Please pray...

This week has shown me how short life really is, and how we do not know when our last breath will be...

Sunday brought a lot of tears. Upon arriving to church, I was informed that a friend from church had found out the night before that her husband had been killed that morning in a semi collision. He was a truck driver, and he called to talk to his wife just 7 minutes before the accident happened. The accident was so horrific that she did not get word about it until 8:30 that night. He leaves behind his wife Kim, and 4 children: 3 boys and 1 girl. The children are 10,8,6, and 2. The little girl is 6, and she has Down Syndrome. This happened last Saturday, and they just got confirmation yesterday of his death because dental records had to be sent out to Oklahoma. Please be in prayer for this family, and the long and tough road ahead of them!!!

From our Pastor today:

Thanks, too, for your continued prayers for the Earling family. We met with the funeral director today to make arrangements, and we now have that information to pass along. There will be visitation on Monday (9/29/08) at Avalon from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Then at 7 p.m. we will hold a brief memorial service at Avalon so that we can come together as a church family to pray for and show our support for Kim and the kids and also declare all together our hope in the midst of death. Then on Tuesday (9/30/08) there will be visitation at Meeks Mortuary in Muncie, IN, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a Memorial Service at the funeral home at 1 p.m.

Also, we have established a fund at the church for Kim and the kids. Folks who wish to contribute toward this fund can make their checks to "Avalon Missionary Church" and indicate "Earling Family Fund" on the check. All the money contributed to this fund will be shared with Kim and the family for their support.

At the Earling home folks continue to bring in meals and show their love for the family in a variety of ways. Your practical love and care for the family is serving as a wonderful witness to Christ and to the love that He has shown to each one of us. Thanks for making a difference!

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Later Sunday afternoon, I found out that Micah's Sunday school teacher: Agnes Saddington, had found out horrific news about her youngest grandson. To make a long story short, he is 16 months old, and was staying with family while the mom was competing in a triathalon. Sometime Sunday morning, he got out of site of his care givers, and fell into a small puddle/pool of water. I don't know if they know how long he was on conscious, but when found he was rushed to the local hospital and put on life support. The doctor said that he 'believes in miracles', and that Owen was going to 'need a miracle to pull out of this.'

PLEASE PRAY FOR THAT MIRACLE!!!!!!!

Here is an update from my pastor today on Owen:

Thanks for your continued prayers for the Saddingtons and for little Owen. There hasn't been a whole lot of change since our previous updates, but there have been some signs of hope. Agnes shared with me today that they have been giving him some nourishment and his stomach seems to be tolerating that well. Doctors are also encouraged by the progress in healing that they see as they review daily chest x-rays. Doctors have also said that it takes a lot for the brain to tell the body to cough, and Owen has been coughing. And it apparently takes a lot for the brain to tell the eyes to respond, and his eyes have been responding. All of these things are encouraging. He will have a CT scan on Thursday morning. It may be a few more days yet before doctors have a real handle on his condition, but they say that he is making some amazing progress. Let's continue to keep this little guy in our prayers for a miracle of healing. Let's also continue to pray for the family. It's obviously difficult to have to be in a pattern of waiting on the healing process and there have been many burdens this week. Agnes continues to say how grateful they are for your prayers and love!

Please pass this prayer request onto anyone that you know!!! Their family is really feeling attacked this week! They also have a 3 year old son, and on Monday or Tuesday, he was stung by 20 yellow jackets... He is fine, but in the midst of everything else going on...you just ask, "WHY?????"