update on Lucy Lynn

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family, I had a special treat this Thanksgiving...Stephen drove down from Indiana to spend Thanksgiving with my family :) I got an update on the precious baby girl that is in need of all our prayers and love. Here is the email her mom sent me this evening:

Hi Emily! I just googled "Lucy Lynn Stratton" and your blog entry came up... you are so sweet! Update on Lucy... she got transferred to Shands Gainesville yesterday. She is still critical but stable so they went ahead and transferred her then. She did great with it! She's moving around a little but still has a wicked infection that has ravaged her precious body. After she clears her infection (we're talking weeks from now) she might be eligible for a liver transplant, which we're pretty sure she will need at this point. So as for specific prayer requests... please pray for her to remain stable while her body fights this infection! Hope you have had a good thanksgiving.... we certainly have! Our thanksgiving dinner consisted of Pizza Hut delivery in our Gainesville hotel room! But we're not complaining, as it is an absolute miracle that Lucy has made it past Monday and we have a LOT to be thankful for!

Thank you for your love and prayers!!

Much love,
Christina
(Lucy's mom!)

Keep praying, this little girl needs to be strong ready when a liver becomes available!

Pray for Lucy Lynn!

Please pray for Lucy Lynn Stratton. She is only 15 days old and in the ICU at Wolfson's Childrens Hospital in Jacksonville with a massive infection of the liver. No one knows yet what the cause is but the outcome doesn't look positive. She has been put into a drug induced coma and is being pumped full of drugs to try and keep her alive. All we can do is hope and pray for a positive outcome!!!

Last I heard, they were running more test to determine if there is brain damage. They were also doing dialysis today and hope to stop the internal bleeding. Pray that she will be strong enough for surgery when a liver comes available from the transplant list. List this baby up in prayers!

Photo Shoot

My good friend Robyn is pregnant with twins and we did a fun photo shoot a few weeks ago. She is so beautiful and these twins are already blessed! Here is a peak at the edited pictures:

One week...

...and he will be here :) I cannot wait!

Happy News!

I got a job at Hallmark working part time (YAY)! (I am really excited to be working for such a great company with values during the time I have off from the dentist office :) I start on Saturday...and guess what the dress code is? Something Christmasy and seasonal. If you know me, you know that this is right up my alley. I am so looking forward to dusting off my Christmas earrings in November this year!

I will be sure to post and let you all know how my first day goes working in one of my favorite stores!

What's on your mind?

A lot has been on my mind lately, in fact it doesn't seem to ever shut off anymore. I find myself going to sleep and then thinking about all kinds of things from things I need to accomplish at work, places I need to send my resumes too, what I am going to cook for dinner the next day, and making plans with Stephen for the holidays. It is crazy! Recently I have been plagued by some serious thoughts too.

You may have seen or read about the little girl that went missing while walking home from school in Florida and was then found 2 days later at a landfill in Georgia. The little girl's name was Somer Thompson, she was 7, and she lived 5-10 minutes away from me. I have been thinking and praying for her family a lot the past two weeks. My heart really does go out to them, as I cannot even comprehend what they are going through.

Today, a woman in Orange Park got out of the shower while getting ready for work only to find her husband had woken up and killed their two children and himself while she was getting ready. The children were 16 and 11. As I read the story online about this happening in my community, my heart broke for this woman. Please lift her up in prayers!!

I am going to continue to focus on this verse that has stood out to me a lot recently with all the stress, uncertainty, and negativity in the world:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Phil 4:6-8

Isn't it encouraging to know that we can surrender all the things going on in our families, our communities, our minds and hearts to the Lord and he will take care of it and give us peace? Praise God!

do it yourself art...

20 dollars-
216 2 inch squares-
several hours-
8 different colors...and you get this masterpiece:




Last time I was in Indiana, Stephen and I went to my friend Tina's apartment and she had a painting that I loved! When I asked her where she got it, she said she painted it herself. I thought, "wow, I bet I could do that"! Last week I went to the local craft store and got everything I would need and got right to work. I took an old painting that I had bought at a flea market and painted over it. I really was not sure how it was going to turn out, but in the end I absolutely love it!

What do you think?