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Hello Friends,

Tonight’s update is about Anna. Jodi posted how she is doing and I decided sharing her post might be the best!

Anna was released from the ICU around 1pm yesterday. The nurses on the ICU floor all brought in food for all of the patients for Thanksgiving. The Target House did the same so we were able to do take out and enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal for a late lunch. We took over the 5th floor Family Lounge to get together. We would take out food from the cafeteria for dinner. The old adage was proven correct again that FAMILY is indeed the best medicine. While we were all together Anna’s vitals all stayed in the normal range. It was a very nice day for Anna and everyone else too. Whenever Anna had to go back to her room for vitals she always made sure we knew that she wanted to go back to the Family Lounge. She was very upset when everybody had to leave and she said she didn’t want everyone to leave her. So we asked Mikey if he wanted to stay in her hospital room with mom and dad and Mikey being a sweet understanding big brother was more than happy to oblige. That made Anna very happy! They had some conversation with each other while watching tv but it wasn’t long before Anna became very tired and fell fast asleep. Anna would end up running a 101 degree temperature overnight so unfortunately she is still battling some aggressive bugs that just don’t want to leave her alone… she hasn’t spiked a fever yet today but now has diarrhea, which is either because of the bacteria or the multitude of antibiotics she is on. Her blood pressure is normal and her heart rate goes up and down with her fever. We were hoping and praying that she could kick her fever so they would kick us out of the hospital but,unfortunately, that doesn’t look to be happening today. It was nice that Anna and Mikey could wake up and immediately start playing this morning and with it looking like she will be staying another night Olivia is more than happy to spend the night for Anna. Anna is so blessed to have such a great bunch of unselfish, caring, and loving siblings who always display their huge hearts and have the magic to make Anna forget where she is and why she is here.

We are so THANKFUL !!!!!!

God Bless everyone very much, Anna, Jodi and Mike

As you can see, God is at work! We all continue to be thankful for each small miracle as we keep praying for God to mend Anna’s body. Tonight seems like the perfect night to praise the Lord for what He has already done and for the blessings He has in store for the future.

Psalm 103:1-4
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

Until tomorrow,
‘Carrow💜💙

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!

I hope you all have had a wonderful day. Since we were still out of town today we had a very unconventional Thanksgiving. We spent the day at Ober Gatlinburg snow tubing and it was wonderful. We started to eat the Thanksgiving buffet, but decided it would be too heavy. So instead of traditional, we had a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving feast of soft pretzels, nacho cheese, candied pecans, fudge and cookies.

And while we missed being with the rest of our family, the faces of our children tells us we made the right decision to get away. We had five days of relative normal. No one knew us. No one was offering condolences. It was just us four and the freedom to talk about anything and everything. We remembered Kayleigh as we saw things she would have liked. We laughed, we cried, we began to heal.

As always we would appreciate your prayers. We begin to transition back to real life soon, and I think we are ready. Isn’t God good?

Here is my Thanksgiving prayer for all of us…

Romans 15:13
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Until tomorrow,
‘Carrow💜

Good news from Jodi today! One more reason to give thanks on this beautiful day. Thank you Lord for your grace and mercy. Please continue praying for sweet Anna. While she is doing better she isn’t done fighting and I know she needs all of us to continue to stand with she and her family.

From Jodi…

Rough day for sure yesterday! Thanks for all your support! She was in septic shock yesterday but she is on her way to recovery. Her blood pressure is holding steady now and she has a low grade fever still with still a high heart rate of 145-155 ( normal 80-100) but not as high as yesterday 165-190. They are not sure the type of bacteria yet but the cultures are being narrowed down each hour of the day. It takes 48 hrs for cultures to grow. So we are hospital bound for awhile. They are doing another culture to see if the port has bacteria attached. But she is heading in the right direction with all the prayers.

I will update more when I hear from Jodi. Thank you so much for standing with us. Kayleigh and Anna’s friendship has woven our families hearts together and forged a friendship that we treasure.

Until later,
‘Carrow 💙💜💙

Thank you friends for continuing to cover Anna with prayers. I do not have an update tonight which means we all need to stay the course and continue petitioning the Lord on Anna’s behalf. It is such a blessing to have so many wonderful people always ready to pray. I know Anna’s family appreciates it greatly, too!

Our family had a pretty good day. We relaxed at the cabin until early afternoon which allowed me some much needed, quiet, one-on-one time with the Lord. Reflecting on the amazing blessings He has gifted us. Praying over the children. Thanking God for our marriage. It never fails, when I stop and take stock of my life, I am always humbled by what my Lord has done for me. For my family. Our family is the epitome of ordinary. There is nothing special about us. We struggle, stumble, mess up and fall, and yet God still chose to use us. He blessed us with the miracle of Kayleigh and trusts us to share her story. That is so humbling.

It also gives me the drive to keep moving forward. Because if Kayleigh’s story can make a difference in someone’s life, if it can draw people to Jesus, then I must figure out how to keep on. I was reminded today as I read John 4 that our job is to work for Christ. Sometimes our job is to plant the seed, sometimes it’s to harvest. We have seen God do both with Kayleigh’s story and that’s just the ones we know about.

I promised Kayleigh, before she left this earth, that I would write her story. I must say, the thought of getting these last six months into a book is a little daunting. I enjoy writing each night, sharing what the Lord has done or is doing, that’s easy. Trying to string them all together so they make sense… that’s different. But if I can trust the Lord with my baby I can trust Him to write her story.

We enjoyed dinner and a show tonight. At one point Cole reached over to use my phone but when it lit up he stopped dead in his tracks. My lock and home screens are pictures of Kayleigh. I watched as the clouds rolled over his little heart. All evening I would watch him refresh the screen just so he could see her face. I realized that for the past week I’ve been holding tight to my pictures and videos. Those things that help Kayleigh feel close to me. But he didn’t have any of those. He’s just been surviving on memories. Thankfully, I brought pictures with me so we sat on the sofa and he picked out some to carry. I also had forgotten that I videoed Kayleigh saying “I love you, Cole” on one of her good mornings. I was able to send that to his iPad so he can always have her voice. I listened tonight as he played it over and over with tears streaming down his face.

As you pray tonight would you please pray for my boy’s heart? I forget just how close they were. I’m thankful that he will talk to me and tell me what he is feeling. I just hate that I can’t make it better.

Until tomorrow,
‘Carrow💜

Here are some of the verses in John that spoke to me this morning.

John 4:35-38
35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

I just had a quick note from Jodi…

Her fever is down to 104 and she was actually talking to us. She is resting right now without any shaking but her blood pressure is very very low and is a concern so they are taking her to the ICU soon. Please keep praying for her and that her blood pressure goes up. Thank you!

Keep praying friends, God is working.

More when I hear…
‘Carrow💙💜💙