Friends…I have no words to express the heartfelt sadness I’m feeling over the recent news of little Susana. She is the 4-year-old daughter of Hatian missionary friends of our class at church. After surviving the earthquake and both parents contacting malaria, this family is now dealing with the terrible news that little Susana is covered in cancer. Please, please pray for her healing this side of heaven. Please, please spread the word via other prayer chains. You can read more about this on their blog at howcantheyhear.org, but I’m also including the words of their latest entry here. Thanks for the fervent prayers on behalf of Susana!

Susana Has Cancer…Those are the hardest words that I have ever heard in my life. The doctor just informed us that she has tumors everywhere. My heart aches like it has never ached before. Our tears won’t stop. Words cannot express what we are going through. They said that it is called Neuroblastoma and they said the news is not good. It is an aggressive cancer. They are getting ready to do a bone marrow test and a biopsy and that will determine what the course of action will be.

Our ONLY hope in all of this is Jesus. We cling to Him. We cry out to Him. We trust Him in everything. We cling to His Word and His promises that all things work together for good to those who love Him and are called by His purposes. We trust Him for the grace that we need each second. We trust in His plan, whatever that might be. We remember that His ways are not our ways.

But we still grieve. We still fear the worst. We are emotional wrecks. And we still wait.

Please continue to lift up Susana. God has all power and ability to heal if He so chooses to do so. Our prayer is that she would be healed on this side of heaven. Thank you to all of you who have been praying and offering support. We will continue to post updates as we are informed. – Cody and Maria

WOW! It’s shameful to realize that the last blog post I actually wrote was the one entitled “Scripture memory verse 7!” That means I haven’t written in a couple weeks. I’m so disappointed in myself at times, but friends…I simply can’t do a lot better than that right now. From a work standpoint, this is my busiest season. In addition to that, my Africa mission trip is just a little less than 2 months away! I’ve had 4 shots already and 2 more to go! And…if that wasn’t enough…I’ve begun a new Mary Kay business for the purpose of earning money for adoption. Yes…adoption! More to come on that later. Then…She Speaks (more on that later too) is only a little more than 3 months away, and I have to prepare for that as well. And…I’m leaving for a quick jaunt to Florida with some work friends in the morning for a little work and a lot of fun! Yes – lots going on, but I’m grateful for the opportunities God continues to give me! He IS amazing!

Aside from busyness, it IS time for those of us committing to this scripture memory verse challenge to post another verse. I know the day is almost over, as of this writing, but it’s still April 15. So, I’m going to post my verse! Those of you that are joining me on this journey or would like to join me…please post your verse within the next day or so. Don’t forget to give the book, chapter, verse, translation, and type out the verse. I’d also like to see where you’re from…first name and city, state will do nicely for that. If you have no idea what I’m talking about…read here for more information!

The verse God has led me to this time is from Proverbs:

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

How often do we set out to do something and never even ask the Lord what He thinks about it or what His desire is for us in the matter? Do you struggle to find success with plans that don’t involve God? From personal experience, when God is in the center of my plans (His plans), and I commit those plans to Him…he allows success. But…I fail to do this so often.

So…what verses are you working on? Let’s hear ’em friends!

Coming up…another 40 day blog post journey. Stay tuned! God willing, I’ll be blogging the 40 days leading up to my mission trip to Africa (April 26-June 4).

Be blessed friends!