My friend

Acts 3:1 - 10

¹One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. ²Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. ³When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" ⁵So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

⁶Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." ⁷Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. ⁸He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. ⁹When all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Today, my heart is heavy. I have a very good friend who is undergoing surgery. I only heard about this last night. She has cancer. They think it has been caught very early, which is wonderful. She seemed upbeat, but I can only imagine what she is really feeling. Adele and I go back to my days as a kid at church camp. Her family was the caretakers and she and I were in the same room. Her first name is Cheryl too. We went to camp together whenever we could, celebrated birthdays and graduations, were in each other's wedding, have supported each other when our children were born and just kept in touch.

Adele is one of my longest-running friends. I know that the doctors and nurses are going to do everything they can for her, but we all need to pray for her. She is divorced now and lost her mother last year. Her dad is close by, and she has two teenage children who are going to help her. She says her church family is going to bring in meals too. Thank goodness for them.

Like the passage above, through the doctors, they will do everything God wants done for Adele. Hopefully it will be enough to heal her. She is in God's hands, now. Praise you, Lord!

My Oldest is 15 - July 23, 2009

Today, at 5:24 AM, my oldest daughter, Allie, turned 15. Most of you reading this know her. She is the one whom some of you can tease endlessly and others of you can depend on for help. She is beautiful, shy and fierce. She is loyal beyond loyal and if you do her wrong once, she will forgive. But if you keep it up, she will be done with you. She takes her time in deciding what her heart and mind want, then she goes for it. She is growing up into her own woman.

When Allie was little, she was a quiet girl who cried every day. Not always did I know why, but she did. I guess she just had to get that emotion out and the only way she could was to shed tears. It took a long time for her to see that she didn't have to always cry, and now, like most teens, she only cries occasionally. She doesn't bow to peer pressure and feels a responsibility to let others see how to live.

Being fiercely loyal is something that I admire in Allie. She reminds me of Jonathan, the son of Saul, friend of David. Jonathan was fiercely loyal to David, and when he found out his father wanted to kill him, he did what was right and helped David escape.

1 Samuel 18:1-4 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

Allie is that kind of friend. She will do anything for her friend. It is one of her greatest attributes. Mike and I are very proud of our daughter. She brings us joy and new adventures. We couldn't ask for a better daughter.