Laurie Ishii

Well, this morning I texted Pastor Matthew about starting a cell group going through the 12 Steps - he's really excited! So, I am praying about how to get this going, and I've had a couple of people refer me to Celebrate Recovery, a "Christ-Centered, Group Program to Help Hurting People in Your Community." They go through the 12 Steps as well as eight recovery principles. Pastor Matthew said he'd have someone call me soon about starting the cell group, so I want to begin to prepare. First of all, I NEED LOTS OF PRAYER!!! I am asking for prayer warriors to pray about this cell group as well as I need a dedicated group of people who will pray for… Read More

Real quick: I've been trying to figure out a way to lower my phone bill. Right now my contract is up. I have an old 3G iPhone and my monthly bill is on average $130.00!!! I had unlimited minutes but I don't really use very many minutes at all (I keep my phone on silent and rarely even talk, mostly text) - I had 900 min. a month because I had to make so many appointments with my doctors/hospitals/landlines (I didn't want to have to be checking my minutes all the time) and unlimited text and I but just changed my plan to 450 min. (free mobile to mobile) a month cause so far I've only used 150 in this cycle! My question is, would anyone who has… Read More

I've been reading this morning, and one verse that really stood out to me was 1 Peter 4:8 ~And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”~ and then I read James 5:20 ~let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.~ Now I'd like to know, what do you think those verses mean? Okay, in 1 Peter 1:22 it says, "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart," so I get that we are to love each other fervently. But… Read More

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and may God BLESS you ABUNDANTLY this year!!! :) Well, I just found out that SSI did not approve me, again. So, I am praying about where to go from here. I don't know if I can appeal again - I think I can (and as long as I can, I will) but in the meantime, I feel like I'm supposed to write again. I am considering changing things around in my book, writing up a different outline to include the cancer diagnosis and someone also had a great idea - to include some of my facebook posts about having cancer. Please continue to pray regarding my situation, because I am concerned about having no medical insurance -… Read More

This is my very human self, expressing my very human thoughts. After what happened yesterday when I checked the mail (the amazing letter from Cedar Sinai covering my hospital bills) you'd think I'd be miss superfaith. But I'm still lil ole human me. I would guess that most people my age don't have to think about this kind of stuff. Most people my age already have their life in some kind of 'order' - they didn't drop out of high school, use drugs half their life, get married, divorced, married, divorced, start all over, be sick or get sick and be on their own when they had nothing but the clothes on their back and a dog lol! Well, lately I've… Read More

I AM LITERALLY IN TEARS RIGHT NOW, GOD IS SO SO SO SO GOOD I CAN HARDLY STOP CRYING AND CAN BARELY SEE THROUGH MY TEARS!!! I have (literally) STACKS of medical bills on my kitchen table. A number of the envelopes have not even been opened, because I was getting so overwhelmed and had no way of even coming CLOSE to paying SINGLE BILL. It would only make me depressed. Well, because the stack was so high and covered my table, I decided that today would be a good day to go ahead and open all the envelopes, even if just to organize them and put them in some type of order... Well, dated SEPTEMBER 06, 2011 (Sheesh, I could have opened this WEEKS AGO!!!)… Read More

The last couple weeks have been amazing. Especially this last week. God is so good and I am so grateful!!! Jesus has given me the opportunity to share the gospel with a number of different people at the cancer clinic. Granted, radiation has it's side effects - the main one is fatigue and tiredness. I did end up horribly sick, throwing up like Linda Blair in the Exorcist - it was pretty frightening - enough to send me to the ER after my friend Victoria called my cancer surgeon who said my vomiting was 'alarming' and for me to go to the ER. Oh how I hate going to the ER, as they never seem to figure out what the root of my problem is - all I get… Read More

Okay, I'm trying not to panic. I've been sick since last night, just got home from the cancer clinic and I'm going to try and rest if my brain will shut off...everyone I know who has SSI says they get denied at least once. So, I'm just going to appeal...I don't know how to go about it but I think I'm gonna try using Binder and Binder...I started using them in the past but didn't follow through because I wasn't able to keep my appointments and couldn't get around the way I am able to now, having Access Transportation has been a huge help, taking me to my radiation and pain mgmt treatments...last time I was too sick to take the bus (like now) but… Read More

A couple weeks ago I received an email from someone who wrote, "Please break the poverty mentality and stand up spiritually!" Well, that was a wake up call. You see, I have always hated having to do fundraisers. The the entire time I was president of After Hours, we didn't have any fundraisers - I did make people aware of our needs and God provided, but I've always felt awkward, as if I was 'begging' by asking people for money. I've heard different opinions from different people, some who say that if we trust God, we should never have to ask for money - He knows our needs, so we shouldn't have to tell anyone what they are. Then there are other… Read More

As you know, I’ve been really wrestling with making a decision regarding chemo vs. alternative/no chemo. Right from the very beginning, I have been totally against chemo and radiation. I have researched both and I believe that both are terrible. Chemo destroys the immune system along with the cancer and kills people faster than cancer does. There are no negative side affects doing alternative medicine and I’m still eating green leafy veggies, no meat, little or no dairy, etc., exercising (which, right now, is walking), drinking lots of water – I still totally believe in doing alternative medicine and I believe it will be very vital in building… Read More