I TRUST in YOU.

That is what I kept repeating today. On the way to school, on the way to Target (retail therapy), on the way to Hobby Lobby and even a few times IN Hobby Lobby. I don't even care if the lady in the fabric department thought I was off my rocker. In fact I was kind of hoping she might ask WHO I trusted in, because I have a hunch that lady could have used some good news today! Anyway, it was strange this morning. I didn't feel the need to ask this morning. All I could come up with was, "I TRUST in YOU LORD." I do. I TRUST Him. I TRUST His plan. This is the kind of stuff I used to hear and be so baffled. Where do these people get this kind of faith? I never knew how people made it through such tough times. But now I know. NOW I understand. I wasn't hungry then. I didn't thirst for the Word of God. I didn't know pain so how could I possibly understand the need of something so much larger than myself? Some might say I was blessed...and I was. Blessed because Jesus knew me inside and out. He knew that there was a work to be done in me before he could throw the hard stuff at me. Thank you Jesus.

We were thrilled to find out that the tumor is shrinking. We were starting to (as you could probably tell) get worried. Every time Steph would have a pain, we panicked. So to find out that the cancer has not spread was good news. To find out that the tumor has shrunk....WONDERFUL NEWS! She will continue with chemo for a total of 4 months (possibly 6) and will go back to Houston in two months for another scan. They will then decide if they want to continue with chemo or put her on a "maintenance program" which is a lower dose of the chemo. They also told her that she is a candidate for ERBITUX at some point if needed. This was good news because as many of you know, with colon cancer, treatment options are pretty limited. So we will stay on this course and pray that she won't need the Erbitux....EVER! But it's comforting to know that she is a candidate, just in case.


Now, on a lighter less medical side, let's talk about those adorable Phillips boys. They went to dinner on Tuesday night and then to the ice skating rink. Levi kept yelling, "Put skates on me NOW!" If you know Levi, you know that he is VERY articulate for a 23 month old. He also has a pretty good idea about what he wants! They were afraid that if they put skates on him and let him go, they may never catch him! Drew was so excited about skating. He told Scot, "Come on dad! This could be our own special moment together!" They had to pay extra because when everyone MELTED on the rink, it caused a big mess.



I was so excited to report our news when I picked the kids up from school. The first person I told was a mother of a little guy in Claire and Drew's class. She flagged me down in the car line desperate to know if we had heard anything. She is no stranger to the feeling of waiting for this type of news. Her little guy fought for his life not long ago at the tender age of 2. When I told her she was in tears and we talked about how our children are being changed because of this cruel disease. We agreed that they are seeing God work miracles. I shared with Miss Sandy and she literally jumped up and down and screamed in the car line! Another momma had already gotten the news via my moms original text. It was a VERY happy day in the car line today!



Please take the time to stop and THANK GOD for the work he is doing in Steph. Thank you all for praying and continuing to pray for Steph. You guys are wonderful. Really, you are. Please have a MERRY CHRISTMAS! I KNOW we will!

Sending my love to each and every one of you!

No words.

Wondering where those adorable boys stayed during the appointment today? Well let me tell you. If you recall last time Steph went to Houston she stayed with Kathy and Tim. Kathy's sister Jane flew down with Steph and was so helpful. Well, Kathy and Tim offered their babysitting services so that Scot and my parents could all go. It is so important to have multiple sets of ears during such important appointments. NOW, when I say babysitting services, I don't mean sit and watch them play. I'm talking about playing WITH the boys and truly enjoying them. How do I know this? Because after the appointment Drew said, "Miss Kathy, are you guys going to lunch with us?" She told him she probably would and he replied, "Oh good! You just make my heart so happy!" My mom said they are two of the most amazing people she's met in a LONG LONG time. She said as soon as she looked at Kathy, she just felt the need to hug her. We are a hugging family, but rarely feel the need to hug people we have never met before! I'm not sure that they will EVER know how much we truly appreciate them. The best I could come up with was their very own post!

Tim and Kathy,
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking such good care of the Phillips family. For once, I am truly having a hard time finding words here. (ask my family how many times that happens!) So here are a few, in no particular order, that come to my mind.

Amazing, friends, saints, blessing, gracious, sweet, awesome, dear, loving, fun, angels, wonderful and sent straight from Heaven.

Love, hugs and prayers,
Chrissy

This just in!

I just got a text from my mom. This is what it said.

"TUMOR HAS SHRUNK BY 30 OR 40 PERCENT! I'll call as soon as I can!"

PRAISE GOD! This is SUCH great news. God is so good! I will post again later when I get home and talk to them. Thank you so much for praying. We feel your prayers. We REALLY do.

Fun day!

Today is just a fun day. I think most of the gang was headed to the Space Museum. Drew was excited to see the rocketships. My mom is going to spend some time with one of her best friends who moved to Houston years ago. Steph's appointment is at 11:30 tomorrow to find out the results of the scan and discuss how we are going to procede. Please continue to pray and lift her up to the Lord. We KNOW that HE is in control. HE is the almighty physician and we trust in His plan. I am supposed to be the first phone call tomorrow. I will be out and about so I am taking my laptop along. I will most likely stop off at San Francisco Oven (a little plug for our favorite breakfast and lunch place!) and post if I can. If not, I will post as soon as we get home from school which is usually around 1:30. Stay tuned.

For now, I will leave you with some humor. If you know me, you know I love a good bodily function. I don't know why, but toots are funny. So here is a family favorite. Drew has been watching it on my blog and can't get enough! Listen closely, and ENJOY!

Miss you much!

No one has called me today! We missed Drew tonight at basketball practice and at the Christmas program last night. I'm starting to wonder how next year is going to go when Claire and Drew go to different schools. She sure does miss having him right by her side!

From what I understand, we will not know anything until Thursday. But I will continue to pass along what information gets thrown my way. I can't wait until they all come home. I don't like them all being so far away!

Free Entertainment.

It's only 3 months late, but I just did a slideshow of my baby boy and decided to share it with my loyal readers. His two year pics (in the red tie) are by our very own Auntie Karen. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Good News

What a wonderful morning it was at Riverbluff Fellowship this morning. Pastor Scott delivered in true Watson fashion. He spoke about the "Good News!" It was, as usual, just what we needed to hear. In our lives we are inundated with bad news. The news rarely reports anything good. The economy...bad news. The war....bad news. Cancer....bad news. Poverty, famine, abuse, neglect....it's all bad news. But guess what? I have some good news for you that will ALWAYS be the same. It will always be GOOD.

God sent His only son to this earth to die for our sins.
We are FREE because of Jesus.

That's some pretty good news. News that we must focus on during the tough times.

I was doing well keeping my emotions in check. Until Claire turned to me and we had the following conversation.

Claire: "Mommy, I want to go with Nanny."
Me: "No, remember we talked about how Nanny and Papa are going with Steph and Scot to the doctor in Houston."
Claire: "Well, then I want to go with Steph."
Me: "No, you can't go with her but when we miss them we can say a prayer for them."

I then diverted her attention to the advent calendar at home waiting for her, and all was well. She then turned to Steph, hugged her tight and said, "I will be praying for you Steph." This momma was so proud. We hugged and loved on everyone and sent the crew off to Houston.

I spoke with them at about 6 and they were 100+ miles from Texarkana which is where they are staying the night. They said the boys are being ABSOLUTE angels. No doubt due to the numerous prayers being sent up on their behalf. They stopped in a little town at a flea market because they saw Santa. Drew wanted to get out and talk to him. He came back to the truck and reported that Santa talked really funny. (They were in Arkansas!!!)

I will be posting updates often. In the meantime, I will be cuddling up with my family and trying to stay warm. I just got home from the store where I bought WAY too much food in anticipation of a storm! (Which by the way, I shopped with the entire town of Ozark this evening!!)

O Come all Ye Faithful!

I was so excited to have lunch with my mom and Steph on Thursday. Steph seemed to be feeling much better. We enjoyed a quiet lunch at San Francisco Oven and discussed what we will be getting our big strong men for Christmas. (Besides our undying love of course.) Mom and Steph had just returned from taking Drew to the doctor. I wish I could say that it was just for his flu shot. But it wasn't. As he likes to say, "I am having potty issues." They are did a renal ultrasound on him yesterday. They are supposed to call Steph next week with the results. Please pray that this is nothing. Because....really? I keep telling myself that God never gives us more than we can handle. I know this is true. But is it possible that God may have overestimated us a little here? Just wondering.



Today I was very excited to hear that Steph's spirits seem to be much better. It is so hard in the world of cancer to stay positive. We are surrounded by it. But everyday, we make a choice. Are we going to let fear get the best of us? Some days, yes. It happens. We are only human. But most days, we choose to put our faith in God and trust in His divine plan.



Tomorrow we would like to invite ALL of our readers to Riverbluff Fellowship to enjoy a morning of worship. My parents will be picking up the Phillips family and bringing them to church. They will all leave from there to head to Houston. Steph will be rescanned and we will have a better idea of how the chemo is working this time around. I can't think of a better way to send them off than a morning with Pastor Scott Watson and the rest of our Riverbluff family. So please join us at 10:00 am at Riverbluff Fellowship. They can be found at the corner of Evans and Thetford Roads in Ozark, Missouri, just West of US Highway 65. Take the Evans Road exit. Come early for coffee and donuts! I hesitated to post this because I know there are crazy people out there who stalk blogs and steal kids. But, I'm going to trust that the Lord will keep us safe. And if you are a crazy stalker who wants to steal my kids, please just sit through the service first and I can almost guarantee that you will leave a changed person...so no need to steal the children. PLEASE PLEASE join us! Then, if you REALLY want to church it up tomorrow, you can head across the highway to James River and catch the 11:30 Christmas service. It's the place to be if you like Christmas music and worship! Please just consider coming tomorrow to RBF. Does it sound like I'm begging? Well I am. Just do it. Now I'm being bossy. I come by that honest, just ask Steph!



Steph,

I'm praying with all my might sister.

Love,

Chrissy

Sick and Tired....

of being sick and tired. Chemo this week was not good. Steph is very sick and we all are very anxious for her appointment on Monday. My mom and dad will be going with Steph, Scot and the boys to Houston this time. They are driving up on Sunday afternoon. She will be scanned again and I think will get the results sometime soon after that.

Please pray for healing. Pray for safe travels for my family. (By family, I mean Steph, Scot and the boys too!)

I will keep you updated as I get news.

A Baby Changes Everything.

I'm not sure if you have heard the new Christmas song by Faith Hill, but it's very good. Here's the video. There is an ad at the beginning, but it's worth it.



Drew loves this song. He makes my mom turn it on as soon as they get in the car. This morning, they were listening to it on the way to school. He said, "Hey Nanny." My mom looked up in her mirror to see what he wanted. Keep in mind, his big brown eyes and LONG lashes can melt your heart in a second. She said, "Yes Drew?" He sweetly replied,

"I was a baby once, and I changed everything."

Yes you did buddy. Yes you did.