Outside

The kids won today and I'm glad. It was fun to see them enjoying the outdoors again.

Can We Please Go Out?

The kids have been trying to convince me to let them go outside. "The snow is melting. I can play in my sandbox. It's a beautiful day Riah. Mommy it's a beautiful day." (from Zion) They are sitting at the open sliding door right now-testing me to see how far out I will let them go. It's rather tempting to let them go but I don't really want to clean up the mess from the mud-muddy pictures later if I decide to give in.

Cancer Update

Zach had a CT Scan yesterday and it showed that the cancer has grown quite a bit in both his liver and lungs. He started Chemotherapy again (his first treatment after his January 19th surgery)and he will be hooked up to his Chemo pump until tomorrow afternoon. His next treatment is scheduled for March 1st.

Some would say that it isn't fair that Zach has cancer at such a young age. I recently heard on the radio a discussion about the fact that we need to help our children understand that "Life isn't fair." I have considered this a lot over the past few days and here are a few thoughts.

-It's not fair that I can take my husband to the doctor to have his illness diagnosed. It's not fair that I can drive in a comfortable car/van to a hospital several hours away, so my husband can receive cancer treatment from a doctor who specializes in colon cancer. So many women in this world watch their husbands die and have no idea what is wrong because they don't have access to medical care.

-It's not fair that I have food to feed my children. Children are starving everyday and their mothers feed them dirt to take away the hunger pains.

-It's not fair that I can have full confidence that my children with be loved and cared from if something happened to both Zach and I. So many children in this world are in orphanages because there is no one to care for them when their parents can't care for them anymore

-It's not fair that I have many Bibles in my home and I can worship with believers any time I like. So many Christians are persecuted if they are found with a Bible or caught sharing their faith with others.

This journey through cancer is not an easy one, but God continues to remind me of my many blessings. If I think too far ahead I can easily get overwhelmed with what the coming months and years might bring. I am so thankful to know that God is by our side through everything and that we are blessed by the the prayers and support of so many. Thanks for your continued prayers for our family and for those around the world whose needs are even greater than ours.

Words from Zion

Zion is very aware that Zach is sick and prays that he will get better often. Last week Zion told Zach that he was going to take his hand and walk up the ladder with him to heaven (Zion has heard the story of Jacob's Ladder). At the top Jesus would make Zach better and then share candy with Zach and Zion. Zion and Zach would bring candy and share it with Jesus too.

I am so thankful that Zion is learning at a young age that true healing comes from Jesus. I pray that someday he will understand that his prayers were answered and that Daddy was healed by Jesus whether the healing occured on earth or in heaven.

Last Minute Visitors

At the end of last week we got a call from Joy asking if she, Jordan, and Julie could come for a visit. We said "yes" and then got a call from Josie asking if she and Javan could come too. On Saturday afternoon they drove through snow on icy roads to spend a little over 24 hours with us. It was wonderful to have them even though Zach, the kids, and I went to bed hours before the rest of them on Saturday night (My brave brother-in-laws tried out our backyard hot tub. Hope it was worth walking through all that snow). We enjoyed a few games of Settlers of Catan and it was fun watching everyone try out the wii fit. This is probably the last time Zion and Moriah will get spoiled as the only Rufener grandchildren. Jacob and Beth's baby is due to arrive soon.

Happy Birthday Grandma Barb!!!

The Bertsch Family got together last Friday night and enjoyed the new Mexican Restaurant in Bluffton (not sure if the staff enjoyed us). Everyone came back to our house for dessert and Grandma Barb joined us. We celebrated her birthday by singing and eating a brownie cake. Unfortunatly we didn't have enough candles to mark her years, but the kids enjoyed helping her blow them out.

Playing Dress Up

Zion received some great "boy" dress up clothing for Christmas. Here are some pictures of him and Moriah trying out their various looks.
Cowboy Zion
Firefighter Zion
Builder Zion(He is now putting holes in diaper boxes instead of our walls)
Chef Moriah (She inherited this kitchen from my sisters)

Firefighter Moriah