February Update

It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation.”
Romans 15:20 

Mellette Moments

Mellettes and Montreal… Is there a moving date yet?  Lord willing, we hope to move when everyone moves in Montreal…in July!  July is the popular moving month in Montreal…we’re guessing it’s because of Montreal’s frigid winter months.

We have found – what we think – would be the best home for our family in Montreal – and it’s only a block from the church.  The home would adequately accommodate mission teams and easily host youth group activities.  Would you pray with us that if this IS the house we should purchase, that we would be able to act on it? 

The Lord has opened up many exciting opportunities for our family to share the spiritual need in Montreal with many different people- at Lancaster Bible College, at different churches and with many various individuals.  It’s been very enlightening to many people as to how different life in Montreal, Quebec is compared to the rest of Canada.

Christmas 2011

Praising God for Fixable Glitches

Before Surgery

After Surgery...the SAME day!

On January 11 we learned our 7-year-old daughter had a heart condition called SVT.  Apparently, she had an extra “electrical cord” that caused her to have rapid heartbeats. She had to be closely observed so Morgan had to wear an event monitor.  Although her monitor “went off” several times indicating that her heart rate was over 180, Morgan had 2 significant “episodes” – one that even required her to have an overnight hospital stay.  On February 9, Morgan had a heart catheterization at CHOP
(Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

"Crush"

Morgan's present from family....a turtle named "Crush"

Praise and Prayer Requests

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

Items of Praise: Morgan’s heart procedure went well and is healing well. Praise for more financial partnerships and more than 100 prayer supporters.  Praise God that we found a great house in Montreal…

Prayer Requests:  Pray that God would provide a house that would meet our needs and house groups and youth activities. Pray for the sale of our home in PA, continued monthly financial support, a smooth transition to the mission field, and for a fruitful ministry.

“French Canadians are primarily descendants of settlers from France. These settlers from France were almost all members of the Roman Catholic Church. Until the 1960s religion was a key component in the culture of French Canada as religion influenced schools, hospitals and other aspects of everyday life. In the 1960s religion lost some of its cultural significance as the province of Quebec came to focus on the issue of sovereignty and became more secular in general. Diversity in religion has also grown with continued immigration particular to cities such as Montreal. The influx of new residents into the French culture has led to many residents and members of French Canada being practicing Muslims, Jews, as well as Roman Catholics.”

Article from: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk

Update from Morgan!

In the elevator at CHOP...

Here we go!

When we got to the front desk, Daddy said,
"We'd like one heart surgery and a side of fries!"
7am humor.

In the waiting room. Messing around with the camera to keep us distracted.

I got my animals. I'm good to go. I got the snake at Cracker Barrel and Mister Jeff, our children's pastor, gave me this special puppy.

Giving Mom a "thumbs up" - I think she was more scared than me! Check out the fact that I don't have a pillow in this picture....

....But, in this picture I do! A lady who had a child in the oncology unit for many years, decided to make pillowcases for patients. I told my wonderful nurse my favorite color - red - and then, since it was SO obvious that I'm in love with animals, she got me a red pillowcase with kitties on them! How cool is that?!!? I get to keep this pillowcase!

When I was in my 5 hour surgery, Mommy and Daddy had a surprise visit from their friends at their mission headquarters (Fellowship International Mission)...Francisco and Dean. They drove TWO hours from Allentown to spend two hours with Mommy and Daddy so they could keep their mind off of worrying about me.

Each hour my parents got an update on how I was doing. The doctors were able to get me in SVT mode - they got my heart to race - and found my extra electrical "cord". It was close to my main conductor, but my amazing doctor was able to burn it twice....Burning, I'm told, is more effective than freezing, so this was a good thing!

Here I am after surgery. I had to lie flat for 4 hours. I did pretty good, if I may say myself. I watched "Lady and the Tramp."

This is Kara - the wonderful lady - whose job is to keep me happy. On Tuesday when she asked me what I want on my procedure day, I told her a pet monkey. She said there was this monkey following her around everywhere today and wondered if I would take care of it for her already!

She called this monkey my "funky monkey" and I love it!

Finally after a 5 hour heart procedure and 4 hours of lying flat, I'm going home! Mom and Dad can hardly believe it! My nurse told me that if I had my tonsils out, I'd have a longer recovery. Isn't that just crazy?

I also had a nice visit from MeMa and Pop-Pop who brought Mommy and Daddy lunch. But, Mommy was forgetful and didn't remember to get a picture of them, so here's an awesome picture of them. MeMa told me on Tuesday that she had a surprise for me, but that I had to wait until Thursday. She had asked me last week what I'd like special for my surgery. I told her "a duck, a turtle or a monkey." MeMa is something else....Guess what her and Pop-Pop got me? I think she had some help from my aunt and uncle, too.

Yep! A turtle! And, I'm going to call it CRUSH!

I can't wait to he comes today - Friday!

Here's what is keeping me content for now...a balloon (it came with pretty flowers) from a really cool church - CMBC - we don't even go to the church who sent us the flowers and balloon, but they like hearing about what we're going to do in Montreal and they pray for us, so they sent me a special flower basket and balloon....how nice!

....Wait a second. What was that?
"Mom, the UPS truck is here!!!"

Eve of Procedure

Wouldn't it be cool if her hospital room was like this tomorrow??!!??

Our Pretty Little Princess on the eve of her heart procedure

Morgan has the camera!

A close up of Morgan's finger! hahaha




The hotel room from Morgan's perspective

Morgan's friends who came to support her before, during (?) and after surgery

Thinking about her big brother Gabriel....

knowing he and Mommy would LOVE to have a book light on their bed like this one!

How cool is that (love that book light)!

Morgan reading up on Philadelphia.

hee hee

Morgan picked the restaurant for supper on the way down to Philly - Cracker Barrel - but, then decided once we got here that ice cream would top things off. Yum!

Since it's still snowing out, we obviously needed something warm to drink. So some hot cocoa hit the spot!

Thank you for your prayers!

We appreciate them all and sense God's peace!

THANK YOU!!!!

Mellette Moments Update

Prior to January 11 our 7-year-old daughter never seemed to have problems with her heart, but the afternoon of January 11 proved we were wrong! Morgan was listening to her teacher read a book when her heart began to race....it shot up to 200 beats per minute. Her neck was pulsating...it was scary! After that Morgan was put on a heart monitor and has been on one since her trip to a pediatric cardiologist. Her heart monitor went off several times at school, indicating a heart rate of over 180. Thankfully, my classroom is in the same hallway as Morgan and my room is actually across from the nurse's room.

A second huge episode happened on January 28. Morgan was at home and Jerad was getting ready to go hang out with some friends. I was actually caring for a sick house guest when Morgan told Jerad she didn't feel right. Her heart was beating so fast. Jerad contacted Morgan's cardiologist and instructed him to take her to the ER immediately. Her heart rate wouldn't stop accelerating - it was at 228 beats per minute!

Jerad rushed her to the ER and as soon as my mom was close to my house, I left Gabriel and Daniel (our 11 year old house guest) and drove as fast as I could to the ER. Right before I came into Morgan's room in the ER, her heart rate finally settled down. A few minutes later, Jerad - and the doctor - told me that Morgan's heart had actually stopped! It was so very scary! Jerad said it was like a scene out of a movie - the doctor had a panicked look on his face - as if to say -"That's not supposed to happen."


We - Jerad and I - spent the night in the hospital with Morgan and she now has a diagnosis called SVT - It's where you have an extra "nerve" in your heart causing these very rapid heart beats - it's an electrical problem.

Today, my mom drove Morgan and I to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to do 5 hours worth of waiting and tests! At 2:30, we finally got to leave and get Morgan some lunch. Her heart ablation - heart procedure - is scheduled for Thursday morning, February 9. She needs to be there at 7am and her catheterization will begin at 8:30. The doctors said it will take - on average - 4 hours. Then, she will need to lie flat for 4 - 6 hours. If there are no complications, Morgan should be released Thursday evening and will be allowed back to school on Monday with minor limitations.

Jerad and I will be taking Morgan down to Philadelphia Wednesday evening and sleep at a hotel. We are thankful my family lives close by so they can take care of Gabriel. We appreciate your prayers!