Friday, February 1, 2008

Christen Doing Better

Thanks to all of you for your prayers. We can tell that God is listening to you and is answering. Christen is feeling a lot better, though her blood count numbers are still very low, so we have to be very careful about exposing her to infections. She tires easily these days but we are thankful that she has resumed facebook and finger spelling. :-) Being in the hospital is hard on her, but she seems to be doing well in spite of it.

Steve and the three youngest boys visited with Christen this evening. The girls will visit with her tomorrow. We aren't yet sure when Christen will be able to come home, though we are hopeful it will be soon.

Here is a passage that God used to give me encouragement recently.

Romans 5:1 "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

We believe by faith that God is at work in all of this suffering that Christen is enduring. Please continue to lift her (and the family) up in prayer. Christen will be starting chemo again next Thursday if her blood counts are high enough.

We keep saying this, but it is worth repeating over and over that we cannot thank all of you enough for the wonderful support you are giving us. We can't begin to explain to you how much it means to us.

The new mini-van has been a great blessing. You cannot imagine how wonderful it was the other night (when Christen's fever was up and the doctor said to bring her in to UVA) to be able to get into that little minivan and drive her there! It was a drizzly, cold night and Debbie knew she would be able to park in the parking garage rather than have to scout around for a place to leave the big van after midnight. The big van is too big to fit in most parking garages.

Steve & Debbie

3 comments:

The Wheatley's said...

We rejoice to hear of good days even with fatigue. Praise God for His hand in "little" things like vans and visits from Dad, brothers and sisters.
Praying for increasing blood counts and protection from infection.

Anonymous said...

Yes, we rejoice indeed. Adversity allows us to see God so acutely. Adversity allows others to bless us. We will be praying for Christen's comfort and healing. We love each of you.

Nunzia said...

So glad to hear that she is feeling a little better. Michael and I will be praying that God will continue to work in your situation, restore her health and continually provide you all with strength. Praying for you....