James 5:16

While this is the letter i wrote for my church, it's always for you my readers as well. Plus i will be adding more information so that everyone is up to date with what is going on.

Dear Readers,

This is a hard letter for me to write, and it will probably be hard to hear. There isn’t an easy way to say this, or a pretty way to word it, so I am just going to tell you; I am pregnant. I went through a time where I wanted to take things into my own hands, decided that I know what is best for Courtney, what I think will make me happiest, and as everyone knows, that never works out. You just continue down this road of loneliness and guilt and your days are full of regret, and then you remember that God’s ways are always better, that his plans, his path, are always, always, always the best.

The bible says in James 5:16, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.” (The Message)

So I am coming to you, and confessing that I have sinned. I am asking for your forgiveness, and obviously God’s so that I can be right with Him and right with all of you too. 

It’s been a hard time for me, since I found out. I am not even 100% sure that I wanted to have my own children, these kids at Sunrise more than fill that part of my heart, but this baby is coming, and just so you know it’s a girl. While I have been living in a state of denial for some time now, there is a verse in the bible that I have always loved and it has a whole new meaning for me now.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Psalms 139:13-16 (NIV)

I have to believe that while this baby is not coming into the world in the God perfected plan she is a plan none the less. While she might not have been the plan that I wanted or that my family wanted or that you my church wanted, she is and always was a part of God’s plan, and that gives me hope. Hope for myself, and hope for the future. This baby is part of a plan bigger than me, bigger than my mistakes, bigger than this world, because she is God’s plan, just like all of us are. And what a beautiful thing that is.

I am sure you are wondering what this means for me and Sunrise, I still plan to fill my commitment of 5 years here. I am coming home to have the baby, and then returning to Tanzania. I have spoken with the director and she said that she loves me and will support me in any way that she can. While having a baby is going to make things a little more challenging, it won’t take anything away from my work here. Not to mention the 16 brothers and sisters this little one will have. I still feel led to be here, to continue to be a constant for these children, to continue to love like Jesus, and until God says otherwise Tanzania is home. 

Again I am writing this letter to ask your forgiveness, and to make things right with all of you and with God. While I am sure you are all in shock now, and this will take time to digest, if you want to know anything else please don’t hesitate to contact me, my email is c.hohensee@yahoo.com. You are all family to me, and I want to be as honest and open with you as I can.

Love, Courtney

The plans:

I will be coming home the last week of May before I hit the 35 week mark and can't fly. Her due date is June 27, which my mom told me was also my due date (but i was 2 weeks late). We are currently trying to get her father his passport and visa so that he can also come to the states for her birth. So please be praying that all works out, and it doesn't go on "Tanzanian" time. We hope to stay until the end of August, or beginning of September, so hopefully she'll have lots of time with her American family before we return to Tanzania. 

As far as how the baby and I are doing, we are fine. Things looked great at my last appointment. She moves all of the time now, and her kicks are starting to get stronger. She seems to favor the night time movements, which are slightly less convenient for my sleep.

I just want to end by thanking all of the people who have sent me such touching words of encouragement, and advice. It means a lot to have so many people who love and support me, especially in a sensitive time.

The best is yet to come!

 Many Exciting things are coming to Sunrise. This month has been full of much anticipated meetings, and finally getting the deeds to Sunrise land. We finally had our very first trustee meeting (Sunrise is now a trust) and it went extremely well. The trustees gave us a lot of really great ideas, and things to focus our fund raising efforts on. As you all know, our main goal is to make Sunrise self sustaining. We grow our own food, and are slowly expanding the garden space to grow more, we have 75 avocado trees that will be producing in 2 years time, and a few other small projects, but its time to think BIGGER. The trustees suggested that build a larger carpentry shop, with about 6 machines. They say with this we can mass produce furniture for schools and companies in the area; things such as tables, chairs, bookshelves, beds, cabinets, etc. They also think that we should also build a store, and sell things that Uhekule and surrounding villages need. An expat in Njombe is working for a company that sells fertilizer and chemicals and things for the farm, people in our area have to pay for these items to be transported from Njombe, BUT if we sold them near by it would be much easier and cheaper for them. The man in Njombe says that he will supply us the things we need for our shop, and help transport them here (to Uhekule). Kay is going back to the states in about 2 weeks and will hopefully be able to fund raise for some of these projects!!

The kids are all doing well!! One of our boys is 13 and in the 4th grade. He came to me the other day and asked if we can get him bumped up a grade or two, because he just realized he will be 17 when he graduates Uhekule primary! He says, "Court-ta-ney, i will be mzee sana!" (i will be very old). He is always the child that is good at everything, top of his class, speaks the best english, great at all the sports he plays, great at all the board games, basically anything he does he excels at! We are in the process of trying to get him moved up, but its not something that they usually do so we are being faced with a lot of hoops to jump through.

Back a few weeks to a month or so ago, one of our girls was at school complaining of a headache and her stomach was hurting. They teacher called me to come get her, but then called again to say she had fainted in the classroom. Our Handyman drove up to the school to get her and brought her back to Site, she was not responding so I told them to take her over to the dispensary. When we got there the nurses thought maybe dehydration, I said great, start that IV. Next thing i know they are trying to force water down this poor none responsive girls throat. I tried to tell them they can't do that it's dangerous, and would never get enough water into her system anyways. I ran back to site to get the "Where there is no doctor book" so that i could show them what to do. By this time she had woken up some and they told me they couldn't do the IV because she refused. I said, "She's 9 years old its not about what she wants, its about what she needs." My frustration was building and so I finally call Bibi Kay (who was in town at the time) and asked her if we could take her somewhere else.

One of the major problems with healthcare in this area is that they use antibiotics for EVERYTHING. They hand them out like candy and for anything you come in with; headache, stomachache, colds etc. Things you would not use antibiotics for, things that usually lots of water and rest can fix. A doctor in the area (who is from another country) said that there is now a new strand of Malaria that cannot be treated with the medications they have now. This is due to the fact that they treat everything like malaria, and give you the medication for it, even when it isn't, and the excessive use of antibiotics.

So back to the dispensary, they then bring in a syringe with something in it. I ask the nurse what it is, she says antibiotic (with the expression of no duh) I took it out of her hand and said you are NOT giving this child an antibiotic. They say, "then what kind of medicine do we give?" I say none, the IV would've done just fine. So the story ends when we finally get this poor child to another hospital where they know not to give out malaria medicine and antibiotics for everything, and they conclude that the child was indeed dehydrated. She is now back to normal and learning the importance of drinking water.

I am waiting for the medical officer to return from her Vacation and then I would like to educate her on antibiotics a little and show her some material that I have received from nurses who go overseas and educate on this very thing. It's such and important thing for them to learn, and a life saving thing too!

We are working hard in the farm right now, trying to get our corn caught up. We have 6 acres of corn and 1 of potatoes. We decided this year to only plant enough potatoes for our own consumption, and it turns out we made a good choice too. The southern highlands (where we live) is the area that supplies potatoes to the rest of Tanzania. Usually if you are harvesting them now, you can sell each bag (which is about 250lbs of potatoes) for around 50,000/= tsh ($31.00) and therefore can make a great profit, but for some reason this year they are only selling for 22,000/=tsh, ($13.75) which is ridiculous! These farmers literally work themselves to death every year in their farms, and to be taken advantage of is so frustrating. Especially when the "middle man" is making around 70,000/=tsh ($43.75) for each bag he sells. But the farmers here are just thinking in the short term, the needing money now, and the buyers are taking advantage of this.

We have a new volunteer coming to Sunrise! She arrives one week from today from New Zealand. Her name is Gerusa, she is in her 30's and very excited to come help us here. We are also excited to have higher-ed a retired teacher from Tanzania to help at site as well. She will come once a week to teach and tutor our children in the subjects they may be struggling in. It will be great to have an actual teacher here to help out, especially because we cannot teach all of the subjects to the children. Plus it will be nice to have another volunteer to hang out with, although i have become accustomed to having the whole volunteer wing to myself!! But I guess I can share :)


(I was trying to upload some pictures but the internet is not allowing me today, 3rd world country and all! Will try next time I'm in town!!!)

First Blog of 2014

“But what we really need is God. What we really need is someone who loves us so much we don’t worry about death, about our hair thinning, about other drivers pulling in front of us on the road, about whether people are poor or rich, good-looking or ugly, about whether we feel lonely or about whether or not we are wearing clothes. We need this; we need this so we can love other people purely and not for selfish gain, we need this so we can see everybody as equals, we need this sour relationships can be sincere, we need this so we can stop kicking ourselves around, we need this so we can lose all self-awareness and find ourselves for the first time, not be realizing some dream; but by being told who we are by the only being who has the authority to know, by that I mean the Creator.”

-Donald Miller

The children have returned. These empty rooms and halls are now filled with children’s voices, laughter, and joy. I now hear constant “Court-ta-neys” through my window. And now we have sixteen children. We just added another little girl, her name is Halima. Her mother just passed on December 12, and this little girl needs lots of loving and prayers. It’s so hard to know that these children have lost so much in such short years, that they have seen pain that I have never even known; and yet I keep thinking how amazing our God is. He takes people who are broken, and lost, and hurting and he takes their lives and turns them around. He takes these children who have lost so many loved ones at such a young age and turns them into happy, no worries, full of life children. If he can do that for them, he can do that for you and me too.

Halima!

 

 

 

We are in our summer right now, which means lots and lots of rain. The rain here is different, it’s not a steady rain, but a rain that when it comes it POURS, and since the roads are dirt, it makes traveling anywhere, especially by foot, next to impossible; and it always brings thunder and lightning. Since we are at such a high elevation I feel like the lightning strikes close, much to close. There have been people in other villages that have been struck recently, which make me yell and scream at the kids to get their takos (bottoms) inside. 

Like I have mentioned before I have a special talent for potato farming. Apparently I impress my fellow Tanzanian workers with my ability to wield a jembe, or hoe. (I still am not quite sure if this is something to brag about or not yet.)These aren’t like the American type, they weigh 5-8lbs, and they are much larger too. Anyways, so I might be able to do it, but at a much slower pace than the Tanzanians and also for a lot shorter of a time period. But none the less the rest of the villagers get this bug eyed look on their face when they hear I am able to do the work. There is also lots of laughing involved when it comes to looking at my hands that still get blisters because they aren’t calloused over yet. One thing I have had to get used to in Tanzania, is always being laughed at; when I speak their language, when I work, when I smile, when I wear their style outfits, just about anything I do induces laughter, which when I really think about it is kind of a beautiful thing, always able to bring out that kind of happiness in others, even if it is in terms of at you instead of with you. 

On Sunday after church and lunch I took the kids up to the soccer field at their school. The boys played soccer and the girls hung around with their friends who eventually made it my way to sit with me. Now that my hair is shorter there isn’t as much braiding to be done with it, but the girls still like to try, and their friends think it’s funny to touch my hair too. 

I’m learning a lot of patience again. I think I am always learning about patience. I want to stress over the little things, all the time; like shoes being all over the dining room, or having to repeatedly tell the kids to shower, this happens rarely, or things not being done the way I would’ve done them, or meals not being on time every once in a while. I have to pause and ask myself, “Courtney, are these things really worth stressing over?”

“Well probably not but-“

“Sometimes there are shoes all over the dining room, is it hurting anyone that they are there?”

“I guess not.”

“Kids will be kids you know.”

“Yea I know.”

“Why is it so important that things be done your way if they are still getting done, and correctly?”

“Well I guess that doesn’t matter so much, but meals should be on time we have a schedule to keep!”  

“Is it really hurting anyone to eat a little later??”

“No, but-“

“Is someone going to die if we eat dinner late sometimes?  They are cooking for 20 people.”

“Well when you say it like that, I guess it’s not that big of a deal.”

I wish I was kidding but sometimes I really have to have a conversation with myself to work out these sorts of issues that I sometimes have with myself. Sometimes my rational side has to put me in check and put things into perspective for me. Truthfully most of the things I work myself up over are things that are really not that big of a deal, and honestly things could be a lot worse than shoes in the dining room, and meals being eaten later. At least I know that we live in a home filled with love, and that is more important than anything else. 

Big things are potentially coming our way, if it’s God’s will of course. This Methodist organization from the states is sending a pastor our here on January 20th to check out Sunrise and maybe approve us to be taken under their wing. What this means for Sunrise is that we will finally have a place to send our money, expense free, and they will sign us up for getting volunteers sent out here. We are looking for volunteers to come for at least a year at a time, and they will be our “sisters”. (Since this is the hardest position to keep people in.) The more exciting thing is that they have a process for screening volunteers and will only send us people who fit our criteria completely. What this means for Kay is that she can have the out she needs, as she is retiring in August, and will only be coming back for a few months a year. What this means for me is that I will continue to be the manager/director at Sunrise, and will be training the new volunteers who come in. I am also looking at the option of finding a house in the village to live in, one that is hopefully close to site, so I can just walk right over here every day to work, but yet have my own space to relax in. While I love living at Site, and moving into the village means roughing it village style, I know that I need to think sustainability for myself and maybe having a little space to call my own in my new life will bring me just that. And it won’t change things that much I will still be a hop, skip, and a jump away from site, where the majority of my time will still be spent! 

My adjustments back to Tanzania have been a little rough, as previously mentioned. I feel like this time around and for a while now, I have been leaving God out of my life here. I have put him on a back burner and started trying to live on my own, seeking happiness in other people. It’s funny how I find myself doing this over and over again. I start living my life for God, following where he leads, knowing that the happiest I have ever been and ever will be is in the center of his will and yet I still stray. I still try to make my own happiness, try to find my worth in the world instead of in the God who created me and who is the only one who can tell me what my worth is. 

I’ve come to the realization, with a lot of help from some great authors, and a lot of nudging from God, that I will only have good relationships with people when I stop looking to them to redeem me; when I stop hoping that they will give me my worth. Because basically what it comes down to is everyone, at some point or another, is going to let you down; everyone that is but God.  I’ve been reading these amazing books on loving like Jesus did, about being an example of him, about his life and how he spent it, and the reoccurring message is that we are all sinners who fall short of the Glory of God, we all make mistakes after mistakes whether we want to admit it or not, but the beautiful thing about Jesus is that he knew all of this about us before he came to save us. That even though we are all these awful things most of the time, He still loves us and he still chose to die for us. I don’t know about you but if someone loves me that much even though I screw up and try to do things my own way, even though I constantly try to find my worth in other people, and the even” though’s” is a long list, but the point is that he still loves me enough to die for me, then why would I turn to anyone else to find my worth as a human being? 

“Imagine how much a man’s life would be changed if he trusted that he was loved by God? He could interact with the poor and not show partiality, he could love his wife easily and not expect her to redeem him, he would be slow to anger because redemption was no longer at stake, he could be wise and giving with his money because money no longer represented points, he could give up on formulaic religion, knowing that checking stuff off a spiritual to-do list was a worthless pursuit, he would have confidence and the ability to laugh at himself, and he could love people without expecting anything in return. It would be quite beautiful really.”

-Donald Miller

Some Pictures From when I first arrived back in Uhekule!

The kids running to the car!

Trying to get the car door open!

Hugging!

Combined birthday!

Akwirino, Elenesta, Ziada

 

Christmas 2013

2013 Christmas Tree (with Gifts)

 This is my second Christmas in Tanzania. While it is hard to be away from all the people i love back home, it is a time of joy here as well. Getting to experience Christmas with the kids and seeing a whole new appreciation and joy in their eyes, is such a beautiful thing. I wouldn't trade it for the world. We did Christmas a little early this year because the kids were heading to their homes on Saturday (Dec 21). I wanted to give them a chance to enjoy their gifts because they would not be taking them to their homes. (Sometimes nice things don't come back.) They received such simple gifts (by American standards) but the joy that it brings these children is so touching. I love to be surrounded by that kind of amazement and wonder, especially when its coming from children who don't have a whole lot, and who have seen such deep sorrow.

Children with their gifts on, Courtesy of employees at Clackamas County Jail.

When the families came to get the children I couldn't help but be sad to see them all go. I just got back, but i know that they love to go home. I know that while their lives at home are not as luxurious as what they receive from Sunrise, they enjoy being back in their roots, and I am so happy that they have a chance to have both lives. That they can be reminded of where they came from and yet know that their futures are bright and I want to give them the world.

Franki, Yona, Eliza, Jeneti, Elisha

As each family came to take their child many of them invited me to their houses for Christmas. I feel truly blessed here and loved, not only by my children but also by their beautiful families who just want to give and give more. This place feels more like home all of the time.

Franki, Elia, Lukemelo, Sesi

I went to the village soccer game on Sunday evening. It was Uhekule vs The taxi Drivers. As i was walking past the field to Kay's house I hear children shouting "Court-ta-ney! Court-ta-ney!" Three of my boys are running across the field towards me as fast as they can. They all reach me and give me big hugs and kisses. It's only been a day since I have seen them, but I can't help but feel the same way. The need to run across the field for some love, even when its been less than 24 hours since I last saw them. That is what my life is like here. Love, all of the time.

Silly Ima

It poured the entire soccer game. I mean every bit of the two hours. I had a small umbrella that 3 of my children were also trying to get under. There were puddles all over the field that the ball often got stopped in, and made for a slip and slide for the players trying to get to it. Everyone was drenched after the game but it was too good to miss. I love living in a village, and having that community. Plus i was able to see a lot of my friends who I hadn't yet seen. What a welcome home.

When I ran into the Village Chief he was very excited to see me. Although he thought I had been in Njombe for six weeks. I told him that i had gone to America and he said, "Pole sana!" (so sorry) and laughed. Oh how I love Tanzania!

I went to Njombe for Christmas, it was time for my new tradition of skyping my family! This year I had a friend to celebrate it with; Angel and Brodyn. We had the brilliant idea of buying chicken and cooking it for Christmas dinner. We were having some friends over from the village and wanted to make it a little more special. That being said you can't buy chicken from the grocery store, already dead, nicely packaged. Nope. What you buy is a live chicken package the Tanzanian way... Legs tied in a black plastic bag. It still moves, it still makes noise, it's still alive. We brought it home and it had managed to get its feet out of the bag and was moving in circles on the living room floor. If Angel and I had to kill it ourselves it would probably still be alive and be our pet, but we had a neighbor do the honors for us. What a beautiful scene it was. Oh Christmas in Tanzania!

I'll be returning to Uhekule in a few days, and the children return on saturday (Jan 4, 2014). Can you believe its almost a new year??

"I didn't think you would come back, but you did!"

I am anxiously awaiting for it to be time to return to Uhekule, to return to my 15 beautiful children. I spent two nights in Njombe because I had been so sick traveling I needed the time to rest. Now it is Monday, the day I return. Kay and I have many things to accomplish in town and spend the day running around from one place to the next. I am so ready to head back I can barely stand it. The longer it takes in town the more I feel that I will never be returning and I will be stuck in this place of waiting, forever.  Of course I am being dramatic and I know that I will be there soon, but the anticipation is killing me. 

On the drive there I am half listening to Kay and half imagining what it’s going to be like when we get to the orphanage. If I am truly honest with my emotions, I am feeling more nervous than anything. All the what ifs are running through my head; what if the kids don’t really care I’m back, what if they forgot about me, what if, what if, what if. All the while just trying to remember to breathe and take in the scenery of the home I have been absent from for 6 weeks. 

As we finally pull in to the road that will take us home my nervousness increases. The orphanage is in site and I don’t see any kids playing outside. I wonder where everyone is as we enter the grounds. When we round the corner I hear fifteen beautiful voices shouting “Court-ta-ney, Court-ta-ney!!!!” They all run out of the building and up to the truck screaming and smiling and jumping up and down. I cannot help the huge smile plastered on my face as my heart bursts with love. I try to open the car door but they are all crowding it, trying to be the first one to hug me. When I am able to step out of the car a huge group hug takes place and soon almost lands us all on our bottoms; each child jumping and reaching and wanting me to grab onto them.  I can barely take in all the faces before me but they are all there, each child, and they remember me. 

After about five solid minutes of just hugging and being with each other again things calmed down. Slowly I am able to hug one at a time, and say each child’s name, and connect with them all again. One girl says to me, “I didn’t think you would come back, but you did.” I grab her and hold her tight and tell her “Of course I came back, I told you I would!” This was my first big promise; this was my first chance to show these children that I would come back to them; that even though I went far away and was gone a long time I would return, because they are my home now. 

I ate dinner with my kids, we sat around and read stories and I asked them about what I missed, and they asked me about America, and it just felt like a normal evening in Uhekule. My heart was just so full of love, and joy, and I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around it all. I looked around the dining room and all the kids were sitting there, some were on my lap, some were doing my hair, one was reading me a book, some were playing uno, some were putting puzzles together, and I Just couldn’t shake the smile off my face. I was home. 

Each morning this week started with the children being almost surprised and excited all over again that I was there. I was back in the land of being hugged and kissed every five minutes!

However the first day I was back tragedy struck someone very near and dear to all of us at Sunrise. One of our Tanzanian helpers, Leida, received a phone call that her sister was very sick and in the hospital. She was going to go that night to be with her and help where she could. The next morning we were told that her sister passed away during the night. It was all very sudden, she hadn’t been noticeably sick, and she has a daughter who is only six years old. She had been complaining of some leg pain for some time, and the doctor’s said that she had bone cancer, but it was too late for anything to help her, and she passed away in the night. Our hearts broke and they still ache for Leida and her family, so please keep them in your prayers. I took the children to the funeral to give their love and support to Leida. It’s so hard to remember that death is a part of life and that it could happen at any time. How precious this life is that we have been given. I want to try to remember that as I go through this life;  I want to remember how much I need to cherish the people in my life and that every day is a gift that I have been given. I want to remember to laugh and love and smile. 

I have to be honest being back hasn’t been everything I thought it was going to be, I am kind of in a funk. It’s not that I don’t want to be here, because I do more than anything. It’s not that I am not happy, because I am. It’s not that I love these kids less, because I think I love them even more (if that’s possible). It’s just that I want to sit in my room and just be alone with me, myself, and I. Maybe I just need some time to reacquaint myself with this life.  Maybe I have gotten cocky and assumed that since I am happier this time around I need God less; when truthfully I need him even more now. I am headed into my second year of living in Tanzania, and now I know what to expect from certain things. I know how things are going to be working, and while I still have an endless list of things to learn, I am going in with some knowledge this year of what to expect. But as I am sure all of you with children know, there are some things you can’t anticipate, things are bound to happen and change, and they keep you on your toes. That Is the beauty of children. So while the other stuff feels like a repeat at least I have the kids to keep life spicy and new. 

That is what I am trying to focus on, the children, and the beauty that they hold. I am back to being mother to some, and Court-ta-ney to most. I am back to children jumping and climbing on me. Back to snot trails and dirty footprints on my clothes. Back to super hero band aids, and ouchies that can only be healed by me. Back to being laughed at as I try to speak Kibena (the tribal language). `I am back to being needed by fifteen little ones. Back to the best possible version of my life that I can imagine. 

"Create in me a pure heart oh God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me."

Psalm 51:10-12

Once again thank you for all of your love and support. I cannot even begin to show my appreciation for all the kind words, and emails of "Just thinking of you". And like always Karibu Sana! (Welcome)

Made it back to Tanzania

Flying back into DAR and this time I know that there is something better coming. I know that there is a place a twelve hour bus ride away, 6,000 feet up, where 15 of the most beautiful children live and are waiting for my return. I know that this place means happiness and love and that 15 hugs and millions of kisses are in store for me. I'm not afraid this time around, I know what I have committed to and I know this is my little slice of heaven.

While this bus trip was by far the worst one I have had yet, (sick the whole trip back) I am so excited and eager to get to the orphanage. I still haven't made it there yet, leaving here soon to head home! I will post more next week! We have a fun weekend full of gifts and birthdays and lots of excitement!

The trip back home was nice, and relaxing, and now i have this whole new appreciation for the things I grew up with and now no longer have. My favorite thing was probably the washing machine. You never know how good it is to have one until you wash all your clothes by hand in buckets for a year. But i can't complain too much, the people here have done it their whole lives.

It was hard to leave home again, lots of tears, I read a quote once that kind of says it all:
"You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place."
-girlgi.com

Well it's time to head back and see all my crazy kids! Thanks for all the continued prayers and support!