Liam's Surgery Update #3

Thank-you Lord Jesus for today. My heart is overcome with gratitude. I have just come from ICU and seeing Liam. He is settled in quite nicely and is already off oxygen. He talked to us and has visited briefly with Grandma Cheryl, Grandpa Gerry, Uncle Brandon, Nathalie & Auntie Glenna. He is still very sleepy but he is looking good. The surgery itself went very well. Liam did not have to have any blood transfusions and he is already showing signs of strength in his left hand side. Dr. Singh was not able to get all of the tumour but they still feel that it is not cancerous. Liam will have another MRI tomorrow to help determine with the pathology report if more treatment will be required. Please continue to pray for Liam. We ask that you pray for a peaceful night for him, for the drain that they have placed in his brain to be able to be removed as soon as possible, for continued strengthening of his left hand side and for rest. There are three other children in the critical care unit with Liam. Pray for these little ones and their families. Pray that we would be able to shine the hope of Christ throughout our time with them. We will try to post again tomorrow.

Liam Surgery Day Update # 2

We just recieved an update from the OR. The surgeons are closing and Liam has done really well. Dr. Singh will be out to talk to us in about 45 minutes. We should get to see Liam after that. We are so thankful to Jesus. Praise the Lord for all that He has done.

Liam's Surgery Day Update #1

Praise God we were able to get internet access and to give you all an update. We arrived at McMaster this morning bright and early. Liam was in great spirits, cracking jokes and making us all laugh. He did a great job while they attached these nodes to his head and inserted his IV. Later on he made fun of me in my scrubs outfit. He said my hat looked dumb. I told him he looked pretty funny with these Cheerios attached to his head.

God is already at work here at Mac. I was able to pray with Liam in the operating room with Dr. Singh at my side before they administered the sleep medicine. We were also able to share with Dr. Singh that there was lots of people praying not only for Liam but for her and her family as she would be spending time away from them today to be with him.

We are being blessed by your prayers. We have Liam's prayer list here with us and are amazed at all the names. Words can not express our gratitude. Both Jason and I feel calm and at peace. God is very much in control of our time here at Mac. We will try to get a message out again later in the day if we get a message from the OR or when Liam is out of surgery.

Liam's Bed

God is good. Although a bed did not become available for Liam, he had a great day. It is almost summer like temperatures here today so Liam was able to run around outside, play at the park with his friends and enjoy some sunshine. We also had a few laughs today. Liam's friend Tat gave him a gift so Liam could look like him. He has just left for his basketball league practice and scrimmage. He is thrilled as he had thought last week would be his last time. He left the house telling me he was going to be playing like Chris Bosh. For those of you who don't know who that is he is the star of the Toronto Raptors Basketball Team and Liam is a huge fan. So we are all packed and ready to go for the morning and Liam is not worried at all because he is playing his favourite game in the world! Yeah God.



The new plans will have us leaving the house tomorrow at about 5:50am. We need to check in with Liam no later than 6:45am and they will be taking him to the MRI centre by 7:15am. Dr. Singh will meet us there as Liam's surgery will be an image guided surgery. Meaning they will use the images from the MRI machine tomorrow morning and actually draw on Liam's head where they will go in etc. His surgery is still scheduled for 9 am and it is still expected to last 6-7 hours. Thank-you again to everyone who has been praying and will be praying. Liam's prayer sheet is almost full for the full 10 days! As always Liam will be taking a bible tomorrow. It is one that our friend Penny in Burlington sent to us. Liam loves that is an NIV version that is for people who might be asking who Jesus is. We will let you know when we update where he decided to leave it this time. We are all feeling really good and trusting that God is in control. He has given us a peace that can only come from Him.

"But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

Exodus 14:13-14

A bed for Liam

McMaster Children's Hospital just called and they do not have a bed for Liam at this moment. They are going to keep trying to find him one. We will keep you posted.

Liam's New Hair

I have been trying to get this post up for a couple days but we have had lots of last minute things to try to get ready. Better late than never I guess!

On Friday morning Liam took another step in getting ready for his surgery. He cut his hair. It took about an hour for the hair dresser to put his hair in lots and lots of tiny pony tails and then to shave his head. Liam had decided a long time ago that if he had to cut his hair he wanted to donate it. The charity that Liam chose is called Angel Hair for Kids and they make and provide wigs for kids that have cancer. The tiny pony tails allowed the hair dresser to get the most hair possible to be donated. So although Liam was not a big fan of the ponytail treatment he said it was worth it! Below are some before, during and after pics of Liam.

Well, it seems as if Liam has started a fashion trend as Friday night at our outreach event Liam's Grandpa Bob asked him to shave his head. So Liam did! On our driveway!

And then on Sunday night Jason came home with a new do! Here is a picture of the boys trying to look cool with their new hair.

Tomorrow morning we will be phoning to find out if Liam can be admitted. Please pray that there will be a bed available for Liam. It would just help to be able to get him settled in the hospital before the surgery on Wednesday. We will let you know as soon as we can if he got in!

"From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help...I am counting on the Lord; yes I am counting on Him. I have put my hope in His word."

Psalm 130:1 & 5

Shine Your Light Event 2008

Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. The second is equally important: Love your neighbour as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these."

Mark 12:29-31

Many of you know that for the last couple of years we have hosted a party at our house on Halloween night. The party is for our community and we use this night to share our lives with our neighbours. This is usually one of my favourite things that we do as a family and this year was no exception.

First of all, I want you to know that this amazing event would not have happened this year if it had not been for our church family who came around us to get everything done. They did such an amazing job! They stuffed candy bags, hoisted speakers onto our balcony, hung Sanctuary Milton banners off our roof, projected a movie out our front window, made pots of pots of hot chocolate and coffee and everything else in between! Our house looked fantastic and they looked fantastic in all of their fabulous costumes. I had one lady who told me that "your house is the best on the street for kids because it is so fun and everyone is so friendly." Another woman told Jason that she has been at our house every year and this year she made her husband take the night off work to come and see it because it is so different.

Jason's aunt told us that she could hear the worship band at least three streets over and our songs were carrying all over the neighbourhood. Little kids danced on our driveway, parents chatted with our church family over coffee and hot chocolate that we provided, we gave out hundreds and hundreds of candy bags with scripture and I think it is safe to say that everyone had a great time.

There were many great conversations and connections that I heard about from the night. I personally had some great moments sharing with folks but one that sticks out in particular. Tara and her husband Peter and their two children, neighbour's from two streets over asked me why we do the event since it was her impression that most Christians "look down" on Halloween. I got to share with her that Jesus calls us to love our neighbours and what better night to do it, then when everyone is coming to our door. She was genuinely surprised. She has always thought that "church" was a place that just wanted your money and to tell you what you are doing wrong. I invited both her and Peter to come to church on Sunday to see for themselves what it was all about. Peter loved the worship team and said, "Maybe it is something that they should check out." Yeah God!! I pray that God will continue to work on the seeds that were planted and that He would continue to draw them to Himself. We are looking forward to see what He is going to do!