We received about 2 more inches of snow overnight.  It is still snowing now but should quit around noon.  Since I do not have any vacation or sick days left I had to come on into work today.  The drive in was not that bad.  I usuallly drive the side roads but today I took the highway since I knew those roads would be the most clear.  Since the snow will be quitting during the day the road crews will have the streets treated by the time we leave today.  I plan on leaving at 4:00PM so that I can get an early start and hopefully beat some of the traffic.  Another good thing is since it is the week between Christmas and New Years alot of people are on vacation so there are not as many people on the roads during the rush hours anyway.

Hylari is really into acting and drama.  She says she wants to be an actress when she grows up.  I do not squash her dreams and go along with it although I do hope she chooses something else as she gets older.  The Hollywood lifestyle is not something I want her to get involved in.  However, being involved in acting and drama in this stage of her life gives her something to focus her time and attention on rather than other things.  The high school she will be going to is known for their drama and they put on two big productions each school year.  Hylari has taken acting classes through our Sermon Center and has performed in two plays through that and has been in a couple productions at school including the leading role in a Japanese play.  Today I was searching for some acting classes and found a really neat production company that works through a church and teaches through Christian eyes.  There is an improv workshop, an acting technique class, and a hip hop dance workshop that I am going to see if Hylari is interested in.  If she is I am going to get her signed up as soon as possible so that she can get into the classes.  The class doesn't start until February and the workshops are in March and April.  The church is about 30 minutes away but I am willing to drive that far in order to have her involved in a Christian organization.

I am in somewhat of a down mood today.  I am on a prayer chain for two children that have websites on caringbridge.com.  If you are not familiar with caringbridge.com it is a website where either parents of sick children or the children themselves can blog about their illness and let others know how they are doing rather than having to make phone calls to update everyone.  You can also pledge donations through the website to help with medical expenses and of course, offer prayer.  I was reading the updates on the two children that I pray for and one of them had a link on their site about a young boy named, Christian.  Christian is a 14 year old boy who found out 20 months ago he had a rare form of lukemia.  His doctors have been aggressively fighting the cancer and he has become cancer free.  However, the cost of killing the cancer was another illness that took over his body and this illness will take his life.  His parents are devot christians and have come to terms with, God wants Christian to come home to heaven rather than to remain on this earth.  At some point today they will take Christian off the hydration machine in which he will go home to the Lord within hours of that taking place.  When I read Christian's blog yesterday the person who posted the entry said it was going to take place yesterday; however, the doctors must have changed their mind to today.  Christian's dad posted an entry last night stating that he, his wife, and Christian's brother and sister were going to remain at his side all night long and take in their remaining time with him, although he was in complete sedation in order to keep him pain free.  After I read the blog I sat there in tears.  I wanted so bad to get on a plane and go hold these parents and siblings to take some of their pain away.  I wish there was something in my body that I could give to Christian that could be his 11th hour miracle.  I prayed to God to make the night go by so slowly so that they could sit there and hold their baby boy for the remaining time on this earth. 

Today I ask for prayer for Christian and his family.  This family is such an inspiration of faith.  Please lift them up in prayer as they go through this incredible difficult time.

If you would like to read Christian's caringbridge you can do so here.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/christianbarker

God bless you!