Posts Tagged Announcements

Water Project Update + This Week in Pictures, Two Weeks’ Edition (Announcements, This Week in Pictures, Doing Something)

God has moved in ways that astound us.  We were hoping to be able to raise enough money by the end of February for one well.  Because of some generous giving, we’ve increased our goal from $2,600 to $7,700.  In addition to a well, God is using this dream to raise money for clean water where it is needed immediately (Haiti).  If you haven’t yet, please consider donating a gift to provide life- and hope-giving water.

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I apologize for the lack of pictures last week.  I don’t even have extras to make it up to you.  Here are some of the more interesting ones from the past two weeks…

We had the privilege of going to Feed My Starving Children a couple of week ago.

We had the privilege of going to Feed My Starving Children a couple of week ago. I wish every two hours could be as purpose-filled as this.

This is what happens when you start tearing a corner and just...can't...stop.  Note:  The @#$% safety bar is now gone.

This is what happens when you start tearing a corner of wallpaper in a bathroom and just...can't...stop. Note: The @#$% safety bar is now gone.

Eyewitnesses reported the appearance of a bright, yellow object in the sky.  Nobody could identify the object.

Eyewitnesses reported the appearance of a bright, yellow object in the sky. Nobody could identify the object.

This is my bane, every afternoon.  Who improves a highway, then puts two stoplights, right in the middle of the busiest part?

This is my bane, every afternoon. Who improves a highway, then puts two stoplights, right in the middle of the busiest part?

Last Saturday, I got to build some speaker stands for the home theater.  It started off fun, but then it was just cold.

Last Saturday, I got to build some speaker stands for the home theater. It started off fun, but then it was just cold.

We went to the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe in Burnsville.  This...thing...caught our eye.  If you go, get the kabobs and honey-glazed veggies.

We went to the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe in Burnsville. This...thing...caught our eye. If you go, get the kabobs and honey-glazed veggies.

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The Cure for Thirst (Announcements, Temporal Echoes of the Eternal, Doing Something)

February 19, 2010 marks the one year anniversary of the passing of our son, Ian, from an inoperable brain tumor (DIPG). For more information on Ian’s story, visit his Caring Bridge site.

Sometimes a child gets sick and there’s no cure this side of heaven.  Thankfully, other times sickness can be cured or better yet, prevented.

Did you know a child dies every 15 seconds due to water-related illnesses?  Our hearts break for the parents of those children.     Especially because those deaths are very preventable.  Clean water, sanitation and hygiene can cut a community’s child death rate in half.  We want to ease needless suffering caused by unsafe water supplies.  Also, we want to help prevent other parents from experiencing what we have gone through.  Would you please help us?

World Vision brings the love of Christ to children and families in nearly 100 countries to meet their basic physical & spiritual needs. With the partnership of people like you and me, they are making a real & lasting difference for millions of people.  That’s why we wholeheartedly support them.

When you donate to the Clean Water Fund, your gift will help save children from suffering or dying; you will literally change lives for generations.

Please join with us by giving a gift that will bring life-altering help, and most importantly,  hope.

In Ian’s memory, we desire to raise enough money to drill a traditional well for a needy community.  The well your gift provides will be capable of supplying more than 600 gallons of safe water a day for drinking, bathing, irrigating crops, and watering livestock for years.

The cost of a Traditional Well is $2,600, but the impact that it will have on people, people whom God loves and cherishes, will be immense.  More importantly, it will show them in a very real sense that Jesus loves them, and will provide a way for the gospel to be shared.

Thank you for joining us in this life-giving effort!  If you would like to help, here are some ways:

  • Download a brochure, print a few copies out, and hand them out to people you think would be interested in helping.  There are two pages, and they are intended to be printed double-sided.
  • Include a link to our FirstGiving page on your blog, FaceBook page or Twitter feed.
  • Most importantly: pray.  Pray that God would use this opportunity change the land of a village and heal their hearts, in his ongoing mission to bring people back into His arms.

There is a bumper sticker that I see every so often.  It says “God bless the whole world–no exceptions.”  It used to irritate me, as if I had some corner on the market of blessings.  I’ve come to realize that God does want to bless the whole world, no exceptions.  His plan is to do it through people, like you, like me.

There is no “plan B”.

Let’s start digging.

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Commenting Changes (Announcements)

Lately, I’ve been getting more spam comments on this site. At first, it was the irritating “weight loss” ones that appeared every other day. In the past couple of days, the number of spam posts has increased dramatically, and the content has been extremely tasteless.

Rather than host links to objectionable (and dangerous) sites, even for a matter of minutes, I’ve chosen to increase the security about comments left for posts.  Going forward, when you leave a comment, it will not appear until I have expressly approved it.  I will try to check back as often as I can.  I’m sorry–that’s not what I wanted for this site.  I enjoy your comments and hope that the new policy won’t deter anyone from leaving a kind word.  Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world…

Yet.

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Ian’s 8th Birthday Celebration (Ian, Announcements)

We’re thinking ahead to Ian’s birthday (7/19) and have decided to have a “party” and take a group to Feed My Starving Children.

Ian went with us twice to work at Feed My Starving Children. The most recent time was during his radiation treatments last summer…he was so tired…yet courageous and kind. He said, “Mom, Jesus likes what we’re doing here!”

Oh how much you taught us, Buddy Bear!

Somehow we feel the need to do what CAN be done to help other parents who are feeling helpless while watching their children suffer.  According to one web source, close to 30,000 children starve to death every day.  It’s appalling when something can be done to help save those children.

The facility isn’t open on Sundays, so we have applied for a time slot on the 18th, which is a Saturday night.  We’ll post again once we have a date confirmed; in the meantime, if you are interested in joining us at Feed My Starving Children in Eagan, MN, please post and let us know.  Include your e-mail address and we’ll keep you informed with further details as they unfold.

If you aren’t able to join us, but would like to contribute to this worthy cause, here is more information:

Our goal is to raise enough money to feed 25 children for a year (cost: $1530.00).

To contribute to that goal, please send checks to:

IAN HENDERSON MEMORIAL FUND:
Klein Bank
3000 Cty. Rd. #42 West—Suite#100
Burnsville, MN 55337

Mark your check – “FMSC” or “Happy Birthday Ian” and we’ll send all those contributions to Feed My Starving Children.

If you would like to receive a tax deduction and get on their mailing list, send your check to:
Feed My Starving Children
6750 West Broadway
Brooklyn Park, MN 55428

We would be honored if you mark your check “In memory of Ian Henderson”.

With heartfelt thanks –

Deb & Tom

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Apologies, and Thanks (Announcements)

Confession time: I’ve been feeling a little sorry for myself that I haven’t gotten any comments on my last two posts.  Two weeks had gone by since I made all the changes, and it seems like nobody has been visiting.  I was expecting to receive email alerts whenever a comment was sent, informing me that I needed to approve/disapprove it.

I bothered to check the administrative page today, and found multiple ones waiting for me.  Thank you all for bothering to stop by and read this drivel.  And thank you even more for your prayers and thoughts back.

t

PS  Actually, Paul, I did not have the guts to repel “Aussie style” that day.  However, given the chance now, I would love to.  For those wondering, this is Aussie style:

I don’t suppose anyone out there is into that sort of thing?

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…aaaaaand, we’re back. (Announcements)

I’m still sorting through all the changes, but I think for the most part, the move was successful. If you see anything strange (and, by that I mean “out of the ordinary” for us) please let me know.

Mackinac Island trip pictures coming soon…

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A Change is Gonna Come… (Announcements)

I’m in the process of moving HendersonHome.net to an actual, honest-to-gosh hosting service. That way, it can be taken care of by people who know what they are doing. I hope that there will be little to no interruption of this blog, but that’s not the way things tend to work.

So, if you some here and see something unexpected, please be patient. Come back later, ‘k?

Tom

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Twittering (Announcements)

Sometimes, when we have the big appointments with Ian’s oncology team (like we do next week), there’s an urge to get any news out quick, just so people can either rejoice, or now how to pray. To that end, I’ve started a Twitter feed, as a place that we can post to before we’re able to get home to a computer. As if you needed another place to look, check out http://twitter.com/hendersonhome on Monday and Tuesday to see the latest news.

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As a Friend Said…”This Sucks” (Ian, Announcements)

Ever since we got back from Florida, we’ve noticed some recurring tumor symptoms. At first, we thought that Ian was just exhausted from the trip, and that was bringing on the symptoms.

Unfortunately, we found out today that his tumor is growing, and growing quickly. There are no long-term options at this point. Please be in prayer for all of us over the next few days, as Deb and I will be having a difficult conversation about the best thing to do for Ian’s quality of life.

We are fully confident that our God is good, and is powerful, and will be with us through this time. Also, we take joy in the fact that Ian has a clear and definite faith in Jesus; in fact, he will be baptized a week from Sunday. He is very excited about this, as are we.

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Recently, Deb and I have noticed changes in our son, Ian. Dizziness, loss of balance, sore throat, and one of his eyes wasn’t tracking with the other. We initially thought that this was an inner ear disturbance, plus a sinus infection. We were urged by two doctors to have an MRI. After it was done yesterday, we were given a horrible prognosis. Ian has a tumor in his brain stem. It is malignant. The tumor is placed deep enough that it is inoperable. We will start radiation treatments in less than two weeks. The treatments will be aggressive (5 times/week for 6 weeks).

Please keep us in your prayers. We will need them more than ever. Deb has set up a Caring Bridge page for the latest news; it’s at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ianhenderson. Also, I will be blogging here more an more.

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