pray for Ethan right now. He is not doing well and has been having seizures they believe to be leukemia in the brain or meningitis. He will possibly be having a bone marrow asperate, CT and spinal tap and some point this morning. Please pray for a good outcome and for complete healing for Ethan!

The quads....

Ok... check out Suz's blog on her quads. Savannah had a similar episode to Ella. Pray for that sweet baby. Reflux is a scary and dangerous thing sometimes!

Ethan's cancer returns!

They found out today that Ethan's cancer has returned. Please pray for the Powell family as they make decisions regarding further treatment! PRAY HARD!

Quick updates...

Keep Ethan in your prayers. He is undergoing another bone marrow asperate Wednesday at 9am to determine if the boost of Ben's cells fought off the leukemia cells.

Thank you for your prayers for Tori Magness. She is home (with nursing care) and resting. I am sure she will have a lot of work to get her strength back so keep her and the family in your prayers.

Thank you for praying for the mission teams mentioned who have been having various medical issues. Amy Westerholm is doing better according to the Smith's newsletter and they are hoping she will be able to return to Montepuez soon. The Gardner's son Caleb has yet to recover completely. You can check out their family website for more updates on Caleb at:

http://www.gardnersforgod.org/

Please continue to keep all of these people in your prayers!

Updated Prayer Request List, October 7th!

Thank you for your prayers for Tori Magness. She has been moved out of ICU into a patient room and is continuing to recover from the car accident. She is in a great deal of pain so please keep her and the rest of her family in your prayers.

Please pray a TON for Ethan Powell this week! Pray that the (Ben’s) cells he was given last week will destroy any leukemia cells that might be lurking and that Ethan will be completely healed!

Thank you for praying for the Steece quads... they are all home and doing well. Pray for Joe and Suz and they now take on all the load of caring for these precious babies!

Ben Lamb is back home and continuing to recover from gasteric bypass and the complications post surgery. He has (yay) lost 65 pounds so far and is feeling much better! Keep his journey to better health in your prayers.

Continue to remember our friends who are pregnant (all SIX of them). I am not listing their names for privacy reasons and will not do so unless they specifically give me permission.

Please continue to pray for Kristen's mom Carol as she continues to deal with Marvin's death. Pray that what ever decisions she comes to with regard to the home and business they shared will be finalized with as little stress as possible.

Please remember Stephanie as she continues to deal with loosing Keith and Stephanie’s friend Jordan as she continues to fight cancer. (Please check out their blog links on the sidebar).

Please continue to remember Emory.

Please remember Matthew and his family as he is fighting cancer.

Please pray for eight year old Bailey as they determine what to do about her brain tumor.

Remember our missionaries... The families mentioned below who have recently had some difficulties (the Smith, Roland and Westerholm teams) also Butch and Mary Lou Cope as they work with Gospel for Asia.

I just wanted to take a minute of time to thank all of you wonderful friends who have been praying for us, please keep them coming! Remember the upcoming fundraisers for Arkansas Children’s Hospital in your prayers as well. If you are in Harrison please join us at Colton’s Tuesday!

Breif Updates...

Just a breif note to request that you continue to remember the prayer requests mentioned previously on this blog, especially Ethan Powell and Tori Magness. Tori had another 7 hours of surgery on Tuesday and remains in ICU at St Johns. From what I understand Tori is expected to recover but it will be a long road ahead for her and the family. Please continue to remember her and the Magness family in your prayers.

FYI... I am experimenting with headers and formats so bear with me.

Tori Magness

Please add Tori Magness to your prayers. She was involved in a head on collision Friday and is now in the hospital at St Johns. She was in surgery this morning and it was scheduled to last 11 hours long if she could tollerate it. Tori is the daughter of Mike and Cindy Magness, memebers of our church (Northside church of Christ) and has a brother named Joseph. Please remember the Magness family in your prayers!

Please pray for Ethan!

This is a copy of what Becky just posted on Ethan. Please take time to pray for Ethan right now!

It's official, the "abnormal" cells are leukemia cells. We expected that to be the case. It's the same kind of leukemia he had when he was diagnosed, so it has not mutated into something different. Ben went and donated his cells today. They are waiting for Ben's blood tests to come back to make sure all is clear before they give Ethan the infusion. PLEASE PRAY for Ben's blood tests to be okay so that they can give Ethan the cells. If there is a problem on his tests, they would probably start preparing Ethan for another transplant.
So if they give Ethan the cells tomorrow, we'll wait a couple of weeks and have another bone marrow asperate done (unless they started seeing blasts aka leukemia cells in the blood before then.) If the leukemia cells go down or stay the same, they would probably continue to give him a boost of Ben's cells every so often until the leukemia cells are gone. If the leukemia cells increase, we would be forced to start chemo and preparing for another transplant. If they did another one, they would probably use me. We DO NOT want it to come to another transplant. PLEASE PRAY harder than you've ever prayed, that Ethan will be able to receive the cells tomorrow and that those cells will go destroy the leukemia cells!! I wish this wasn't so critical, but it is. We desperately need your prayers. KEEP PRAYING! BELIEVE! PRAYER WORKS!!

Reminder... pray for Ethan!

Just a reminder of who we are praying for!!

Prayer Requests Updated September 21st!

Please pray a TON for Ethan Powell this week. I am giving you the (very) brief synopsis but it does appear that his leukemia is back. They should know for sure sometime soon but the preliminary results were disappointing. It was hard to read through the tears so please check out Ethan's site. I do believe that God will heal Ethan and I am comforted by the words of Christ Jesus!

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:24

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:22

Thank you for praying for the Steece quads... they are all home and doing well. Pray for Joe and Suz and they now take on all the load of caring for these precious babies!

Ben Lamb is back home and continuing to recover from gasteric bypass and the complications post surgery. He has (yay) lost 65 pounds so far and is feeling much better! Keep his journey to better health in your prayers.

Continue to remember our friends who are pregnant (all SIX of them). I am not listing their names for privacy reasons and will not do so unless they specifically give me permission.

Thank you for praying for Kristen. The growth/calus on her vocal cords responded to the vocal rest so she will not have to undergo surgery. She has been gradually getting her voice back and I am LOVING getting to talk with one of my best friends again!

Please continue to pray for Kristen's mom Carol as she continues to deal with Marvin's death. Pray that what ever decisions she comes to with regard to the home and business they shared will be finalized with as little stress as possible.

Please remember Stephanie as she continues to deal with loosing Keith and Stephanie’s friend Jordan as she continues to fight cancer.

Please continue to remember Emory.

Please remember Matthew and his family as he is fighting cancer.

Please pray for eight year old Bailey as they determine what to do about her brain tumor.

Remember our missionaries... The families mentioned below who have recently had some difficulties (the Smith, Roland and Westerholm teams) also Butch and Mary Lou Cope as they return to TX at the end of this month to work more with Gospel for Asia.

Thank you for praying for Grandma Terry in the past. She will be celebrating her 88th birthday next month. Please continue to keep her and her spiritual (and physical) health in your prayer.

There is a family here in Harrison who recently lost everything in a house fire so please keep them in your prayers as well. I know several churches and groups are trying to help them right now so pray that God will open hearts to give freely to these poor people and that in giving we may lead them closer to Him.

I just wanted to take a minute of time to thank all of you wonderful friends who have been praying for us! I am so blessed to have each and every one of you (and a few of you really gave me a lump in the throat with your quick jump to prayer and encouraging words). Keep them coming! ;) Please remember our Girl's Night coming up and pray that it will (again) be a source of encouragement, laughter and fun for all of those involved!

Another update today...

Please continue to remember Ben. He in back in the hospital (after gasteric bypass surgery) due to a blood clot, pneumonia and bleeding spleen. You can click on Ben's link and read his blog to find out all the details. Please pray for a quick healing for Ben!

Remember Ethan... he is undergoing another asperate on Wed the 19th at 9am to determine if the leukemia has returned. Please pray it will show no leukemia cells.

Three of the four Steece quads are home and doing well. Please pray that Andrew will pass his car seat test and will be home with his siblings soon.

Please remember Kristen as she travels to the doctor tomorrow to find out where they will go now in the treatment of the problems with her vocal cords!

Please add this to your prayer list...

I just got this letter from Jeremy and Martha Smith (see the list of missionaries on the side for more info on their family) and wanted to share a portion of it with you:

We would really appreciate your prayers for our family and our team. First of all, we headed out for a team retreat this last Tuesday. On the way there Aaron and Mika Roland had car trouble and had to be towed. While being towed the cable came loose and hit the windshield, breaking it. Aaron and Mika had a few cuts, but nothing major. After the retreat we and the Westerholms were to stay in Pemba for a weekend seminar at the church there. Amy Westerholm decided that she would go on home with baby Maggie. During the seminar we got a call from a Mozambican saying that Amy had gotten into an accident on the way back to Montepuez. That man brought Amy and Maggie back to Pemba. Maggie was completely unhurt, even though the car had rolled and the top and sides had been smashed in. Amy, however, suffered several head wounds down to the skull and some other wounds on her right arm. A South African doctor friend of ours looked her over and recommended we have her medically evacuated to South Africa since health care in Pemba is so limited. We worked out all the details and that night a small jet came and picked her, Chad, and Maggie up. She was admitted to a hospital there where they redid the stitches in her head. She spent a couple of days in ICU but is now being transferred to the normal ward. Praise God that she’s okay! No other cars were involved in the accident, she stayed conscious the whole time, Maggie never even cried, and one of the first people to help her was a Mozambican doctor.
Another big item of news happened to some of our other teammates in our organization who live in Nampula. Their baby, Caleb, had major health problems just last week. His windpipe constricted so much that he couldn’t breathe due to an infection. The doctors in Nampula saved his life by inserting a tube and hand pumping air into his lungs for several hours until the medi-vac airplane from South Africa could arrive. The doctors on the plane were pretty concerned when they saw his condition. Many people were praying for him since hour by hour his condition seemed to worsen. He is still in ICU in S.A. and will be for another week or two. He is still on a ventilator and trying to fight the swelling in his windpipe and lungs. Please keep Caleb and his family (Shawn and Sarah Gardner) in your prayers. It was a very scary experience for them and for all the rest of us, as well. (Before they could arrange for the airplane to come and get him they had to come up with $23,000. The Westerholms, however, had insurance that covered medi-vac so they didn’t have that complication)
The day before yesterday Andrew came down with a fever so we took him to the local hospital to get tested for malaria. His test came back positive so he’s been taking the appropriate meds. and is starting to feel better. Our little teammate Josiah Roland also has malaria.
So many things have been happening at once. We don’t fear, but we do solicit your prayers. Satan tries to attack in many ways since he doesn’t want us here doing the Lord’s work. Please pray especially for the Gardner and Westerholm families as they recover from these traumas both physically and emotionally.

I believe in the work these wonderful families are doing in His name. I know that satan tries to attack those people who are living and working for Christ. Fortunately we have a "weapon" more powerful, PRAYER. Please take the time to remember these families this week! Thank you!

Trying this out....

Ok guys, I am trying this out as a better method of keeping the prayer request list updated. It was hard to balance the need to keep things updated without totally bombarding your inboxes all the time. I did not want to end up in the position of "choosing" which prayer requests took enough precident to warrent a new list. This way I can update as needed and you can check the list in your "free time". God bless you all for taking time out of your day to pray for these people! If you have a request to add you can e-mail me or leave it as a comment to any post. I will leave you with one of my favorite scriptures on prayer!

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for eachother so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" James 5:13-16.

Prayer Requests

Please continue to pray for Ethan Powell. He is having complications that they believe are due to a virus (which may be meningitis) that is causing seizures and high fever. His last bone marrow asperate showed a few abnormal cells. Please pray the next asperate will be clean and that there will be no signs of leukemia!

Please continue to pray for the Steece quads. They are hoping to have all four babies home shortly. Pray they will each pass their car seat tests with flying colors!

Please continue to remember Ben Lamb as he is recovering from gastric bypass and also in the coming months as he begins this journey to better health.

Continue to remember our friends who are pregnant.

Continue to remember Kristen. She is STILL on vocal rest and will be back at the ENT mid-month to determine if she will need surgery to remove the growth on her vocal cords. Please pray surgery won’t be needed, but if it is needed please pray the path report will come back benign (non-cancerous).

My sister in law, Christi, requests your continued prayers for her friend Julie as she fights cancer.

Please pray for Kristen’s mom Carol as she continues to deal with Marvin’s death and deciding what to do with the home and business they shared

Please continue to remember Mattie.

Please also remember those who are doing mission work in other countries (See the list on the sidebar).

Please remember Stephanie as she continues to deal with loosing Keith and Stephanie’s friend Jordan as she continues to fight cancer.

Please continue to remember Emory.

Please remember Matthew and his family as he is fighting cancer.

Please pray for eight year old Bailey as they determine what to do about her brain tumor.