Bummer

Shawna Lynn Petrosky Memorial Scholarship Fund

One of the many reasons I love working for a nonprofit organization is that I am in a unique position to help people, and today is such a day. When a young person like Shawna--a beautiful and promising Ford City High School junior--dies, most of us cannot comprehend the depth of grief that the family and friends feel. We want to do something, anything, to help ease the pain--to erase the memory of that horrific traffic accident. Prayer, cards, food, and love all help, but there is something tangible that we can do, too.

While none of us can take the pain away for Shawna's loved ones, the family and friends who have established a scholarship fund at the Armstrong County Community Foundation in her memory have provided a way to positively channel overwhelming grief into something positive--something that will honor Shawna's memory.

Full disclosure: I am the Executive Director of the Foundation, but I would write this post if it were another organization that was handling the donations for the Shawna Lynn Petrosky Memorial Scholarship. Even if you did not know Shawna personally, please consider contributing to this fund (as I have). My prayer is that this effort will be a source of comfort for her loved ones; that they would know how many people care about what happened and want to help.

Make your check payable to "ACCF" and mail to 160 N. McKean Street, Kittanning, PA 16201, and put "Petrosky" in the memo line. We will make sure the family knows who has contributed (but not the amounts). Donations are tax-deductible.

I know my friends and readers to be caring and compassionate; let's show Shawna's family just how giving we can be. On behalf of these hurting people, thank you. God bless.

Thank you again for prayer!

Thank you so much for your faithful prayer--my CTs and my bone scan were clear.  I had an echocardiogram today, and I expect it will be fine, too--my heart murmur is a slight one.

I have a mammogram, an MRI, and a sonogram scheduled for April 4th.

You are all just the greatest!  I love the body of Christ.

One of my favorite songs is How Beautiful by Twila Paris about the body of Christ. You can read the lyrics here.

Even so, Father

William MacDonald went to be with the Lord on Christmas Day, 2007.

William MacDonald is one of my favorite Christian writers. His Bible commentary is the one I trust, and his writing is so inspiring and convicting.

So many friends of mine are going through the fire. These lines from one of MacDonald's devotionals is such a comfort to me, and I hope to them as well--"He [God] has planned our lives with infinite love and infinite wisdom. If we could see as well as He, we would have arranged things exactly as He has done."

Here is one of MacDonald's quotes: "Our lives should crackle with the supernatural."

Thank you, Lord, for the life and teachings of William MacDonald.

Prayer Request

Hope you had a blessed Easter!

Prayer requests for Tuesday and Wednesday:

Tuesday--CT and bone scans

Wednesday--EKG

Thank you!  God bless.

Mercy & Good Will

Infinity, the women's giving circle of the Armstrong County Community Foundation, has new mascots--pink flamingos named Mercy and Good Will :)

They are VERY tired of the snow.

They recently (and against my advice) made guest appearances on "The New Adventures of Old Christine."  (I recommend that you do NOT watch this show, even if your mascots or friends are co-starring . . . very bad taste.)

Mercy & Good Will hate how much garbage defaces our landscapes, especially plastic bag litter, which is such a danger to wildlife (see our Flickr set of plastic bag litter in Armstrong County here).  Mercy would have strangled on this bag, had Good Will not come to her rescue (see her tongue sticking out?)

They spent the rest of the morning cleaning up litter along Craigsville Road.

Mercy and Good Will are going shopping with their new reusable shopping bags, available at the Armstrong County Community Foundation for the low cost of 2/$5.  These bags are designed to be used twice a week for 2 years, and will replace 416 plastic bags over their lifetime.  All proceeds benefit Infinity.

Save petroleum, 

save our landscape, 

support Infinity and the ACCF,

use our reusable bags!

Signs of Spring!

Spring must be here--husband Burger is rolling the yard; 

another sign is the lighted Easter cross behind

(look above the tractor bucket).

It is amazing how brightly the cross shines from

the road after dark--our house is pretty far away.

We leave it lit all night to encourage and 

comfort those who are out late.

There is still some snow in the woods . . .

but another sure sign of Spring is the fact that our

driveway has sucked up most of the limestone!

I looked two days ago for some greenery peeking 

out of the ground and found nothing--but today

the day lilies made an appearance.

I think these tender shoots are grape hyacinths.

Fall is my favorite season, but I love Spring.

It is a new miracle every year when fresh green shoots

force their way up in the brown, dead flower beds.

How can people see this miracle and deny God?

The Bible says in Romans 1,

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse" [vv. 18-20 NAS].

Lord, may I never suppress the truth, but declare your Glory!

May the stones never have to cry out because I have been silent.

Take me (and my knitting needles) out to the ball game!

Stitch N' Pitch is coming to Pittsburgh July 13th!  Wanna go?

We can watch the Pirates, knit (or crochet, embroider, cross-stitch, or needlepoint), and have a great time.  I talked with some ladies when I was at the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival who went last year--they highly recommended attending.

Tickets aren't available for the Pirates, yet--I'll keep you posted.

Thank you for prayer!

Thank you so much for praying for my bloodwork--the tumor markers are good.

I have an echocardiogram scheduled for March 26th to check out the heart murmur I developed after my treatment.  It could have been caused by the cardiotoxic chemo I received, or the radiation.

I also have a CT and a bone scan scheduled for March 25th.  If there are any metastases, we want to find them early.

God is awesome, and so are you.

Knitting (and knitting, and knitting . . . )

This is the close-up of the Riata yarn shawl lace pattern, designed by Jean Wise, who has her work displayed in the Smithsonian.  I think there are prettier patterns, but this one is reversible because the stitch pattern consists of 9 rows instead of an even number.  I don't know where the pattern is published, as she gave it to us as part of a lace knitting class at the Pittsburgh Knit & Crochet Festival.  (What I learned at the class is that I already knew how to knit lace--don't be intimidated; it is not difficult at all!)  If I had known how easy it was, I would have been knitting lace for years . . . .

The Riata shawl has been blocked, and is drying.  (I have to cover it to keep kitties off of it.)

I'm knitting my newest shawl (below), a stockinette leaf lace triangle, in tangerine Calmer--a 75% cotton/25% acrylic worsted weight yarn from Rowan.   Pattern from Evelyn Clark's Knitting Lace Triangles.  Knitting on 32" US size 9 addi Turbo Lace needles.

Close-up of the leaf pattern.  I love it.  You have to pay attention, but it's easy.

God is so good to give us hobbies to enjoy, isn't He?

Wow--sunshine after work today!

The birdies still appreciate their feeders, 

but the sky was a beautiful blue!

Thank you, Lord, for the promise of Spring.

Snapdragon Phase of Life

Thanks to Gayla, who shared this with me . . .

Prayer Request ~

I have blood drawn this Friday,

results next Wednesday, March 12.

Please pray for a good report!

God bless.

Sudden Death & a Shoot Out!

Hockey game terms sound so violent, but it was so much fun--the Pens beat the Thrashers 3-2 in a Shoot-Out on Sunday afternoon at Mellon Arena.