Blessings

School. I have been so grateful for CVCA last year and this year. This year I'm a senior and we have the privilege of sitting in the front of chapel. The first real chapel of the year was this past Thursday and it was so wonderful! During worship, I opened my eyes during the last song and it was an amazing feeling to see so many people with their hands raised in the air, truly giving it all to our Lord. I love that we can all worship together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Cool opportunities. Back in May, my mom found out about transfer students at my school. We talked to Mr. Shilling, the director of the international students program and found out that there was a guy and a girl coming from Norway that would be here this school year. It would have made more sense for us to take the girl since I have the bigger room, so we talked it over as a family, but never really made a decision. Then, we found out that the girl already had a host family set up and a family friend of ours was going to host the guy. So it worked out. Then, last Wednesday my mom got a call from Mr. Shilling saying there was a girl from South Korea, Seung Woo, who needed a new host family within the next week and he wondered if we would be willing to take her. So, we talked it over again as a family and started to seriously consider it. Thursday night, Mr. Shilling came over to bring us more information about her and to answer any questions. We told him we would let him know by Monday. Friday, Mr. Shilling came into one of my classes and said I could meet Seung during lunch. So I got to talk with her for a little and ask her some questions. We talked a lot as a family this past weekend and did a lot of praying. By Saturday night, my mom was excited and we all knew that we would be saying yes. Sunday afternoon, we started talking about the room arrangements and it somehow came up that if my dad moved his office, my brother could make that his room and Seung could take my brother's. I went from having to share my room to not having to give up anything besides my time to make sure she likes it here. Sunday night, my mom called Mr. Shilling and Monday afternoon we found out that she would be moving in this Thursday. It's crazy how fast things can work out and it reminds me of when I got into CVCA last year in 3 days after 2 weeks of school. My family is very excited to have her stay with us!

Family. Since I've been back in school for 9 days, I've had a few quizzes and tests already. On a very busy, stressful night I had to study for 5 tests and it was already late at night. My dad offered to help me study and it was really fun getting to talk and hang out for a bit. He was a big help and it made studying seem better. Even greater than that, is seeing how much my family is willing to give up to make sure Seung will be comfortable here. We've told all my extended family also and many of them are excited to get to know her. I love how accepting my family can be. It makes me even more excited.

Gino's Cancer Battle

In October at a leukemia walk for my friend Ashlee, I met a 10 year old boy, Gino. Ashlee and Gino know each other because they both have cancer and Gino's family came to support and walk with Ashlee, like my family did. As I got to know Gino while walking, he told me his story about how he found out he had cancer a year ago when he found a lump on his hand. If I had not known that he had cancer, I never would have guessed. Gino was happy and optimistic about everything. He sang me some songs and told me some cute stories and after that night, I was so thankful that God had put him and his family in my life. In November, a month later, Gino went for scans to see if the cancer was gone, hopefully forever. The scans looked really good and Gino was told that he was in remission. What exciting news! A week or so later, Gino started going back to school and his hair started growing back, really fast actually :) My mom and I started planning a dinner for Gino and Ashlee's families to come over and hang out. It didn't work out at the time because of the holidays, so we were going to wait till after things settled down. Then, this past Friday night, my mom received a text from Ashlee's mom saying that Gino's cancer had come back. When my mom told me the news Saturday morning, we both instantly broke down. Those words are never easy to hear. I prayed like crazy all day for God to look out for Gino and heal him completely. But then Sunday and Monday morning, I received devestating news. Gino had a seizure Saturday night and has been in the ICU since then. While at the hospital, they did some tests and found a tumor on Gino's brain. My little friend, who I care about so dearly, has two types of cancer in two different places. It is so hard not to want to just sit and be depressed, but God has been reminding me that He is good through ALL things. Please pray for Gino and his family, today, tomorrow, and whenever you think about him. I am so thankful that God is right here next to me as I hope and pray that Gino will only get better from here.