This Thanksgiving, we are extremely thankful for Isaac's health and not being in the hospital for the first time in three years at Thanksgiving. It still blows our mind to think that Isaac was admitted to the hospital at the beginning of his Bone Marrow Transplant process two years ago this past Thursday. Sometimes it feels like we lost a year and a half somewhere along the way. In the midst of our thankfulness we are also reminded of our friends who have lost their children in their fight with disease in the past year. You all are in our prayers and your children will never be forgotten.
In honor of them and in thankfulness for Isaac's health we are continuing this year with the Christmas Project to provide toys to children who are hospitalized during the Christmas season. This year we are focusing on Shriner's Hospital and Greenville Memorial. So far we have received around 19 boxes of gifts to deliver. If the number of toys exceeds the needs of the local hospitals, we will be making a delivery to Cincinnati Children's Hospital as well. If you would like to donate a new unwrapped toy you can send it to Isaac's Pit Stop Project 108 Garlington Court Easley,SC 29642. We will be accepting gifts up through December 15th. We would like to say a special thanks to Hendrick Motorsports and Motorsports Authentics for the generous gift of toys for the kids.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Blog Hiatus Part 2 The Remix
I am going to be taking a blog vacation for a time period while I am incarcerated. Just kidding I am not in jail but I am taking a blog break for a while until my life slows down a bit. Last time the blog break lasted two days, this time it could be three.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Today
I'll be honest, the past three of four days were discouraging. Things just kept unravelling and I couldn't figure out what was happening. Anything from equipment to just stuff crazy happening. I really had no idea of what to expect at Church with the way that my yesterday went. I was almost afraid to know what was coming next.
Then Today happened. And I must say that today was our best all around service that our church has had in our 7 weeks of existence. I believe that years from now we will look back and see that we turned a corner on November 18th 2007. The music was clicking, the sound was awesome, our volunteers were excited and it seemed like everything fell into place. It really made everything that had happened this past week all worth it. It was a ton of work but it all turned out good. I finished out the day eating lunch at Outback with all of our Children's Ministry volunteers. This coming week we finish up our Gravity series and then begin our December series "Broadcast".
Then Today happened. And I must say that today was our best all around service that our church has had in our 7 weeks of existence. I believe that years from now we will look back and see that we turned a corner on November 18th 2007. The music was clicking, the sound was awesome, our volunteers were excited and it seemed like everything fell into place. It really made everything that had happened this past week all worth it. It was a ton of work but it all turned out good. I finished out the day eating lunch at Outback with all of our Children's Ministry volunteers. This coming week we finish up our Gravity series and then begin our December series "Broadcast".
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Here's The Latest
Here's the latest.....
- This Bobcat's Game in Charlotte was awesome. Isaac got to go on the court during pregame with all of the players including 7 foot something Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets. Isaac couldn't believe how tall he is. The suite we sat in was incredible. I have sat in the suites at some Clemson games before but this took suites to a whole new level. A special thanks to the Bobcats, Rick Hendrick, and The Jeff Gordon Foundation for putting together an awesome night.
- We have started painting in the building that will serve as our youth ministry building and our church offices. Things are coming together nicely. We will be working up there on Monday and Tuesday nights next week. A big thanks to everyone who has turned out to help. We are looking for some couches and chairs for the building for our small group areas. Contact me at scbushelno@aol.com if you have one you would like to donate.
- Isaac's Christmas Project is coming along. We have started receiving gifts already and we will be focusing on providing toys to the hospitals in the Greater Greenville Area. If you would like to donate a new toy or toys to the project, you can drop them off or send them to 108 Garlingon Court Easley,SC 29642. We will be accepting toys through December 14th. The delivery date will be Sunday December 16th.
- Last night was the first night of meeting for our student ministry. I went and tagged along with our youth group. It was a good start and I'm looking forward to see what happens with the group as they begin to reach their friends.
Monday, November 12, 2007
It's Been Busy
It's been crazy busy for the last few weeks and I made a decision that if anything was going to suffer that it would be the blog and not my family or the church. So that's the reason for not many posts lately.
Here's the latest..........
Church was great yesterday. It's cool to see people get plugged in to what they are passionate about. We have some cool things planned for the upcoming months. It will involve us being intentional about reaching the community for Christ.
We begin painting the youth/office space tommorrow night. I got the keys today and it was cool to sit in there and envision what all is going to take place in the church.
I was encouraged today by a phone call that may open some doors for us to partner with some incredible ministries in reaching countries that are closed to Christianity. The coolest part is that the partnership begins with local ministry.
Tonight I was greatly encouraged at our home group.
I'll share some highlights from our trip to the Charlotte Bobcats game tommorrow. Let me just say though that it was amazing.
Here's the latest..........
Church was great yesterday. It's cool to see people get plugged in to what they are passionate about. We have some cool things planned for the upcoming months. It will involve us being intentional about reaching the community for Christ.
We begin painting the youth/office space tommorrow night. I got the keys today and it was cool to sit in there and envision what all is going to take place in the church.
I was encouraged today by a phone call that may open some doors for us to partner with some incredible ministries in reaching countries that are closed to Christianity. The coolest part is that the partnership begins with local ministry.
Tonight I was greatly encouraged at our home group.
I'll share some highlights from our trip to the Charlotte Bobcats game tommorrow. Let me just say though that it was amazing.
Friday, November 9, 2007
The Latest in Our World
Here is the latest that is going on with Isaac. Melissa usually provides more details so I just copied her latest post from his website. This week has been extremely busy and I haven't had time to post.
More good news to report….Isaac had a dentist appointment on Monday, this is the first time he has been since 2003 because of the risk of infection. We were anxious to find out how many cavities he had because for almost two years he was ordered by the doctors not to use a toothbrush because the slightest scrap or cut in the gum could cause major infection for him. I did clean his teeth with toothpaste on a toothette, which is basically a small sponge on the end of a stick.
As you can imagine this did not clean very well but we did the best we could. So, the dentist came in to evaluate Isaac’s teeth and she was talking dental words to the dental assistant and I did not understand. When she finished, I asked how bad the damage was. She said, what damage, there are no cavities. Let me repeat, she said he did NOT have any cavities. I literally about fell out in the floor when she said that, I had to ask her to repeat that several times until I grasped the fact. I was and still am amazed about this. This may not seem like a big deal to some of you but it is a huge deal for us, especially Isaac. This just proves, again, how awesome God is and how He has taken care of Isaac. The dentist did say that Isaac may need braces in the future and Isaac lost it! He was so upset! But overall a great visit.
Then Tuesday his homebound teacher came and after that it was Art Lessons. Katherine, a friend of ours has volunteered to give Isaac art lessons once a week. The cool thing about this is she has the lesson plans and the 3rd grade Art book that is being used by the Art teacher at Hunt Meadows, the school that Isaac would be attending if he was in school. This is a fun activity and something for him to look forward to during the week. Thanks Katherine!
Wednesday was home health nurse day for an IV infusion and labs. He did great through the infusion with no blood pressure issues. AND the lab results for his blood counts, for two weeks in a row now, are normal! Platelets are 185 up from 152. I know that I say this everytime but this is the best his platelets have been in over two years!!! His BMT doctor is very pleased with the improving blood counts. Today he had a doctor appointment with his Ped Gastro doc and tomorrow is a follow up with the Ped Hematologists. Full of doctor appointments this week, but it is so nice to be able to do follow ups here at home instead of having to drive back and forth to Cincinnati. We do have to go back to Cinci Dec 12th for lots of tests and clinic visits.
Sunday after church we will be in Charlotte, NC at the Bobcats basketball game. Isaac was invited to this game by the Jeff Gordon Foundation. The tickets are for box seats and there will be a couple of other bone marrow transplant families there. We are supposed to arrive at 5:00 pm in Charlotte. Isaac and the other BMT kids will get to meet the basketball players and stand out on the court with the players during the National Anthem. How cool is this!
And for other news…Isaac will be doing his Christmas Project again this year and it will be taking place here, locally instead of Cincinnati. This project will be called Isaac’s Pit Stop. This project is where Isaac delivers donated gifts to the children in the hospital for Christmas. So, if you would like to donate gifts for the children at the hospital, you can drop off or mail the donations to: 108 Garlington Ct., Easley, SC 29642.Take Care,Melissa
More good news to report….Isaac had a dentist appointment on Monday, this is the first time he has been since 2003 because of the risk of infection. We were anxious to find out how many cavities he had because for almost two years he was ordered by the doctors not to use a toothbrush because the slightest scrap or cut in the gum could cause major infection for him. I did clean his teeth with toothpaste on a toothette, which is basically a small sponge on the end of a stick.
As you can imagine this did not clean very well but we did the best we could. So, the dentist came in to evaluate Isaac’s teeth and she was talking dental words to the dental assistant and I did not understand. When she finished, I asked how bad the damage was. She said, what damage, there are no cavities. Let me repeat, she said he did NOT have any cavities. I literally about fell out in the floor when she said that, I had to ask her to repeat that several times until I grasped the fact. I was and still am amazed about this. This may not seem like a big deal to some of you but it is a huge deal for us, especially Isaac. This just proves, again, how awesome God is and how He has taken care of Isaac. The dentist did say that Isaac may need braces in the future and Isaac lost it! He was so upset! But overall a great visit.
Then Tuesday his homebound teacher came and after that it was Art Lessons. Katherine, a friend of ours has volunteered to give Isaac art lessons once a week. The cool thing about this is she has the lesson plans and the 3rd grade Art book that is being used by the Art teacher at Hunt Meadows, the school that Isaac would be attending if he was in school. This is a fun activity and something for him to look forward to during the week. Thanks Katherine!
Wednesday was home health nurse day for an IV infusion and labs. He did great through the infusion with no blood pressure issues. AND the lab results for his blood counts, for two weeks in a row now, are normal! Platelets are 185 up from 152. I know that I say this everytime but this is the best his platelets have been in over two years!!! His BMT doctor is very pleased with the improving blood counts. Today he had a doctor appointment with his Ped Gastro doc and tomorrow is a follow up with the Ped Hematologists. Full of doctor appointments this week, but it is so nice to be able to do follow ups here at home instead of having to drive back and forth to Cincinnati. We do have to go back to Cinci Dec 12th for lots of tests and clinic visits.
Sunday after church we will be in Charlotte, NC at the Bobcats basketball game. Isaac was invited to this game by the Jeff Gordon Foundation. The tickets are for box seats and there will be a couple of other bone marrow transplant families there. We are supposed to arrive at 5:00 pm in Charlotte. Isaac and the other BMT kids will get to meet the basketball players and stand out on the court with the players during the National Anthem. How cool is this!
And for other news…Isaac will be doing his Christmas Project again this year and it will be taking place here, locally instead of Cincinnati. This project will be called Isaac’s Pit Stop. This project is where Isaac delivers donated gifts to the children in the hospital for Christmas. So, if you would like to donate gifts for the children at the hospital, you can drop off or mail the donations to: 108 Garlington Ct., Easley, SC 29642.Take Care,Melissa
Monday, November 5, 2007
Christmas Project 2
Everyone knows that every good movie has a sequel, so we thought why not have a sequel to Isaac's Christmas Train.
Many of you remember Isaac's Christmas Project from last year that brought toys to hundreds of kids in the hospital. If you missed it click on the label on this page that says Christmas Train Project and read all about it.
This year we have decided to do this project again. Isaac is going to be delivering toys to a couple of different local hospitals and possibly others depending on the response. Isaac remembers what it is like being in the hospital during Christmas time and he wants to help kids that are in the hospital at Christmas time feel a little better by giving them gifts. This year Isaac has called his project Isaac's Pit Stop(he's starting to like racing a lot more now).
Anyway, if you would like to help with the project, we are asking for new unwrapped toys for kids from birth through teenagers. Toys can be mailed or dropped off to 108 Garlington Court Easley,SC 29642.
Many of you remember Isaac's Christmas Project from last year that brought toys to hundreds of kids in the hospital. If you missed it click on the label on this page that says Christmas Train Project and read all about it.
This year we have decided to do this project again. Isaac is going to be delivering toys to a couple of different local hospitals and possibly others depending on the response. Isaac remembers what it is like being in the hospital during Christmas time and he wants to help kids that are in the hospital at Christmas time feel a little better by giving them gifts. This year Isaac has called his project Isaac's Pit Stop(he's starting to like racing a lot more now).
Anyway, if you would like to help with the project, we are asking for new unwrapped toys for kids from birth through teenagers. Toys can be mailed or dropped off to 108 Garlington Court Easley,SC 29642.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Sunday Recap
Here's a recap of some thoughts from the last few days:
1. Getting an extra hour of sleep isn't all that it is cracked up to be. I woke up at 5 a.m.
2. Church was good today. We had one person receive Christ that I know of which was awesome. We had around 20 high schoolers and middle schoolers today and several college age students. We've had a lot of first timers in the past few weeks. Word is starting to spread.
3. Tomorrow night is home groups. Our home group looks like it has almost tripled in one week.
4. We had several more people sign up to get plugged in to the Church today.
5. Next Monday we get the keys to our offices and youth building and begin painting and doing some work there.
6. Our youth ministry kicks off 11.14.07. 6:00 at Pizza House bring $3 and then we head over to Velocity.
7. We raced Go Karts this afternoon at the house. Lloyd, BHolda, and myself. Of course when Bryan races something crazy always happens and of course today was no exception. Bryan lost a front tire going into the down hill turn and we still haven't found the tire. It apparently went through the backyard and across the driveway. Last time it was seen it was making it's way down through my neighborhood until it went out of sight. We live on a hill so there is not telling where that tire is right now. I did have another one so we were able to continue racing. It was pretty competitive except for the fact they neither have the amazing driving skills of myself and the way I skillfully dominated every challenge they presented to me. It reminds me of the domination that I once put on a young Adam L. in the man challenge a few years ago.
1. Getting an extra hour of sleep isn't all that it is cracked up to be. I woke up at 5 a.m.
2. Church was good today. We had one person receive Christ that I know of which was awesome. We had around 20 high schoolers and middle schoolers today and several college age students. We've had a lot of first timers in the past few weeks. Word is starting to spread.
3. Tomorrow night is home groups. Our home group looks like it has almost tripled in one week.
4. We had several more people sign up to get plugged in to the Church today.
5. Next Monday we get the keys to our offices and youth building and begin painting and doing some work there.
6. Our youth ministry kicks off 11.14.07. 6:00 at Pizza House bring $3 and then we head over to Velocity.
7. We raced Go Karts this afternoon at the house. Lloyd, BHolda, and myself. Of course when Bryan races something crazy always happens and of course today was no exception. Bryan lost a front tire going into the down hill turn and we still haven't found the tire. It apparently went through the backyard and across the driveway. Last time it was seen it was making it's way down through my neighborhood until it went out of sight. We live on a hill so there is not telling where that tire is right now. I did have another one so we were able to continue racing. It was pretty competitive except for the fact they neither have the amazing driving skills of myself and the way I skillfully dominated every challenge they presented to me. It reminds me of the domination that I once put on a young Adam L. in the man challenge a few years ago.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Volunteer of the Week
The volunteer of the week hails from the great city of Anderson. The first time I met him was when he came to hear me speak at Marathon this summer. Amazingly after hearing me speak he still wanted to be a part of the church start.
Mark Sexton is the volunteer of the week. Mark does several different things for the church. He is one of our worship leaders and does a great job. He also is responsible for all of the banners you see hanging around the church and last week he hooked us up with a 36 foot long 10 foot high backdrop banner that looks awesome.
Mark is a South Carolina fan but he is ok because he always has Clemson stickers for his Clemson friends. Mark will be leading us for the next several weeks in a row in worship. Thanks Mark for all you do.
Mark Sexton is the volunteer of the week. Mark does several different things for the church. He is one of our worship leaders and does a great job. He also is responsible for all of the banners you see hanging around the church and last week he hooked us up with a 36 foot long 10 foot high backdrop banner that looks awesome.
Mark is a South Carolina fan but he is ok because he always has Clemson stickers for his Clemson friends. Mark will be leading us for the next several weeks in a row in worship. Thanks Mark for all you do.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Guess What I Had For Lunch Today
So guess what I had for lunch today. http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/frozen-pizzas-recalled-for-possible/20071101165309990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001 Yes I had Totinos frozen pepperoni pizza at lunch today and then read this article tonight.
Some people have been asking if Isaac is going to be doing his Christmas Project again this year. Be sure to check my blog on Monday for some big news regarding this.
Some people have been asking if Isaac is going to be doing his Christmas Project again this year. Be sure to check my blog on Monday for some big news regarding this.
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