Amazing Grace: 3/30/2007 evening update

Friday, March 30, 2007

3/30/2007 evening update

Annie is stable, alert, and back in her hospital room. The Blue Angel is here with us, and we feel the peace of God. Thanks for your prayers. Paul

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not.
In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6

9 comments:

Becky said...: You are all constantly in our thoughts and prayers. Many blessings and if you need anything please call.; March 30, 2007 at 8:52 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey Annie,
Keep your chin up and hang in there. You are a trooper. I know all the kids at EXCEL are lifting you up in prayer this weekend and asking that Jesus continue to keep his loving arms around you and help you to heal. You have an amazing spirit and we are in awe of you! keep up your spirits. We love you and are praying for you and all of your family. Let us know if you need anything at all.
God Bless,
the Hoeys; March 30, 2007 at 10:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Dearest Annie,
We love you and know that you are on your way to good health even though there are a few bumps in the road. Don't get discouraged. We are all praying for you and know that God has great plans for you. Hope to see you soon!
Love,
Tanni & Mike
ps Molly says Hi!; March 30, 2007 at 11:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Annie, God gave you this new liver. It is yours. There is suffering, and we pray for your peace and strength throughout this difficult time. God is presant in each situation that you go through, He is holding you right now. Beleive that this liver is meant for you, God has made it so. We pray for you each day, and can see so many miricles that He has already put upon your situation. Truly God will not leave your side. You are God's creation, and He loves you more then we could ever imagine. Rest in His Love.; March 31, 2007 at 9:56 AM
Anonymous said...: Hey Annie! Keep up the good work hun! We all miss you over here and hope to get to see you really soon! Never give up! When you are down to nothing God is always up to something and when you were really sick we all prayed really hard and he got you that liver and it is a true blessing. You are our angel annie and you always have been. love always and forever and i will call you as soon as i can! love from me, aunt jeanie, joe, sarah, robby, and ryan!!!!!!!!
-Emily; March 31, 2007 at 3:06 PM
Anonymous said...: Annie, You probably don't remember us but we met you a long time ago. We are Larry Scholles parents, Sharon and Bud Scholle from Co. I just want you to know we think of you and pray for you each day and you are on our prayer chain at St. Lukes Methodist Church. Get better soon. Sharon 4/1/07; April 1, 2007 at 6:55 AM
dcat said...: checking in with more prayers coming your way!; April 1, 2007 at 1:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey, Annie!
Kate just got back from EXCEL and loved it! She especially loved YOUR talk that Mary gave for you. God's Amazing Grace continues to flow through you and it touches all of our hearts. Thank you, Annie, for being you!
We Love You, Cutie!
Tanni; April 1, 2007 at 3:20 PM
Anonymous said...: Dear Annie - it is so wonderful to have this ability to check and see how you are doing. You are in my thoughts and prayers. I know things can be tough and discouraging some times. I also know that you are so very strong and you have so many people who are walking this with you. Take care and I am praying for you.
Joy Dobrinen; April 3, 2007 at 3:53 PM

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Annie's Witness

When I was born, I was diagnosed with a disease called Alagille syndrome. This disease affected my heart, kidneys, and liver. My heart valve didn’t work right so when I was just over a year old I had a surgery to repair it. When the doctors did that they also discovered that the arteries going from my heart to my lungs were constricted. So over the past 15 years I have had several surgeries to attempt to improve my flow. Just this past September, while I was in the hospital with liver problems, they did a more aggressive procedure and for the first time I had near normal flow from my heart. That heart procedure was a bit of a miracle, because if it had not been successful I would not have been eligible for a liver transplant.My liver has caused me the most problems since I was born. Because it has not functioned normally, I have had brittle bones, been constantly itchy, tired, run down, and I had trouble growing. I had scabs all over my body from the itching. And I had these bumps or deformations on my elbows. I have yellow skin and yellow eyes from the bile that is in my liver. I remember when I went to kindergarten when I was 5, and was worried that the kids were going to make fun for the yellow skin and eyes, for the scabs and the bumps, and that they would not accept me. That is another great story – the kids and teachers at Holy Family were very understanding and supportive. The love I felt there was amazing. I had such great friends and teachers, and I felt so accepted and loved. About a year ago my liver really started to shut down. I started being more tired and run down, and by last September I was unable to go to school I was so tired. I ended up in the hospital a couple of times in September and October. I only went to Bishop Blanchet a couple of days in September and since then I have been home. I was heartbroken that I wasn’t going to be able to go back to school and finish my senior year. But I knew in my heart that God had a plan for me, I don’t know what it is, but I trust that it will be for the greater good. Knowing that helps me when I realize I can’t go back to high school. Right now I am on a waiting list for a liver transplant. In order to get better I need a new liver because there is nothing the doctors can do to repair mine.One thing I have done since I was a little is to pray. You might find this a bit funny, but I have not really prayed to God for my own healing. It didn’t seem right for me to pray for myself because I thought it would be selfish. I saw more people that I thought needed the prayer more than me. I learned very young I could offer up my prayer and my suffering for others. For example, when I was in 2nd grade I had to start taking shots. Initially it was twice a week, and then it was every day. The shots hurt me a lot and I remember how painful they were. Then I started offering up my shots for others in need. Each night before my shot I would say a prayer and then offer it up for someone in need. Offering up my shots didn’t take away the pain or the fear, but it did help me to bring some good out of it. I believe that offering up my pain to God was a strong and helpful prayer for others.Now that I have been cooped up at home since last September, I offer up every day for people in need. I have offered it up for my family members and friends. And it seems that the more I pray for them the more people I see who are in need of prayer.I have learned that God can use everything for the good, even sickness. I am actually grateful for the struggles because it has brought so much good in my life. I have been surrounded by some really great friends and supported by their love. Being sick all my life, it would be easy to think that I would become depressed and down. But that is not the case. I have much joy and peace and I am filled with happiness. I have strength to continue on each day. I know this is all a gift from God, a grace. I have felt God in my life from when I was very young. I have experienced many small miracles where he has touched my life and healed me physically or given me peace, joy and strength in the midst of struggles. God has been at my side and is still at my side. All of us have struggles in our lives. It is not always poor health like I have had. It might be struggles within your family, it might be personal addictions, or it might be worries over someone close to you. But it is important to know that God is by your side just like he has been by my side. I have found that I need to trust God; I need to turn to him in prayer in order to be able to know that he is by my side. I think God wants us to turn to him in our troubles; he wants us to take a step towards him through prayer. And when we do take a little step towards God, he takes a big step towards us and picks us up and holds us in his arms and blesses us with his grace. If I could give you any advice it would be this. Turn to God. Reach out to him in prayer. Share your troubles with Him. And trust him that he will help you. And don’t be disappointed if he doesn’t answer you the way you want. In the long run his answer will be better than you could have asked for. If he had healed me completely when I was two years old, or ten years old, I would not be the person I am today. I would not be as close to him, I would not be filled with so many of his gifts. I am ever so grateful to God for all he as done for me. And I know that what he wants for me is good, I just have to learn to put my trust in him and I know he will take care of me.

Amazing Grace

Friday, March 30, 2007

3/30/2007 evening update

9 comments:

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