Irene,

We are praying for you everyday. I can’t wait for all of you to come visit again and see my little Madden.  I know that this to shall pass, you are a Dias and we are strong!!!  Your family is so beautiful, I can not believe the girls are all grown up, boy do I feel old.

I think it is wonderful that this web site has been created and people are able to communicate with you. You are very loved and rightfully so.  I will visit again and give you all the wonderful updates on Madden. 

Lots of love, hugs & prayers
Julie, Kenny & Madden

Dear Irene and Dave,
I wanted you to know that I’m thinking of you two and Joanna and Jocelyn many times throughout the day. I am thinking that I have nothing to complain about compared to the every minute struggles you are all experiencing.  I heard a speaker say that he didn’t know if there was a God or not. I felt very sad for him. I know that there is a God and that he’s untimately in control. None of us know the future, but I’d like to trust that God knows the best future for us all.  You are not alone Irene. So many of us are thinking and praying for you. I’d like to take any pain away that you may have if I could.  I pray that you sleep well tonight and that God touches you with his healing hands.

We’re staying with you in prayer!

Kathy and I are talking with Mom and Dad (Uncle Bill and Aunt Carol) every couple of Days. So, even though they don’t have their own internet access, they know what is going on and how to pray. Mom usually lets me ead each of the updates and blogs sequentially…She and Dad wish that they were there with you. Please know that they (and we) are!!

We’re staying with you in prayer!

Kathy and I are talking with Mom and Dad (Uncle Bill and Aunt Carol) every couple of Days. So, even though they don’t have their own internet access, they know what is going on and how to pray. Mom usually lets me ead each of the updates and blogs sequentially…She and Dad wish that they were there with you. Please know that they (and we) are!!

Katie was small when we saw you last, and Noelle has never had the pleasure. Thank you so much for adding pictures to the website! This has enabled the girls to begin to know their cousins…and especially to have a picture in their minds, when they pray for for you, Irene.  Noelle (who is 7) was precious the other day…she said; “The Lord needs to make Irene all healed, because I think that I’d like to meet her!”

We love you and remain in prayer…

Shalom!

Michael, Judy, Katie, and Noelle

How does hope stay alive in the midst of pain?
How do we say with heavy hearts that God is King?
How do I sit here under the Hollywood sign when my heart is near the Golden Gate Bridge? I’m reminded of the cheesy song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” - because somehow that line rings true for me in this moment in time.

As I sit here feeling helpless to do anything, my only strength and lifeline is the truth that God hears my prayers – intercession for healing….

When life seems in the balance, God is steadying.
He is my hope and strength.
We can cling to hope and healing because no matter how things appear, nothing is as it seems to be.
We see in the mirror a dim reflection, but God’s glory WILL be revealed in full.
This song has been in my head lately:

“Life can be so good
Life can be so hard
Never knowing what each day
Will bring to where you are
Sometimes I forget
And sometimes I can’t see
That whatever comes my way
You’ll be with me

My life is in your hands
My heart is in your keeping
I’m never without hope
Not when my future is with you

My life is in your hands
And though I may not see clearly
I will lift my voice and sing
Cause your love does amazing things
Lord, I know, my life is in your hands

Nothing is for sure
Nothing is for keeps
All I know is that your love
Will live eternally
So I will find my way,
And I will find my peace
Knowing that you’ll meet my every need

My life is in your hands
My heart is in your keeping
I’m never without hope
Not when my future is with you

My life is in your hands
And though I may not see clearly
I will lift my voice and sing
Cause your love does amazing things
Lord, I know, my life is in your hands

When I’m at my weakest love
You carry me
Then I become my strongest love
In your hands

My life is in your hands
And though I may not see clearly
I will lift my voice and sing
Cause your love does amazing things
Lord, I know, my life is in your hands
I trust you Lord
My life is in your hands”

Trusting in Him~
JID

(Love you, Mom - lots and lots… my apartment is still waiting for you to come help it… you might want to hurry… ;o) )

Dave and Irene,

We will just continue to go before the throne of God on your behalf. We cry out for mercy and his healing hand. May the Holy Spirit fill you up this very moment. I am trusting him for restoration.

Love,

Devin and Veronica

12.15 p.m…...quick update…

It’s been a brutal 16 hours for Irene… she was up almost all night…I was at her bedside… and she is just finishing up 3 hours of dialysis as I send this update.  Lots of challenges and complications…

She’s definitely in the valley… but she remains determined…

Thanks for your support…

Dave

Dear Irene,

You have been daily in our love and prayers, especially knowing that you are now going through a strategic time in the surgical
and medical procedures. 

May the very precious sense of God’s presence be with you and those that are ministering to you.  God is still on the Throne!

You are a very special lady!  Not only to your family, but to all who know you you!  May God’s strength be your portion TODAY!

Dave and Becky

Dear Irene,

Just wanted you to know that you’ve been in my thoughts and prayers very much the last few weeks.  Dave Whiting has been keeping me informed of the latest and that has been much appreciated.

Please know that you will be in my prayers daily and I’m sending you lots of smiles and well wishes.

Much love,

annette

Jeremiah 33:3

Irene, how could I not love that name, that was my mother’s name!  She had a beautiful smile just like yours and I can see that smile in your daughters (especially JoAnna).  I am still believing and trusting our Great Healer and I know that there is nothing impossible for Him!  I just want you to know that I am praying for all of you! (Dave, Irene, Jocelyn and JoAnna).

6.30 p.m….

“Not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit, says the Lord”.

                                              Zechariah 4.6

Irene quoted this verse early this morning and again just a few minutes ago.  It’s been a very rough day….

The doctors have previously informed us that Irene would enter a “valley” for 7-10 days following the chemotherapy.  She’s just now entering that valley…

However, we also know this truth written by King David long ago…

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
                                          Psalm 23:4

We are grateful that so many are supporting Irene….  Your thoughtful “well wishes” remind me of this verse…

“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
                                          Proverbs 16:24

Irene is determined, focused and enduring, reminding me of this verse…

“Blessed is the man (or woman) who perseveres under trial, because when she has stood the test, she will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

                                          James 1:12

You can see from the photo that I “caught” Dave Whiting at the UCSF Blood Bank today… we’re grateful to Dave and so many others who are donating blood and platelets…and as I write this update from her bedside on the UCSF wireless internet, Irene is receiving platelets…

Thank you for all you’re doing for us…

Dave

Hi Mrs D,

As I was checking the website this morning to see what to pray for you and how you were doing the Lord gave me a picture of all the people who love you (family, friends, etc.) gathered in a circle surrounding you, protecting you, loving you with prayer.  Each one literally had their arms around you to support you.  It was a beautiful picture of God’s people united in a common cause.  I know there are ministering angels around you too as you put yourself in Jesus arms. I continue to pray for you to be healed and to be protected during this critical time.  Much love ,  Jean

Hi Everyone,

It’s 11 a.m…. just received the report that Irene has reached the neutropenic levels… she’s extremely fatiqued… but resting…with her resistance this low, the next few days are critical…

More later…...
Dave

Irene, Dave, Jocelyn, and Joanna,

We continue to check the web site daily for news about how to pray and support you. We continue in prayer as well for a full and complete recovery, for the blood donations to come in speedily, and for stamina.

Today as I was praying for you, Psalm 31:19 jumped out to me:

“How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in You.”

Irene, watching your faith and courage in the face of adversity is showcasing in the sight of men {nurses and staff and friends} how God supports His own. For that we are so grateful and in awe.

We love you all very much!

Laura Gschwend (and Dave)

Since I was a little girl my mom has always loved the smell of soil and the ground after the first rain. 

This following story is taken from an email that has been going around for sometime, but I thought it appropriate to post.

Enjoy!

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from surgery. Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news.  That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver couple’s new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing.

At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still, the doctor’s soft words dropped like bombs.  “I don’t think she’s going to make it,” he said, as kindly as he could.  “There’s only a 10-percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one.”

Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Dana would likely face if she survived. She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on. 

“No! No!” was all Diana could say.  She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away but as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. 

Because Dana’s underdeveloped nervous system was essentially ‘raw’, the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn’t even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Dana struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl.

There was never a moment when Dana suddenly grew stronger.  But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there.  At last, when Dana turned two months old, her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time.  And two months later, though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero, Dana went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.

Five years later, when Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life.  She showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she was everything a little girl can be and more. But that happy ending is far from the end of her story. 

One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother’s lap in the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin’s baseball team was practicing.  As always, Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, little Dana asked, “Do you smell that?” 

Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm,  Diana replied, “Yes, it smells like rain.”  Dana closed her eyes and again asked, “Do you smell that?” Once again, her mother replied, “Yes, I think we’re about to get wet. It smells like rain.” Still caught in the moment, Dana shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, “No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest.”

Tears blurred Diana’s eyes as Dana happily hopped down to play with the other children.  Before the rains came, her daughter’s words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along. During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.

Dave and Irene,

Our call to worship Sunday was Psalm 91, and those words have been on my heart for Irene ever since:  “The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almightly…He Himself will deliver you…He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings, His faithfulness will be a protective shield…For He will give His angels orders concerning you…‘Because (s)he is lovingly devoted to me I will deliver her, I will exalt her because she knows My Name’...”. 

You are all continually in our prayers and we are praising Jesus for all the ways He has made Himself known in this most difficult situation, His knowledge of the intricate ways of the human body is mighty and complete, and we are trusting in Him along side you.

Love,

Steve and Sue Azevedo