Death is not Dying

I was so effected by this testimony and its hope filled proclamation of the gospel.
I wanted to share it with all of you. It is copied from the girl talk blog!

"We had a post ready for today, but we’re not going to put it up. This afternoon, we received an email from a girl talk reader named Shaila, in Vancouver, Canada. Her best friend, Rachel Barkey has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Rachel is a wife, a mother of two children, and she is not expected to live to see her 38th birthday.

Several weeks ago, Rachel shared a message with a group of women entitled “Death is Not Dying: A Faith that Saves.” We were so affected as we watched this video that we wanted to share it with you right away.

Many people have asked Rachel, “Why? Why is this happening to you? To Neil? To Kate and Quinn? To your family and friends?”

“I don’t ask ‘why?’” says Rachel. “Because I know.”

Please watch or listen and learn what Rachel knows

A New Member of the Family

Mariah has wanted a beagle for quite a while now. While looking on the internet at beagle puppies, she found a litter of newborns located in Binghamton, NY. After we had closed on our house we surprised Mariah by taking her to see the puppy that she had fallen in love with over the past few days. We placed a deposit on her, and in a few weeks (when she is old enough, and PC is through) we will bring her home. Mariah has already chosen the name Daisy J (short for jr.), in remembrance of Matt's grandfather's beagle, whose name was Daisy. Here are a few pictures of the puppy.

My teacher, my mother , my friend

My mother has taught me so much from her life. She has taught me how to love. As long as I can remember my mother has shown me much affection. My life has been showered with kisses, squeezes and hugs. What amazes me is that for many years she had every reason not to be loving towards me but not once did she ever remove her gracious affection from me. She has also taught me from her life to how to persevere. I can't ever remember my mom saying anything was too hard. For many years I saw her give all her strength to accomplish what needed to be done. Then when she gave her life to the Lord I saw her rely on Him for everything. She modeled what it meant to "trust in the Lord with all your heart". She has taught me to be joyful. In her life as a christian I can't remember a time when she wasn't filled with joy and gladness. My mom is such a wonderful example of a grateful believer. She is steadfast in prayer, passionate in worship and zealous in evangelism. I think of how generous, creative, frugal, fun , energetic, tenacious, adventurous and godly my mother is and I see the Lord's love for me. By God's grace I hope to be more and more like my mother. I love you mom!