Annikah's Extreme Makeover

Annikah - getting her blood "typed and crossed" in preparation for the BIG day.

Pre-surgery = Annikah's bone structure of her skull is narrow with a protruded forhead. Post-surgery = Her skull will be more rounded; her forehead set more properly; and her bone structure will be able to expand with the growth of her brain.

Okay...we think we're about as ready as we can be...the time is here! It couldn't have a been a better day for us - spending our morning with our church family was a perfect send-off for this week. We were blessed today as our Senior Pastor, Rob Prince, annointed Annikah with oil and prayed a magnificent prayer. We were surrounded by a "great cloud of witnesses" who were lifting Annikah and our family up in prayer as well.

Let me back up a few days, first...

This past Thursday, Pam and I, along with Annikah traveled to El Paso, TX where we will be continuing our current ministry position as missionaries with the Church of the Nazarene. Our time was spent looking at several homes - one of which we hope will be a potential home for our family. Annikah was super - she got to fly on her first airplane and didn't know a single stranger on the plane...or so SHE thought!

Allie and Nic stayed at home with Gramma Tooley and spent time with friends and cousins, too. Nicolas got his very first bee sting!

When we arrived home on Saturday - we discovered that there has been a pretty significant leak in our upstairs bathroom behind the wall where our shower is. The leak made itself known by showing up in our laundry room in the basement (lower level of our house).

Of all times...

In the midst of my immediate worrying and grumbling about that LITTLE problem, Pam calmly reminded me with these words, "This is not the biggest thing in our lives right now and it's not going to do much good to worry about it." While that's all fine and good, it doesn't make the leak stop - or it's subsequent damage go away.

I'm virtually useless when it comes to mechanical/construction kinds of things...so, what can I do? I can either worry about it and let it get worse - or I can make my need known to someone who can handle the situation and hope it gets corrected.

I guess we're in the same situation with Annikah - I can either stay up all night worrying about her and tomorrow's outcome; or else I can make our need known to God and know that He is taking care of her situation. I'll admit...that's not always easy to do. It's in times like these that I'm reminded of how much we need the Church - the followers of Christ.

The emails; the comments on this website; and the daily reminders from friends and even strangers that they are lifting us up in prayer...that's what holds us up in these days.

Our faith in God is renewed each day and the strength we receive is from Him alone.

We will attempt to email at least one update on Monday - following Annikah's surgery. If you have not received email updates and would like to, simply send an email to jtooley@nazarene.org and we'll get you added right away.

Thank you for your prayers and for your support!

The Tooleys