Several prayer requests

I am a huge believer in the power of prayer and good thoughts, and I have a few requests...

1) A friend lost her mother yesterday after a several year battle with cancer.  She lived longer than many with her particular form of cancer and while I am sure there is comfort that she is no longer suffering, only eight days before Christmas is a very tough time to lose a loved one.  Not that there is ever a good time, but there are particularly crappy times, and this is one of them.  Please pray for her family.

2) There is a young family in town whose son (only eight-years-old) had a leukemia relapse and had a bone marrow transplant around Thanksgiving.  He is doing well, but please pray for continued good news and healing.  While I am so grateful that things are going well, I can't even imagine the fear of his parents.

3) Our high school students have finals this week, and that means it is most certainly finals week in our home.  For Catherine I'm not overly concerned, although Math is always a challenging subject for her and that exam will be first thing tomorrow.  For Thomas, and many freshmen, it is not always completely understood how much just one 90 minute test can affect their semester grade.  Please pray for all of our students, specifically that they work hard and find the knowledge they need in their memory banks!

4) Lastly, please pray for safety for all who are traveling this holiday season!