Know anybody?

It's been a long time since anyone has made a suggestion for a blogger to feature.  Is there anyone in your part of the blog world who could benefit from the outreach of this blog?  Is so, please contact us and let us know so that we can do our best to be an encouragement to them.  Hope you all are having a blessed fall!!

Alicia and Avalon

This is a guest post written by Lindsay Kolk.

This is the Caring Bridge site to an AMAZING family..... an amazing Mom, Alicia, and her equally amazing husband and children.  One of her children, Avalon, is a whole lotta amazing packed into a tiny 7 year old body.  This little girl has been through so much in her lifetime........ ALL leukemia at 17 months old, years of chemo...only to be saddled for life with pseudotumor cerebri. 

In a catastrophic shunt surgery, an unskilled surgeon dropped a catheter through Avalon's brain stem.  Miracle of miracles, she survived, but the catheter still sits in her brain......and because of that surgery, she was robbed of her memories, and a lot of abilities. 

Avalon's pseudotumor cerebri is extremely difficult to treat, because of the catheter in her brain, and because her shunt doesn't like to behave itself.  She has had 4.... count them, 4 brain surgeries in her kindergarten year, and is now facing a surprise 5th brain surgery. 

This amazing mom faces such difficult things with such love, humor, and faith..... I get teary just thinking about this families courage.   Right now, they don't know what they are facing...any surgery is dangerous because of the awful surgery, and they didn't see this coming.  I know their family could use some extra shoulders to lean on right now.

Please take the time to leave a comment on their site (not here!!) and let them know that you're thinking of them. In case you're not familiar with Caring Bridge, you'll need an account to leave a comment, but please take the time to do so in order to be a blessing to this family.

Courtney Roth

This is a guest post written by Jenifer who nominated Courtney to be featured today.

Courtney is amazing. Her son, Tripp was born with Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa (JEB). JEB causes blisters to form on Tripp’s skin anytime there is friction or trauma to an area. A dermatologist they saw in Cincinnati, told them that just by looking at Tripp, he wouldn’t live to be a year old. Tripp is about to be a year old!

Courtney spends all day, every day caring for Tripp and taking care of his every need. Because of Tripp’s JEB, one of his greatest threats is the risk of infection. So taking him out and about is not really an option very often. Courtney spends most everyday at home with Tripp and shares her life with all of us on her blog.

What a blessing she has been to me, even without knowing. It is such a testament to her dedication and love for Tripp in the way that she selflessly cares for him.

She once said…
“Tripp has opened my eyes to more beautiful things than I could have ever imagined. He's made me realize what TRUE love is, he's shown me the TRUE meaning of FAMILY, and has proved to me that God picked Randy and I to raise a child who is suffering so that he could know what real love is.”

I know it would mean so much to her to read your words of encouragement. I can’t even begin to imagine how alone she must feel at times. What an awesome way to encourage Courtney by taking just a few minutes to leave a comment!

Let's all take a minute and give Courtney some encouragement. Please visit her blog and continue the ministry of Shoulders.