The girls love going on walks!  Noelle thinks it’s super cool because she gets to wear whatever she wants and doesn’t have to put her hair up!

Curt and Cindy finally got to see our new Texas home!

Noelle had a little crush seeing Curt again.  It was really cute!  Thank you for the late night snack, C & C!

This was my gift along with my story to Curt of grace received.

Milagros are religious folk charms that are traditionally used for healing purposes and as votive offerings in Mexico, the southern United States, other areas of Latin America, as well as parts of the Iberian peninsula. They are frequently attached onto altars, shrines, and sacred objects found in places of worship, and they are often purchased in churches, cathedrals or from street vendors.

Milagros come in a variety of shapes and dimensions and are fabricated from many different materials, depending on local customs. For example, they might be nearly flat or fully three dimensional; and they can be constructed from gold, silver, tin, lead, wood, bone, or wax. In Spanish, the word milagro literally means miracle or surprise.

History

The use of milagros is a folk custom in parts of North, Central, and South America, and it is claimed that the custom is traceable to ancient Iberians who inhabited the coastal regions of Spain. The use of milagros accompanied the Spanish as they arrived in Central and South America. Although the custom is not as prevalent as it once was, the use of milagros or ex-votos continues to be a part of folk culture throughout rural areas of Spain—particularly Andalusia, Catalonia and Majorca.

As part of a religious ritual or an act of devotion, milagros can be offered to a symbol of a saint as a reminder of a petitioner’s particular need, or in gratitude for a prayer answered. They are used to assist in focusing attention towards a specific ailment, based on the type of charm used. Milagro symbolism is not universal; a milagro of a body part, such as a leg, might be used as part of a prayer or vow for the improvement of a leg; or it might refer to a concept such as travel. Similarly, a heart might represent ideas as diverse as a heart condition, a romance, or any number of other interpretations. Milagros are also carried for protection and good luck.

"Dear Curt,

My Aunt Joe gave me this cross that she got in Venice when I first got sick in 2000. Under your name on the back of the cross, it says Aunt Joe 12-21-00. I have used it as a prayer guide to focus my thoughts on healing when the pain was so great. In Spain, they put these charms on their doors. Aunt Joe says there are so many charms that the doors are fully covered in these metals (beautiful symbolism to put on our door, the opening to our home and dwelling place). Anyway, something else I find fascinating with the milagros charm tradition, is that when the prayer is answered, it is custom to put a charm on top of the prayer request charm that has the letters “G.R.” standing for “Grace Received” (gracia recibida in Spanish).

Grace is received in many forms. Some people receive their pardon here on earth, as in earthly healing. I wish we could see more of this. Others find grace received in the journey. My grace, or free gift, is that I am now a better person, more compassionate, less proud, and stronger from dealing with my pain. Either here on earth, or when you get to heaven, you will receive your grace.  Our ultimate grace is that God loves us and cares for us through his Son’s suffering sacrifice, an offering of His relationship with us, just as we suffer here on earth.

May God restore your body and bring you complete earthly healing, our “surprise,” yet if we may be so deprived, I pray you will discover grace everyday to help you through.

May this cross be a symbol to you and your family for prayer, protection, good luck, miracles, but most of all, grace, even when we don’t know the receiving date.

All my love and thoughts and prayers,

Melissa"

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

“But with God, all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Torrence Beach at Sunset – we are praying right now!

Updates from our friend Cindy:

Dear Family and Friends,

As I mentioned in my last update, we were considering a trip to Mexico to seek experimental treatment for Curt. After much prayer and discussion, we have decided to make the journey. Our good friends, Ray & Margie Arevalo, made arrangements with the doctor in Monterrey, Mexico, and they will be traveling with us. We are leaving Saturday, March 27, in the morning and will drive straight through (1550 miles) until we reach our destination. We meet the doctor on Monday and Curt will undergo blood work. We hope Curt will receive the treatment by Wednesday. We will journey back home after the treatment and hope to return by Thursday night. 

We need more prayer than ever before.

We need everyone to pray for our safe journey.

We need everyone to pray for Curt (as usual) and for the results we seek through this treatment.

We need everyone to pray for our children who will be anxiously waiting at home.

We need everyone to pray for my parents who will be staying with our children.

We need everyone to pray for our hearts to be peaceful with this decision.

Our prayers are so enormous that we have decided to take it a step further. In an attempt to be closer to our Lord, we plan to hold a group prayer gathering. Torrance Beach at Sunset is one of our favorite places to be. We consider it one of God’s best creations. So on Friday, March 26, we would like to invite you to join us before sunset (6:30 p.m.) on the beach in Torrance to pray for Curt and our journey.

Park in the large parking lot at the South end of Esplanade, near 300 Paseo De La Playa. Meet on the beach at 6:30. Dress warm!

Immediately following our prayer session, my parents, Jim & Celia Shockey, will host dinner and a send off party at their house.

Hope to see you on the 26th.  If you are unable to join us, please pray for us as often as possible.

We love you all,

Cindy & Curt, Clarissa, Cayden & Corbin Ziemke

Most recent update:

Dear Friends & Family, 

Due to the unrest in Mexico we have decided to fly to Monterrey. We will leave Sunday evening and fly to Dallas where we will spend the night with our great friends Mike & Melissa! We will leave Monday morning for Monterrey and arrive at 11:00 am. We will stay in Mexico for 2 nights at The Presidente Intercontinental Hotel and return home Wednesday night. Curt & I are more relaxed about the trip and the fact that we will only be away from the kids for 3 nights. I know this trip was meant to be and the treatment is going to help Curt. All the travel arrangements just fell into place today even though it was last minute. Thank you Sandy Klein for the frequent flyer miles for Curt & me, you are amazing and so generous!!!!

We received an email on Monday that Curt was turned down for the research study in Monterrey, our first choice, which was supported by our doctor. It is good to know that that treatment is no longer an option. This treatment Curt will receive is our only hope and obviously meant to be. Please pray for Dr. Francisco Ramirez who will be treating Curt while we are there. Please pray on Wednesday for the Stem Cells to enter his body and begin healing right away. 

Thank you for praying for us and our family. Please pray for Curt to be able to rest and relax on the flight (flying is not his favorite thing). Please pray for Ray & Margie Arevalo who are taking vacation time and leaving their daughter with family in order to travel with us. Thank you Ray & Margie for all the information today and for being so flexible with the travel plans. We are so blessed with such great friends!

Love,

Cindy & Curt

The Hicks family is moving from DFW to plant a church in San Marcos.  We spent Monday hanging out with our buddies and saying goodbye.

Hudson and Noelle 

Sweet Haddon and Brooke with Hudson beaming in the background.  For those of you who don’t know this, Brooke and I were childhood neighbors and best friends growing up.  Some of my favorite high school memories are driving the country roads of Cherokee County in her beat-up pick-up truck!  (remember when I broke your rear-view mirror moving it to do my make-up one day?)  🙂

Cute kids.

Noelle loves to ride "the chair" on the carousel.

Hudson, Noelle, Haddon, and Anna Kate all together! 

Finishing the day with some light reading.  (Of course Noelle picked out all the Barbie books all by herself… fortunately they have really great messages even though Mommy thinks they’re super cheesy).  

One last goodbye hug!  We’ll keep you in our prayers Hicks family as you follow God to bless others with his love in San Marcos!

2 weeks old 

9 months old

10 months old

1 year old

16 months old

19 months old

2 years old

3 1/2 years old

Almost 4!

We went to The Parks mall with the Hicks on Monday and that was the end of our "fun" week as we knew it.  Ever since then, we have had the stomach bug and all that goes with it!  I think we’ve gone through 3 tubs of Clorox wipes.  Mommies should never be sick with their babies.  Yuck, yuck, yuck!  At least Mike is hanging in there!

Anna Kate had a ball eating left over birthday cake on her birthday last Tuesday!

Anna Kate makes this face ALL the time, and I’ve been trying to get a picture of it all year.  Finally… isn’t it the cutest thing!?!  Noelle’s mimicking her – too cute!

Clappy clappy  – one of Anna Kate’s favorite things to do!

"What am I going to do with all this icing in my hair!?!"

"I know, bath time!!!"  Another favorite thing of Anna Kate’s!