Memorial Day

The American Hero
by Roger Robicheau

The American Hero always comes through

To capture our hearts with a spirit so true
Some proudly are soldiers who march in harm’s way

Insuring our freedom, courageous they stay
While others come forth as civilians so brave

Determined in purpose, so steadfast to save
We should always keep clear a place in our heart

For each has a value beyond precious art
Their duty to country will not be surpassed

Please honor their courage, for some it’s their last
We live in a world which can be hard to bear

Thank God for these people, how greatly they care
Do ponder new heroes and what they will face

And pray for their safety no matter their place
Our heritage brings out the best, we all know

Our great book of heroes is destined to grow

I would like to honor the men and women who with bravery and sacrifice have fought/or who are currently fighting for this country... Thank You!

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So it's been about a week since my last entry.... We are still in Arizona and Daniel is continuing to go to the field everyday. The trainer told him yesterday that he should be out of AZ sometime between June 23rd thru the 26th. So that's exciting! We are currently living with our dear friends Will and Lauren, which has been a total blessing and alot of fun! Last week we were unsure of where we would stay and the Lord totally opened up the door for us to live with them while were here in AZ. (He always Provides). Anyways Will is with the SD Padres and is currently rehabbing himself. They are an awesome couple and we are just so happy it worked out for us to stay with them! Will and Lauren have the cutest French Bulldog named Piper and they've also been taking care of another minor league couple's Lab, Freddy. Plus our little Pixie is here too, so we have all 3 dogs of all different sizes. It's been fun to see them interact. Anyways I'll be sure to keep you all posted and updated on Daniel's recovery process. Thank you again for all the prayers :]

Back in Arizona

So I realized today that I have been to 6 states in the past 7 days... Illinois, Iowa, Colorado, Washington, California and now Arizona. Pretty crazy. But Seattle was absolutely amazing! We both loved it there! Our last night there we went to the Mariners/Red Sox game and it was such a blast! Great game for sure! Ichiro hit 2 homers, Elsbury almost hit the cycle.... so exciting! M's ended up winning! Such a neat experience!

Were still praising God that Daniel didn't end up needing surgery, that was such a surprise to us because he was already scheduled for surgery. He also didn't end up needing a cast either like we had thought. They ended up just giving him this cool looking sprint to wear on his thumb. Daniel refers to it as a 'transformers' looking thing. Thank you all for the prayers, this is truly an answer to prayer! The doctor said Daniel should be back playing in 4 to 5 weeks! :)

Well were here in Arizona now and I almost didn't make it here...

I flew into Cali on Saturday while Daniel flew straight to Phoenix. My parents are allowing us to borrow one of their cars while were out here in Arizona so we can get around while were here. So my plan was to fly to Cali and drive the car out here Sunday. I left around 10 in the morning yesterday, accompanied by our little puppy Pixie, and had a pretty smooth drive until I was about 15 minutes away from Peoria where I was meeting Daniel. I was driving on the highway and was about to switch lanes, but noticed last minute that there was another car in my blind spot that had been switching lanes at the same time at a very fast speed. I quickly tried to move back into my lane, but ended up losing complete control of the car. It was moving uncontrollably between lanes and my car ended up spinning completely around in a 180 degree circle until it came to a stop. And when it finally stopped, I was facing the on coming traffic. I am seriously praising God because they was no damage to my car or any other cars. The cars behind me were able to stop in time without hitting my car. It was seriously one of the scariest things I've ever experienced, but I know God had His angels around me. My car was in complete lock down when it stopped, but I was finally able to re start it and pull off to the side of the road. A very kind lady witnessed it all and pulled over to make sure I was okay and called the cops for me (she even said that "God must be with me".) Of course, I was very shaken up, I was very close to hitting the center divider. But was unharmed! Thank you Jesus! This lady stayed with me and comforted me until the police officer arrived and once the officer got there, I was fine enough to talk to him and let him know that there was no damage done or anything. I was able to drive off completely unharmed with no damage and I really believe that to be a miracle!

So in the midst of the tough times Daniel and I have been facing lately, there sure is a lot to be praising God about! Its amazing to think your life could end in any instant and at any moment. We all need to make sure that we are ready to stand before the face of God at anytime. I know it's easy to live in the moment and think death is only something in our future, but it is sure true that death can face us at any moment. Would you be ready to meet Jesus today?

No Surgery

So the results are in....

No Surgery is necessary!! Praise GOD!!

The Dr called this morning and told Daniel that they looked over the CT scan and have determined that surgery will not be necessary! We know the Lord has been hearing all those prayers and has been healing Daniel!! He said Daniel was very 'lucky' that the break didn't happen closer to his joints. But we know that God was watching over him and that it was not just a chance of 'luck'. Daniel will be getting a cast put on his thumb tomorrow and the recovery process should take about 4-5 weeks. He will be rehabbing in Arizona. We realized it will actually be a lot better for Daniel to rehab there because he won't have to worry about getting his treatment around game schedules and road trips. And he will really be able to rest and heal. So he should be back playing in no time. Keep the prayers coming please. We know Jesus is hearing them and answering them. He truly is FAITHFUL!!

Anyways, I love it here in Seattle! It is absolutely beautiful here! Daniel and I took a walk around Safeco Field today and it was so exciting! Were hoping to catch a game tomorrow night when the M's get in town. They're gonna be playing the Red Sox too!! Should be a good game!

SEATTLE

(View from our room: Safeco is RIGHT THERE!)

Seattle, baby!

Bzzzz Bzzzzz Bzzzzz.....
is the sound that woke us up this morning only 10 minutes before we were suppose to leave for the airport! Daniel set the alarm clock last night to wake us up at 4:30 this morning, but accidentally forgot to turn the volume on, so the mode was still on vibrate. We ended up not hearing it until 5:41 am this morning! And in a panic, we got ready so fast and headed out the door. We had to meet the shuttle at the stadium at 6 am that was going to be taking us on our 45 minute drive to Moline, IL in order to catch our flight to our layover in Denver, CO.
Praise God, we made it! And even with my overweight bag trying to cause another problem in our already hectic morning, the lady checking us in was so kind to 'let it slide'.
We had about a 2 hour layover in Denver and then continued on our journey to Seattle, WA.
As soon as we landed, we had to hurry and catch a taxi in order to check into the hotel and leave promptly from there to head to Daniel's DR appointment at 3:30. We made it right on time and as expected had to wait around for about 45 minutes in the Dr's office.
But anyways now on to the good news: (Oh by the way, Did I mention I LOVE Seattle already! It was so exciting to see Safeco Stadium! Our hotel room is actually right across the street from Safeco. We can even see a little bit of left field from our room, so exciting! I'll be sure to post a pic soon)But like I said onto the good news....
Daniel may not be needing surgery like we expected!! The DR said that the 2nd xrays taken today look so much better then the first ones he had originally taken! Thank You Jesus! Daniel took a CT scan today in order to check the joints, but the DR said by looking at the xrays that the break looks far enough from his joints that it may have not affected it, but they still want to make sure and we will find out those results tomorrow. So once we know those results, they will determine whether surgery will be needed or not. But so far, so good. We were expecting Daniel to have to get surgery for sure and are even surprised by the result that he may not need at all. It was even already scheduled, but I know the Lord is hearing all those prayers (Thank you to everyone). I will be sure to post once we find out tomorrow.

Let Your Mercy Rain

Let Your Mercy Rain by Chris Tomlin

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God, You have done great things

God, You give grace to the weak

And bless the brokenhearted

With a song of praise to sing

You reached down and lifted us up

You came running, looking for us

And now there's nothing

And no one beyond Your love

You're the overflow

You're the fountain of my haeart

Let Your mercy rain Let Your mercy rain on us

You're the faithful one

When the world's falling apart

Let Your mercy rain Let Your mercy rain on us

How deep, how wide, how long, how high is Your love ... is Your love

How deep, how wide, how long, how high is Your love ... is Your love

Oh, God. Let it rain

How true is that? That God is the faithful one when the world is falling apart. He never leaves us. He always listens. He promises comfort in our mourning. (Matt 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted) He allows us to mourn, but we can find hope in knowing that the joy will be coming. (John 16:22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy)

He is FAITHFUL. Let His mercy rain.

As I sit here now, writing this new blog. It is a new day and I write with a comforted heart. Although the past few days have been very hard, I have truly found comfort in Jesus, the faithful one who never fails me.

For the first time since I've started this blog, I am writing from Clinton, Iowa. And am now with my sweet hubby after spending 6 veryyyy long days apart! It feels so great to be with him again!

I left my grandmas around 12 in the afternoon yesterday and got into Clinton around 3. Those three hours in the car driving back to Clinton left me with alot of time to think...and to cry...but also to pray. It is still so hard for me to believe that Robert is no longer here, but God has truly been comforting me in this trial. I am so thankful to all you for the prayers and encouragement. You have all been instruments of the Lord and I am extremely grateful.

Anyways Daniel and I will be leaving for Seattle this Wednesday. I am very happy that it worked out for me to go with him.

I will be sure to post from Seattle and keep you all updated on Daniel's surgery.

Thank you for the prayers & please keep them coming :)

Sweet Memories

Well it's almost 3 in the morning here in Illinois and I can't stop thinking about Robert. I've been laying here trying to fall asleep, but just cant...

So I thought I'd share some memories with all of you of my cousin Robert:

Where do I begin...

It's so hard to compile them all up, but I'll share a few...

-One time when we were younger...we were playing in the fort him and Chris had built in their backyard and we found a snake. Well Chris, Jake and Robert decided to be-head this little snake we had found. I still remember telling them not to do it, but they did. And then Robert was teasing me like he was going to touch me with the snake head. I still remember screaming so loud.

-My Aunt Ellie has some lime trees in her backyard and when we were younger, we would pick up the limes that had fallen off the tree and just 'chug' them at each other. I still remember having the smell of limes on my hands afterwards.

-I remember us all sitting in Chris and Robert's room and playing the video game Mortal Kombat for hours.

-I remember going camping for my 9th birthday at Lake Perris and Aunt Ellie, Chris, and Robert came too. I just remember us having so much fun.

-Robert was always 'over protective' of me. I knew he would always be there for me if I ever needed anything. I remember him telling me that his friends thought' I was cute', but he had told them that he made sure they knew that they would never have a chance with me, 'his little cousin'.

-I remember telling him about Daniel before Robert met him. Robert would always say that "no one is good enough for his cousin" and was trying to be all 'tough man' when he met Daniel. But later that night after they met he told me that he actually really liked Daniel and gave me his 'ok' on him.

-I still remember staying up for hours chatting on AIM with him about the most random things when we were in high school.

-My brother, sister and I would always pronounce Robert's name like "Wabert" and every time we'd say it to him, he's always repeat it back in an echo. It always made me laugh.

-He would always call me "Pimpsta" and he was my "Gangster". I think I was in like Jr High when we came up with that. We thought we were so cool. My last conversation with him on the phone, I still remember him saying "What's up pimpsta"...It was just our thing I guess.

- One time when I was with Robert, I was really upset about something and was crying so hard and I remember him he just trying to comfort me. I knew it really upset him to see me sad. He really had a kind compassionate heart.


Wow... I have so many memories and I will truly cherish them forever..

Hard Times

I'm not even sure how to begin this blog.... today has honestly been one of the hardest days of my life. I feel that I'm at a loss for words. I honestly just sit here numb to the reality of the present.

Today around 1:00 in the afternoon, I got a call from my dad. He was hesitant to tell me what had happened.. just that something "bad" had happened, but after pushing him to tell me, he finally uttered the words....."Robert committed suicide last night".

So many thoughts raced through my head...

My cousin Robert? The one I had just talked to for almost an hour the other day? The one that I was laughing with and joking with over the phone just 2 days ago? He's gone? He can't be...

Gosh, if only I knew this was going to happen... If only I could tell him more how much I love him and how much Jesus loves him. Robert and I have had countless conversations about the Lord before...but had any of it really stuck? Had it not been enough? So many questions still continue to race through my head at this very moment-----I'm at a loss for words---- It breaks my heart that people can get to the point where they feel so low and hopeless, but I know we live in a world where the deceit of the devil is so real and so powerful.

I sit here asking myself the question, WHY? Why him, Lord? Why now? Why ever?...

It amazes me how someone can be in your life and be gone in an instant. Just the other day we were joking and reminiscing of past times. He was telling me stories of his trips to Illinois when he would visit our grandma and grandpa. He was telling me about a time him and my brother,Jake,were in the car with our grandparents. There had been tornado warnings all day. And my brother and him were convinced that their car was going up into a tornado. We were laughing about it. Gosh, I still feel in shock that he's gone. It's been hitting me here and there throughout the day, but as much as my heart aches.. it just feels so hard for me to believe its real. But it is.

I am so grateful for the many fond memories I have with him and he will be greatly missed by so many! He had been struggling with an alcohol addiction and had been drinking last night. I know that the alcohol definitely had an effect on this outcome....

But in my heartache and with my many questions.. I will still continue to praise my Jesus!
I'd like to share a devotional by Max Lucado that really touched my heart and I feel completely relates to what is going on (just not in my life, but im sure in so many others)

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Daily Devotional by Max Lucado

“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”

God Knows What He’s Doing.Surely I spoke of things I did not understand; I talked of things too wonderful for me to know. Job 42:3

(NCV)It's easy to thank God when he does what we want. But God doesn't always do what we want. Ask Job.His empire collapsed, his children were killed, and what was a healthy body became a rage of boils. From whence came this torrent? From whence will come any help?Job goes straight to God and pleads his case. His head hurts. His body hurts. His heart hurts. And God answers. Not with answers but with questions. An ocean of questions. . . . After several dozen questions ... Job has gotten the point.

What is it?

The point is this: God owes no one anything. No reasons. No explanations. Nothing. If he gave them, we couldn't understand them.God is God. He knows what he is doing. When you can't trace his hand, trust his heart.

Please continue to keep us all in your prayers. Especially my Aunt Ellie, Uncle Butch, my cousin Christopher, Robert's daughter Sadie and so many of the other people that are mourning this loss.

Robert Henson- You will be missed!!

*Take time out today to tell your friends/family how much you love them, you never know when they'll be gone.

A Test of Trust

Hey Friends and Family..

Well here I am... sitting on a bed at my grandma's house in sweet ol' Riverton, Illinois and I have finally decided to get a blog going!... It's been on my mind to get one started for quite sometime now. I realize it's a perfect way to keep you all posted on what is going on in mine and Daniel's life (since it is constantly always moving in different directions).

I'll start off by saying that this '09 baseball season has in no way started out the way we 'planned' it would. Although Daniel had a really great spring training and even got called up to 7 big league games, the Mariners minor-league is pretty stacked and Daniel wasn't able to secure a spot on the California High Desert team that we were hoping for. Starting back in Low-A (Clinton,Iowa) was upsetting for Daniel, but he stayed positive and remained hopeful that this would be the season for him to 'tear it up' and get going again. It started off rough when just after Daniel's first game, he ended up on the 7 day DL due to a strained groin. Then not too long after returning from the DL... he's back on it again as of this past Wednesday night after breaking his thumb on his right hand after he was hit by a pitch at the plate. (In case you're wondering: last year it was his left hand that he broke).

Unfortunately I haven't been able to see him yet since the break. He left with his team this past Monday for a 6 day road trip to Ohio and Michigan (which is a 7.5 hour drive from Clinton,IA) so we decided I would visit my grandma here in Illinois during this trip (which is only a 3 hour drive). But I can say that through our conversations on the phone, he is really remaining strong and trusting in the Lord. I am so proud of him! Of course it's still really hard for him (and me) and even discouraging at times. But it is truly a test of our faith and trust in God. I know this might make our journey a little harder and probably a little longer, but it is all for the Glory of God. And I'm so happy I can find HOPE in that! The Lord has already just been teaching and showing us so much through this.

How are we ever suppose to grow in our faith unless

we go through the tests and hardships?

2 Corinthians 12:9-10- "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am WEAK, then I am STRONG.

We still do not know what exactly is going to happen or where we'll end up. His xrays have been sent to the Mariner's head DR in Seattle, so we should find out the verdict soon. And I'll be sure to post it on here once I know. But how great is it to know that we can find our hope in Jesus! And I know Daniel and I will only be stronger from this somehow.

And even though things haven't gone the way we 'planned' for it to go, we know God has a greater plan for us then we could have ever imagined.

Psalm 37:5- "Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it."