Happy birthday, Jake!

Happy 2nd birthday to our cuddly...

Baseball loving...

Toy chewing...

Adorable...

Cookie Monster!

Happy 2nd birthday, Jacob!

Love, 

Mom, Dad, & big-brother Bradley

(and of course, Cody & Max, too!)

"The Jesus Touch"

Yesterday was the last MOPS meeting of the semester until we start back again in the fall. This meeting is also known as our "Tea & Testimony" meeting, and it was incredible. They had a special lunch for all of us with Asian Salad & Croissant, and of course "tea" and lemonade. There was laughter and there were tears.

One of the highlights for me was when the Pastor's wife of First Baptist Church at the Mall, Angie Dennis, came up to speak to us. She taught us on Mark 5:21-34, which I had heard before but when I was much younger. Here is the passage:

Mark 5:21-34 (King James Version)

 ²¹And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.
 ²²And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
 ²³And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
 ²⁴And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
 ²⁵And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
 ²⁶And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
 ²⁷When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
 ²⁸For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
 ²⁹And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
 ³⁰And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
 ³¹And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
 ³²And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
 ³³But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
 ³⁴And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

She then explained to us many things about the passage, and it was such an encouragement on how she applied it to our lives - how Jesus healed the woman because she had faith in Him, and how he took notice. She explained her own testimony, of how she had an emotionally absent mother and a difficult upbringing both parentally and with people in school. She explained her heartache and fear when she found out a few years ago that she had breast cancer that she is still fighting. She then let us know the joy she felt when Jesus saved her and she met & married her husband, Pastor Jay Dennis. 


Later when she was going over the passage more thoroughly, she made sure each of us had a piece of tassel in front of us. You see, in the Bible in Mark 5:27, the garment that Jesus wore more than likely had a trim of tassels to it, and was what the woman mentioned would have touched. When she touched it, even though there was a tremendous crowd of people all around Jesus Christ, he noticed. He noticed HER, and her faith, and her pain. Mrs. Dennis let us know that when we pray, Jesus takes notice. She shared some quotes that I really loved:

• Faith is praying with our eyes on God, not on our difficulties.
• Faith is not about running in the dark, but walking in the light.
• Faith is not believing what people say about God, it's simply believing what God says!

It was also interesting to know that this is the only time in Jesus's ministry that he ever refers to someone as "daughter". What an encouragement to us - to know that in our times of pain and suffering, our Heavenly Father is there, and will hear our plea when we need him. The tassel she gave to us was to put in our Bible to remind us of this story, and gave us five things to remember when we are facing our own trials to remind outselves:

1. I know that God loves me
2. I know that God is good
3. I know that God is a God of miracles
4. I know that God speaks through the Bible
5. I know that heaven is real!

I am sure I didn't explain the passage quite as eloquently as Mrs. Dennis, but it touched me, and I just felt compelled to pass it along. 


Have a wonderful day,
Kim Reller

Bradley's Piano Recital

Every year in April, Bradley's piano teacher (who also happens to be the pastor's wife at our church) holds her annual recital to showcase the student's progress.

Last year, Bradley played "Moonlight Sonata" by Bethoven. This year, Bradley decided he wanted to try and tackle "Canon in D" by Pachalbel. He did really well - surprisingly well even! He had not been able to practice a great deal since the infamous surgery at the beginning of the month, and the last week that he had been practicing, he struggled a little when the tempo picked up. However - for the recital - he nailed it! I am so proud of him. :)




ENJOY!!!

-The Rellers

Sweet & Tangy BBQ Sauce

Tonight I planned on making BBQ Chicken Calzones for dinner, and I always have BBQ sauce on hand in the event I need a yummy condiment to something. I was going through my ingredients list for the calzones and I had everything. Onion, check. Bacon, check. Chicken, yep, check. BBQ sauce. I opened the fridge and lo & behold I was out! However, Jacob was napping and Bradley was very content playing his Wii and I hated to bother either of them. What was I to do?

Well I will tell you what I did. I searched online and found a decently rated BBQ sauce recipe and I made it my own! You know what - it turned out amazing, and was super easy to make. It only took 20 minutes and a few ingredients that I already had on hand! I can honestly say I doubt I will ever go back to purchasing store brand now that I know I can make the good stuff on my very own stove top.

For all you that want it, here is the recipe. Makes about 16 ounces and will keep well in the fridge for weeks. ENJOY!
-------------------------------------------
Sweet & Tangy BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 onion, peeled and diced
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
pinch of cayenne pepper (or to taste, if you like spicy then go for it!)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1) In a medium saucepan, mix lemon juice, onion, distilled white vinegar, water, brown sugar, prepared mustard, ground black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper and vegetable oil. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered 20 minutes.

2) Stir ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and liquid smoke flavoring into the mixture. Return to boil, then remove from heat. Refrigerate until ready for use.

Bradley is HOME!

I am writing to you this morning from the comfort of my sofa… which means that Bradley was discharged! YAY!

Following the surgery Bradley had not been able to really eat or keep any food down. Wednesday evening the doctor determined that Bradley’s lack of appetite and nausea was due to the morphine drip that he was on. So he made the wise decision to take him off of that and simply put him on oral Tylenol w/ Codeine, as this is what he was to be on when he comes home, anyway. Bradley wasn’t in a whole lot of pain anyway so he was fine with that. Plus, I know he wanted to eat, he was just scared because everytime he did he felt like he was going to be sick! L

So, that evening they made the switch. Within a few hours, Bradley polished off two small slices of pepperoni pizza, a corndog, and a cup of milk! The doctor said that if he can eat a good breakfast on Thursday morning and keep it down, then he can go home. Yesterday morning Brad had six “French toast” sticks, two slices of bacon, and a glass of milk – so the doctor bid us farewell and sent us on our way! We cleaned up at the Ronald McDonald house where we had been staying, and then we made the haul back to Lakeland – it took just over an hour, not too bad. We got home yesterday at about 1:30pm.

I just wanted to thank all of  you for your kind words, emails to Bradley, cards, and all around love and support. I know that is what has helped him to recover so nicely and he definitely enjoys each and every email & card he receives. He is sleeping right now but yesterday was able to have a couple friends over and laugh & giggle with them (while in bed of course), and that made my day. I know he will be just fine.  J

Thanks again & God bless each and every one of you,

The Reller Family

Surgery Day - Evening Edition

Well, surgery day has almost come and gone, and Bradley did GREAT. Thank the Lord!

We arrived at the hospital a bit early to look around, then decided at 1:30pm to see if it was OK to go ahead and check in. It was, so we went ahead and did that. Soon after, a nurse came and we all were able to go back with Brad for his pre-op physical and medical history review. Then, we met with his DR who advised how long the procedure would take and what we can expect. After meeting with him, we met with the anesthesiologist and two other nurses that were  going to be a part of the procedure. Bradley asked a lot of questions and they were all wonderful and answered them all to put his mind at ease. They gave him a dose of Tylenol to help with the "after surgery" headache he may get. The doc was ahead of schedule so at 3:00pm my sweet boy was wheeled back to the operating room and I kissed him goodbye.

I cannot tell you how slow the two hours he was in surgery went. I read a magazine and talked with Hans & played with Jacob. My mom & her friend Dean met us up here for the last half of the wait and that was by far the worst. I kept wondering, "shouldn't he be done?" and just before the two hour mark, one of the nurses came back to tell us that he did great and that the doctor was just finishing up and he would be moved to recovery. Shortly after he in fact was, and then once he was coherent they came out, told us what his room number would be, and that we can go wait for him up there and he would be there with us in about five minutes.

When I saw Bradley wheeled into the room, I was mixed with a sense of relief that he was here and alright, but also teared up a bit because I know that he was uncomfortable. The incision site that they showed me was far larger than I was told or had anticipated. I was initially told about 2" or so and my baby has about a 4-5" cut along the lower part of his tummy. Luckily, they did give him a morphine drip and he showed me how well he knows how to push that button! One click, and he is o-u-t. He has been asleep most of the evening. He woke up to see me & grandma (Hans & Jake had to leave for the night to sleep), and then our Pastor John & his wife Sharon came by, along with our good friend Kim's parents, Jack & Dianne. He was up for them, too. But after that he just went back to sleep.

Thank goodness he is alright. Sore and uncomfortable, yes. But he is here. Safe. Alive.

I am going to "sign off" for now and try to catch some rest before the nurse comes in and checks his vitals again. I'll try and update more tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for all the prayers and support, it really means the world to us.

God Bless,
The Rellers