My sister, Ellen, and her family have been through serious difficulties lately; more than a year ago, she was diagnosed with a debilitating chronic autoimmune illness which made it impossible for her to work. Guillaine-Barre disease is an extremely painful nerve disease and affects her ability to use her hands, feet, arms and legs. Doctors do not expect her to recover beyond where she is now; she uses a walker and contends with constant chronic pain. She had been the main breadwinner for her family as a nurse. Her disability claim has been denied on the first pass so she is working on trying again for approval for disability income. Chris, her husband, works tons of hours at his TWO jobs, but it has been a struggle to keep up. They have ten children, among them twin boys who serve our nation as Marines. Their youngest son, age 10, has high-functioning autism and goes to school but requires lots of supervision when he's at home. Their kids who are still at home are homeschooled; Ellen manages their homeschooling despite her constant pain, and the kids help to take care of her physical needs.

This past week, with extremely low temperatures in our area in southeast Michigan, their furnace failed for good. The house was built in 1870 and actually needs two boilers, which are more expensive than normal furnaces. They need to be completely replaced, so we are passing the hat to try and raise the money for it. With all that their family has had to handle these past couple of years, there are little resources left to cover this kind of cost.

We welcome your prayers even if you're unable to help financially, and ask you to pass it on if you feel led. We have been blown away by the immediate outpouring of generous support and cannot express our gratitude enough.

Thank you in advance for your generosity! God bless you and your family.