God has been so gracious...

Hi friends,

God has been so gracious through so many of you. In my last update I shared that I was released from my Pastoral position at New Harvest. Right after that the Leukemia kicked up and set me back physically. Then Gabriela had a flu that lasted two weeks. I then caught it and it turned into Bronchitis. The three of these aliments kept me down until March. Yes March. It was very touch and go for me dropping my weight from 200 lbs to 165 lbs. Gabriela was a great nurse, school teacher, and mother during all this. It was God's strength that kept her going. I won't even mention the kid's illness during this 4 months. Thankfully, we are all out of the woods and doing well.

The amazing thing is that through this time of not being able to work, God saw to it that we were cared for through many of our friends. Out of nowhere we started receiving cards and monetary gifts from people we ministered with over 10 years ago. A neighbor's brother who I have only talked to 3 times over the fence, walked up to Gabriela handing her 20 $100 bills saying God told him to give this to us (how often does that happen?) Well it's been happening. Many of you were prompted to send gifts. At first is was very difficult and humbling. People have done my yards, cleaned our house while sending the family on a date, dropped off food items, and loved us in many ways. We praise God for all of you.

The amazing and exciting thing is our expenses have been covered for the last 5 months. I added up all the gifts and...get ready for this...it totaled what I would have earned if I was still working at the church. Gabriela and I just sat on the couch crying and praising God. We sense God is tell us, "It's time for a sabbatical to rest and heal. I have your needs covered." I had no choice through the sickness, I couldn't work, but now being well, we hear God saying wait and rest.


So that's what I'm doing. We have found a church to invest ourselves called Mountain View Community Church. The kids love it and are making friends and being challenged spiritually. They are asking a lot of good questions. Sarah had her first "word from the Lord" last week. She was upset and angry at her siblings, so she sat on her bed and opened her Bible. It opened to Psalms 4. Her eye focused on verse 4 - 5, "Be angry, and do not sin, ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Offer right sacifices, and put your trust in the Lord." This was her first time to experience God's personal word to her situation through the Bible. She shared it with a new sense of interest in God and the Bible. This excites me being concerned that my kids will see Christianity as something we do instead of a relationship we live. This is an answered prayer - "Thank You, Father!"

Finally, I will leave you with a ministry idea I am praying about developing. I would like to serve God using my shepherding gift as a Pastoral Care provider. I am not a licensed counselor, but I have worked years with married couples, those engaged, and families that have loss loved ones. I sense God's smile and my cup is full in these ministry situation. Pray with me about creating a ministry that provides Pastoral Care and Guidance to couples and families. Many smaller churches don't have the staff to meet these needs and Funeral Homes often have families without a church affiliation that I could offer this ministry. I would also market the ministry in the community and through people that know me. I would be a 50C3 that would offer tax deductions for support and services. I'm still in the "dreaming" state, but have written up a proposal that I am submitting to a ministry board that would act as my 50C3 umbrella. I am praying as I go - listening for the Lord to release me to further develop this ministry or however His leads. I would appreciate your prayers as well.

Again, a long update. From the Rosenthal's to all of you - thank you for standing in the gap for us in prayer. Thank you to many that have graciously sacrificed and shared financially with us. We are touched deeply and our faith is growing. God smiles at His church being the His hands and feet.

We love you,

Kelly
krosenthal62@att.net - Kelly
kngplus4@sbcglobal.net - family

Transitions: Jan 2011

Dear Friends and Family,

Much has and is going on with the Rosenthal family and I thought it time to update our friends. We would welcome and ask for your prayers. Here’s a brief bullet point update:

• In October of 2010 I was released from employment from New Harvest Church. It was a surprise for us and was sudden. I clearly see God’s hand in releasing me from NHC. Gabriela and I prayed for God to do something over a year ago and we see this as God opening the door to a new assignment. We just don’t have that direction yet and feel a need for healing.


• In November 2010, Gabriela and I joined Kingdom Ministries for a teaching seminar in Honolulu, Hawaii at the YWAM training center. We assisted Kingdom Ministries in their prayer seminars and worked with student missionaries as they prepared for one of 3 missions. It was a great time to get away and minister in a beautiful setting.

• Medically I thought I received a physical healing from the Lord. In faith I felt prompted to discontinue my chemo and depression meds and all was well. While in Hawaii, my health declined and once returned to the mainland, blood work showed that the Leukemia was (not original ALL, but a different type of Leukemia – CMML) had elevated my white counts to an alarming 168,000 (normal 10,000). Confused by the healing I understood, I started my chemo meds and now back into safe levels and feeling well. We are trusting the Lord though we don’t understand the healing received and the return of the Leukemia. This too has been a painful reality.


The family is well. Kids all continuing being home schooled by their fantastic mother and doing well. We all just returned from a vacation planned last year to the Tahoe area. We joined our friends the Johnson’s from Yucaipa, Ca and the Delisle’s from Ripon, CA. There were 14 kids from 3 to 15 and 6 adults in a large mountain cabin in Strawberry, CA. The snow was great and we built a toboggan run where the kids sled for hours. We had a great week in community including great meals, worship/devotions and a lot of fun and play. These families are family to us and the kids are best of friends. This was another wonderful time for healing and reflection.


• Spiritually, we are growing, looking for a church home and planning to meet again with our small group. The kids have discovered a devotional tool called SHAPE as a way to read through the Bible in a year with daily journaling. I am very encouraged by the spiritual interest of Andrew, Sarah , Brianna and even Anneliese. I am praying for the day that their faith moves from following mom and dad to becoming their personal walk with Jesus. We all are waiting on the Lord to see what my next assignment will be and it’s developing our prayer life and faith as God faithfully provides and directs.

• Job wise, there is nothing on the horizon. I really don’t know how God is leading and have little desire to pastor at this time. I still am doing premarital counseling with couples, but need some time to heal before jumping back into ministry. I would like to move towards a counseling profession, but will need further education. Presently I have started two home businesses to pull in a little money to extend our saving as I look for full-time employment. I am making crosses for Disciple’s Cross, selling them either locally or selling them to the company to fill their orders. You can learn more about the story behind the business at www.disciplescross.com. If you would like to order any crosses from me, they make great gifts and I sell them wholesale at $5 each. In stores the cost is $10 to $15 dollars. Contact me at krosenthal62@att.net if interest. The company can’t make enough of them.

Secondly, I have just become a representative for Fortune Hi Tech Marketing advertizing companies and products through the web through a personal webpage where friends and family can purchase products from major companies and pay for services like Dish Network or their cell phone/internet monthly services. By using my website these Companies give Fortunes a piece of their advertizing budget and Fortunes pays me. This type of relational advertizing is making big money and Fortune is a reputable company. Several key Christian leaders and many pastors in Fresno are involved in this venture and have built a great support team to broaden the scope of this business helping many people earn additional income in this economically difficult time. Fortune paid incentives to introduce others to join the network and create this “web kiosks” to sell products and services that most people are using every day. I would love it if you would consider purchasing or paying for existing services through our website. It will help the Rosenthal family financially keep our home as I look for full-time employment. If you would like to know more about helping us or becoming a Fortune representative please email me at krosenthal62@att.net. It would be a great blessing to me and my family if you would inquire. It’s simple and would provide you a kick-back on your regular expenses and make you some additional money.

God is very good, actually the greatest good and we daily are finding grace and hope in His Word, through prayer and a few wonderful friends. Please pray for our hearts to heal, a local job to allow us to keep our home, and continued healing from Leukemia. Pray for my children’s continued emotional and spiritual growth and a sincere faith in Jesus. I am thankful that Gabriela and I grow closer and stronger through trial, but pray for wisdom and endurance as we seek the Lord, lead our family and continue to minister as the Lord directs.

That’s my lengthy update…thanks for your interest and prayers,
Kelly

In case you were wondering...
Kelly is feeling well but his blood is not well. He is working full days and if you saw him you wouldn't know that he is ill. His face and eyes are bright and he is as handsome as ever hubba hubba :) He has been diagnosed with one or both of the following, Mylofibrosis (bone marrow disorder where it produces scar tissue rather than healthy cells)
Chronic Leukemia (Our Oncologist has never seen someone go from an Acute Leukemia to a Chronic Leukemia)
the diagnosis is based on how his body is behaving, there are no cancer markers in his blood. His white blood cell count has been elevated as high as 65,000 and normal is around 10,000 and his spleen has been enlarged. At that point he was in a lot of pain and needed Vicodine.

We went to our Naturalpathic doc and he did a magnet treatment along with a laser treatment and the spleen got smaller and the pain went away. The Oncologist also has Kelly on a maintenance therapy for Chronic Leukemia which includes daily chemo pills. The Naturalpathic doc also has him on a redgiment of products to help heal his blood. His blood counts have come down but still fluctuate. He is monitored monthly by the Oncologist and sees the Naturalpathic Doc about twice a month. There are no cures for these diagnosis and both have about a 5 yr. life expectancy. (by faith we are not accepting these diagnosis) His blood shows no cancer markers. It is all based on how the blood is behaving.

We believe that God has spoken life over Kelly and certainly has provided for us to see our naturalpathic doc and has lead us to scriptures that talk about soul healing and taking off yolks and that healing will follow, (really just the process of sanctification).

Kelly suffered a deep depression after we left CDA and has been on anti depression meds ever since. I believe that this depression and what precipitated it broke down his body and made him susceptible to cancer. The wounds he experienced when we left were profound and were mounted on some very old wounds within his soul and I believe it was a breaking point for him spiritually, physically and mentally.

Recently, I have been listening to a CD series that a friend gave me called. "Your Body, His Temple" (God's plan for achieving emotional wholeness) put out by Life Outreach International
I have been amazed to learn more about how the brain works and how thoughts, belief, emotion all have a physical effect on our bodies and how 85% of diseases begin with our metal health. I love how God keeps confirming what He has shown me with regards to Kelly and his health and healing.

Recently the Lord has been calling me out to deal with my food addiction and weight issues and I am finally beginning to walk in the victory that has been mine for a while but was too stubborn to appropriate. I am challenged to a greater degree to die to myself while not loosing myself and being fully submitted to Kelly and his leadership in our home. I thought I was submissive but there were some subtleties that the Lord has revealed recently and I am working on. God has also shown me how these issues are directly connected to Kelly and his health. I praise God for his work in our lives!!!
Anyway... just a brief update. I hope that this makes sense. I also hope that you all are well with each other, God and work/school. I know that you pray for us, thank you sweet friends. Blessings to you, Gabriela
P.S. IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING... THE BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PICTURE IS MY NIECE JULIE WHO CAME TO CAMP WITH US!!!

So long since we have updated this...

It is hard to know how to update. Kelly has been given several new diagnosis over the last year. Most recently our Oncologist diagnosed Kelly as having CMML. This is a chronic form of Leukemia with no cure and a two year life expectancy. For some time now Kelly's white blood cells have been elevated from between 9 - 10 thousand to as high as 32 thousand. For this reason we decided take some maintenance chemo. with the hope that this will bring down his counts and it has. Thank you Jesus.

At this point we are not embracing the diagnosis and are continuing to have Kelly's blood monitored and regularly seeing our Natural Pathic Doc.
There is power in our words so I am still holding on to God's words of life over Kelly and at the same time we want to be responsible to do what we need to do for his body to heal.

Please pray for us as we seek the Lord about continuing chemo.
Please also pray for us as we look for a new Oncologist that would be more open to alternative forms of treatment.
Please also pray for Kelly's continued soul healing. (we are both going through a prayer ministry once a week to work on the soul issues.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Love, Gabriela

p.s. We recently welcomed a new member to our family. His name is Theodore Rosenthal and he is a one year old cackapoo! Theodore means "God's gift" and that he is! We thank the Orduno family for giving him to us!

New News?

Well, I can say for sure that life if never boring. Kelly went to his oncologist last Monday and was given some new news. He still is not showing any signs of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (thank you God!)but now there are a low number of immature white blood cells in his blood and they have markers that indicate that they are cloning themselves. Our oncologist has told Kelly that he now has Chronic Leukemia. The lab results say that the test are suggestive of this information. With regards to the other diagnoses that have been given this last year and a half... the tests no longer show the chromosome abnormality. As far as Myelophibrosis, there has been no change in the levels of scar tissue or inflammation of his liver. With Myelophibrosis, his test should be showing an increase and they are not. So what is what?
Here is where we have landed...

We are not embracing the diagnosis of CL.

We are not going to take any chemo (doc. wanted to start Kelly on "maintenance" treatment for Chronic Leukemia)

We have given our updated labs to our Naturalpathic doc and he is consulting with other doc. that he works with. (waiting to hear from them)

Kelly is reading up on how to strengthen his bone-marrow nutritionally.

Our trust in not in blood test, Doctors (natural or otherwise), nutrition etc... We have gone to God with our concerns and requests and trust that He will continue to lead us. We know that He has an opinion about Kelly's health and we want to know what that is. After a couple of days of dealing with fear and discouragement, the Lord has reminded me that He has spoken life over Kelly and that we are in a process of being stripped of things in our lives that Kelly and I used to find "life" in and now God wants us to find Life in Him alone. We thank Him and praise Him for his work in our lives.

Please pray that we would have willing hearts,(the stripping process is painful). Please also pray that we would be wise in the decisions we make and attentive to His leading.
Thank you ahead of time for praying and thank you for reading this.
LOL The Rosenthal's
p.s. Kelly is feeling great and is functioning at 100%!

Merry Christmas

Hello Dear Family and Friends

We apologize for not updating our blog regularly. The good news is that there isn't much on the health end of things to give an update on! We praise God that the results of the bone marrow biopsy came back Leukemia Free! (Thank you God!) There is still presence of scar tissue in Kelly's bone marrow and Kelly will have a scan of his liver and kidneys at the end of Dec. to check to see if they are enlarged. Our Oncologist believes that this might indicate Mylophybrosis (sp?) This is a bone marrow disorder that has a poor prognosis. The good news is that the blood counts did not show an increase in scar tissue. We are also sending our results to several other Doctors, via our Naturalpathic Doc., who also know oncology and they will give us their opinions. We are waiting to hear from them and then we will pray and ask the Lord what to do next.

We have strange feelings about this new development. We believe that Kelly is healed and he is feeling 100% physically! We continue to ask God for direction and confirmation. Our biggest requests have been that the Lord would heal Kelly of the ringing in his ears (a constant, loud, frustration) and that the Lord would deliver him from depression. He is functioning well but feels a regular heaviness and lack of freedom in his spirit.

He is such an amazing man and I respect him so much. He has been through so much and he continues to love, serve and long for more of Jesus. He is an incredible husband and father and a terrific pastor. I feel confident that God is at work in him in these areas and the all of this will pass in time. Please join us in praying for these things. Thank you so much!

The kids and I are doing well and counting down the days until winter break from school! Homeschooling is going well, (a lot more work then I anticipated) but well worth it. I love seeing the kids get time to just be kids and play with one another and be good friends. They are loving their labs on our school campus,(piano, science, language and art). And finally we are so blessed to be in our new home this Christmas! We love it!!!

Thank you to those of you who read this and pray for us. You are greatly loved and appreciated. Lastly, I want to share with you that the Lord blessed my with a very vivid dream recently. In this dream I was in our old house, upstairs. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying something. I looked out the window into our neighbors back yard and I saw Him standing in a cloud, surrounded by angels. In an instant every part of my wanted to run, so as to not be exposed and simultaneously all of me wanted to run into His arms! Both of these feelings hit me at once and I was paralyzed with great fear. I finally think I understand what it means to fear the Lord. I wasn't afraid of Him or for myself. It was definitely a feeling of awe. This dream has blessed me and motivated me to remember that He is coming back soon! Oh blessed day!!!! Merry Christmas to you all and I hope you are blessed at the remembrance that our Savior lives and is coming again!
Sincerely, Gabriela

More to the Journey?

Hello dear family and friends,
Kelly is having a bone marrow biopsy this morning. Our oncologist had agreed to continue monitoring him even though we have not continued with treatments. Recently Kelly's blood results have been questionable. The doctor has detected some scar tissue and Kelly's white blood cells are elevated. As I am sure you can imagine, this is a bit concerning. We are praying that we can keep our thoughts captive and fears before the Lord. I continue to sense that the Lord is asking me if I will trust Him. He is also gently reminding me daily of how He has spoken life over Kelly. Bottom line is that we don't know what is ahead in our journey and the task before us is to trust. We covet your prayers for just that and of course complete healing. One friend recently prayed that Kelly's results would baffle intelligent minds, I love that. I am encouraged that God knows what is ahead and I will wait on Him. Thank you dear ones.
Sincerely, Gabriela

Where has the time gone? We have had such a wonderful summer! The kids and I enjoyed regular summer activities, no hospitals or doctor app. this summer. Much fewer sitters needed and a lot of good times. We were able to go to Southern Ca. to see my sisters and have the kids play with cousins,(we hadn't had a chance to go down to visit since Kelly got sick). Some family members surprised us with a cash gift and told us to do something fun with the kids...so we did! We took them to The Wild Animal Park and to Lego Land! We spent the rest of our time around my sister's pool relaxing. Then we headed off to Forest Home Christian Conference Center for our week of Family Camp. This has been our tradition for the last number of years and it was wonderful reconnecting with old friends that share that week with us as well as inviting some dear friends, the Delises, to join us. What can I say except, it was a taste of heaven! We thank God for the time away and for the wonderful blessings. Do you ever feel that you just can't take anymore blessing? God is so lavishing! On our way home from camp, we found out that the short sale house we were trying to buy went through! We move in Aug. 14!! We are all really excited and very busy with packing, getting ready to home school, and a full plate of ministry. How good it is to have so many wonderful people and opportunities fill our lives. Kelly continues to feel well and we daily thank God for the miracle of his health. Thank you for your interest in our lives and for your prayers. If you read this blog, please send us a note as to how we can be praying for you, we would consider it an honor to due so. Sincerely, Gabriela
p.s.our new address
1068 N. Citadel
Clovis, Ca. 93611
same home # 559-434-7731

Hi dear ones. Kelly had some blood work done on Monday and our Oncologist was not happy with the numbers. He wanted to do a more in depth analysis to see if there was any cancer coming back. He is concerned about Kelly's white cells being elevated and his hemoglobin not going up.

Just another opportunity to learn to trust Jesus more. Every time something comes up, (and "somethings" are always coming up) my heart jumps and emotionally I take a ready stance like...a football player ready for a play. I am always tempted to be scared of the unknown then my gracious Jesus calms me down and reminds me of what He has already spoken over Kelly. "Kelly lives!" He also reveals to me how very much I need to grow in the area of trusting Him. I am seeing how I cognitively get that He is totally trustworthy but there are places in my heart that don't get it yet and I know He is healing those places. I am beginning to see that without trusting Him, I can't receive His love for me very well and without His love, my life has little power to walk victoriously and in freedom. It's His love that frees me! Does any of that make sense?

I almost forgot to share that the blood test results came back today and there was no sign of Leukemia! Thank you Jesus! We are coming up on two years without any cancer and only 4 months of a 2 year treatment plan! I have to declare the miracle of God's hand of healing!!! We look forward to sharing the test results with our Naturalpathic Doc. and see what he think about the elevated white blood cell count. We will keep you posted.

Anyway... our camping trip never happened. I got sick and the weather didn't cooperate. So plan B was to set the tent up in the backyard! The kids loved it! We even had a campfire and ate smores. We all went to sleep in the tent until I realized, at around 1 a.m. that Kelly had jumped ship and gone inside to sleep in our comfortable bed! Actually I was glad for the excused to move us all inside for a better nights rest.

We are now the proud parents of a preschooler, 1st grader, 4th grader and 5th grader. School is out for the summer and I am looking forward to a great summer, especially since the last two summers have been so taxing.

Well, thanks for reading the blog and for your prayer. We love and appreciate you all.
Sincerely, Gabriela

Good News on the Meds

Hi Friends,

If you read my last blog I shared about my concern taking depression meds and their possible spiritual effects on me. I am experiencing a numbness emotionally due to the meds and really desire to get off of them. The good news is I feel at peace about taking the drugs and don't believe there is a spiritual stronghold in taking them. My holistic Doc. has treated over 70 patients with depression and has been successful in 80% of them being able to come off the meds within a 3 to 6 month period. This was very encouraging. I may get free from this numbness yet.

We are heading to the Sequoia's tomorrow as a family to check out camping sites for a future trip or trips. Hope all is well with you and your family.

His blesses,

Kelly

A Rest in the Journey

Hi Friends-

We haven't updated the blog due to busyness and not knowing what to say. We are still in remission. My last bone marrow biopsy was clear of Leukemia. The chromosome abnormality from our last bone marrow biopsy was not detected. They did find scar tissue in the bone marrow which is a first. The Dr. said this could be Mylowfybrosis which is similar to Leukemia except its not cellular like Leukemia. They don't know why this happens and the Dr. said there isn't a cure except to enhance the bone marrow production. The scar tissue crowds out the bone marrow like leukemia.

We are not concerned and will continue to monitor it. We have the confidence that the Lord has healed me and promised me long life. We want to give Him praise and glory for this and not live in the fear of "what if." It's a faith journey for sure. We are continuing with diet and supplemental support for my body and I feel as normal as before being sick.

We are going through a spiritual journey of faith and deliverance with Dr. Espana. I am realizing the effects of the spiritual warfare and brokenness of the world that has been affecting me. I don't understand a lot of it, but in faith am walking with God in uncharted waters. I see God at work around me and even through me, but my heart has barriers that I,at present, am not able to break through. Dr. Espana has been taking us through some deliverance through prayer, confession and repentance. Areas and things I haven't consciously been aware of that are hindering my spiritual freedom. My reality of God doesn't fully line up with the truth of scripture. I struggle with this and I want more of God, but the more I want to experience His resurrection power, the less I "feel" Him. I know God is faithful and I will continue to seek Him. I need to be willing to wait on the Lord and not try to figure out why and fix it. This is hard for me.

Gabriela and I are praying about the depression meds that I have been on for 6 years. We are wondering if these meds are emotionally closing me down. I tried to go over one of them earlier this year and it was emotionally revealing. I began to spiral into a depressive state and just couldn't endure it. As soon as I started back on the med I sensed a dumbing of my emotions. I'm doing well, but we are wondering if the meds might have a spiritual ramification. Mind altering drugs could allow spiritual strongholds. We know this is the case with illegal drugs, but we have begun to question if this might apply to other legal drugs. There is a verse in the O.T. that implies that witchcraft and drug use are from the same word "pharmakia" (spelling off)where we get the word pharmacy. I don't know if this applies to us. Be praying with us and if you have insight on this, I would be open to listen.

Kids are doing well. We still are waiting on the possible home purchase. The bank hasn't come to a decision to accept our offer. It's been two months, so hopefully within the next month we will know. Gabriela and I are also praying about home schooling the kids next year. Having Sarah and Andrew in public school has been good in many ways, but at the same time we haven't liked many of the things they have been exposed to and bring home. We have seen the system actually harm our kid's self-image and place demands on them that we question are appropriate for their age and development. We have a good charter school option and church co-ops in the area we are considering.

That gives you an idea of what we are dealing with and I appreciate your continued interest and prayers. I would love to know how you are doing and how I can remember you in prayer. Our email is kngplus4@sbcglobal.net if that is an easier way to communicate with us.

I hope you know God's smile today and are walking in the fullness of His love for you. It's His love that transforms us.

His blessings,

Kelly and family

Praise God with us!

Hello dear family and friends,

We saw Kelly's Oncologist today and got the bone-marrow results back and they were cancer FREE! This July will make it 2 years in remission! There was a new abnormality and an old one not present. The chromosome 13 abnormality did not show up this time and the new news is that there was scare tissue in the bone-marrow. Doctor said that they do not know why and want to do a scan of Kelly's spleen and liver to check for enlargement which might indicate Mylophibrosia (sp?) Don't know much about that yet.

Anyway....We are looking forward to several days at the coast over Spring Break. Our dear friends, the Shamshioan's are lending us their beach house again. (Boy, do I feel spoiled!)

I praise God for how He is bringing conviction in both of our lives and we feel a call to purify ourselves, (a painful process and oh so sweet as well).

If the Lord lays us on your hearts to pray, we would love prayer regarding our awareness of the Enemies attacks on our hearts and minds.
On a side note, please pray that the Lord would open the door to our buying a home that we have made an offer on but ONLY if He wants us there. (I love this house!) The owners have accepted our offer but it is a short sale and we are waiting for the Lender to approve our offer. This might take months to find out.

Thank you loved ones and may you know God's passionate love for you and His delight over you.
love, Gabriela

Hello dear family and friends,

Kelly is feeling well and is working hard. He had a bone-marrow biopsy March 6th and just yesterday heard from the doctor's office. He was told that there were some abnormalities found in his results, but nothing that needed immediate attention and that the doctor wanted to go over the results with him. So he will be seeing the doctor soon to get the scoop.

We also went yesterday and spoke with our Naturalpathic Doctor. We are continuing the "soul healing" process and are now asking God to prepare us for what He will be doing in our hearts. Kelly is feeling somewhat overwhelmed in this process but regardless, we keep calling out to our heavenly Father asking Him to lead, guide and heal us from the inside-out.

Our family is doing very well. The kids are especially excited about their Papa's birthday today and joyously celebrating his life. This weekend was special as we were so proud to see Andrew earn his yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. The girls are also busy with Wi Fit, ballet and gymnastic classes. It is a joy to see our kids enjoying life and each other. We thank God for the scholarships to do all of this and for the constant joy that our kids bring to us.

God is continuing to do His good work in me and teaching me to trust Him more and to understand His love for me more and more. I keep thinking of the song,
I want more of Jesus, more and more and more...
This is my hearts cry! I am excited and confident about the work that He is doing in us.

Please pray that we would not be ignorant of the enemies schemes, that we would be strengthened for the journey and that God would sustain us with willing spirits.

thank you dear loved ones! Gabriela

Hello Dear Family and Friends,

Since our last blog Kelly has told our oncologist that he will not be continuing chemo. Our doctor agreed to monitor Kelly on a monthly basis. We are very grateful for this. We continue to work with our Naturalpathic doc. here in Fresno. He is also a pastor and has been talking to us about pursuing the healing of our souls.

He explained that we are all born body and soul and our spirit comes alive when we become Christ followers. These three part of a person effect the other parts. Every emotion causes a chemical reaction in the body and every experience is stored in the soul weather memories are explicit or implicit.

In my soul I have memories, both good and bad, and likes, dislikes, preferences etc.. Some of this stored information is good and some of it is not. For example, why do I want to eat a piece of chocolate when I feel stressed out rather than turning to God for help. I know that there is a physical reaction to chocolate, serotonin levels and all that but... I cognitively know that the better help in times of stress is God.

The work of the Holy Spirit in us and show us the beliefs that do not line up with what our spirit might already know. Have you ever had the thought, "I know that God loves me and will always do what is best but some how it doesn't reach my heart? And I still worry." This is what I am talking about.

The Holy Spirit goes into the soul and helps us "work out our salvation" or simply the process of sanctification. As Beth Moore said in a recent study I took, "I want my theology to match my reality."

I feel like I am rambling a bit, sorry. Anyway, I am just starting to grasp this whole thing and so is Kelly but we both feel a confidence that God is leading us and preparing us for a work that He has prepared for us and we are both excited about it.

We are still prayerful as to the direction we are taking with regards to treatment and remain open if the Lord leads to chemo but for now, we believe that He has us here and is giving us an opportunity to take an inward look and work on living in the freedom that He has already provided us.

We covet your prays during this process because we are not ignorant of the enemy and his desire to steal, kill, and destroy the work and image of God in and through us.
Thanks, Gabriela

Happy New Year...2008 has been good!

Hi Friends,
It's New Year's Eve and we just finished a great turkey torita soup without the toritas. We will spend a quiet evening playing a game or watching a movie with the kids and end the year thanking God for 2008. We have been so blessed this year. I am healthy and back to ministry full time. The kids are doing great in school and we are growing together. Gabriela seems happy and spiritual focused - connecting with women here. We have a huge support system of friends praying for us, investing time in our kids, and have hope in the next steps of prevention.

The Stanford Doc called and spoke with Gabriela last week. After our visit he contacted the lab that did my chromosome testing and then met with the oncology staff discussing my case. Their findings where inconclusive. They couldn't tell why my chromosome 15 was missing on some of my cells. They did not think it was connected to the leukemia or an indication of a pending relapse. They denied that any previous treatment could have caused it and recommended that I continue chemo where I left off. I don't know what to think about this, but prayerful that they are right about it not being an indication of a relapse - even though this chromosome has been linked to acute leukemia. I finish up my naturopathic treatment this week and will be tested next week to see if the frequency treatments show an improvement in my immune system. It's really an amazing science. I can also test some other alternative medicines using this frequency treatment to see if they would have a beneficial effect on my immune system. This way I am not using products that don't specifically work in my body. The way it works is that every disease, medication, and substance as a frequency. So by creating a substance's frequency and directing it into your body, it as if you are taking that substance. We found seven substances out of 30 that are used for leukemia, that responded positive in my system. So bi-weekly I have been receiving these frequencies. The goal is to see if these substances will keep my immune system at peak fighting force. The body was designed to fight cancers, so the hope is that my immune system will detect the cancerous cells and kill them before they can multiple. What I am not clear about is because Leukemia is a white blood cell, can healthy white cells detect that it's cancer and kill it - and can they do it fast enough to prevent the Leukemia to over take the blood system. I'm still trying to get a clear answer, but no doctor has been able to affirm this either way. If you know anything about this, please let me know.

As a dear friend Monica wrote,"Our trust is in God" and everyday He gives each of us life, whether we have cancer or not. I know that He is good and I can trust Him regardless of what awaits my family in 2009. He has loved us well through many of you in 2008. Thank you and His blessing to you and your families. Kelly

Stanford was a flop...

Hello
Gabriela and I headed to Stanford on Tuesday as recommended by our Oncologist. The question was if our chromosome 15 issue was an indication of a pending relapse and if Stanford would recommend a Bone Marrow Transplant at this time. My question was more about understanding the chromosome 15 issue. To make this short, the doctor said it wasn't an indication of a relapse and he would not recommend a transplant at this time with my history of Mucor.

The reason the visit was a flop in my option is that the doctor didn't have my test results and after I gave them to his medical assistant, he still hadn't read it. I had to point out information that led him to need to do a further investigation and get back to us. Gabriela asked about alternative protocols and trials. Specifically we ask about the German study using Methadone on ALL. He never heard of that study. Our local news station highlighted the story. Why didn't this doctor - an expert on Leukemia not know something that is huge in possible future treatments? I wasn't impressed and at that point felt we were talking to another narrow focused doctor that treats only with chemo and radiation with no real knowledge of other protocols. It's sad that doctors aren't more rounded. They are directing people's lives. The psalmist warns us not to trust in men, but that our trust must only be in the Lord God.

Our next step is a geneticist to address the chromosome issue. I really want to understand this before we take any action. Please continue to pray for us. It's hard to have a "specialist" tell us we need to return to chemo. We don't believe that is the right step presently, but there is always that sense that we may be wrong. We are at peace regardless, but always questioning. I know less than the doctors and they know less than I need them to know. Anyway, thank you.

We are considering a home purchase and working with a great Realtor. The market is right with the housing bottom pretty close. Interest rates are very low. It's been nice to be free from a mortgage, but having a home would be great for our family to really settle down.

Would love to hear from you. We are not having anyone commenting to the blog, so I don't know who is out there. Would love to know how to pray for you.

His blessings,

Kelly

Something Unexpected...

Hi Friends,
I met with Dr. Pascuzzo to find out the results of my biopsy last Monday. I had fully expected to be in remission and I am, but there was something unexpected. The biopsy testing includes a chromosome analysis. In the past this always was clear. My Leukemia was a T-cell type, not chromozonal. Well, some of my cells had abnormal chromosomes. Chromosome 15 was deleted in 8 out of 20 cells. This particular chromosome has been linked to leukemia. The Doctor wasn't sure why this has occurred but suggested that it could be an indication that a relapse was ahead. The report emphasizes that this deletion of Chromosome 15 is not an indictation of a relapse, but that it should be monitored.

My doctor recommended visiting Stanford again to get their opinion on this and if they would recommend a bone marrow transplant at this time while I am in remission. You can't be transplanted if you have active cancer. So I have an appointment this Tuesday to get their thoughts on this new development. After reading the report, I sense the analysis to be more positive - that my bone marrow is in excellent shape and that the chromosome issue is just something to watch. I do think that my doctor knows that we have loss confidence in Western Oncology and are researching other treatment protocols. I think that might be the reason to recommend a second option from Stanford.

Brianna turned 6 years old today and has lost her two upper front teeth. We had 15 girls over today and Brianna had a great time. They grow up so quickly. The rest of the family is doing well and getting ready for Christmas.

From the Rosenthal Family, we wish you His best and that you will know His love in deeper ways through the holidays. Merry Christmas!!

Kelly and the Rosenthals

Living Thankfully

Dear Friend - May this find you well. The Rosenthal family is getting ready to start a Thanksgiving tradition. This year we are going to include our kids in the preparation of the meal, the house, and our family devotion (Ps 103). In the afternoon we will visit a local convelessient home to deliver cookies and the girls will sing a few songs for folks. Then its home to dinner, a visit to friend for dessert and home for a movie - Princess Bride. That's the plan, so we'll see how it goes. We hope your Thanksgiving is full of praise for God wonderful blessing (read Ps. 103).

On the cancer front, I had a bone marrow biopsy on Monday and will find out next Monday the results. My blood work is good and we anticipate the results will still be that we are in remission. I haven't discussed with the doctor that we are not planning at this time to continue with the chemo regiment. He wants to start on Monday with in intravenous chemo. It's called an "induction phase" which means a heavy dosage of chemo which will depleat my system. It will be a difficult conversation. The doctor will warn me of all the possible reasons we should be continuing and the danger I am putting myself in by stopping. He will tell me this is the time to stay with the treatments to ensure the best long-term results.

These possibilities are concerning to me and I waver in my heart. I don't have confidence in the Western approach to treating cancer, yet I don't know enough about the alternative approaches other than a few books and some web study. It just makes more sense to build up your body to fight disease than to kill the body with the disease and hope that the body will recover. Alternative routes to recovery have and do work for many people, but not all. Chemo works for many, but not all. It's feels like a crap shoot. I have tried the chemo and it has almost killed me with the fungus and debilitated me with radiation. It did knock out my Leukemia, but that is not a reason to continue with chemo for me.

If the Leukemia was to return, I wouldn't rule out chemo and I may be open to a maintenance dosage while using the alternative non-toxic approaches. But we feel I need to try the healthy non-toxic approach. I can tell that many friends and associates think I am wrong for stopping. It's hard because they could be right. I'm not confident of that, but as you can tell, I am still wrestling with it. I just don't know enough and haven't found a doctor that isn't biased to their training and are for the most part ignorant to alternative approaches. Therefore I don't feel I can trust them. I don't question their hearts and convictions, but they don't know enough.

God hasn't given me any clear guidance. Gabriela and I are in complete agreement at this stage - stop chemo and go alternatives until my condition changes, if it should change. Our hope and greater confidence is that the naturopathic and alternative cancer non-toxic treatments will address any future leukemia stem cells that might still exist in my body. Ultimately we trust the Lord and believe He has, (Gabriela believes that He has) or will heal me. So I share this with you our friends to have you continue to pray. I would like our oncologist to continue to monitor us even if we stop the chemo. He may not and I will need to have an oncologist that will. I will let you know the results of the biopsy and my conversation. I think I mentioned having a naturopathic doctor that is advising a protocol to strength and remove the heavy toxins in my body from the chemo and living in our environment. I really am feeling great! He is also working with us to build up my T-Killer cells which are part of our white cell makeup and they are what kills cancer cells in all bodies.

This update has rambled on to long. Again, His blessings to you and your loved ones.

Kelly

Our present direction...

Hi Friends,

This is Kelly writing to give a quick update on my continuing journey. It's wonderful that you care and take the time to check the blog and pray with us. I feel blessed and loved. Thank you.

Gabriela and I feel very united and at peace about stopping any additional chemo treatments at this time. I stopped my pill regiment three weeks ago and will await a bone marrow biopsy Nov. 24. We feel confident that it will continue to show I am in remission. At this time I will hopefully have changed oncologists. I approached the Cancer Care Associate administrator two weeks ago to ask if they had oncologists that were open to alternative treatments to our western protocols. Surprisingly she answered yes and that the Association was even starting a Eastern medicine study. She had a doctor in mind that would work with me if I wanted to try an alternative approach. So I meet this doctor on the 12th.

I was also given a book to read entitled, "Outsmarting your Cancer" by Tanya Pierce. I've started many "cancer books" only to put them down, but this book really has been an answer to my prayers for guidance. It speaks of the causes and nutritional care to fight cancers like most books, but Pierce documents several alternative nontoxic treatments that have been used with wonderful results and have better results than chemo treatments. Pierce gives history and treatment development information as well as case studies and contact information to purchase or contact doctors. It's very well done and I am shocked that I wasn't told of such options by my doctor.

Gabriela may have mentioned that we have been visiting a naturalpathic MD who has also given us great insight to the body and how if functions. He is able to use my blood test results to address my fatigue and detox my body. He is also a believer and ministers to the spirit and soul with the Word and prayer. He has opened my eyes to a spiritual realm of battle that is so freeing.

So all this to say that I am hoping, with the doctors, to design a nontoxic treatment protocol that involves nutrition, a balanced supplement package based on my bodies needs, and look into a few of the alternative treatments to maintain my remission. As long as I am in remission, I see no need to consider chemo at this time. For ten months after I contracted the fungal infection I wasn't able to continue the chemo protocol and still remained in remission. We have learned that with Leukemia, the longer you are in remission,the greater likely hood you are of staying in remission. The chemo treatments initially arrested the Leukemia, but the treatments haven't done anything to keep me in remission. They have only opened me up to other illnesses and have physically harmed me. Therefore, I can not in good faith continue to put my family, friends, and church, through this up and down roller coaster of treatments. It's barbaric and there are alternatives I am now aware of and believe are a better route to sustained recovery. We have learned that the rest of the medical world has come to see this except for our western medical community. So for now we are walking forward in the faith that God has healed me and are seeking to be wise in sustaining that healing.

I still am looking for God to confirm this direction. We feel God has provided a lot of insight. I would still like to have some further direct confirmation, but He has told us through several sources that this cancer will not take my life. I know I will live and continue serving the Lord and with greater fervor and fruitfulness. There are many that would disagree with our present direction and we appreciate your prayers and input. I am cancer free and believe I will stay that way. We can all agree and pray for this together.

Thanks again for reading this and I love the responses and shared stories. God is true. He is the Greatest Good. We get to know Him as the beloved. Regardless of what we face in this broken world, He is faithful and can be trusted. He is glorified best when we live fully alive in Christ. Let's push on and live in the reality of God's Word and our identity in Christ. It's such a superior life - God is and He cares!!

His blessings,

Kelly

Thank you for your prayers! Kelly's hair and strength is returning. He has been working full weeks and is no longer dealing with headaches. His appetite is slowly returning and he is enjoying being in a smaller pant size, (I wish I could say the same.)

Kelly is still on the oral chemo and that will last another couple weeks. After that he will be having a bone-marrow biopsy. The chemo at present makes him feel yuck but... it is "doable". His blood counts all look good and we are so thankful.

Right now our biggest prayer request is that the Lord would answer our fleece. We are asking Him to give us direction regarding further treatment. We want to know if He has already healed Kelly or if we should continue on the path we are on. We don't want to be foolish either way and we are confident that the Lord has an opinion about what we should do.

We know that not continuing with treatment will go against conventional thinking and medical advise but... we also have been loosing confidence in the process. Kelly is willing to go down this path if the Lord directs that way but we also wonder if Violet Huckelberry's prayer last year proclaiming Kelly's healing was about the fungus and cancer.

I am sure that for some of you reading this will be alarming and maybe even sound foolish but I want to assure you that we are very prayerful and seeking out wise counsel from both sides of the issue before us. WE NEE PRAYER FOR DIRECTION!

We are claiming scripture that, "If anyone of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him." and God has said, "Call to Me and I will answer you, I will tell you great and mighty things that you do not know."

So thank you ahead of time for your prayers for us and praise God with us that He will give us the direction that He promises.

Sincerely, Gabriela and Kelly

P.S. I had a CAT scan that came back normal and am waiting to see a Urologist to investigate why I have blood in my urine. Thanks for praying.