Another Monday

Last night one of Ilene's best friends from Arizona flew in to see us and encourage us for a few days. She graciously offered to spend the night here in the hospital with Josh so that I could get an uninterrupted night of sleep, so this morning I feel rested thanks to Kristy. I am sure Josh will put up a blog later today sharing about all of his adventures with Kristy last night.

Ilene, Sarah and I were able to walk down to the gym this morning and workout for about an hour. It is such a blessing to feel your prayers at work and see God's children doing more than pray. Our Sunday School class studied the book of James last Fall and we came to the verse in Chapter 2 where it talks about faith without works is useless. The class spent time talking about how we can live out or faith and had the opportunity during those discussions to help some of the families in practical ways. We have been blessed by brothers and sisters in Christ who have a living and active faith.

The other lesson we are learning from James is the lesson from James Chapter 1. There are many situations in life where we face difficulties that cause us to ask those why questions. James starts by writing:

² Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

For three weeks no we have been waking up each day not knowing what the day will hold. The regular routine of our lives, the predictable outcomes of each day have been stripped away and replaced by an ever changing roller-coaster of emotions and new challenges. But we know that God is giving our faith a chance to grow, and with that in mind we know that it will be an opportunity for great joy.

For the last few days each morning, Josh's blood pressure has been dropping. This is one of the side effects of the chemo that they are watching closely. Along with his blood pressure, his blood counts are dropping as well. His hemoglobin has dropped back down below 8, so after chemo today, they will give him a blood transfusion.

He has still not experienced any other side effects which we are thankful for, but continue to pray that the cancer cells will be killed off and that they will not grow back. Please also pray that he stays healthy as any infection right now could be very serious.

Please keep us in your prayers also as along with dealing with the doctors and treatment plans, we are also dealing with the insurance company and seeking favor from them regarding his treatment.

Thank you for your continued prayers. The comments that you leave and the emails and texts are a huge encouragement to us.