Deb is under hospice care at home

Dear friends,

As of August 11, our mom is now at home under hospice care.  Her oncologist has advised that the treatment is no longer working and he has recommended hospice of Southern Illiniois.

She is struggling with keeping any food or liquid down here at home. Please pray for her nourishment and digestive processes.

Right now, Hal and I are with her and Aunt Vera has come to help.

In the next few days, we are looking to find medical personnel who can consistently come be with our mom and take care of her IV's, meds and our questions during the day while Dad is at work. Hospice is not able to stay for the duration of a typical workday.

We thank you for your love and prayers, Charity.

Please pray for peace

Our mom is still at Mercy St. John's in St. Louis. Her nausea is not causing her as much discomfort since her doctor changed medicines. Still, her appetite is very weak and she is often disoriented.

She had a CAT scan on Monday, August 6th that showed no evidence of cancer in her brain. Thank God!

She is at great risk for falling, so she has been assigned her own nurse full-time. She wants to get up but she fell last Sunday night and cut her lip.

Please pray for peace.

Love and appreciation,
Charity

Deb is quite critical and all are in need of desperate prayer!

At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh deep sighs ~~ He hears, He rescues
(Psalm 55:17)

Dearest Brothers and Sisters,

Your fervent and constant prayers are a continued blessing to Deb and Tom and their family. They are needed now most desperately; please take some time to go before the Lord right now. Deb is still hospitalized, and word comes tonight, from Nellie that,

My mom has gone downhill since Wednesday of this week ... By Saturday she could barely open her eyes and barely speak to Zach and me. She is unable to eat on her own and is unable to hold food down ... Charity drove over this afternoon. I just got back to Cincinnati to take care of some things here then I am headed back in the next few days. I've been there for a week and I am exhausted. My poor dad is exhausted. We are all very afraid. My mom needs prayer and so do we. Also the people caring for her in the hospital need prayer as well ...We need a renewed strength and hope desperately.

Nellie

Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope

The following is a transcription of a Call to Worship given by Deb Smith at Grace Community Church in Mt Vernon, IL, and featured on the podcast player that you can find in the left side bar.

Good morning, good morning, I am reading from Jeremiah.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
(Jeremiah 29:11-13, ESV)

Let's pray.

Thank You, LORD. I thank You for the rain. And I thank You for the storms of life. And I thank You for the peace of life. And I thank You, LORD, that this is a sanctuary and that it is a safe place, and that You abide with us in this place. And I am so grateful for that, LORD, because sometimes the storms of life are real scary, and we are afraid. Thank You, LORD, that You walk with us during that time, and that You bring us to a safe place, and that simply abiding with You is a safe place. Thank you, Jesus, for the promise of a future, and the promise of hope to get there. We love you, Jesus, with all our heart, and now we come and worship You. Amen.

Deb had a tough day Thursday, August 2, 2007

Deb had a tough day today (August 2, 2007). The nausea is back with a vengeance. Dr. changed his mind about letting her come home tomorrow. Pray against the nausea. Thanks.

In Christ,

tom

So, you don't drive a tractor, but you have a paint brush...

The following is parts of an e-mail Tom Smith wrote to Loving Deb Smith after an inquiry from Iris Lachey and Lisa Galbreath whether there was any "non-tractor driving" stuff do on the farms that might be helpful to Deb and Tom. [Commentary or paraphrases are brackets]

Re: Iris and Lisa's offer. . .others are also reaching out to us wanting to serve in some way on the farm. I believe what Jesus has up His sleeve is just a way to get folks over here to minister to Deb, in a way she can accept. I think the secondary purpose will be to paint a half mile fence (both sides) .

[If the primary reason folks are coming is to paint the fence, perhaps Deb would be able to handle the hub-bub more easily]

And of course everyone will have the opportunity to show up at our home each evening to eat, fellowship, pray hug on both of us, then we will smear a little paint during the day. Bring your own brush and work clothes. I'm thinkin early Sept. I've taken a new job as Farm Manager of a large farm 1300 acres, 250 cows, 11 bulls, with a mandate from the owners to not only turn her around financially, but to also restore her to her past beauty and dignity. One owner asked, "Please fix the fence and restore this old farm."

So you might pass this on, I mentioned it to Dave [Rice] and he was up for it. Hopefully others can too. Just being with folks will bless us. But Deb will need to do so in short increments. Her energy is low. George and Connie Lueking drove over and blessed us two weeks ago [all the way from Cincinnati with dinner for Tom and Deb]. We enjoyed a short dinner and then Deb thanked them and headed back to bed.

Deb has been in St. John's in St. Louis the last ten days. Nellie is here with us since yesterday. Staying in a hotel in St. Louis so she can be with her mom during the day. There is a chance she may be able to come home this weekend. Zach is planning to come over too.

We are seeking to be Christ Followers and live life one day at a time.

Thanks again ...

Hoping,

Tom

-------------

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy. I am happy because you have joined me in spreading the good news. You have done so from the first day until now. I am sure that the One who began a good work in you will carry it on until it is completed. That will be on the day Christ Jesus returns. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you. I love you with all my heart. I may be held by chains, or I may be standing up for the truth of the good news. Either way, all of you share in God's grace together with me. God can give witness that I long for all of you. I love you with the love that Christ Jesus gives.

I pray that your love will grow more and more. And let it be based on knowledge and understanding. Then you will be able to know what is best.
(Phil 1:2-10, NIV)

May God Always be Glorified!

A Call to Worship: In Him we live and move and have our being

The following is a transcript of one of Deb's Calls to Worship featured on the podcast player that you can find in the left side bar:

Halleluiah!

That used to be my Grandma Ida's favorite song. My little Grandma Ida used to sing that song. Whoo--

I want you to get a pencil out, and I want you to get a piece of paper.
Because I have something I want you to write down, to remember this week. OK?
Sorry! I didn't mean to make you work! (LOL)
You can actually use the bulletin, you know; you can write on that, (LOL) OK.

Now, I am reading from Acts 17 and I have just been enjoying reading that this week. Because it tells a story...and I like to read. So, I've been reading Acts. This Scripture, really, I have been meditating on it all week. So, write down Act 17, verse 28. Now, this is Paul and he is talking to some unbelievers about Jesus and who Jesus was, starting in verse 26:

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
[and this is what I want you to write down]
'For in him [that's in Jesus] we live and move and have our being.'
(Act 17:26-28)

Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus!
LORD, I am aware that there are many needs out in this congregation this morning ... many needs and many joys and there are many needs. And, LORD, this is a sacred time ... that we pray that you will come and touch us. Whether we have a joy ... whether we have a need ... if we are unsaved. Please come and touch us, because we know that you care about us, even as you care about the little sparrow.

Thank You, Jesus. We love You, Jesus. We love You, Jesus...

A Call to Worship: Sing to His name, for he is gracious!

The following is a transcript of one of Deb's Calls to Worship featured on the podcast player that you can find in the left side bar:

Welcome.
...
Gonna read from Psalm 135.

Praise the LORD.
Praise the name of the LORD,
give praise, O servants of the LORD,
you that stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God!
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
sing to his name, for he is gracious!
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession.

For I know that the LORD is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the LORD pleases he does,
in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good!
(Psalm 135:1:7 RSV)

Let's pray,
Yes, LORD, we do say that you are good.
We know that you are the one in control; we give you that permission.
Thank you, LORD, for thinking about us as your chicks under your wings and that you care for us that way.
You shield us and you shelter us and care for us and provide for us, LORD.
We love you, Jesus!
Now help us come, LORD, and give you praise that is pleasing to you, for that is our desire.
It is in your name the we pray.
Amen.

A Call to Worship: O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

The following is a transcript of one of Deb's Calls to Worship featured on the podcast player that you can find in the left side bar:

Alright, alright, alright, we're having to much fun here.
We just love each other too much, huh. That's right.
...
I am going to read to you from Psalm 139.
I've been meditating on this this week,
and it has really had a lot meaning for me,
and I thought I would share it with you.

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
(Ps 139:1-10 NIV)

Let's pray.
Thank You, LORD, that you do hem us in,
in the front and in the back, You take care of us.
Thank You, LORD, that You know us so well;
You made us, You are our creator.
LORD, help us to bring Glory to You as we worship.
It is in Your Son's Name that we pray.
Amen

----------------
Dear Ones,

When you listen to this Call to Worship on the podcast in the left side bar, you realize that Deb is so in Love with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Glory to God! Alleluia!

They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away

The following is a transcript of one of Deb's Calls to Worship featured on the podcast player that you can find in the left side bar:

We're going to be talking about heaven today. And I have a scripture for you from Isaiah, and it kind of gives a description of heaven. It's from Isaiah 35.

And a highway shall be there, ...,
and it shall be called the Holy Way.
The unclean shall not pass over it,
And fools shall not err therein.
No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come upon it;
they shall not be found there.
But the redeemed shall walk there,
and the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
and come to Zion with singing,
with everlasting joy upon their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
(Isaiah 35:8-10)

Let's pray.

Thank You LORD. Thank you for this promise of heaven. We have that hope.
We all have lots of folks we're going to see when we get there; that we miss. Because they are not here anymore, and we now they are waiting. And we know that they get to see You, and they get to be with You, and someday we will too.

But right now we are happy for the rain and we are happy for the sunshine, and we are just going to make a decision, make a choice, to be joyful.

We love you, Jesus, and now we are going to come and try to give you praise, sacrifice of praise. Some of it will be happy and boisterous, and some of it will be quiet and introspective. But all of it is done for You, Lord Jesus.

We love You.

Amen

----------
Dear Ones,

This passage from Isaiah 35 reminds that there is Joy in the journey, no matter the trials and suffering. The anointed encouragement ministry of Deb's friends Nancy and Greg Eckel at the Optical Joy web site, born out of their own cancer journey and suffering, has encouraged Deb and Tom during this tremendously painful time. Please visit Optical Joy if you need encouragement and a reminder of the Joy of the redeemed and the Boundless Love of God regardless of any circumstance.

May God Always be Praised and Glorified!

Deb is still at Mercy St. John's with bodily pain

Charity sent the following update on Deb this afternoon. Her note about Tom was in response to a question whether Tom has heard from anyone about helping on the farm(s) in the next couple of weeks.

Mom is still at Mercy St. John's as I write this. I talked with my dad last night and he said that her left eye is still really bothering her and her left leg is giving her pain. She's had breakthrough pain as well all over her body.

He didn't mention any offers about farm help but we didn't talk about that.

Charity

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
(Isaiah 41:10)

Online merchants @ iGive.com now support Deb Smith.

Now you can help Deb and Tom with the overwhelming cost of uncovered medical and ancillary services by signing up to do some online shopping at iGive.com. There are over 680 well-known online stores ready to donate up to 26% of the purchase price to Loving Deb Smith. And you will receive free deals and coupons just by being an iGive.com member. Also, if you join iGive.com using this link and make a purchase within 45 days from one of the participating stores, iGive.com itself will donate $5 FREE to Loving Deb Smith!

Here is how it works:
1. Join to Support Loving Deb Smith. It's FREE, private, & easy.

2. Shop the Mall at iGive.com. You'll see familiar stores like Lands' End, Office Depot, JCPenney, Expedia, Barnes & Noble, and eBay, etc.

3. Up to 26% of each purchase gets donated to Loving Deb Smith!

Remember, shop within 45 days of joining, and get an extra $5 donation, FREE.

If you use this link to join for FREE, Loving Deb Smith will be selected as the cause you'll support.

Please forgive the sales pitchy tone of this post. This opportunity has been a while in coming, and now that the details are worked out, it is worth a bit of a promotion if it helps Deb & Tom. You will note that there are many specialty merchants involved, including ones you may have dealt with in the past. Using iGive.com makes the shopping experience more meaningful.

P.S. iGive.com would like you to know that all the causes at iGive.com have been listed by members for their own and others' benefit. They don't endorse the causes, and the causes don't endorse them.

Happy Birthday to Charity!

Hello, again, Friends of Deb!

I hope this post finds you all well, and enjoying a pleasant reprieve from the summer heat.

Here's a simple way you can shed a little sunlight into the life of a woman who's had way too much on her plate, lately. :)

Charity, Deb's oldest daughter, is having a Birthday, tomorrow, Thursday, July 26. Please drop her an email or whatever you feel is appropriate. I just know this would make her feel good, and she certainly deserves to feel good during this difficult time, don't you think? :)

Shared intercessory prayers for Deb and her family from around the world

Many of you have engaged your online communities as intercessors for Deb. As this happens, search engine results continue to grow, providing a visible witness of God's Love and the unity of the Body of Christ.

Some intercessors also have kindly shared their prayers with Loving Deb Smith. Comments to this post include the text of these intercessions, and may serve to help you as you pray with your small groups, online fellowships, or quiet times.

Please add your own if you would like to share them with the Loving Deb Smith community.

Thank you for your continued prayers, gifts and service for Deb and her family.

MANY BLESSINGS!
Peace and All Good!

Deb is back in the hospital again as of early on July 23, 2007

Charity reported at about 10:00 PM that

"Early this morning, my dad took my mom back to St. John's. Her nausea and pain level were unbearable. She asks for prayer for her left eye again. And now there is new pain in her left leg. She'll be seeing her oncologist, Dr. Needles at 6AM tomorrow."

Your fervent and unceasing prayers for our sister are much appreciated. And for her family.

Look to Him that you may be radiant with joy (Ps 34:6)

Nellie reported on Friday, July 20, 2007, that Deb will receive radiation treatment for the cancer that is effecting her eye sight, in hope that this will retard the deterioration she presently suffers.

Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. (Rom 12:12)

Can you drive a tractor?

The next few weeks will be hectic around the Smith family farm, and Tom could use some help, if you can drive a tractor. This is especially so since Tom is also managing another farm under contract. So ... if you can drive a tractor and are itching to be a farmer-in-the-dell, as God so leads, please give Tom a call at 618-735-2966. He is very busy with the farms, so you may have to leave a message. This would be a major blessing to both Tom and Deb, as it may give them some time to be together, which is hard to come by right now.

Deb is home

Nellie reported today that our dear sister Deb is home from the hospital. But it seems the morphine drip line came out or got pinched sometime Tuesday night. A visiting nurse had to stop by today to get things straightened out.

Thank you to all who are offering advice and information on nausea relief during cancer treatments.

Nellie has been trying to help Charity with the kids. With the 4 kids and Charity running back & forth to the hospital they could use some meals and other assistance. If live in the Cincinnati area and you are able to help with meals, please e-mail Loving Deb Smith, or let Charity or Nellie know directly (see the left side bar for their contact information).

In fact, if you like to do the meal thing and you would like to help Deb and Tom in this way, surely that would be great as well. Their contact information is also in the left side bar.

Please continue to keep them all in your prayers, expecting God to Love.

Audio Loving Deb Smith

Dear Ones,

A number of you have asked about offering your comments as audio clips instead of comments. One example of this is available at Audio Hugs from Barb Hine. Another very loving example is the podcast recorded by Paula Clouse from Grace Community Church. If you have an audio greeting for Deb or her family, please forward it to Loving Deb Smith, or include a link to it in a comment to this post.

Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me.

1 O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:

2 you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.

3 my travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all.

5 Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach.

7 Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee?

8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too.

9 If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea,

10 Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" --

12 Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.

13 You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;

15 my bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.

17 How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!

18 Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.

(Psalm 139:1b:18, NAB)