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
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