Vacation at Last!

Hello friends!

I just wanted to make a quick update before I leave for vacation. Thank you so much for praying for my grandpa and my brother. Could you tell everything was happening all at once?! They are both doing good. My grandpa ended up being in the hospital for 14 days with pneumonia. He is now back at the nursing home and doing as well as he can be, given the circumstances.

When my brother got to the hospital they thought he had appendicitis, but you all prayed and when they did more tests they found out it wasn't, so he didn't have to have surgery. He got to go home and he'll need to go to a doctor for follow up to figure out why he gets these pains in his side. Thanks for praying!

As for me, I had been fighting a nasty cold since the 22nd of July. It just wasn't getting better so I went back to the doctor last week. When I was at the clinic I had a temp of 100 and felt miserable. Turns out my cold turned into walking pneumonia...though I sure didn't feel like doing much walking!! I was in bed the rest of the week and after many drugs and much rest I am feeling so much better!

Dad has a meeting in Asheville, North Carolina next week. I was going to stay home with Quigley while him and mom went...but we found a dog sitter so I get to go too! I am so excited! It has been such a crazy last couple weeks and it will be SO good to get away for a while and relax. We are going to drive down. We leave this Thursday around noon. We'll be home either the 29th or 30th. The place where dad has his meetings is supposed to be amazing! I can't wait, I'm bringing my fancy camera and will take a bunch of pictures to share!

For those of you in South Carolina, you are more than welcome to come visit me in Asheville, I'd love to see you!! (Hint, hint!)

Well, I better get back to the packing, but many of you have been asking for an update so I wanted to make sure I got this out before we leave on Thursday! Again, thank you so much for your prayers, God is so good!

Back to the packing...

Is It August Already?!

Hello dear friends,

I have to apologize for missing my post last month. I can't believe how quickly this summer is going! Here in Wisconsin it hasn't felt very "summerish" as it's felt more like October!

I have had a very good summer so far. These last couple weeks have been kind of rough though. I'll get to that later.

In June my dear friend Linda came to visit me. It was so great to see her again and show off beautiful green Wisconsin when it isn't covered in snow! I feel like we did a whole summer's worth of stuff in 10 days! We went to Crystal Cave and saw the difference between a cave in North Africa and a cave in the states. The one in NA was so much more fun!! But we had a great time and got to go mining for gems afterwards! We also went to a cheese factory, went fishing, hung out with friends and got to take a trip to northern MN. That was great! We stayed in a cabin, went to Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse, Pattison Park (more waterfalls there) and on the way home went to Hayward, WI... home of the best candy store in the world and the Fresh Water Fishing Museum Hall of Fame!

In July I got to go to Wells, MN and visit my dear friend Cori and her family. Cori and I were roommates for two years in college and she lived with my family for a summer. I got to play with her adorable little boys Eli and Isaiah. They sure stole my heart! I loved being Auntie Josie and spoiling them a little bit! We got to go to the fair one day and that was lots of fun. We saw all kinds of animals, the pigs were my favorite of course, and tractors and historical buildings. It was such a wonderful time!

Something else that is fun is that I won an amazing prize! Remember in my last blog when I told you that Pastor Tom and I were recorded for an Alliance DVD about Partnerships. Well, we must have done okay because we both won $300 gift certificates to bedandbreakfast.com! I think mom and I might take a girls trip up to Bayfield, WI and stay at the Old Rittenhouse. We'll see what happens, but that was a fun surprise!

My health has been okay besides the fact that I have had a cold for about two weeks now. It is hanging on and I'm getting quite sick of it! I was able to drop down to 5 pills which was great, half way to being off of them! But I haven't been able to take them these last two weeks when I've been sick so that is a bummer. My joints have been feeling okay though so that's good.

My aunt had another scan and some of the cancer has grown a little. They gave her some new chemo pills to try, but her insurance doesn't cover this kind. They are $8,000 a month. She has applied to a place for help in paying for this medicine and I don't think she has heard back yet. She can't start taking them until she does. Please pray that the paperwork would go through quickly and she could get the medicine she needs. But more importantly pray that God will heal her body of this cancer!

My grandpa (dad's dad) has been in the hospital with pneumonia. It was a very nasty case and I really didn't think he'd make it. However, yesterday when I went to visit him, he was sitting up and eating and laughing and talking and doing really good. Praise the Lord! He was supposed to

go back to the nursing home today, but he had a fever again this morning so they are going to keep him a while longer. Please pray for healing for him as well.

My brother has also been very sick. He went to urgent care yesterday and they sent him over to the Emergency Room. They did some tests and sent him home. They said he just had an intestinal virus and he'd get over it. Well, he has had these awful pains in his side for quite a while and he thinks it is more than that. He called the ER this morning and told them how he'd been feeling and what the doctor did yesterday. They said that's not right and to come back in. So right now my mom is taking him in again and I'm at home with Quigley. Please pray that it is nothing serious and that God would heal Ike's body.

Please pray for good rest for my family. There has been a lot going on lately and we're all tired. Physically and emotionally. But God is good and I can see His love and care all around us in every situation. Thank you all so much for your prayers and love and support. It means more than you'll ever know!

Make sure you keep reading and check out my post below about a new book that you will definitely want to read!

GREEN

Hello friends,

This is a very special edition of Josie's Jericho. I want to tell you about a new book coming out on September 1st by my favorite author, Ted Dekker.

Green is a book I have been looking forward to for a long time. It is the beginning and the end of the Circle Trilogy. If you like the Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings, you will love the Circle Trilogy. Here is a brief description from The Forest Guard website about the book Green:

"The story of how Thomas Hunter first entered the Black Forest and forever changed our history began at a time when armies were gathered for a final battle in the valley of Migdon. Green is a story of love, betrayal, and sweeping reversals set within the apocalypse. It is the beginning: the truth behind a saga that has captured the imagination of more than a million readers with the Books of History Chronicles.

But even more, Green brings full meaning to the Circle Series as a whole, reading as both a prequel...and a sequel..., completing a full circle. This is Book Zero, the Circle Reborn, both the beginning and the end. The preferred starting point for new readers...and the perfect climax for the countless fans who've experienced Black, Red, and White."

In the Circle series you will read about the Forest Guard, people who are set to defend the truth and share Elyon's (God's) love. The Forest Guard has been recommissioned to help get the word out about Green and I have joined. I love the Circle Trilogy so much that I want to share it with you! I promise you won't be disappointed when you read these books. They grab your interest from the first page.

Please go to http://www.teddekker.com/readgreen/ to become a recruit and learn more about Green. You can get special deals on the book. Make sure you use my Forest Guard number (4588) when you sign up so that I can get points for "recruiting" you!

Enter the world of Ted Dekker and as we say in the Circle, dive deep my friends. Dive Deep!