Saturday, March 9, 2013

David: A Man After God's Own Heart

David was brought home yesterday by ambulance. 
Tonight, he is slowly going Home to Jesus. 
Please pray for Marina and for David's parents.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Postcards for David


Hi everyone!

I wanted to update you on our friend, David. I'm a timeline-type person, so I will write out how the last week has looked.

If you don't know, David Cone was born with Cystic Fibrosis. 7 years ago he had a double-lung transplant. 5 years later his body rejected his lungs and he needed another transplant. By the grace of God, he got it! So two years ago he had his second, double-lung transplant. The odds of making it through that second transplant are 50/50 on the table! This last November, David got sick again. He was in the hospital for a few weeks, and ended up coming out ok, but not great. 

Here is the update:
Monday 2/25- David's doctor informed him he has chronic rejection of the lungs. He came to our Young Adults group and told us of the news. He also told us that he wants God's Will to be done. He said he knows he will be healed whether that's God miraculously healing him here on earth, or taking him Home.
Tuesday 2/26- David's health started to decline.
Wednesday 2/27- His health declined so rapidly that he was taken to Stanford Medical Center. His lung capacity was at 0%. He was put on a respiratory machine; he would die without this life support. He was nervous to go on the machine because this was how his first wife had passed away. He told Marina (his wife now) that he knew how horrific things can get, and that she had his permission to take him off of it if she couldn't handle it. At this point the doctors were giving David until the weekend to live. 
The doctors noted that he was fairly coherent through (and after) the procedure, which surprised them. They said that most people are just out of it, and that they usually only live for a couple of weeks after being put on the respirator. It's also rare for anyone to get out of bed, but there have been some cases, though no one has walked more than 500 feet.
The doctors were also surprised when David was able to pick up a pen and paper and write to his doctors, nurses, and friends and family that came to visit. 
Friday 3/1- David was able to get out of bed (while still on the machine) and with the help of his nurses, he walked the entire ICU.... Twice!!!
Saturday 3/2- David was taken off of the respirator and was breathing on his own!!! THEN, he was able to walk the ICU again without the machine!! His doctors and nurses are calling him a miracle.

Wednesday 3/6- David is still at Stanford and is still off of the respirator (Praise God!!) He isn't getting better, but he isn't getting worse right now. PLEASE continue to pray for him. Help us fight with prayer.

During the time he was on the respirator, he would get a word from God and write it down, then give it to the nurse or doctor that God told him to give it to. God is using David to encourage and change lives, even when David is not able to speak. I spoke with Marina yesterday and she said that when David was on the respirator, it wasn't him anymore, it was the Holy Spirit, and when he came off of the machine, David was back. Incredible!!

David's birthday is next month (he will be 35 years old) and he had really been wanting an Apple laptop computer. Marina wants to get it for him now so that he can enjoy it while in the hospital. This would be a huge financial burden on them. Marina is a hair stylist and only makes money when she works; and she took all of last week off to be by David's side. David is not able to work and they still have rent to pay, food to buy and the hospital bills are adding up.

To help fundraise money for David and Marina, I made beautiful postcards with Bible verses on them. I am selling packs of 10 cards for $10.00 and 100% of the profit goes to them. If you are interested in buying a pack, please let me know. If you feel led to donate more money, that is greatly appreciated. If you are not able to do either, your prayers are warmly welcomed! 
Below are pictures of them over the last couple of weeks.

Thank you again for your prayers. Please feel free to share this with friends and family. The more people diligently praying for David and Marina, the better.


Again if you would like to purchase a pack of postcards, please leave a comment and let me know.


Thank you and God bless,
Ashlee





Tuesday, March 5, 2013

When Nature Calls...

My husband wanted me to teach him how to use my camera. We both think it'd be such a great thing to be a husband and wife photography team! This last weekend we went around town and I showed him how to shoot in manual setting (he's a smart guy, he can handle it). He got a shot of a branch that I love! I told him when we buy a house, I will be hanging that on the wall. I'm so proud of him and am looking forward to many more photoshoots together. The picture below his branch was one that I took on our nature outing, will probably end up hanging that one too.
If you would like to purchase either of these, they are for sale on my website: SincereSnapshots.com



Sunday, March 3, 2013

Sincere Snapshots

It's been a while since I last posted. A lot has been going on, but it's all ultimately led to good things. Last month I officially got my photography business up and running! WooHoo!! I'm continually adding great products to packages for clients, and am very happy with the idea of getting to do photography full time. My website is WWW.SINCERESNAPSHOTS.COM Please visit my site and also please "Like" Sincere Snapshots on Facebook. Once we've reached 100 "Likes" there will be a random drawing for a FREE photoshoot!!

I'll end tonight's post with a collage of the photo shoot I did today.
God bless!