Thank you SO much, friends, for your faithful prayers for a sweet sister in Christ and her family. Joanne has taken a turn for the worse. Toben shares the latest details on Joanne’s blog. Please, please continue to pray!

I’m not much of a singer, but I’ve been singing “Isaiah 40″ (a song I learned a long time ago at church camp) as a prayer for Joanne every time I’ve driven somewhere in the last couple days.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, he will not grow tired or weary. And his understanding, no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Allelujah. Allelujah. Allelujah. Allelujah.

God, work a miracle in my sweet friend’s brain. We know you can heal her. We know you may choose not to. But right now, we’re pleading with you with everything we’ve got to shower your healing mercies all over Joanne. In Jesus’ powerful name, Amen.

I just can’t write about much of anything besides Joanne right now. She’s on my mind 24/7. I’m even dreaming about her. Thank you so much to all of you who have rallied around her and her family in prayer–even if you don’t know her. You are such a blessing to me.

Tonight Livi and I went to the grocery store together, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about Audrey and Joanne. Audrey wanted to see her mama today, so they decided to let her. When she first went in, she immediately came back out sobbing and ran into her Gran’s arms. But that sweet little 12-year-old girl was determined to try again, and she spent a good chunk of time holding her mama’s hand, playing new songs for her on her iPod, and even massaging her feet.

As Livi and I pulled onto our street tonight on the way home, I reached over and held her hand. Tears came to my eyes as I realized how blessed I was to be riding with her in a mini-van instead of lying in a hospital bed.

Goodness, I meant to keep this light tonight. So, I was looking back through my very first e-mails from Joanne. And I wanted to share a couple fun bits and pieces from them.

I actually read Toben and Joanne’s book, Happily Ever After (in 2004 maybe?) when I was doing research for Blushing Bride and even quoted her book in mine. In December of 2006, I had just signed on with an agent for the first time, and he gave me an example of a book proposal to look at while I was writing my next one. The book was Living Simply. The author Joanne Heim.

I left this comment on her blog on December 23, 2006. She and her family were on a cruise. With the stomach flu.

That is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard. You poor dears! Good to know you’re skinny though. Looking forward to hearing some happy news from aboard the U.S.S. Ralph.

She replied: Thanks, Marla! Yes, it was pretty awful…but we’ve recovered, are finally home tonight, and anxious to get settled and dig out of the snow in the morning!

On 12.25.06, I left this comment after she had posted a pic of their family dressed up for a dance on the ship: No way! That dress Audrey’s wearing was my oldest daughter’s Easter dress this year!

She replied: Way! It was Audrey’s Easter dress this past year too. You must have really good taste.

Then I e-mailed her: Hi, Joanne. I’m Marla. Nice to meet you. Just wanted you to know that I prayed for your girlies just now and will keep praying whenever they come to mind. I feel like I know them after reading Living Simply, which I just finished yesterday… I about peed my pants every time I read something else we have in common (except that I don’t knit, could never be a ballet dancer, and am not opposed to an occasional trip to Chuck E. Cheese). The icing on the cake was your H.S. prom pic on your blog–my husband Gabe looked JUST LIKE TOBEN when he was a senior in high school.

She e-mailed back: Thanks so much for such an encouraging e-mail! … And thanks for the books… Flipping through, I just have to let you know that I too am 5 feet 10 inches tall. Weird, huh? Can’t wait to put the girls to bed tonight and cuddle up with your books… since Toben’s out of town…

And then she blogged about working in a library when she was 11. I commented on her post: How random! I worked in a library when I was 11 too! I was a 5th grader and volunteered in the school library. LOVED it. The absolute best part was sticking the cards from the back pocket into the little machine that stamped the due date on them. It made the coolest sound!

Joanne: Of course you worked at the library–parallel lives indeed!

She read Is That All He Thinks About? quick as a wink and sent me a mile-long e-mail that completely made my day. Gut-honest, deeply personal, setting the stage for a beautiful, soul-baring, four-years-and-counting friendship.

She finished with, Every time I get an e-mail from you, I wish we could sit on the couch and drink coffee and munch scones and have a nice long visit. Not sure if that will happen, but I’ve found that as I “meet” more people online through my books and blog, I look more and more forward to eternity in heaven. So though we’ve not met face to face, I’m so thankful for your friendship.

I’m so thankful for your friendship too, you dear girl. Can’t wait for our next real-life nice long visit. I love you.

Do you have a dear friend you met online? I’d love to hear about her.

If you’re here today from the amazing, fabulous Rachelle’s blog in hopes of winning a set of sweetly scandalous books, welcome! I had a charming and witty post planned in hopes of convincing you all of my writing prowess, but my heart’s just not in it today.

My dear friend, Joanne, suffered a major stroke Tuesday morning, and after much brain swelling and surgery where they removed part of her skull, she’s in a fight for her very life. Today was a hard day with lots of tears. We love you so much, girl, and we’re praying without ceasing for you!!

The latest update from her hubby Toben via our friend Holly Smith (9:00pm Wed.): Praying for Joanne’s brain to rest and heal over next 48-72 hours. Praying for low stimulation, waking on her own. She’s under sedation and pain meds, unlikely she’ll wake up tomorrow. That is good–allows for healing to occur. Pray for no damage to the brain stem, for her to wake up, for her to be able to communicate and read, to physically regain mobility.

Joanne (a published author) and I first met because of a mutual love for books and writing. My hope and prayer is that the story of her stroke–and full, God-glorifying recovery–will be a best-selling book (or at least a heck of a lot of blog posts) someday. Please keep Joanne and her sweet family in your prayers!

Speaking of BOOKS, to win a copy of Is That All He Thinks About? AND The Husband Project by the fabulous Kathi Lipp (upon whose head I wished a pox), just leave a comment below answering ONE of the following questions:

1. What do you love most about your spouse?

OR

2. What’s your favorite color?

I’ll choose one winner at random Friday at noon (EST). U.S. addresses only please! Have a great day, and please pray for Joanne!

ENCOURAGING UPDATE from Joanne’s sister, Kristen (7:00pm): Joanne is resting quietly… she has all her favorite music playing on iTunes… Kirk Franklin anyone?? Cards, pictures, and notes are around her. She is moving her right side again and is snuggled under Grandma’s quilt.

UPDATE (2:05pm): From Toben: Out of surgery. Lots of brain trauma including to her brain stem. Please pray that she wakes up. Typing through tears. God, increase my faith! Believing you for Joanne’s complete healing!

Latest update from Toben (12:45pm): Read his post here. Please keep praying, friends!

UPDATE from Joanne’s sister 11:00am: Friends, just got a call from the hospital…Joanne was not doing well in the night…they did a cat scan and she has considerable swelling on her brain and is going into surgery within the hour to have part of her skull removed to give her brain some room to allow for the swelling. Obviously I am numb. Please pray.

My heart stopped tonight when I found out that my sweet online-turned-real-life friend, Joanne, had suffered a stroke earlier today, and that doctors were working on a blood clot on her brain. I don’t know all the details–just that her 9-year-old daughter, Emma, found her lying on the basement floor, shaking violently beside the running treadmill. (I can hardly stand to think about that.)

Just after midnight, her husband Toben posted an update on her blog. There is a possibility of hemorrhaging and swelling (which are both very bad scenarios), and the next 72 hours are critical.

I got down on my face when I first heard, still in shock, and asked God to please heal my friend. And when I thought of sweet Audrey and Emma and how scared they must be, I just lost it. Oh, God, please heal Joanne. Heal her brain and her speech and restore everything she might have lost. Love on Toben and hold those precious little girls tonight. Give them a peace that far surpasses all human understanding. I can’t even imagine. My heart hurts so bad.

Joanne and I met online almost 4 years ago through a mutual friend, then we stayed in the Heims’ home (they lived in AZ at the time) in July 2009 on the last leg of our Zoo Trip. Our girls had the most wonderful time together.

Joanne has been such an encouragement and blessing to me over these past four years. Just last week she sent me a beautiful giraffe-print over-the-shoulder bag that she made me as a birthday/Christmas gift. She is such a kind, thoughtful, creative and talented person. I sent her Scrabble magnets as a thank-you that spelled L-O-V-E, her word for the year. I wonder if she got them.

This is Joanne and her girlies leading mine in a prayer (w/motions) before dinner.

I don’t have any more words right now, just feeling a huge weight of sadness for my friend and her family. Please join me in praying for Joanne. I know God can heal her. Please heal her, sweet Jesus.

(As we were leaving their house, we realized we hadn’t taken a picture of the two of us, so we took one on Gabe’s phone.)

I hereby officially declare January 2011… Mail Month!

All those Christmas cards the past few weeks reminded me how much I love to get mail (and we didn’t send one this year–boo). And it got me thinking–January is considered the most depressing month of the year, and that’s probably due in part to the fact that just when we get used to getting personalized mail every day, BOOM. It’s all over but the bills.

So, I’m not going to kill myself keeping some nutso Mail Goals, and I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t mail something every day, but I’m going to make a sincere effort to Mail Things to People for the entire month of January. Encouraging things. To whomever God brings to my mind.

Things like handwritten notes and S-C-R-A-B-B-L-E magnets and something-or-other that I might create from the super cool alphabet cards from this 1964 game (I scored 2 of them for less than a dollar at the thrift store before Christmas).

Or things lying around my house that remind me of people I know and love.

When we cleaned out my grandma’s house so she could move into the nursing home, I inherited a lot of random odds and ends that had belonged to her. A few of those things just said “my friend so-and-so” to me. An old dress pattern went to a friend who loves to sew. A vintage red-handled cake cutter (new in the box) went to a friend who has her own cake business and makes masterpieces like this:

Do you have any blank note cards begging to be used or some sweet trinkets dying to be sent to someone who might be blessed by them?

The girls and I have been busy getting envelopes of (flat) goodies ready to send to our orphanage with Jen when she goes back to Cambodia in a week. She was so sweet to post pics of the kiddos opening the last stash we sent. Melted my heart into a puddle. I can’t wait for them to get more paper/markered/stickered/beaded love.

And I reeeeeally can’t wait until we get to go back and see them in person!

If you could get one thing in the mail (that doesn’t cost much–if anything–but would mean the world to you), what would it be?

(And I’d tell you my list, but I know you generous little freaks. You’d flood my mailbox with sweetness until I was completely embarrassed by all the attention. How about this? If you love me, send a little something in my honor to someone who could use a bit of sunshine in the coming winter months.)

p.s. If you’re joining our next Read-Along, don’t forget to introduce yourself on yesterday’s post!!