New Look, New Widget!

Hi Friends - I spent a few minutes prettying up the blog. (That only took me a year!)  

I also added a Google widget which allows you to subscribe to our blog by submitting your email address.  (Look for it on the right hand side.) If you subscribe, you'll get an email every time we post which keeps you from checking back all the time...finding we didn't post anything...losing the blog address...being embarrassed to ask for it again...asking family members for an update instead...falling out of the loop...feeling horribly guilty...drinking cookies in your coffee...and now feeling really, really horrible...

Who knew that such a simple widget could save us from such a relentless, vicious cycle! Yeah, technology! (And yeah me for inching towards the 21st century!)

James continues to feel well today...we cannot thank you enough for your prayers. 

First Day of School

Yep, it's true. My kids went back to school today. Just as well, since the current mixture of heat and humidity makes us feel like we're living in the Amazon. We've had that much rain this July too. Won't be long and we'll feel the need to put the house on stilts...but I digress! (I miss you, former mountain climate we called home!)

School. Inside. Air conditioned. Supervised. Without Mom. Free of charge. Ahhh...

QUOTES OF THE DAY

Lydia: Some of my Indian friends from last year passed away.....to California.

Michaela: It was a good day, but we didn't learn how to read yet.

And it was a good day. No one passed away, and James's strength actually picked up during chemo...and has remained strong since. I like to believe it was round about the time you all started praying. It was either that, or the Thai food we had for lunch. (Because man, that lunch was so good I'm still thinking about it 12 hours later!)

Love you all - thanks for the prayers! You made our day!

Thank You

Last night the girls and I went to our school's annual ice cream social - the kick off for the start of the new school year. We were able to meet their teachers, who are both incredibly caring, hard working women. Wow - what a blessing!

Sadly, we left James at home in bed....which was the second time in two days I was being called upon to play the part of single parent. Don't get me wrong - I take my kids places on my own all the time. But when there's no choice, when life foists it upon you...well, that has an entirely different feel to it. 

But then it's in these moments when life has you by the throat that grace has a chance to reveal itself. I might otherwise have missed the chance to relish in God's kindness, had life not pinned us to the mat. 

Because of cancer, I had the chance to tell Michaela's teacher about our lives, and I got to hear a bit of her story too. While other moms were asking about nap time (there isn't any), play time (there won't be much of that either), and how to safely get their child off the bus (try to remember a school isn't going to let 5 year olds wander the halls aimlessly), I got to hear about how God shapes a life through a broken back, a police-officer husband being shot (he survived), and God's plan in the provision of a new job as a kindergarten teacher. Perhaps few other circumstances would have allowed us to say (in a completely acceptable, we are not weirdos, hey it's nice to meet you kind of way) - we are Christians, and we're praying that God is gracious to us.

And then. And then, people...we returned home and as I rounded the corner of the driveway, my heart leaped to see James outside, shooting baskets. A small thing, but a huge thing. He was also out of the mental fog he'd been in, once again able to focus, talk, and interact with us.

Not an altogether bad way to end the day. 

So thank you for your prayers. They have great power as they are working.

Keep Praying

Dear Friends - these past few days have been hard. Really hard. James is exhausted and is spending more and more time in bed. He has some other, less severe (but incredibly annoying) side effects of chemo - itchy skin and chronic hiccups - but the exhaustion is the most discouraging. It feels like he is dying because (as he said) he is not even always cognizant of what is going on. He's aware - but he's feeling like he's in a fog. 

So you need to pray. 

If this is the road that we are going to walk, we need to have God's strength to endure.  We are being pressed beyond our own ability to endure, and we have 3 more months of this lined up. I currently cannot even conceive of 11 more chemo treatments...I am only focusing on the next two (then a break). We can make two...I think. 

We need faith to believe that God is working - faith will give us eyes to see the unseen. Otherwise, we are only going to focus on what is seen - and that is an all-too-depressing place to live. 

And of course, pray for a miracle. James and I keep (trying) to remind each other that if God is truly going to get the glory for the miraculous, things are going to have to look really, really bleak medically. We don't know whether this is the story we get to be a part of, but we pray that it is. We know healing James is a very small thing for such a great God as ours...join us in asking for God's mercy. 

Thank you! We think of you often - your presence in our lives makes God's love tangible. He is using you speak to us when we need it most. Thank for allowing Him to use you to bless us!

When God Gives You More Than You Can Handle

...there's a wonderful article on it! Written by Mitch Chase, a pastor down in Louisville, Kentucky - he unpacks the bad theology behind the conventional wisdom that "God will never give you more than you can handle." 

Trials come in all shapes and sizes, but they don't come to show how much we can take or how we have it all together. Overwhelming suffering will come our way because we live in a broken world with broken people. And when it comes, let's be clear ahead of time that we don't have what it takes. God will give us more than we can handle--but not more than he can.

The best line - "There's never a good time for your life to be wrecked." 

Word.

Read the rest of the article here. 

One Down, Eleven to Go...

James went in for his first dose of chemo today. Whether it felt more or less overwhelming than the first dose of chemo last year, I cannot say. Many aspects are less overwhelming, including knowing all the staff and knowing the kinds of questions to ask. James didn't have any major surgeries prior to today (unlike last fall when he had two), and in general, his health seems better than last fall. ("Other than a bit of cancer," as we keep telling people.)

On the other hand...here were are again. And this time, we know we are in for a long haul. So thankful that you are "long haul" kind of people! The cards we received in the mail today, the emails, and the texts are God's love pouring into our lives as just the right time. 

*We received the results from James's latest CT scan.  We were really glad to know that James's cancer is currently only in two spots - a lymph node in his chest, and a tumor in his pelvis. Thus far, no metastasis to other bones or internal organs.  "The sentence of death" (2 Corinthians 1:9) is still upon us...but maybe not coming as painfully or as quickly as it could. We know that no matter what, it is God alone who will save James's life, so yes, it is wonderful news that his body is not rife with cancer.  Two spots of stage 4 lung cancer are still incredibly lethal.

*The chemo drugs James is receiving are generally handled well by patients, and thus far James is no exception. We spent the afternoon walking around and doing some shopping. James is currently washing the dishes. His appetite has thus far not been affected, and he is not nauseous. There are heaps of potential side effects, so you can ask that God be gracious in that regard. 

*According to Dr. Gupta, now that James has a tumor in his bone, that bone will forever be affected and will never be completely healthy. The chemo can potentially destroy the tumor there, but again - apart from God's intervention - James will have permanent damage to his pelvis. [I did ask if that means James has to give up rugby and football...apparently yes. =) ] Yet, as one of our dear friends said, "Well, God can make bone."  So, we're not too worried about that (just another thing to pray for!).

*We had a wonderful, wonderful conversation with one of James's nurses - whom we didn't even know was a Christian - but has been through some significant, life-altering trials since we last saw her. We had a great time encouraging one another, reaffirming God's goodness and His plan, and testifying to evidence of His grace in our lives and the power of prayer. Probably the highlight of my day...

*Both James and I are pretty wiped out...pray for the gift restful sleep. 

THANK YOU for your prayers!  Just a while longer now...

...rest the full weight of your hopes on the grace that will be yours when Jesus Christ reveals himself...

~1Peter 1:13 (Phillips)

  

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