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God is SO good and SO faithful! Here's an email I received from Laura the day of Conor's surgery:

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We have so much to be thankful for! God is so faithful and we are so thankful for your prayers! Conor's surgery was a success! We had to check into the hospital at 7am and went into the pre op surgery room at about 7:30am. It is a beautiful hospital and Conor even had his own room in the pre-op room. Conor was scheduled for a 9:30 start but due to the minor fires that began at the Getty museum this morning (where we were yesterday) the freeways were shut down and therefore there was a delayed start due to delayed patients and doctors. Conor was wheeled into the operating room at about 10:30am. He was so strong and had a deep sense of peace.

We got a call at about 2:30pm telling us that the surgery was going well with no complications. At about 5pm the doctor came to meet us. She was able to get most of the tumor out, even most of the tumor around the artery. She said the tumor was "softer," than last time and was actually able to remove most of the tumor around the artery. Praise the Lord! In the Dr.'s words there is only a small "film" of tumor left around the artery that is about 1/2 a cm thick. From the MRI images it reports to remain a grade 2 tumor but we will find out the final path report on Wed. We are really praying it will remain a grade 2 and then we will only need to follow up with MRI's. If it were to come back a higher grade we would have to do radiation and chemo. So...please continue to pray for a low grade.

We were able to see Conor at about 9pm and he was his normal self. He was cracking many jokes but was very sleepy. We had a short little visit and then let him rest. He has his own room in the ICU and will probably be sent to a normal room sometime tomorrow. There doesn't seem to be any paralysis and there was very minimal swelling. We are SO thankful for your prayers. Those of us that were waiting also felt God's peace and strength. I can not explain in words how much your prayers and support mean. We truly serve such a faithful God and know that Conor is going to be just great! He was already talking about working hard at school:)

We love you and appreciate all your support.
Laura and Conor
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So, thank you to all of you who were in prayer for Conor and Laura this past Thursday. God is SO good! We need to give God all the glory for the success of this surgery. I think we so often look to God in our struggles but forget to thank him and give him all the praise for the successes and joys in our lives.

Please continue to pray for Conor during the healing process. He still has a long road ahead of him. Pray for Laura as she balances her job and caring for Conor.

Some dear friends of ours are in L.A. right now. Conor and Laura are awaiting a 3rd brain surgery for Conor to remove (hopefully this time) ALL of the remaining malignant tumor that remains after two previous surgeries.

Conor found out about 2 years ago that he had a brain tumor. The tumor is slow-growing and doctors think he's had it since he was around ten years old. These two years have been filled with obvious ups and downs related to the cancer situation, but we are all praying earnestly that after THIS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, Conor will be CANCER FREE after having ALL of the tumor removed by his amazing doctor.

Medically speaking, the MRI Conor had recently showed that most - but not all - of the tumor moved into a safe area for an operation. As far as we know the doctors are planning on getting as much out as they can, but suspect a 4th surgery in the future...

...BUT...as Christians, we know how POWERFUL OUR GOD IS. Our God is more powerful than any medical report...more powerful than any doctor and team of nurses...more powerful than any disease. He has the power to completely eradicate the tumor before they even need a 3rd operation...and he has the power to move the rest of the tumor in a safe and operable place so they can get it out of him!

These are Conor and Laura's top 3 prayer requests and I ask you all to join us in praying for these specific requests:

1. That the ENTIRE tumor will be COMPLETELY REMOVED so they can be done with it all - so they can finally start to move on with their lives.

2. That there will be no facial paralysis post surgery (after his 2nd surgery Conor dealt with some facial paralysis for quite some time).

3. That Conor will be able to again continue his studies this January so he can continue working towards his education degree.




Again, Conor's surgery is this Thursday, October 23 early morning. They have to get to the hospital at 5:30am and expect to be in surgery at 7:00 or 8:00 (or 10/11:00 Michigan time).

In times like these there's nothing better we can do than go before the throne of grace with our requests, knowing that God is sovereign over all and has the power to end this battle with cancer once and for all!

Is it a bad thing that it's only Monday and I'm already looking forward to this weekend?

I've seen other bloggers do this in the past and I'm coming to the point where I'd like to, too.

Who out there actually reads my blog? If you could leave me a brief message it would probably motivate me to blog on a more consistent basis...thanks!

Maybe it's because of the changing weather or maybe it's because of my vitamin D deficiency...but I've been in a little slump lately. I am missing my family back in Michigan and some of my Calvin friends who are now all over the country, it seems. I am ready to see them again, and soon. There are times when I feel like I am missing out on so much...
I need a little boost.

Here are some pictures from this past summer's trip to Michigan that I never posted but would like to share now. They make me smile. :)

Precious little Blakers...who, I hear, is now walking.


Jared...what a stud.
...yet a little crazy, too...ah, well...runs in the family! :)

Chad, me and Sonny - "Brothers (and sisters) don't shake hands, brothers (and sisters) gotta hug!"

My mom and Faith...


Bella Bo...


My forever puppy, Shadow...
I really miss being able to hang out with my family...the chats, the Sunday dinners, the crazy kids that make us laugh so hard and make us frustrated by their ongoing sibling and cousin rivalries...the conversations around the dinner table that I love so much just listening to and laughing at the crazy antics of my family...my family brings me so much joy. I miss them and can't wait to see them for Thanksgiving!

Besides my family, I also visited Calvin and some of my friends from Calvin who were still in the area. And, yes, I did visit my old WA office - I still miss it!

My friend, Laura...

My friend, Bethany...

And beside Calvin friends, I had the blessing of meeting up with some of my high school friends that I haven't seen in ages! This is Alexa and her husband Josh...

My friend, Julie...

Me, Lex and Julie used to hang out all the time in high school with a couple other girls, so it was AWESOME to sit down with each of them and catch up about what is going on in their lives and in the lives of the other girls we used to hang out with. Even if we don't hang out much anymore (mainly due to cross-country distance) or have frequent contact with each other, these girls will forever be very special friends to me.

As you probably can tell from some of my recent posts, there have been lots of sad and difficult things going on lately that remind me just how precious life is...how precious our family members and friends are and the relationships we have with them. These people (and my puppy) are all so very precious to me and I hope to see them again soon.

Check this out - it's bound to make you smile. :)