Open Season Answers From Michelle & New Pics

Note from Brent:

MckLinky has obviously eaten up much of my writing time for the last week. Looking forward to getting back to writing blog posts and working on several books.

Open Season Answers From Michelle

Kristina asked:
Still wondering how God provided for your family financially for your adoptions. Any financial suggestions for someone looking to adopt?

That is the scary part of adopting for most families. I had a friend tell me when I was first adopting, "if God calls you to adopt, the He must provide the way" Meaning He won't ask you to do something that He doesn't give you the means to do.

Raising money for our adoptions has not been easy, but as impossible as it seemed at the time, it always worked. Abby is praying every day for a new baby brother. I would love to have another child. I would love to make her wish come true. I will need to pray some more before I will have the courage to take the plunge.

Special needs adoptions and older child adoptions are sometimes less expensive and easier to get grants for. Many things that are labeled special needs, are really fairly minor challenges. Some special needs that seem very scary, are in reality, very easy to treat chronic illnesses, like for example HIV.

Some great sites are: Brittney's Hope http://www.brittanyshope.org and affording adoption http://www.affordingadoption.com and http://www.redletterscampaign.com

One thing that worked particularly well for us is to send out fundraising letters to our friends and family. I have a friend who raised $4000 by doing a garage sale. We also raised money by selling cookbooks.

I would love to hear others ideas for fundraising.

J asked:
I know this was asked before, but I can't find the answer... What kind of leukemia does Abby have? I've seen other blogs of kids with leukemia and usually it seems to be ALL or AML. Does Abby have one of those or a different type?

Abby has ALL, but with some genetic markers that make it hard for her body to handle the chemo it needs to fight her cancer.


Jarka asked:
Could you pray for me, as I´m flying to Kenya today and please pray for the kids in the orphanage where I´ll volunteer...I know that this sounds more like *pray for me, pray for the others* but I´m leaving today, so I wanted to ask...thanks :)

I am glad you posted on Open Season. We would love to pray for you!

Janice asked:
Please help lift up Pablos family in prayer. They need our compassion and strength . Their very courageous 6 yr old is losing his very brave battle with cancer. Tonight, his parents have made the very painful and selfless decision to take him home to die. My heart is just breaking for this family.. www.getwellpablo.blogspot.com/

I read on his blog that Pablo passed away. Thanks for posting this, so that others can pray for his family. He seemed like an incredible kid.

Beauty and the Beast Pics

Abby got to go back stage and meet "Beauty" who is the
daughter of some of our friends from church.


Abby was wide-eyed getting to see everyone up close.


Open Season Friday

Open Season Friday's are when you ask us anything you want, and we post up several answers today and over the weekend. We try to answer as many as we can. If we missed your previous question, feel free to post it up again.

Ask your question using the form below. Don't be bashful, ask anything you want... questions about:

• our family, our life, adoption, cancer, parenting, marriage, marriage, family
• blogging, photography, technology
• marketing, personal finance
• the Bible
• what we do professionally...
• ask for advice
• WHATEVER.... hey, it's OPEN SEASON!!

Abby Update & Pray for Me Pray for Others

Abby's hair is growing back fast! It's long enough now
too be "messy"... praise the Lord. She even has a scratch on her
nose and we aren't even concerned about packing for
the hospital. Ahhh.... the joys of normal life!

Just a few short months ago, Abby had NO eyelashes, or eyebrows...ladies, are you jealous of her lashes now???

Abby loves to dress up in ballerina dance clothes.
We hope to have her in dance classes when her blood countsare up high enough.

Pray for Me... Pray for Others

Brent: Facebook - Twitter . . . . . . . . . . . Michelle: Facebook - Twitter

Landis prays so sweetly for everyone in our entire family.

Our Requests:

Thank you all so much for your prayers when Abby was in ER. It was so hard to go to a strange ER, but the nurses and doctor there were wonderful. We love going out of town, but Brent and I did breathe a sigh of relief when were finally home. It is comforting to be near a hospital where the doctors and nurses know Abby and have taken care of her for almost a year.

Abby's fever was caused by two ear infections. Normally ear infections are simple to treat, but with Abby, treatment is complicated by her chemo suppressing her immune system. We would appreciate your continued prayers. It is a little unnerving how seriously ill children with cancer can get from seemingly simple infections. The plan was to increase Abby's chemo, hopefully this infection won't delay Abby getting the chemo she needs.

The other problem they found is frankly one that I only have limited knowledge about. Abby was diagnosed with a temporary condition called Methemaglobinemia . One of Abby's weekly medications caused enough of her red blood cells to be formed incorrectly, to make her oxygen levels in her blood low. Low oxygen levels are making Abby feel very tired. Unless it gets worse all that is needed is to discontinue the medication that caused it and to watch her closely, while her body heals. Unfortunately, I gave Abby her weekly dose right before I took her to ER. I wonder if it will get worse before it gets better.

Abby's biggest concern was missing the fireworks. Fortunately, her big brother, Garrett, and her uncle Michael saved fireworks for her and put on a show for our kids last night. The kids were thrilled to see the fireworks explode right above their heads. God is good.

Would you please pray that Abby's infection would heal, her chemo doses would be increased to a more therapeutic dose, and for her cancer to remain in remission. Abby would like you to pray that she is healthy enough in three weeks to go to a dance camp. She dreams about dancing in the recital next year. Abby has missed so much this last year. I would love for her to get to participate in some of the things that other children get to do.

Pray for these folks:

The Ethiopian government has decided to change their policy about how abandoned (not relinquished) cases are going to be processed. They have stopped giving approval for any cases for abandoned babies around May 4, and the government has been working on the new procedures since then. Yesterday, they told all of the orphanages and agencies to present themselves in court on Wednesday, July 8.

They are supposed to bring their file numbers for these cases that have been on hold, but they were not told what was going to happen. We don't know if they are going to start processing cases (we were told this is unlikely), or if they will give out new court dates, or even just be asking for more information.

Please pray that there will be a swift resolution on Wednesday so these children can start coming home to their families very soon.

Please pray for Shelby and Peter. Shelby's fiancé, Peter, lives in Milan, Italy and was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The radiologist suspects it's a glioblastoma multiforme. One glance at Google will quickly tell you what that diagnosis means. The doctors in Italy told him to enjoy the little time he had left -- that there was nothing they could do.

The U.S. -- and Duke University's brain tumor center -- has a very different perspective. At Duke they are achieving long-term remission success with glioblastomas, and many patients are doing well. I've spoken with Dr. Henry Friedman, Dr. Allan Friedman, and Dr. John Sampson, and they are all in agreement that Peter is a good candidate for their treatment program. Fortunately, finances are not an issue with regard to treatment.

The problem is that Peter has already given up. He's so depressed that he doesn't even want to try anything. Would you please pray for him to be open to treatment here in the U.S.?

Pray for Me... Pray for Others is where we all get to pray for each other. This feature on Wednesdays is a time we ask YOU for help praying for others, as they pray for you. Check back a couple of times today for new requests.

Pray for Me... Pray for Others - Instructions:

1. Use the form below to enter your prayer requests. You must enter an "identity", and put something in at least one of the "pray for me" or "pray for others" in order to be included (links to blogs are not required).
   
2. If you link to YOUR blog, please include the following HTML in a post on your blog so that we can create a linked network of prayers (your link will allow others to find us, and be able to participate; make sure you are in HTML mode when pasting this code).
   <a href="http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com"><img src="http://www.brentriggs.com/prayforbadge.jpg" alt="Pray for Me" width="150" height="150" border="0" align="right" longdesc="http://www.brentriggs.com" /></a>We participate in "Pray for Me... Pray for Others" on the <a href="http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com">Riggs Family Blog</a>. Check out <a href="http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com">their blog</a> to add your prayer request. Join a community of friends who care about you, and hope you will care about them.
   
3. Put out an email or post on your blog and encourage everyone you know to come and join us in prayer.
   
4. Look over the list and pray as God leads. Come back and visit the list two or three times today as it will grow all day long.

Remember... if you don't take the time to pray for others, then on what basis can you really expect God to lead others to pray for you? I created this with "community" in mind - pray for you, pray for me, pray for others - so that we are both giving and receiving as a community which is far more spiritually productive than simply wanting everyone to pray on our behalf.

Truth is, many people do not have a community they can ask for prayer. We hope to become that community for them.

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Let me know if you have suggestions or questions about Pray for Me... Pray for Others. If this is a blessing to you, please leave a comment and let us all know.

MckLinky Photo Blog Hop - Favorite Photo and Caption

Welcome folks! My name is Brent Riggs. My wife and I own MckLinky and are the host of the MckLinky Blog Hops.

Last week's theme was "introduce yourself" and over 450 bloggers participated on the very FIRST event. This week, it is "favorite photo". If you have an idea for a Blog Hop theme, shoot me an email (brent@brentriggs.com). If I use your idea, I'll put you at the top of the Blog Hop link list.


This is one of my (Brent) favorite photos. Abby is on the right with her friend Maria (left), also from Guatemala. Abby was so sweet and we were all so unaware of the storm that was coming. Of the thousands of photos I have, this may be my very favorite one, or at least tied with a one of our wedding photos I love (me with my wife).

I posted some more fun photos last night in the next post down below if you want to see more.

747's, Frogs and Summer Glow - New Photos

Here's some new photos of the kids:

SpideyLandis has a 747 attached to that string.I bet you thought it was some kiddy kite. Not SpideyLandis!

Can you guess what Landis is so happy about? Hint: he's all boy.

Abby had a great time and was SERIOUS about her kite flying skills.

And of course, Sami never misses a chance to get in a photo shoot.

Me and the kids with Joey and Rory. We went down to see them
at one of their concerts a couple of hours away. We are friends with
them and I am doing some of their CD covers and website projects.

Can you guess who is TAKING this picture? There's a big hint in this pic...

Abby... isn't her hair growing back fast? For our new readers, Abby has Leukemia. Check out some of the links up in the right hand column. I (Brent) love to take these glowing summer time pics. Precious...

Can you guess where the kids are standing?

Abby and SpideyLandis hunt frogs in MeeMaw's rock garden/waterfall.

Abby Update & Sunday Morning Ministry: July 5, 2009

Abby Update

Got home from the hospital at 4am (that's right now, when I'm adding this update). Decided to drive home from Tulsa back to OKC in case Abby has to go the hospital tomorrow. Stopped at a 24hr CVS to get her prescriptions. Hopefully they will take care of her current infections and we won't be back at the hospital. Thank you for praying...

Sunday Morning Ministry

Blessed Lord's Day morning to you!

For those of you who may be at home with sick children or some other reason you are unable to meet with other local Believers, I've prepared a message for your encouragement and edification.

For those who would like to listen, here is an audio version, and the written version is below. It's not professional quality, but I hope it will suffice.

• Be sure to sign the GUEST BOOK so we evaluate how useful this ministry tool is over time.


• There is a blog badge below for the "Riggs Family Sunday Morning Ministry" if you want to post it on your blog so others can find out about it.

Independence Day
Today I'm starting a series for you on Sunday Morning Ministry about Christian Liberty. I hope you'll join me for the next few Sundays!

Update: Abby at the Hospital & MckLinky Notification

Abby in the Hospital Tonight

This is a pic from my iPhone of Abby at the hospital tonight. No fireworks for us tonight, real ones that is.

We are now waiting, waiting, waiting because they had four ambulances come in all at once. They do have us in an ER room isolated though, so at least Abby is away from all the sick ER patients. We have no news yet and don't know how long it will.

Fortunately, we have wireless Internet access, and while Abby watches TV, we can get some computer things done. Which brings me too...

MckLinky Blog Notification

The Blog Hop has been WILDLY SUCCESSFUL. The very FIRST carnival yesterday has almost FOUR HUNDRED blogs participating. Amazing! Thanks to YOU!

Requests were made for an automated email notification about NEW Blog Hops that include the instructions, theme and code. GREAT IDEA!!! That makes it even simpler than it already is.

So... sitting here at the hospital, I set all that up. Sign up one time, and whenever I get the next blog hop ready, it will automatically email you with everything you need to participate!

Get it here: http://www.mcklinky.com/blog_hop_notifications.asp

Urgent- pray for abby

On my iPhone
In Tulsa
Abby sick
Straight to hospital now
Abby scared
Fever high