Please Pray Right Now For Evan

Natalie just called me. The last two hours of the surgery have been pretty rough. They are having a hard time getting the heart to beat on it's own. Please pray for him right now. Please

A Poem for Evan

As I was driving home tonight really tired. I might have been on the verge of delerious. I thought of this poem for Evan:


On the last day of June in the year 2007
A miracle was completed, Jesus granted it from Heaven.

The miracle was for an angel, so handsome so smart
The little boy was so sick, he needed a new heart.

So Jesus wondered, pondered, & thought with his magnificent brain,
I know how I will deliver this miracle; I will deliver it by train.

For you see, Thomas was the little boy’s most prized possession.
He played with him, laid with him, gave him all his love and affection.

So Jesus wrapped up his miracle and sealed it with his healing kiss
And Thomas chugged and chugged his way proudly all the way to St. Louis.

“No, No that’s not the way it happened I was there that very day
A helicopter delivered Evan’s heart.” That’s what most people would say.

But if you would have looked and listened closely on the street below,
You would have seen Thomas all blue and bright surrounded in a heavenly glow.

Thomas delivered the heart to the doctors and said “I know that Evan needs this”.
I know because his Maker told me, his Maker goes by Jesus.

So off in a cloud of smoke and a TOOT TOOT Thomas he did go
And Jesus cheered and smiled as he looked at Evan from Heaven down below.

This is the day of miracles and answered prayers Evan’s family did say
It was also when Thomas the Engine and Jesus both saved the day.

TODAY IS THE DAY EVAN GETS HIS NEW HEART

Natalie and Sean got the call this morning that the hospital was ready with Evan's new heart!! Please go to www.cotaforevand.com to see the latest updates with the surgery and to sign the guestbook if you'd like. I am reminded again that God isn't always on our timeline. Today was the day he was finally finished preparing the most perfect heart for him.

Psalms 40 : 1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

THOMAS THE TRAIN

Last night Natalie, Evan, and I went to see Thomas and Friends live at the Carson Center in Paducah. We kept telling Evan, "We are going to see the real Thomas right now. A really big Thomas not the cartoon kind!" He didn't seem to believe us. Once we got there he was still a little unsure until he saw Thomas chug on stage. We ate at Flamingo Row in Paducah afterwards. The whole evening Evan was so well behaved as always! We had a blast!!!

They made it apparent that there was NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY, I couldn't help it. Evan needed a picture of Thomas!

He is holding a Thomas light we got there at the show. He slept with it I was told.

Evan and Mommy

This is them playing the "Wipe off the kisses game".

This is our statue face. He likes to pretend he's a statue lately. I quite scared one I guess.

Statue face again!

5 little hotdogs

This is a video clip I took of Evan with my phone. He was singing us a song. He is saying,"Five little hotdogs sitting in the pan, the grease got hot and one when BAM! Hard to hear with my fancy phone film footage.

A day with Evan

On Thursday, Evan was admitted back into the hospital for constant vomiting and diarrhea. Today I went to visit him and Natalie in St. Louis. Of course Evan was an absolute angel. He was such a fun time. There wasn't a moment where he wasn't smiling or singing me a song. Then out of no where he would look at his mommy and say "I love you mommy". I have said it once and I will say it again, this child make my soul smile. He is such a trooper. He is constantly hooked up to a pole with an IV that goes into his chest. He just moves it right along if he needs to go anywhere. There is a small closet in the room where he has started hiding in. The nurses and doctors will come in and say "Where's Evan??". He is there behind the door just gigling. Today the closet was his crane. He worked all afternoon in the crane filling it up with gas (his baby lotion bottle) and oil. We paid him in pennies. He was quite happy. I hated to leave there tonight but I knew I will see him again soon! Please keep him in mind tomorrow around noon. He is having another surgery to hopefully stop all of his bad symptoms. Thanks everyone!

He was looking at the book I brought him.

This doll is a little boy that needs a heart too! The hospital has a program where all transplant children get dolls that also need new hearts. He told me that "Nana's" heart is sick, just like his. Evan named him Nana because the doll's hair is the color of a "nana" (banana). The doll has an incision just like his and a big red heart under the little hosptial gown.

He was showing me the tube Nana has just like his.
Evan and Natalie Spongebob and Sprite his two favorites

Here is the closet he hides in.
This is where he says, "Where am I"?Always smilingFish facesEvan was choosen to be in a picture that is in the new transplant wing of the hospital. He is pictured with the Build A Bear founders. They donated a generous amount to the hospital for the new renovations.

I took this after leaving the hospital. After the horrible storm they had up there the sun was shining. You can see the skyline under the sun beams if you look closely. I thought it was beautiful. God's little reminder that even through the roughest storms there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

Ryan & Sarah's Wedding

This evening we went to Blue Sky Winery for Ryan and Sarah's wedding. It was beautiful!! The weather was so perfect. It was just the right outside during the ceremony and once the reception started and we moved inside the rain poured. It was so romantic!! It was a great night.

The Simpkins Family

Ryan and I

(Yep, got my haircut.5 inches taken off!!) The Miles Family minus one child (Caden was at his Maw Maws)

Love this picture of Sophia



Those beautiful children!!!
Smiling because we were about to eat!!!
Baby Vance


Ryan anounced that he is in the wedding ribbon gang. Mint green is obviously his gang color and this is his gang sign. (No he wasn't under the influence)

Ryan likes to pose for pictures.

Happy Father's Day!

For all of you out there with pets (with no children) you all know that they are like your kids. I know, pretty pathetic. Once we do have children I know I'll look back at these posts with the cats and laugh at how simple life used to be. Well, until that day I would like to wish Ryan, Happy Cat Dad Day. For all of you dog and cat dads out there Happy Cat/Dog Dad Day to you as well. And to all my friends who now have children, Happy Fathers Day. You guys are all great. I am so blessed to be surrounded by all your children. To our fathers, thank you for your patience throughout our 26 years. We love you!!!!

Sickening!!!! These boys are so cute.

Evan Update

Evan's mom Natalie just called and told me that Evan is being admitted into Children's Hospital this evening. He is not doing very well. We are all still waiting for the perfect heart to make Evan all better. For some reason God is still working on it and we have to wait paitently. Please pray for him and his family tonight and this week. His family has gone through so much thus far and the weight that they bear is still so heavy. Thanks everyone for all the well wishes and prayers. I will update you as soon as I hear.

SALE PENDING!!!!!!

Sale Pending!

After two weeks of being on the market we recieved an offer and accepted it today!!! Yeah!!!! Hopefully I'm not jinxing it already telling everyone. Keep your fingers crossed.

Random Saturday Pictures

I thought I would just post some random pictures from today.

This is Tinley's chair. No one but him gets to sit in it. Little Kitty decided that he was going to go ahead and just try to take a nap in it. Tinley showed him. He crawled up there and literally sat on him and they both slept. I moved Tinley because I thought he might squash Lil' Kitty to death.
As you can tell they really didn't mind.
After two weekends of our fathers coming over and helping Ryan, we finally got the jacuzzi going. Fabulous!!! Thanks Dads!!
I was trying to get a shot of my honeysuckle. I have tons of it. It makes our house smell wonderful.
Tonight the Elk's had it's open house for it's brand new building. Ryan became a member a couple of months ago. This is him with his mother. I think they look like twins.

Grandma Phyllis, Ryan, and Angie

Me and my crazy (in a great way!) father in law, David. He is such a riot!!! He can always find the most unapropriate time to crack a joke. He gets in trouble quite alot.

Leaving a mark

The Village of Hope children


At the begining of March I watched an Oprah episode on the Village of Hope in Ghana, Africa. If you know me at all, you know that I have always had need to help underprivilaged children or adults for that matter. Perhaps that's why I went into social work. I always wanted to help out some how but never really knew how. That was until I watched Oprah one night. (thanks to tivo!) It was an episode about children as young as three being sold by their parents to fisherman as slaves. The fisherman promised a good life for these babies and that they would safely return once their work was finished. Some parents were selling three of their children for as little as 25 dollars. These children were forced to set out in the water alone in groups of three, ages ranging from 3 to 12 yrs old, at 4 in the morning each day. (their master would sleep while the children would work) They would work a 15 hour day, have one meal of an oatmeal substance in the morning, work hard labor that was said that adults would quickly tire from. Several of these children would be sick from no sleep, little to no food, and to be honest no hope. They showed footage of these children shivering from the cold in the early morning and shoving the boats that were 100 times bigger than them out into the water to catch fish. Babies, in the middle of the ocean with no life jackets paddling out into the dark water at 4 a.m. There are organizations that set out to buy back these children from their masters to free them of slavery. Since this goes on so often there it's a endless job. Once the children are returned to the familes, sometimes the children will be sold back again or the children refuse to go back to parents that would sell them in the first place. The Village of Hope was est. in 1989 by Christians in the U.S. They raise these children that are from this background and children that are orphans due to the AIDS epidemic or that are abandoned by their families because they are unable to care for them financially. This wonderful organization was spotlighted on that Oprah episode and I fell in love with the children they showed. This organization gives them a shelter, an education, and tools that will allow them to go out on their own once they are old enough. I emailed the Managing Director and just recently he emailed me back. I wanted to know how I could help out because the children are growing by numbers and their funds are depleted. Here is an excerpt of his email if you would also like to help out:



"We are currently caring for one hundred and forty orphaned, abandoned, destitute and needy children. Within the next month, we hope to open our homes to an additional thirty new children. By the end of April, there will be a total of one hundred and seventy children in seven cottages at the Village of Hope campus. Our goal is to rescue as many children as possible and give them opportunities for a future of life and hope. Our greatest need is for funds to provide for their upkeep, education, healthcare and the like. Any amount you can give to the children will go a long way in helping to care for them. You may make checks payable to "Village of Hope" and mail it to:

Village of Hope,
Ghana West Africa Missions,
P. O. Box 40,
Searcy, AR. 72145

There is information on our website www.thevillageofhope.com on how you can make a secure electronic or online donation through Pay Pal.

You may also send gifts. That will be a wonderful blessing to the children. Owing to the large number of children we are caring for, there is always the need for:
Bed sheets,
towels,
clothing (not winter or heavy clothing),
toys & games (such as scrabble or card games),
educational supplies (such as note books, pens, dry-erase markers, school bags, back packs, lunch boxes or bags),
footwear (such as dress shoes, tennis shoes, flip flops, etc.).

Such material donations may be sent to:

Village of Hope,
Ghana West Africa Missions,
2014 E. Park Avenue,
Searcy, AR. 72143

When you send any gift to the two addresses above in Searcy, you can be sure that we will definitely receive it. Ghana West Africa Missions are our state-side partners and representatives. We have been working together for many years to give life and hope to many children. Whatever they receive, they send to us in Ghana for the upkeep and care of the children. They don't only send the money; they also send us a detailed report telling us who gave the money and who or what it is for.

Another thing you can do is be a friend to the children by writing to them. Correspondence with the children can only be through “snail mail”. The address to use is:

Village of Hope,
P. O. Box GP. 18169,
Accra, Ghana.
West Africa."



I know that I have an extra 30 or 40 dollars that I can spare a month to send care packages. I also plan to start writing letters. A friend of mine has traveled to Africa and is planning to go back in July with her mission group. Speaking with her about her experience there leaves me speechless. It reminds me how blessed I am. I have too much food that I throw it away before a trip to the grocery store, too many clothes that some even have the tags still on them, too much money that I spend it on $6.00 coffees. I know that there will be some of you out there that would argue with me and say "Hey, we have too many people in America that are homeless and are in need of help". To that I have to agree. Yes, we do. But remember, we are privileged as Americans to have the free right to an education and free programs that aid people if they are in need. These children do not. I have always said that I want to leave a mark on this world before I exit it. Hopefully this will be the start of my thumbprint. Thanks for reading all of this if you made it. If you have any questions or want to help out yourself I encourage you to visit their website. It is very powerful.Pretty deep for my usual posts. I know. But something urged me to post this tonight. Maybe someone else will be moved to help too. I know there are so many causes out there to donate to. Please don't assume that I would value any over the other. This one just spoke out to me. I will keep you all posted if I get a letter back or perhaps a photo! Thanks again. -Melissa