Beach trip 2013

I thought I would share a few more beach trip photos and memories...(mainly so I don't forget).

It truly was a great vacation...we had a lot of stuff from home going on with our house (more to come later) but it is so nice to go and enjoy amazing weather in such a beautiful place.  

To begin...our best family photo could not be left out.   There is pretty much not ever a family photo opportunity where our girls don't ask to have a crazy picture time...we may have started something we can't stop...and I love it!

Not a great picture because my camera lens kept fogging up!  But still a group crew behind the fog!  

 Bebe with her girls!  The girls had been counting down to the beach basically since March...most mornings when they would wake up or when they would go to bed they would ask if we were going to meet Bebe at the beach tomorrow?  They love their Bebe!  

 I am biased...but they are cute!  So much alike, yet so very different!  Brynlee soaked up every moment of the beach this year!  She loved the sand...she was covered in it and it never bothered her.  Hadley spent lots of patient time sitting in a little bay pool waiting for minnows to catch...and catch she did.  And Reese, well she never tires of the beach, or the pool, or of going out late to catch little crabs on the beach!

 This picture is out of order...but cracks me up!  The past few years we have made the decision to head down to the beach late...as in leaving after dinner time so the girls will sleep and then we wake up with a full beach day!  That being said this is 10:00 pm...Reese was passed out in the back...but these two were jammin' (as much as you can in a car seat) to some music and cracking us all up!

 Our nature lover...once again the lizard wisperer caught her share of lizards...including having two bite here....which did not sway her from continuing to hunt them down!  

One night we headed out for dinner to celebrate the one year anniversary of Jonathan and Caitlin's kidney transplant!  I can't believe it has been a year...and they are both doing amazing!  They are both so good about keeping to a low sodium diet to keep Caitlin's kidney's healthy (well Caitlin is better than Jonathan...turkey sausage...uhummm)  Jonathan's health is a miracle transformation from where he was last year at the beach to now.  I almost can not believe it...Praise the Lord for His Faithfulness.

June 19th was the official one year anniversary!  

Alabama, Georgia, Texas...

That was how the Beckner Family was divided up over the past weekend!  It honestly was a great weekend but a strange one!  I had made plans (with the help of some amazing people) to head to Dallas to see Jonathan and Caitlin and to help them during their recovery.  Jason ended up having to take a last minute trip to a different part of Texas and so the girls spend part of the time I was gone in Birmingham with Daddy, and then the rest in Atlanta with Bebe, Ashley, Mr. and Mrs Eubanks (whom they have named Cookie and Papa) and some help from Aunt B and Uncle Steve!

Bebe as always makes memories with these girls that they will not soon forget!  A very festive tea party complete with some real tea sets, dress up items and yummy treats

 (muffins that Reese and Bebe made together) 

 I know...I, like you was startled when this picture first came across my email...at first glance I thought I saw an small person with a bad haircut and Charlie Chaplin's hat and a little country Dolly Parton in her skivvies!  But a closer look proved to be my two girls...WOW I can only imagine how crazy Bebe's house was with these two!  They all had a great time swimming, jumping, eating, reading and playing with Bebe, Ashley, Cookie and Papa.  On Sunday afternoon they went to a little dance musical (just Reese and Hadley) while Aunt B and Uncle Steve graciously offered to take care of our little Bryn. 

 (More thanks than you know)

While Marietta, Georgia was being taken over by the three wild Redheads...I was in Dallas, Texas living it up slaving away taking care of these two!

In all seriousness I loved every moment with them.  First of all I don't think I realized how much I had really needed to see them in the flesh since the transplant...so that was huge.  They are really doing well.  Moving around (slowly...but moving) and just taking their difficult recovery day by day.  It was weird at first to wake up in a house and for no one else to be awake at 7:30am (normally the Beckner house if buzzing at 7:00am for sure)...so I did not know what to do with myself.

But, I quickly found my rhythm of just enjoying "being" with my brother and sister-in-law and helping with what I could (driving to pick up RX, doc stuff...groceries....not huge things but it was great).  I am still in awe of how God has just wrapped his arm around them...Caitlin's kidney is just working hard in Jonathan's body...and we are just praying that it continues on that track.  They both continue to look straight up...being grateful, full of hope and just waiting for God to point them where He wants them in the future!

I am so grateful to have spent a weekend with them, so grateful for Jason sacrificing a day off at work to take care of the girls, for my mom, Ashley, The Eubanks, Aunt and Uncle Steve for all loving on our girls so this all could happen!

They are Home!

I am sure that Jonathan and Caitlin are not super excited about me posting a picture of them in their favorite outfits matching hospital gowns...but seriously I am so excited to see them up, around and smiling together!

Jonathan and Caitlin are both at home together living the good life, trying to rest and recover!  As Jonathan's sister, I still can not even believe that this actually happened.  It still seems surreal, it seemed like a dream when we found out that Caitlin was a match...and now that the transplant has actually happened I still can't wrap my mind around it.  I can only imagine how they feel actually walking through this themselves!

I have said many times that it truly is a miracle...and it is, but I know that God has known all along that this was his plan.

So, I am continuing to pray that Jonathan and Caitlin are both able to recover and that the kidney will function well and that Jonathan's body will not reject it.

I know that their road to recovery will be a long one (I still remember 12 years ago taking care of my mom and Jonathan after the first transplant...and it was hard for both of them).  But, I am confident that day by day they will get stronger and stronger.

I posted here a few days ago about a news story that a Dallas ABC station did on them.  Well, they did another story on the ABC National News following the surgery.  Here is the link if you are interested.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/man-kidney-disease-finds-perfect-match-bride/story?id=16628049

A little speechless

Short and sweet...(the post that is...the surgeries were not that short)Jonathan and Caitlin are both out of surgery, the kidney is working, Cait is in recovery and Jonathan will soon be in ICU! Thank you for the prayers! They are still needed!

 Here is their CaringBridge site for updates
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jonathanwoodlief

 And the Help Hope Live site
http://www.helphopelive.org/find-a-patient/profile/index.cfm?patient=5231C8C0-0EC0-8550-37D061E60328558F

In the news

Here is a link to a the Dallas news where they did a piece on Jonathan and Caitlin.

http://www.wfaa.com/home/A-Perfect-Match--159479035.html

A huge day with Huge prayers needed

So, at times for me it seemed that this day would never come, and I know for my brother, Caitlin and my mom it seemed even longer! That all said tomorrow morning Jonathan and Caitlin will both go in for surgery... Caitlin will be giving her kidney to her husband and my brother will be receiving a kidney from his wife!

 The magnitude of this is more than my words could express! I am in awe that this moment is here and at the same time I would be lying if I said that there was not some fear or anxiety that creeps up in me when I think about tomorrow. But, I know all to well that worry gets you nowhere, and that Trust in the Creator of Life gets you right where you should be...focusing on the present, being grateful for the past, and ever hopeful for the future because He holds the future!

 So, for those of you who venture to this blog from time to time, I ask that you pray for tomorrow and for all who are involved! Here is the link to Jonathan and Caitlin's site for more information.
http://www.helphopelive.org/find-a-patient/profile/index.cfm?patient=5231C8C0-0EC0-8550-37D061E60328558F

Moments

We all have them...moments in life that you will remember forever...some good ones some not.  The day you were married, a first date, an incredible sight, birth of a child, etc...the list goes on and on.  I, like you, have many moments that I will never forget...there are lots of those that are covered in tears...but those are moments that make up who I am.  This past weekend I got to experience another moment that I will not soon forget.  I headed to Dallas, TX to watch my incredible brother walk across the stage and get his Masters of Theology Degree!  It is not the degree that created the moment...it was the fact that I watched this man (who I used to just call my younger brother) accomplish something he has been working so hard at...and that life and health have made so difficult to do.

The Graduate himself

Many of you know his journey and his struggles...and through this 17 year process God has shown himself over and over...as I continue to watch my brother take on each challenge with a "why not me" attitude instead of the human "why me"?

The real moment actually came on Friday evening as my brother, Caitlin (his wife), my mother, my dad Caitlin's mother and myself sat in their apartment.  Jonathan had missed a call from his doctor (the head of transplant at Baylor), so he proceeded to call him back.  He put his phone on speaker, and using his own words, "we were either going to rejoice together or cry together", and we waited to hear what the Dr. would say.  His words...the board approved Caitlin as the donor...all we have to do now is set the Transplant Date!  Screams, cheers, tears filled the room...and gratitude...gratitude for a God that preforms miracles and for one who asks us to not worry but to trust.

Jonathan flanked by his two biggest cheerleaders...and by one who he shares a kidney with and one he soon will...that is CRAZY!

Caitlin's kidney was rescanned last week and they said it was all clear so they just had to wait for the transplant board to approve it....and it still seems surreal.  To be told by man (many men that is) that there will be no match for him...to be given little hope...but to hold onto the everlasting hope that says God is in every little thing...and to see that God had a match all along!

Proud sister with her amazing brother

The journey is not over...the road for recovery and for Jonathan's body to accept the kidney will be ongoing...but we rest in the hope that God gives all of us.  Continued prayers are most welcomed...here is their site for updates and other things.

Update

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord is the Rock eternal." Isaiah 26:3-4

I am so grateful for all of the emails, calls and texts to say that you were praying for Jonathan and Caitlin! In Jonathan and Caitlin's words "If this many people are praying and we know that our God is the God that hears, then He has to be up to something we just cannot see."

A big praise, Jonathan was able to come home from the hospital on Thursday! They ran a lot of tests and ended up doing a bone marrow biopsy (which is not fun at all...this is not his first go around that this), to try to find out why Jonathan's red blood cell count continued to go down even with the medication he was receiving to push it up!

On Thursday it had come up a little...not at all to the level it needs to be at...but it did come up. The doctors are continuing to give him the medications to boost the blood cell count and he will be checked again on Monday. They are also waiting on the final results of the bone marrow biopsy.

So, I am so glad that Jonathan and Caitlin get to be at home and sleep...rather than in the hospital...I am beyond grateful to see the way God's people are covering them with prayers...knowing God can do ANYTHING!

As for right now they are still able to hold off on a blood transfusion...and we are grateful for that.

Some prayers we are praying:

-Prayer for healing for Jonathan

-That his red and white counts would go way up!

-Caitlin's kidney would be healthy

-If there is a better match/donor out there we can find them

The verse that God has put in my head for so many things over the past year...and so much this week has been

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more that all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us..." Ephesians 3:20

A great reminder that God can and does do more than we could ever ask for...that is great hope and a great promise! It does not always look like how we pictured things in our mind...but that is the great part!

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Roller Coaster

I have gone back and forth over the past few months deciding whether or not I should write about this...and well I need to.

Most of you who read this, know me and in turn know my family! Which means you know my brother, Jonathan Woodlief. I rarely write stuff about Jonathan's illness because I always want that to be his story...but it is part of me as well! Jonathan got married in October to an amazing woman, Caitlin, whom I am blessed and so proud to call my sister! She is a rock and so solid in her faith! God knew exactly what He was doing when he put these two together!

So, now onto the point of this post. Since September of 2010 Jonathan's health has once again become a roller coaster of ups and downs. His kidney from the first transplant (June 2000) started failing due to the return of Lupus. All of that said, over the past few months Jonathan and Caitlin have begun the process of being on the transplant list and praying for a match for Jonathan.

The doctors had been pretty honest in saying that his chances of finding a match were VERY slim. Due to his prior transplant and many blood transfusions it would just make it very difficult for anyone to match. That news has been so heavy...but hope was not lost...Jonathan, Caitlin, my mom, our whole family has been holding HOPE knowing that those odds are without the God factor!

Up against seemingly hopeless odds, lots of people were tested to be a match...everyone denied...EXCEPT Caitlin! His Wife! It is nothing short of a miracle! We (doctors included) have been blown away...and so excited! We still are...but as with life there are some complications.

Over the past week, Jonathan has become very ill. Through out Jonathan's journey of having Lupus (17 years now) his body has more than struggled to just get over little colds and things that our bodies can shrug off.

As of this afternoon, Jonathan is in the hospital, with his prayer warrior wife, Caitlin, by his side and an army of prayer warriors stretching across the map holding him up. They are continuing to test him to find a reason for his body being so sick...and are trying to get his white and red blood cell count up! They are waiting to hear if he is going to have to have another blood transfusion (which they are trying to avoid at all costs, due to the fact that it will change his antibodies and Caitlin will no longer be a match).

Also, this week they found an abnormality on one of Caitlin's kidneys so they will now have to wait 3 months, rescan her again before they can move forward with a transplant. So, in the meantime other people can continue to be tested to see if there is another match.

So, what now! Life in general is a roller coaster, full of moments of extreme highs and lows, happiness and sadness, and of joy and heartbreak! This is no different...but for Jonathan and Caitlin, for me and our family...this is a roller coaster we can choose not to be on. But, instead, to choose to hold fast to the HOPE and TRUTH that God's word gives us!

To know beyond a shadow of a doubt that "And surely I (GOD) am with you always..." - Matthew 28:20b, "For I (God) know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE"- Jeremiah 29:11, "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." - Romans 8:24-25

I am putting in something that Caitlin emailed to me...a few verses that they are holding onto...

We have been so encouraged by John 11:1-6

The two things that really stick out to us are:
#1. the line:"This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”- we pray that that this happens, not just in our situation, but in all the stories of those around us suffering.
#2. the word "so"...

it's such a small word, but look how it is used:

"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was."

You would expect it to say, Now Jesus love Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So he rushed over as soon as He could and saved the day, but it doesn't say that. What it does tell us, is that He loves them, so he doesn't rush over to save the day...yet.

So we hold onto "so" believing that God loves us, so.... we are still waiting for the rest of this part of God's story that involves us and everyone reading. We have no idea why God planned it in such a way that I would be a match and then have abnormalities show up in tests, for Jonathan to have the flu and for everything else that is happening, but we are trusting that He loves us, so he is waiting and He wants to use it for His glory.

We also choose to see how God has been so faithful to take Jonathan through so many ups and downs with his health over the past 17 years.

So, I am sorry for the long post, and this leaves out lots of details and information...but we believe in the power of prayer and so I want as many people as possible to be praying for Jonathan and Caitlin!

Some specifics to pray for:

1) Jonathan's body to respond to the medications

2) his red and white blood cell counts to go up

3) Wisdom for all of the doctors and nurses surrounding him

4) Strength and rest for both Jonathan and Caitlin

5) That if Caitlin can not do the transplant that we can find a better match soon.