Mom's website

I just wanted to let you know that Mom has been having some technical difficulties with her website. She was not receiving emails from people who had entered the new contest. The problem is now fixed, so for those of you who entered the contest, you will need to re-enter and Mom will send you an email back confirming that she got it.

Also, I thought that you would like to know that the winner of the last contest was Ethan's kindergarten teacher from school last year in Montana! We thought that was so wonderful!! We love you Mrs. Stephens!

Nancy Mankins Hamm

The winner of Mom's first contest on her website has been posted! Click on the title of this post to go check it out and see if you won... If you didn't win, there is a new contest starting up. Have fun, and good luck! :-)

Thank you all for the good response to Mom's new book and website. I'm happy to say that Mom got quite a few hits from people who had come from this blog! Thanks for participating and helping to make her new website a success. It means a lot to me.

hi...

I'm so sorry I haven't been posting lately. I have been so busy. Even now I just don't have much to say, but I just had to at least let you know that we are still alive. We have been mostly just busy with work (and Ethan with school). Our weeks are falling into a routine...

Alarms go off earlier than I ever knew was possible and John and I spend about 15 minutes drinking coffee on the sofa and catching up. Then John leaves to get an early start for work while I get ready, wake Ethan up and get him ready for school. I drop Ethan and our neighbor's son off at school around 7:45 and drive about 40 minutes to work. John's parents pick Ethan up at noon, and then John gets him when he's done working (anywhere from early to late afternoon depending on the day). I arrive home anywhere from 6:00 to 7:00p.m. By the time the weekend rolls around, the house is a mess and there are countless loads of laundry to catch up on. Then there's church on Sunday. And then it's Monday morning again. I'm sure that only three days have gone by sometimes, and it turns out to be two weeks!

So that's the short version... I will write more later, but as you can tell, I'm tired. I miss you guys...

An update from Chad and Janeene

I just wanted to pass along an update from my brother, Chad and his family...

Our little family of 4 will not be able to observe Columbus Day this year, but will move from the 11^th to the 13^th of October. How can this be, you may be wondering--do we own some sort of time machine? Not exactly, but we will be traveling through time in a large winged metal tube at a high altitude to skip October 12^th. And in the spirit of Mr. Columbus, we will be crossing an ocean, though at a much greater clip than his clippers ever could (OK, so maybe they weren’t clipper ships, but it makes for a better pun…).

That’s right—we are flying back to PNG in less than a week! We will be leaving the USA on Sunday the 11^th (just shy of midnight from LA, to be exact), and will cross the international date line during our 14 ½- hour flight to Sydney, Australia, landing there the morning of the 13^th! Then on to Brisbane, then Cairns (all in Australia) for a couple of nights. After 37-plus hours of travel (about 24 in planes and the rest in airports), we will try to catch a bit of extra sleep in Cairns before leaving for PNG on the morning of the 15^th. By the beginning of the following week, Lord willing, we will be back in our village home again, ready to resume our ministry there!

Please pray for us as we travel. Although I think we’re now past the need for wearing bathrobes on the airplane (knock on wood), the challenges of transoceanic travel with 2 active boys (almost 5 and almost 2) still warrant some extra prayer for their parents! Add to that the usual adjustments and also for continuing strength and stamina as we leave the flat pavement and hit the uneven muddy mountain trails again.

We cannot leave the US without first acknowledging all of you and the incredible blessing you’ve been to us through these difficult circumstances through your prayers, support and encouragement.

To recap the situation for you, 7 months ago (in February), Chad began feeling some pain while we were in the village. This pain then worsened over the next several months despite taking a long course of several antibiotics. We were able to push through until the end of May, when we came out a bit early for a scheduled translation check of Romans (which went well, praise God) to see the doctor at our mission center. At that time, it was necessary for us to return to the US. The months of June and July were largely spent seeing doctors and looking for answers. During one of these visits, a small tumor “just happened to be” found in Chad’s bladder which was malignant. We praise God that he enabled the doctor to find and then remove it by surgery on July 1^st.

Shortly after this first surgery, we were able to continue seeking answers for this mysterious pain. A neurosurgeon evaluated Chad and put him on some strong medications and steroids which led to no improvement and so we went back to our family doctor in Sanford. He then referred us to a specialist who “just happened to be” one of only 2 in the country and 4 in the world who has performed the type of nerve surgery needed to help Chad’s pain. He also “just happened to be” the only one in the world using a new robotic system to perform the surgery in a more non-invasive and precise manner. And then, he “just happened to be” located a 2 hours’ drive from where we’ve been staying!!! Do you see the “coincidences” just piling up one after the other here? Hmm, looks like the loving hand of God to us…

So after consulting with this specialist, we had (and still have) no answers to the cause, but now finally had a course of action to deal with the problem—surgery to stop a rogue nerve from firing in an endless cycle of pain. Early in August, Chad’s second surgical procedure, a nerve block, was more of a test to see how helpful the main surgery might be. Although results were inconclusive (and somewhat painful), we were convinced that we should still proceed with the main nerve surgery on Aug. 24^th.

When Chad underwent this 3^rd surgery of the summer, he was one of only 200 in the world to have it, and only the 32^nd patient to undergo this doctor’s specific robotic nerve microdissection and cauterization to stop the pain. And we are pleased to tell you that the surgery was a success in ending the constant pain!! Wow, what a gift from God that has been!

Chad’s fourth and final surgery in the space of 2 months (the beginning of Sept.) was on his right knee, which had been injured back in April. The arthroscopic procedure cleaned up some damaged cartilage behind his kneecap and also took out some torn pieces of meniscus. And that surgery has been an overall success, too, with just some exercise needed to continue to rehab and strengthen the knee and lower back and core. These exercises are beginning to pay off as Chad feels progressively better on a daily basis.

Though we would never choose to go through an ordeal like this again, God has graciously brought us through this, and our family is ready to sacrifice October 12^th this year and maybe a few hours of rest along the way in our eagerness to rejoin our co-workers and friends in Toboland.

Enjoy Columbus Day without us, and you’ll hear from us on the other side!!

Chad, Janeene, Elijah, & Zekey

Tomorrow...

Ellie would have turned 11. It is so hard to imagine because she has been forever frozen at 9. All around us, Ellie's friends have turned into long-legged pre-teens. They have one foot in the make-believe world of children while the other presses forward into grown-up land. In many ways Ellie already experienced some of that kind of split personality. Just before she died, Ellie told me that she wanted to decorate her bedroom in horses. By the next day she had completely changed her mind and decided on black and white photos with candles on shelves. Simple and elegant. She was dreaming of boyfriends and weddings, but couldn't resist the pull of her Barbies and baby-dolls. So I suppose the image of Ellie at 11 isn't so difficult to conjur... but therein lies the rub. I miss the 11 year old Ellie that I never got to know. Tonight we went through hundreds of old photos of the kids at various stages. We laughed at the funny chipmunk-cheek pictures of Ellie at two, and marveled at what a loving big sister she was at four. There were a few photos that I just wanted to jump right into and live all over again. But mostly I wanted the pictures to keep going so that I could watch Ellie change from 9 to 10... and to 11.

So tomorrow I will wear the bracelet that Ellie made for me when we went together to a bead shop years ago. I will try not to cry on the way to work... at work... and on the way home from work. Maybe working will help somehow. I don't really know. I just know that right now I am so sad. Not because my firstborn is no longer a little girl who is growing up too fast... I'm sad because she never will grow up. I won't get to take her shopping for her first bra or teach her how to apply makeup. Or help her plan her wedding. I'm not sad for Ellie. She got to die so innocent and sweet. I'm just sad for me... for the things that I will miss.

But God is ever loving and tender with me. This weekend I was struck with the realization that I have four precious nieces and some of Ellie's friends who just might need their Auntie Sarah to shop for pretty clothes with them and admire their sparkly shoes. Yesterday as I sat and braided sweet Maddie's hair, I felt a peaceful kind of joy. There are little girls who love me. Who put their arms around me and soothe me with their... girliness.

And I have a son who reminds me that I am still a mom. He delights in the "gushiness" of my tummy as only a six year old can appreciate. He reminds me everyday in so many little ways that I am still needed.

Speaking of small boys... yesterday Ethan experienced a milestone. He lost his first tooth! Ellie would have been proud beyond words. Ethan pulled it out himself. Ellie would have cried for days at the very thought of pulling out her own tooth (in fact, I believe that she did cry for days over it). Ethan simply walked back to the hall and looked in the mirror. We heard him say "I got it. Didn't even hurt!" and out he walked, tooth in hand.

Reflections...

... on being a year older. Today I turn 37. I almost didn't post today, but I have this need to somehow mark the special days in life. And if I'm totally honest, I still feel like a little girl who just loves her birthday. I always have and I just don't seem to be growing out of it!

I was thinking back to how I felt when I turned 21. I was so happy because that was the day that John and I got engaged. We went and picked up my engagement ring just before my party and I was able to show it off to all of the family gathered. I think of how I have changed from that girl. At that time I don't think that I fully understood how flawed I really was, but at the same time I wasn't very confident. I have to admit that even 30 pounds heavier and 16 years worth of "character" added to my face, I am much more content with myself now. I think that the biggest difference is that then I was becoming who I was, but now I know who I am. I know that I am completely and hopelessly flawed, but completely and eternally loved. I don't live with the kind of fear that I used to. Then, I had a very real sense of God and His ability to help in times of need, but now I know God. On a physical level, now I know that outer beauty is so much more than fitting into a size 6 jeans. I think, and hope, that I have found the balance between accepting the things that I can't change (or can't change without astronomical effort) and making the most of what I have, and have learned how to project on the outside the me that lives on the inside. Everyone knows that women strive to be beautiful. We are known for picking ourselves apart and trying to look "perfect." But I don't think that's it. I think that what most women want, is to look in the mirror and say "this is the real me." Because the perfectly proportioned, thin, young women out there often don't feel as beautiful as, well... I do.

Now I've left myself very little time go get ready for work... Oh well. Today I'm going to step out of character a bit and wear comfortable shoes. It's my birthday and I intend to feel good and be happy! :-) I have too many hours on the clock this week so I actually get to go in late (after meeting John for breakfast) and get off early! I get to have lunch with a good friend. And I get to top off the day by going out to Mom and Gary's tonight for dinner with the family. What a happy, happy day!

Some shameless promoting...

I am so happy to announce the debut of my mom's second book! Copies are just now available, and I wanted to be the first to tell you all about it. Mom has a website set up, so click on: Nancy Mankins Hamm to go take a look. I am so excited for Mom. I read the book just before it went to print, and I was completely enthralled in the story. The book is entitled "The Outcasts" and Mom has given you a little sneak peek on her website. For those who are interested in purchasing a copy, that can also be done on the website, and she has copies of her first book "Hostage" on there as well!