Random Shadle tidbits

-Noah is ginormous. Dude is doing all kinds of fun stuff. He has begun creating sentences which is quite fun for us. Last night, he let me throw him around for about 20 minutes which was quite the breakthrough; usually he just doesn't like "roughhousing." He has been a great brother too.

I ran 3.75 miles today. Felt really good. I'm starting to run again after my 26 day rest (1 day for each mile!). I'm leaning towards the Cincy Flying Pig marathon on May 1st. Yes, I'm hooked.

Ministry has been amazing. Really. Amazing. We have 16 guys coming out to the small group in one dorm and around 9 or 10 to another. In my ten years on south campus I've never seen or heard of anything like that. These aren't just regular dudes either; they're already actively sharing their faith and trusting God to move on their floors and in their dorms. This is gonig to be a fun year.

And the guys in my Action Group (older students that are leaders of those small groups) are, to a man, having just great years. So much has changed from last year sometimes I just pinch myself. God is seriously on the move on south campus at OSU.

We're heading to staff conference this weekend. We're excited because the hotel we stay at has an indoor water park which will be just a blast for Noah. I'm pumped.

I'm reading "Eat, Pray, Love" right now. Don't laugh. I've been gaining moe interest in these super popular books since reading "No Impact Man." I think if I'm to be reaching out to a community with the rescuing hope of Jesus it should be good to know at an even deeper level where exactly Jesus wants to penetrate. The book has actually shed some light on a few things for me: women, depression, and the way the world thinks about "purpose in life" just to name a few.

Leah is an angel. Seriously, she is just about the best baby ever. Was sleeping through the night I think even before one month, eats great, and is just all smiles. I love this house. My family rocks.

The Browns have got me excited. Peyton Hillis plays football the way it's meant to be played. The last few years I haven't cared much about the NFL because of the league rules and guys like Brady and Manning have turned it into a wierd sort've track and field with a ball. Hillis brings that old school smash mouth stuff back and it's quite fun to watch.

MaKenzie update

Well, MaKenzie will be having surgery on November 29th. Thanks for all of the prayers. She can certainly use more prayers as she tries to finish up classes 2 weeks early and prepares for the surgery. The doctor was quite shocked that she could even function. She said her condition is normally determined when the tissue is 5 mm below the skull (this is all layman's terms of course) and most people have trouble functioning if it's 7-8 mm. Well, MaKenzie's was actually 20 mm! Praise the Lord that things haven't been awful for her! She has been having terrible headaches and has dizzy spells. She's fallen a few times and is having trouble focusing, but it's really awesome to know that there is an end in sight.

Luckily the recovery is 2-3 weeks so she won't miss winter quarter at all. That is another huge answer to prayer. She is such a trooper. We're so thankful that she's getting answers and that everything is seeming to fall into place for her to be able to get better. Please also pray for her time at home as it can be very stressful with her family. Her parents are divorced and things tend to get sticky sometimes when she's home. Thank you all again for your prayers. We'll keep you updated as things progress.

On an unrelated note, we enjoyed some time home with the family. Todd (Bart's brother) and his wife Niki are having a baby, so we were able to be home for the shower. The kids did really well traveling the 2+ hours to their house and enjoyed the time with the grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. We head out for Indianapolis on Wednesday until Sunday, so we're hoping the kids do well traveling the 3 hours there and back. Plus, not to mention, sharing a hotel room with 2 little ones will be a new fun adventure for all of us. Hopefully we'll all get some sleep!!!

Please pray

This is such a fitting picture of MaKenzie.....always happy!

So I (Melissa) have been meeting with a student at OSU named MaKenzie for the last year or so. Well, recently she found out that she has Chiari Malformation. Basically what that means is that a part of her brain is descending out of her skull and putting pressure on her spinal cord. As a result, she has serious headaches and cries very easily. After 6 years of headaches that have become worse and worse, she finally decided that she needed answers. She had an MRI this week and that is when she became aware of this. It breaks my heart that she has to go through so much at such a young age. She has tremendous faith in the Lord and I trust that God can heal her of this. Even if he doesn't, he is still good.

At this point, she has to see a neurologist and figure out when she needs to have surgery. They would probably need to enlarge the hole at the base of her skull and potentially remove something in her spine. We don't know all the details yet, but I want people to be praying. She is such a great girl and I'm blessed to have her in my life. I'll continue to update as I know more. What a crazy thing! To have brain surgery at the age of 21. It just blows my mind!

Thanks everyone for your prayers. We're blessed to have wonderful people in our lives. Our CCC fall retreat is happening right now as I type this. Right now, around 300 college students are gathered to worship the Lord in unison. How awesome is that?!?! Please pray that this retreat would be a catalyst for change is people's lives. We all need to grow and we pray that this would just be one more avenue. I'm excited to get to go tomorrow for a bit and connect with students. We'll update more about retreat later.

Thanks everyone!!! We are excited for what the Lord has in store for our future, MaKenzie's future and the movement at Ohio State!