Thursday, March 13, 2008
Important
If you are new to our blog, please skip the March 5th and then go backwards.
If you are visiting us, please leave us a note and let us know you stopped
by. We would love to hear words of encoragement.
God Bless!!!
The Graves Family
If you are visiting us, please leave us a note and let us know you stopped
by. We would love to hear words of encoragement.
God Bless!!!
The Graves Family
God is so Faithful!!!
Blessings to Everyone,
Just a short note to let you all know that we are doing great. The Lord
has truly sustained our family over the last 9 days...Steve and I will be
gone for 4 more days and then we finally get to be a full family again!!!
This time away has been such a blessing to us. Our children have blessed us
emmensely by "allowing" us to have this special time together...just mom and
dad!!! We have sooo many precious memories...way too many to list.
We did actually get snowed in while travelling thru KY. We got to spend 2 days in
Lexington...not a bad thing...I LOVE LEXINGTON! I would guess that we got about
6-8 inches of snow while we were there...the neat part is that it was my
birthday!! Thanks for the special birthday present, Lord!!!
Our precious friends, Ben and Tina Pollock, flew into DC on Monday the 10th
and have been with us for the rest of our journey. Poor Tina came down on Monday
night with a fever and cold. She has been such a "trooper" while travelling. She actually had to spend two days in DC while we "travelled" around and returned in the evenings. You know she would much rather be in a nice soft bed somewhere, but she never complains. I love you, Tina!!! You know that friends are real "keepers" when
you can spend 10-12 hours a day in a car with someone and still be talking when
you get to the next day!!!:):):) It has been a precious time with you, Ben...
one that we will never forget. Thank you both for your friendship. We love you.
I'm sure some of you are wondering how we are "really" doing. We are doing great.
This time away has allowed both the children and us the opportunity to "relax" and
build up for the journey before us. Sometimes I almost feel like I am in "denial"...
how can I be "so" sick and feel so good??? I am still trying to figure that one
out. I guess it is called God's Grace...I can take that! I do have "down" moments
every now and then, but my wonderful husband gently reminds me of God's promises,
he reminds me of my "little angel", and most of all of the peace that God has given
us to walk this journey. Fear is not of God. I must remind myself of this often.
This scripture comes to me:
Psalm 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings em>>(bad medical reports): his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.
It helps me to change the word "he" to "I"...it really comes alive to me then. My heart is fixed on the Lord...therefore I must trust Him....therefore I must not or shall not be afraid. That's it...plain and simple. So why do I struggle at times? Because I am a weak, sinful creature...but thru Christ I am a beautiful creation. Christ knows what I am going thru. He cares for the lilies and the birds. He knows the number of hairs on my head. WHY SHOULD I FEAR??? I shouldn't!!! and shame on me when I do.
Please continue to pray for us. Your prayers are what is getting us thru this. I want all of you to know that we love you and are also praying for you. When I start to feel fearful, I pray for those of you who are interceding on our behalf. It is a miracle...when I do this the fear leaves and I am able to once again focus on daily life. If I didn't prayer when this happens, the fear can overwhelm me and very quickly depression sets in. Thank you Lord Jesus, for giving me the opportunity to also intercede for those who are praying for us. Thank you for their prayers. They are placing themselves in our battle. I pray that you will bless them in so many ways. Bless them so that they know it is truly from you. That they can see you so clearly!!! I love you Jesus!!!! Amen.
God bless each and everyone of you. Thank you again for your love and prayers.
Tracy
Just a short note to let you all know that we are doing great. The Lord
has truly sustained our family over the last 9 days...Steve and I will be
gone for 4 more days and then we finally get to be a full family again!!!
This time away has been such a blessing to us. Our children have blessed us
emmensely by "allowing" us to have this special time together...just mom and
dad!!! We have sooo many precious memories...way too many to list.
We did actually get snowed in while travelling thru KY. We got to spend 2 days in
Lexington...not a bad thing...I LOVE LEXINGTON! I would guess that we got about
6-8 inches of snow while we were there...the neat part is that it was my
birthday!! Thanks for the special birthday present, Lord!!!
Our precious friends, Ben and Tina Pollock, flew into DC on Monday the 10th
and have been with us for the rest of our journey. Poor Tina came down on Monday
night with a fever and cold. She has been such a "trooper" while travelling. She actually had to spend two days in DC while we "travelled" around and returned in the evenings. You know she would much rather be in a nice soft bed somewhere, but she never complains. I love you, Tina!!! You know that friends are real "keepers" when
you can spend 10-12 hours a day in a car with someone and still be talking when
you get to the next day!!!:):):) It has been a precious time with you, Ben...
one that we will never forget. Thank you both for your friendship. We love you.
I'm sure some of you are wondering how we are "really" doing. We are doing great.
This time away has allowed both the children and us the opportunity to "relax" and
build up for the journey before us. Sometimes I almost feel like I am in "denial"...
how can I be "so" sick and feel so good??? I am still trying to figure that one
out. I guess it is called God's Grace...I can take that! I do have "down" moments
every now and then, but my wonderful husband gently reminds me of God's promises,
he reminds me of my "little angel", and most of all of the peace that God has given
us to walk this journey. Fear is not of God. I must remind myself of this often.
This scripture comes to me:
Psalm 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings em>>(bad medical reports): his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.
It helps me to change the word "he" to "I"...it really comes alive to me then. My heart is fixed on the Lord...therefore I must trust Him....therefore I must not or shall not be afraid. That's it...plain and simple. So why do I struggle at times? Because I am a weak, sinful creature...but thru Christ I am a beautiful creation. Christ knows what I am going thru. He cares for the lilies and the birds. He knows the number of hairs on my head. WHY SHOULD I FEAR??? I shouldn't!!! and shame on me when I do.
Please continue to pray for us. Your prayers are what is getting us thru this. I want all of you to know that we love you and are also praying for you. When I start to feel fearful, I pray for those of you who are interceding on our behalf. It is a miracle...when I do this the fear leaves and I am able to once again focus on daily life. If I didn't prayer when this happens, the fear can overwhelm me and very quickly depression sets in. Thank you Lord Jesus, for giving me the opportunity to also intercede for those who are praying for us. Thank you for their prayers. They are placing themselves in our battle. I pray that you will bless them in so many ways. Bless them so that they know it is truly from you. That they can see you so clearly!!! I love you Jesus!!!! Amen.
God bless each and everyone of you. Thank you again for your love and prayers.
Tracy
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
God is still on the throne!!!
Dearest Friends and Loved Ones,
God Bless each and everyone of you. We love all of you so deeply. Never in my life did I ever think that I would be writing updates on my walk with the Lord thru cancer, but GOD is allowing my life to take that course.
I first want to thank each of you who are praying for me and my family. Never will we ever be able to express our gratefulness for your interceding on our behalf to the Lord. We in turn are praying for you and thanking God for your love towards us.
To give you the update on where we are right now...
On Monday we had an appt. with a Dr. Richard Cardosi in Lakeland. He is a part of H.Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa at their Lakeland branch. My "cancer" is his area of expertise. I want to back tract one second here....our weekend of the 1, 2, and 3rd of March was one that I hope I never have to relive. On Friday, we were told that yes, I do indeed have cervical cancer. The type that I have can be invasive. (There are several types.) Anyway, when we left that doctors office with the appt. to see the specialist on Monday, needless to say, we were DEVASTATED. We tried as well as we could to have a "good" weekend...took the kids off on Saturday...
took our precious daughter Jess to breakfast on Sunday...she has been soooo incredibly strong thru this....and then went home to take a nap. Sleep had become my best friend since Friday afternoon...all I wanted to do was try to sleep...the emotional pain didn't hurt when I slept. Then when I would awake...reality would slap me across the face and this nightmare was not going away. Steve wanted me to
get up and go be with the kids before we headed for our church (it starts at 5:00pm).
I told him I couldn't get up...I'll go to church, but I just want to go to sleep. If you know my husband, you know that he would not allow me to do what I wanted. He saw what I was doing and he wasn't going to let me go down this "road". I "got up" and sat on the side of the bed and said..."look...it doesn't hurt when I sleep...please leave me alone." No, you are not going to do this...talk to me...what is going on? Well, I broke and started to cry which I really hadn't done. This is when I finally allowed the Lord to start his work. We cried and we talked and we prayed and we cried and we... you get the idea. After that, we got ready and headed to church.
Our church is a small homechurch which consists of 8 families. We are all very close. This "blow" to our family has also been a "blow" to our spiritual family as well. The service was pretty much dedicated to us...me...and what do we have ahead of us. Our precious men of the church all gathered around me and as my husband anointed me and prayed...they laid hands on Steve and I and each one of them cried out to the Lord on our behalf. It was precious to see the young children in our church down on the hands and knees praying for me. It is very humbling, too.
Anyway...we left church feeling renewed...went to bed Sunday night, and then HAD to wake up on Monday morning. Mornings are hard...the reality of what we are "being carried thru" comes upon me as I open my eyes. Anyway...we headed for our 1:00 pm appoointment...when we got to Lakeland, we had parked in the wrong parking lot. When we realized this, I told Steve and Jess, let's just walk...we can come back and get the car when we get done. When we got to the appt, the doctor had been called in for emergency surgery and would be about an hour late....no problem... The peace that Steve and I had going to this appt. was absolutely incredible. The two of us almost fell asleep as we were waiting. Finally they called us back. What a wonderful man. He shared with us what we are dealing with...nothing new to him...he does this all the time. He feels that we have found it in the early stages...Praise God..., but because of the type of cancer we are dealing with, he feels that we need to do a complete hysterectomy. It can hide itself in the ovaries and that would not be good. This is not my idea of fun. But, when it means a choice of life or death, you do what you need to do. God has also given us great peace in this surgery and in the doctor who is doing it. I was told as I was filling out the paperwork, that he is a VERY commited Christian man. I cried when I heard that...and the nurse said..." I knew you needed to hear that." boy, did I ever!!!!
As we were at the clinic for some bloodwork and other paperwork, the Lord sent several people our way who knew someone who had been thru the same thing. All of it was very encouraging. Now for the BEST part of this whole story....
As we were there at the clinic, our precious friends--Ben and Tina Pollock--came by to see how we were doing. After all was done and we could leave...I knew I needed to eat. I hadn't eaten much since Friday and I was starting to get weak. So we decided to got grab something. Ben and Tina had parked nice and close to the building and of course we had parked in the spot at the other building...remember??...Anyway...Ben offered to give us a ride over to the car. I really just wanted to walk...so Steve decided to ride with Ben to the restaurant and Tina and Jess and I were going to walk to our car and then meet them there. Off we go across the parking lot....talking as we walked...we got to the last row before we were at the lot we had parked in....there were VERY few cars this far out...anyway,
a tran had just dropped off a little old man...not too little...he was about 6'5"...
as he went to get into his car...he looked and our direction and then started to walk towards us...he started saying "ma'am...ma'am..." and all three of us looked his way...he was looking directly at me and said..."Ma'am...can I pray for you?...can my church pray for you?" I said "yes, you can...why are asking me this...
I was just diagnosed with cervical cancer and I would love your prayers." He said, I just want you to know that we will be praying for you...and don't worry...you are going to be okay. It's going to be okay." Needless to say...I began to cry. I felt like doubting Thomas who had to see the nail prints in Jesus's hands...this man was truly an angel sent to encourage me. God was wanting to give this doubting Thomas something to reflect on to remind me that I am going to be okay. OH>>>I just forgot one major thing....
Steve and I have been planning a trip for the last 5 months to take...just the two of us...our first ever...we were to leave on the 5th of March. While we were talking to the Doctor...I mentioned to him about this trip....for some reason we had not cancelled any of our reservations...and he looked and us and said...I probably won't be able to schedule you until the 25th of the month...when will you be back..I said the 17th...he said...."go...have fun and I'll see you on the 25th. You need to get away." WHAT???? Once again...this gave encouragement...you mean I have time to go off with my husband....I'm not going to die tomorrow????? He was serious and he wanted us to continue with our plans....I was shocked. Steve and I have been really looking forward to this...could I really go off and do this? Well, after the incredible amount of peace that we have been having, we both decided we can do this. Please do not think this was an easy decision. But the grace and peace of God has been with us so much, that I felt "why not....let's do it"... we are as I sit here writing ... in Cookeville, Tn with some long time friends of ours. We left first thing this morning and our day has been absolutely wonderful. We have talked and cried and talked and cried and talked and cried the whole way to TN from FL...but it has been soooo good. God has and is taking the two of us to such a deeper walk with Him. We know that many of you have interceded on our behalf to the Lord in prayer and we want you to know that God is working so emmensely in this situation...I can't tell you how good I feel....both physically and emotionally. I have not had any physical pain...there is none...only emtional during my down times. Please do not stop praying for us. Our journey is far from over. But God is still on the throne and He is the Lord and my life. I am his child and he is in control.
Do I have down times? yes. Am I scared? yes. do I want to reflect the peace of Christ thru this walk.....YES YES YES. God is not done with me yet. He is going to make something very beautiful of all of this...He already is.
Please make me a promise and after you read this... go love your children....go love your husband...and love those all around you who love you and love those that don't.
Share Christ with everyone you meet. Those who are not saved can never experience the kind of peace we are experiencing now. That peace is thanks to all of you who are praying for us. PLEASE DO NOT STOP PRAYING FOR US!!!! My surgery is sceduled for the 25th of March...not sure of the time yet...we'll let you know.
Steve and I will be gone on our "vacation" until the 17th. Our precious children are at home running things for us...please pray for them, too...they are strong, wonderful, beautiful children. We are SOOOO blessed for each one of them...
Jessica 24, Samuel 16, Rachel 15, Benjamin 13, Stacy 11, Zachary 9, Anna 7, Liberty
4, and beautiful Steve 2. I love each of you soooo much.
Please excuse my grammar and writing...this has taken alot out of me to write...and I don't feel like making corrections!!!!
I love all of you and we will do our best to keep you informed as to what the Lord is doing. Please keep praying!!!!
I love you!!!!
Christ's Servant,
Tracy
God Bless each and everyone of you. We love all of you so deeply. Never in my life did I ever think that I would be writing updates on my walk with the Lord thru cancer, but GOD is allowing my life to take that course.
I first want to thank each of you who are praying for me and my family. Never will we ever be able to express our gratefulness for your interceding on our behalf to the Lord. We in turn are praying for you and thanking God for your love towards us.
To give you the update on where we are right now...
On Monday we had an appt. with a Dr. Richard Cardosi in Lakeland. He is a part of H.Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa at their Lakeland branch. My "cancer" is his area of expertise. I want to back tract one second here....our weekend of the 1, 2, and 3rd of March was one that I hope I never have to relive. On Friday, we were told that yes, I do indeed have cervical cancer. The type that I have can be invasive. (There are several types.) Anyway, when we left that doctors office with the appt. to see the specialist on Monday, needless to say, we were DEVASTATED. We tried as well as we could to have a "good" weekend...took the kids off on Saturday...
took our precious daughter Jess to breakfast on Sunday...she has been soooo incredibly strong thru this....and then went home to take a nap. Sleep had become my best friend since Friday afternoon...all I wanted to do was try to sleep...the emotional pain didn't hurt when I slept. Then when I would awake...reality would slap me across the face and this nightmare was not going away. Steve wanted me to
get up and go be with the kids before we headed for our church (it starts at 5:00pm).
I told him I couldn't get up...I'll go to church, but I just want to go to sleep. If you know my husband, you know that he would not allow me to do what I wanted. He saw what I was doing and he wasn't going to let me go down this "road". I "got up" and sat on the side of the bed and said..."look...it doesn't hurt when I sleep...please leave me alone." No, you are not going to do this...talk to me...what is going on? Well, I broke and started to cry which I really hadn't done. This is when I finally allowed the Lord to start his work. We cried and we talked and we prayed and we cried and we... you get the idea. After that, we got ready and headed to church.
Our church is a small homechurch which consists of 8 families. We are all very close. This "blow" to our family has also been a "blow" to our spiritual family as well. The service was pretty much dedicated to us...me...and what do we have ahead of us. Our precious men of the church all gathered around me and as my husband anointed me and prayed...they laid hands on Steve and I and each one of them cried out to the Lord on our behalf. It was precious to see the young children in our church down on the hands and knees praying for me. It is very humbling, too.
Anyway...we left church feeling renewed...went to bed Sunday night, and then HAD to wake up on Monday morning. Mornings are hard...the reality of what we are "being carried thru" comes upon me as I open my eyes. Anyway...we headed for our 1:00 pm appoointment...when we got to Lakeland, we had parked in the wrong parking lot. When we realized this, I told Steve and Jess, let's just walk...we can come back and get the car when we get done. When we got to the appt, the doctor had been called in for emergency surgery and would be about an hour late....no problem... The peace that Steve and I had going to this appt. was absolutely incredible. The two of us almost fell asleep as we were waiting. Finally they called us back. What a wonderful man. He shared with us what we are dealing with...nothing new to him...he does this all the time. He feels that we have found it in the early stages...Praise God..., but because of the type of cancer we are dealing with, he feels that we need to do a complete hysterectomy. It can hide itself in the ovaries and that would not be good. This is not my idea of fun. But, when it means a choice of life or death, you do what you need to do. God has also given us great peace in this surgery and in the doctor who is doing it. I was told as I was filling out the paperwork, that he is a VERY commited Christian man. I cried when I heard that...and the nurse said..." I knew you needed to hear that." boy, did I ever!!!!
As we were at the clinic for some bloodwork and other paperwork, the Lord sent several people our way who knew someone who had been thru the same thing. All of it was very encouraging. Now for the BEST part of this whole story....
As we were there at the clinic, our precious friends--Ben and Tina Pollock--came by to see how we were doing. After all was done and we could leave...I knew I needed to eat. I hadn't eaten much since Friday and I was starting to get weak. So we decided to got grab something. Ben and Tina had parked nice and close to the building and of course we had parked in the spot at the other building...remember??...Anyway...Ben offered to give us a ride over to the car. I really just wanted to walk...so Steve decided to ride with Ben to the restaurant and Tina and Jess and I were going to walk to our car and then meet them there. Off we go across the parking lot....talking as we walked...we got to the last row before we were at the lot we had parked in....there were VERY few cars this far out...anyway,
a tran had just dropped off a little old man...not too little...he was about 6'5"...
as he went to get into his car...he looked and our direction and then started to walk towards us...he started saying "ma'am...ma'am..." and all three of us looked his way...he was looking directly at me and said..."Ma'am...can I pray for you?...can my church pray for you?" I said "yes, you can...why are asking me this...
I was just diagnosed with cervical cancer and I would love your prayers." He said, I just want you to know that we will be praying for you...and don't worry...you are going to be okay. It's going to be okay." Needless to say...I began to cry. I felt like doubting Thomas who had to see the nail prints in Jesus's hands...this man was truly an angel sent to encourage me. God was wanting to give this doubting Thomas something to reflect on to remind me that I am going to be okay. OH>>>I just forgot one major thing....
Steve and I have been planning a trip for the last 5 months to take...just the two of us...our first ever...we were to leave on the 5th of March. While we were talking to the Doctor...I mentioned to him about this trip....for some reason we had not cancelled any of our reservations...and he looked and us and said...I probably won't be able to schedule you until the 25th of the month...when will you be back..I said the 17th...he said...."go...have fun and I'll see you on the 25th. You need to get away." WHAT???? Once again...this gave encouragement...you mean I have time to go off with my husband....I'm not going to die tomorrow????? He was serious and he wanted us to continue with our plans....I was shocked. Steve and I have been really looking forward to this...could I really go off and do this? Well, after the incredible amount of peace that we have been having, we both decided we can do this. Please do not think this was an easy decision. But the grace and peace of God has been with us so much, that I felt "why not....let's do it"... we are as I sit here writing ... in Cookeville, Tn with some long time friends of ours. We left first thing this morning and our day has been absolutely wonderful. We have talked and cried and talked and cried and talked and cried the whole way to TN from FL...but it has been soooo good. God has and is taking the two of us to such a deeper walk with Him. We know that many of you have interceded on our behalf to the Lord in prayer and we want you to know that God is working so emmensely in this situation...I can't tell you how good I feel....both physically and emotionally. I have not had any physical pain...there is none...only emtional during my down times. Please do not stop praying for us. Our journey is far from over. But God is still on the throne and He is the Lord and my life. I am his child and he is in control.
Do I have down times? yes. Am I scared? yes. do I want to reflect the peace of Christ thru this walk.....YES YES YES. God is not done with me yet. He is going to make something very beautiful of all of this...He already is.
Please make me a promise and after you read this... go love your children....go love your husband...and love those all around you who love you and love those that don't.
Share Christ with everyone you meet. Those who are not saved can never experience the kind of peace we are experiencing now. That peace is thanks to all of you who are praying for us. PLEASE DO NOT STOP PRAYING FOR US!!!! My surgery is sceduled for the 25th of March...not sure of the time yet...we'll let you know.
Steve and I will be gone on our "vacation" until the 17th. Our precious children are at home running things for us...please pray for them, too...they are strong, wonderful, beautiful children. We are SOOOO blessed for each one of them...
Jessica 24, Samuel 16, Rachel 15, Benjamin 13, Stacy 11, Zachary 9, Anna 7, Liberty
4, and beautiful Steve 2. I love each of you soooo much.
Please excuse my grammar and writing...this has taken alot out of me to write...and I don't feel like making corrections!!!!
I love all of you and we will do our best to keep you informed as to what the Lord is doing. Please keep praying!!!!
I love you!!!!
Christ's Servant,
Tracy
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
I know...I know...
Life just happens sometimes....I am now making an effort at posting some of the
wonderful pictures we have accumulated over the past months and get them on for you
all to enjoy. There are some precious memories on here...so enjoy!!!
wonderful pictures we have accumulated over the past months and get them on for you
all to enjoy. There are some precious memories on here...so enjoy!!!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
It's Been A Longggg Time....
Hey Everyone,
It has been two long months since we have even posted anything on our blog...WOW...where has the time gone?
Steve is home on vacation for the Christmas and New Year holidays...we
will do our best to update for you all. Needless-to-say, there are alot
of pictures to post.
We love all of you who are a part of our lives.
"See" you soon...
Momma G
It has been two long months since we have even posted anything on our blog...WOW...where has the time gone?
Steve is home on vacation for the Christmas and New Year holidays...we
will do our best to update for you all. Needless-to-say, there are alot
of pictures to post.
We love all of you who are a part of our lives.
"See" you soon...
Momma G
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