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Oddly, these moments, when I sat miles away from the answers I wanted, were an unexpected gift because they caused me to consider the practice of being still. Maybe today you actually are reading these words in a hospital waiting room while someone you love is in the operating room, and your prayers seem to dissolve into antiseptic air as you cry out silently Jennifer’s newest book, It’s All Under Control, and a companion Bible study, are releasing today! It’s All Under Control.

At the end of May, Andrew graduated from high school – a milestone that wavered in the hazy distance during those rough initial months of chemotherapy. In the process of mailing out graduation announcements, Andrew asked if we were going to send one to Doernbecker Children’s Hospital where we spent an inordinate amount of time for a few years while beating Leukemia. Once suggested, the rest of Andrew’s plan was for me to write the letter and send it along with his announcement: If you are medical personnel reading this and have not received a note of gratitude or a thank-you-hug recently, consider this as both. I’m a teacher, not a medical person, and I view daily my input on the lives of my students and I pray I do well.

So far in life, I’ve avoided the embarrassment of a student saying, “Teacher, your teeth are yellow. ” But, I have wondered about teeth whitening systems—especially since I enjoy a cup of coffee (or two) on a daily basis, and drink herb teas

About this time, I purchased a laptop computer that I carried with me and kept hooked up to the phone line in Pedro’s hospital room (wireless networks had recently made their debut). Unbeknownst to me, many people forwarded my emails to their friends, and before I knew it I got emails from strangers in other states and even countries asking to be added to the email list or just dropping me a note to let me know they were praying for Pedro. A close friend who had helped us during Pedro’s illness received a cancer diagnosis several years ago, and she chose to act as gatekeeper to information (her husband had no interest in social media, while she already had a presence online). The phone tree, an old-fashioned but effective method of communicating whereby you enlist the help of several key people who commit to calling people on a list when there is a need to ask for help, prayer or give information.