"Trey Tuesday" - December 23, 2014

The Giver AND the Gift

Last week Rachel posted that she got to spend a few minutes with Trey's Kindergarten class.  "So many hugs," she wrote.  My heart sank when I read those words, just imagining a line up of Kindergartners offering their sympathies to Rachel.

But wait!  Shake that image!  The reality is that the kids were in line to RECEIVE a hug FROM Rachel!  The children love Rachel's hugs!  And they love Rachel!

Rachel is the Giver AND the Gift!  :)

So wherever you are in your shopping, wrapping, cooking, cleaning, delivering, visiting, etc. add a touch of TLC as you go.

Be the Giver AND the Gift!  :)  Just like Jesus:

 "Thanks be to God for His Indescribable Gift!"  2 Corinthians 9:15

"Trey Tuesday" - December 16, 2014

Norman, Martha and Joyce

Who invited them this Christmas anyway?

I think the first 2 names may ring a bell with you:

Norman as in Rockwell - the beloved artist who captured ideal American experiences

Martha as in Stewart - the queen of entertaining, cooking and homemaking with style

But there is also Joyce C. Hall - who left his "mark" on his cards, and Hall-mark movies

Wow, what pressure this trio represents in our Christmas efforts!  Peek inside most of our windows and you will not see paintings, crafts or movies similar to the works of these people!  In fact, for some/most, it is quite the contrary.

Norman, Martha and Joyce weren't on the scene at the news of the very first Christmas either:

"Mary was greatly troubled at the angel's words"  Luke 1:29
"Joseph had in mind to divorce her quietly."  Matthew 1:19

Wow!  No mistletoe and holly going on there!  Yet we all know how this story unfolds...

Faithful, faith-filled people trusting God with the first step...then the next step...and the next...and the next. Not knowing the whole journey, just the next step.

Just as God calls us today.  To be faithful today.  Where/when/how God has us...right now.

The Mitlos are taking the next steps.  One part of one day at a time. 

Won't you join them?

"I am the Lord's servant.  May your word to me be fulfilled." Luke 1:38

"Trey Tuesday" - December 9, 2014

Crybaby

I've been spending some time reading a book in the Bible called Lamentations.  Lamentations means expressions of sorrow.  In the Bible, the people are lamenting following the destruction of Jerusalem. One Bible study tool explains that the people are expressing an "overwhelming sense of loss."

I can relate.  I am no stranger to tears expressing our overwhelming loss of Trey.

Cooking dinner the other night, however, I was shocked at a scientific discovery!  I was chopping onions and WOW! the onion tears started!  and continued!  and BURNED!  Onion tears pouring out unwarranted, burned my eyes before, during and after the chopping!  As I was pacing around the house, getting away from the cutting board fumes, I realized a phenomena!  Onion tears hurt very, very bad, but my tears of lamentation don't!  My tears for Trey actually feel good!  :)

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love. - Washington Irving

"Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord."  Lamentations 2:19

"Trey Tuesday" - December 2, 2014

Giving Tuesday

Rachel's beautiful Thanksgiving chalkboard art holds a powerful message:
Let our lives be full of Thanks and Giving.

Yes, we need both. We need to say, "Thank you." and we need to give.
We neeeeeeeed to give.

Give what, you ask?
Give gifts? Absolutely!
Give money? Sure!
Give time? Energy? Attention? Yes! Yes! Yes! :)

What will you give to your loved ones this Christmas season?
Trey gave us love. Trey gave us laughter. Trey gave us an example of fearless trust.

"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."  2 Corinthians 9:7

"Trey Tuesday" - November 25, 2014

Teamwork

Your Thanksgiving dinner will most likely incorporate a team of family and friends pulling together to create a scrumptious and beautiful meal!  :)  This journey called life is much the same.

Team Mitlo One has been an awesome community of love and support and prayer revolving around our Super Hero/Young Warrior....and Trey's legacy lives on in so many ways!  One way we would like to continue to support Trey's siblings is through 2 new teams:  Team Bella and Team Joe.  We plan on creating new private Facebook groups for those who are interested in supporting Joe and Bella in extra special ways - cards, visits, prayers, gifts, notes, ice cream, etc.  Please prayerfully consider joining a team if you would like to minister to the kids in this way.  No pressure and no guilt!  :)  The Pray and More for Trey page will continue to include updates and prayer requests about the kids.

If you are interested in joining Team Bella or Team Joe, please private message me and let me know which Team.  Thank you!  :)

A reflection from Trey's Aunt Marcie:

There is a community of believers that have been unified through Trey. Something special happens when "we are one" as Jesus prayed for us in John 17:21. The irony is, we need to remain "one" just as much now, if not more, than when we were praying for his healing. The harvest is ripe. 

Why did Jesus pray that for us? 

"that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me." 

(... So that we would be in Jesus and God, so that the world may believe.)

May we continue to be "one", so THEY WOULD BELIEVE. ❤️

"Trey Tuesday" - November 18, 2014

Q-Tips, Chapstick, Kleenex and BandAids

When was the last time your child asked you for an "adhesive bandage"?
Or a "facial tissue, cotton swab or lip balm"?
Chances are your family uses the trademarked names in place of the common generic terms for many every day items in your lives. 

"Trey Tuesday"

It's not a trademarked name, but it certainly holds a lot of meaning for literally hundreds of people around the world.  "Trey Tuesday" symbolizes an internet community of people which gathered each week to love, support and pray for our Young Warrior and his family. 

You are a dynamic team of faithful prayer warriors!  Read back over some Trey Tuesdays over the years to witness first hand God's amazing answers to prayer!

In October 2011 we prayed:
So as we pray for Trey this week, yes, we pray for God to completely heal Trey from cancer! = done!  :)
And for successful chemo cocktails! = done!  :)
And for a clearing up of his cold! = done!  :)
And for God's peace that passes understanding for Joe and Bella and Jay and Rachel - and Trey, too! = Amen!  Amen!  Amen!  Amen! = done!  :)

From March 2012:
This week Trey and Jay and Rachel are facing a new chapter in Trey's treatment plan. Please pray that Dr. Shaw is preparing an excellent plan for Trey!  = done!  :) Please pray that Jay and Rachel are able to discern their choices with Godly wisdom! = done!  :) Please pray that Trey continues to dance, to sing, to play, to eat, to sleep, to laugh, and to love giving testimony to God's power! = done!  :) And please pray that our Young Warrior and his journey bring many to faith in Christ! = done!  And yet still praying for more!  :) 

Your prayers have had a powerful effect on Trey's life, the life of his parents and siblings and on the entire Team Mitlo One community, encouraging one another in the name of Christ...
THANK YOU! 

Please join us as we continue the tradition and gather for weekly prayer, suitably named,
"Trey Tuesday."

"From Christ the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."  Ephesians 4:16

Trey Tuesday

Update from Jay and Rachel on Wednesday, November 5, 2014:

Suddenly and in his sleep, our Young Warrior completed his battle with cancer last night.  With his mommy on the floor sleeping by his side he went peacefully, his and her last words to each other being,  “I love you.”

Our hearts are broken, but sweet baby Trey is free.  We can feel your love and prayers even if we can't respond.  Our focus right now is getting Joe (age 11) and Bella (age 9) through this.  Thanks, friends.

Trey Tuesday for November 11, 2014:

God's Faithfulness....

We must remember.
We must remember.
We must remember.

God has shown His faithfulness over and over and over again throughout Trey's life.
And God has shown His faithfulness over and over and over again throughout Trey's death.
And now each one of us must trust God's faithfulness as we reenter into the everyday...

We MUST remember God's faithfulness!

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."
Hebrews 10:23

I had the most blessed opportunity to spend the past week with Joe and Bella (and Jay and Rachel and many, many other Mitlos!)  :)  It was Bella who began our week long journal which is entitled:  MIRACLES ABOUND!  It started when Bella spotted a rainbow in the sky on Thursday afternoon.  Just one day after losing her brother, this precious princess gasps and shrieks, "A rainbow!" with the most innocent joy!  J-O-Y!?!?  Yes, joy!  :)

Joe's first miracle came in the shape of boy's size 14 slim pants that fit perfectly, found within 2 minutes of shopping!  M-I-R-A-C-L-E!  (Joe said his clip on tie was the perfect size, too!)  :)  Joe and I spent a few minutes in the arcade at the mall.  Can you believe that a teenager approached Joe as Joe was counting the tickets he had earned, handed Joe a huge stack of tickets and said, "Here, you can have these."  Joe looked at me as if he had just hit the lottery, "Miracles Abound, Aunt Cathy!"  :)

Countless, literally countless other miracles abound, but I must at least mention a few miracles of love like the lines of Team Mitlo One friends waiting to pay their respects, the endless trail of tears, the desperate embraces, the powerful leadership and preaching of Jay, the ever so beautiful and strong Rachel, Joe and Bella's friends supporting and distracting them, the humble and thoughtful accommodations of Hebron Church, the intimately embracing Faith Community Church, and even 60 degree sunny skies as we journeyed to the cemetery and then later for my trip (with a full tank of gas!) to return home.

I am building my Ebenezer.  The photos and stories of this past week will forever be a testimony of God's faithfulness, a lasting gift from our Young Warrior....."Thus far the LORD has helped us."

"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us."  I Samuel 7:12


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