Joy, Pain, and Anticipation

Today Christen had a pleasant surprise visit from her great-grandparents Gene and Ruth. They made the trip all the way from Leesburg. Christen was glad to see them and really appreciated that they came to see her. Grandma Ellen also stopped by today to see Christen and deliver a gift of a laptop computer. A MacBook for all you computer geeks! :-) Many thanks to those who gave to towards the computer!! Now Christen can do facebook and e-mail from the comfort of wherever she happens to be.

Rhonda and Anna stopped by today for a visit, and Jane came today and delivered arm and hand cushions for Christen's crutches. Wendy and her kids spent some time with us this evening.

Please pray for our trip tomorrow to Charlottesville to see the oncologist. Our appointment is at 11 AM, and we are hoping that we can spend the afternoon getting the "baseline" testing completed so that we can start chemo next week. Elizabeth graciously offered to go with us tomorrow to help us navigate the system and the medical issues. She takes classes down there and is a nurse, so she is also familiar with the territory. She is also familiar with oncology department since Brian did his chemo there. Thanks Elizabeth!!! God sent you to us!! Then on Friday we have to leave early in the morning to be at CHOP for 10:30 AM appointment with Dr. Dormans. Wendy switched vans with us so that Christen will have a little more room to stretch her leg out, and we don't have to drive our 15 passenger van. Bravo to Wendy for being willing to drive that thing!! Thanks!! She is brave. :-)

Christen is still taking the maximum dose of her pain medication. It hurts more when she spends too much time moving around. Otherwise she is in good spirits. God has really given her a sense of peace and a quiet acceptance of the situation. She doesn't complain, and really seems to be accepting this as the Lord's will for her right now. She is such a sweet, mature young lady. We are very proud of her.

God continues to bear us up in His hands. He is teaching us to lean on Him more and more, especially as we face a mountain issues. The battle rages, but your prayers are being heard and answered. We are deeply grateful. Sometimes it feels like it would be so easy to "crack up", but the Spirit intervenes and provides the strength we need just at the right time.

We can really tell that being alone in a situation like ours would be very difficult. We want you guys to know that the interactions we have with you are so beneficial to us. You may not perceive it, but they are. For instance, Wendy's visit this evening with her kids was very good for us because we spent some good time just laughing. God made laughter. " A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22. Laughter helps to break up the times of worry and stress, of which there are an abundance these days. Thanks for the laughter!!

Another request is that both Debbie and Christen have a cold today, so please pray that they will be healed quickly and that we will be spared from anything further.

Steve & Debbie for the family