Fabulous Women's Retreat!

We had a wonderful, fabulous, off the chain, over the top, women's retreat this past weekend! Kate Eifert and her amazing team of women from Bethel in Redding came down and blessed us beyond anything we could have imagined! Thank you Lord! My heart is so full!

Karen Greschel has a blog!

For those of you who would like to keep up with Karen Greschel's fight against ovarian cancer please check out her new blog at:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/karengreschel

I will be keeping Karen's blog updated for her and she will add journal entries as she is able. Thank you in advance for praying for her! We've been friends for 31 years and she is very dear to my heart. Blessings!

Best Place for Prosthesis and Prosthetic Bra Fitting

When I first began this journey of life without my own breasts, my first visit to a local shop to get fitted with prosthetic breasts and bras was overwhelming and sort of made my head spin. I didn't know what to ask or what to look for, I didn't know that I had many, many options, I just took what was given to me.

Now, a couple of years down the road, I have found a gem that I wanted to share with you. For those of you (or a friend or loved one) who have lost your breast/s to cancer or whose breasts need some filling out due to a lumpectomy or whose reconstruction still needs a little help to have a more natural look, I have good news.

My surgeon, Dr. Kerlin, sent me to Nordstrom! Who knew they had prosthesis certified experts?! I didn't, but it was the best experience I've had to date.

For those who live near Walnut Creek, CA, I highly recommend Sommer Boulit. She is in the Lingerie department, you can call 924/930-7059 ext. 1240.

She was very, very kind, honoring, sensitive and thoughtful. She listened to my concerns and needs and was able to fit me perfectly. Surprisingly, the prices there were comparable or actually less than another place I had gone before. I could not have been happier with my experience and I wanted to pass along the good report.

Ask your doctor for a prescription for prostheses and bras. Sommer will help you with the paper work to see if you can get reimbursed from your health insurance. I hope this helps some of you, it was a huge help to me!

Doing a Healing Workshop for Aglow Fall Retreat

I am excited about getting to do a Healing Workshop for the Nor Cal Aglow Retreat on November 6. I will do some teaching but want to focus mostly on equipping people with a hands on practical approach to praying for healing. I think that healing workshops are my favorite because the Lord loves to heal and always comes in supernatural ways to meet the needs of His people. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus calls those who follow Him to heal the sick. I believe that healing is a key to seeing the revival come that we are all praying for and expectantly waiting for, especially for Northern California. Please pray for miracles of healing and for an impartation of healing gifts and anointing on those who attend the workshop. Thank you!

Please pray for my friend, Karen Greschel

I returned this week from being away for almost three weeks. On October 1, I got a call that my dear friend, Karen Greschel, was in the emergency room with blood clots in both lungs. (She and I have been friends for 31 years.) I was at the national Aglow conference to support my friend, Mary Forsythe, as she was the key note speaker that night. I left the conference immediately and drove to Southern California to be with Karen in the hospital. It turned out that the clots were formed because of pressure that was coming from a large ovarian cancer tumor.

In what was one of the fastest medical response times I've ever seen, she was sent to City of Hope, a premiere cancer center, had tests done and was in surgery a week and a half later. The favor of the Lord and the amazing efficiency of this cancer center was amazing to watch.

Karen's surgery was 91/2 hours long, she was in intensive care for a few days and then the hospital for a total of just over a week. She is home now. She will go in on Tuesday to get the staples out and find out the results of what they found during surgery. At that time, they will put together a game plan to fight the ovarian cancer. Please pray for Karen, for healing and life to flow through every cell of her body! Thank you!

I was able to stay down there to help for almost three weeks. I had to come home because I was due for my Lupron shot that I get every three months and my Zometa infusion that I get every six months. I pushed my treatment back as far as I could safely push it. I also needed to come home to be with my family and my wonderful church family. The support they gave me as I was away was just tremendous. I'm sure lots of pastors must feel this way, but I think we have the best church in the world. Our people are so amazing!

Restoring and Redeeming!

If you've visited my blog before, you'll notice I changed the look. I believe that I am entering a new season where God is going to be restoring and redeeming the things that I had to lay down during my fight with cancer. Of course when I saw the background of a map of the nations, I knew that was the one for me! I am asking God to release me to return to the nations in this next year among many other things!

I believe this restoring and redeeming season began in August/September and is not just for me but for many in the Body of Christ. This is a transition time to set us up to move into both restoration/redemption as well as into new things. I have set aside a couple of days (Monday night thru Thursday) to seek the Lord because I don't want to carry any old mindsets into this new season. I am asking God to show me every place where old mindsets and thought patterns don't line up with His thoughts and perspective. I want to transition fully and be on the same page as Jesus. It is my strong desire to have the mind of Christ and an increased anointing of the Holy Spirit for His Kingdom and His glory. I am so thankful that the Lord promises to meet those who diligently seek Him. He loves to answer our prayers!

Fourth Surgery

I had my fourth surgery on August 16th. The goal was to remove the expander on my right side and replace is with a saline implant as well as make a number of repairs to both the right and left sides. I had 7 incisions of varying lengths in all. The surgery was supposed to take 2 1/2 hours, but ended up taking an additional hour because there was so much scar tissue, called capsular contraction. I had hoped this would be my last surgery, but it looks like I will need at least one more and perhaps a second down the road.

The good news is that I recovered more quickly from this surgery than from any surgery I have previously had, which was wonderful and very encouraging. I am up in Bodega Bay right now to spend a couple of days seeking the Lord. I was able to drive myself up here and even walk on the beach today just two weeks out from surgery. That is miraculous compared to my previous recovery times from major surgery.

I see the surgeon again in a few weeks. We need to wait until the swelling has gone down before we can make a good decision about what is next.

I REALLY don't want to have any more surgeries. I am praying for a miracle to restore my left reconstructed breast. Scar tissue is building up again there from the radiation damage and surgeries, it is significantly shrinking and contracting the muscle and skin around the implant again. The new right "breast" is great, but the left one is getting smaller and smaller and tighter and tighter. At least it is not as bad as it was last January before the surgery in February. I couldn't inflate my lungs completely because of the restricting scar tissue. I really need a miracle to restore the muscles and skin on the left side. I know that God is able.

Please join me in praying for restoration and healing! Thank you!!