Still Under "Construction"

On the gravestone of Ruth Graham, Billy Graham's deceased wife, is the epitaph, "End of Construction, thanks for your patience." I love the humour and perspective in that statement. And it reminds me that, for those of us still walking on terra firma, God is still at work on his goal of helping followers of Jesus to become more and more like Him every day. In other words, we are still under construction.

As the Good Book says, "I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again." Growth, change, improvement all seem to be associated more with youth or middle age, but to be a life-long learner and open to the Divine Contractor is a daily choice I still need to make after 69 years of life. And the choice implies an inquiring heart and mind regarding what still needs work in my life so I remain a cooperative participant in the renovation project of my life.

One of the growing areas of my life these days is how to converse with God about suffering, whether my own or that experienced by others. Of course we simply want it removed, but when one views it as one of the construction materials, it changes the conversation. I'm somewhat humiliated to see how often in my prayers there has been the presumption that I know what is best and basically ask God to implement it--on His timeline, of course.

I'm learning to pray with a clearer idea of the difference between God's role and mine in this adventure of living, and to find language that replaces my arrogance with the complete trust in God's master craftmanship and His complete goodness both to me and for me. And there is still a place for request in all this. Since I don't have God's view of things, I simply request what I would appreciate, but then submit to His will--not unlike Jesus' example before His crucifixion when He requested that "cup" to be taken from Him, but then submitted Himself to the will of his Father in Heaven. I love the creativity involved in learning about this kind of conversation with my Heavenly Father.

On a less lofty note, but of equal joy to Carol and me, was the arrival of our daughter Barb this morning. She's spending a week with us, and she breathes vibrant life into ours whenever we're with her.

Bob, for your regular reporter Carol

Encouraging days

This week Bob has experienced a dramatic decrease in back pain, and hasn’t even taken any pain medication since Wednesday evening. We are SO thankful!! This has been so encouraging to us and to his doctors. At the same time however, his hemoglobin dropped quite low so he received a couple of pints of blood last evening when he was on dialysis. There was also some question as to whether he would be able to get his chemo this morning because his platelets also dropped very low.

However he just phoned me from the Cancer Clinic to say that his platelets more than doubled since Tuesday so he’s getting his chemo right now!! We wondered whether receiving a blood transfusion would elevate the platelets but were told it wouldn’t affect the count. In any case, they have risen dramatically!! We have yet to know what Bob's "tumour markers" are and will report that when we find out.

Although Bob has both cancer and kidney failure, you’d never know it to look at him. He looks so healthy and even younger than his 69 years!! Here he is last Sunday on our patio, waiting for the steaks to finish grilling on the barbecue!!

This weekend KIM is competing in a Horse Show in Moose Jaw with her horse Peanut. She’s so excited to be “back in the saddle”!! This picture was taken a couple of months ago when she was patiently waiting for the day she could ride Peanut again. And Tim is back working part-time for a seed farmer near Lumsden. So life is somewhat back to normal for them. We are all so grateful.

This week we’ve received news of a number of deaths of friends and challenging health problems many are facing. It all puts our difficulties in perspective and reminds us that none of us knows what a day might bring. What a comfort it is to know that “the Lord is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble”. We have experienced His presence and help in abundance and know this to be true!!

There's a "Welcome" here!!

We are so excited about "welcoming" all of our kids and grandkids here this summer--and friends who are so welcome to drop by for a visit!! With our tiny condo, our space is expanded in the summer months out onto the patio. We anticipate many hours of conversation, laughter, eating, reading, and relaxing together.

BOB has had a much better week since his last chemo and he now has a week off before resuming chemo next Friday. He's enjoyed increased energy and decreased pain, for which we are SO thankful. So instead of heading off for chemo today, we're going to have a date in Vancouver--dinner and the theatre!! Thanks so much for your love and prayers for us and our family.

KIM's enjoying having her energy back and has resumed her busy life as a wife, mother, and horsewoman--while getting a special drug called Herceptin intravenously every three weeks until Christmas. Her hair's growing back nicely and by summer she should have a cute "pixie" style hairdo.

My brother JIM is also increasing in strength and has begun to work again from his home. His condition will be monitored closely with frequent CT scans and everything looks clear to date.

"Great Is Thy Faithfulness" is one of our favourite hymns and we are experiencing the reality of one of the phrases--"strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow"!!!

One down and many more to go!

Bob had his first chemo treatment last Friday and didn't experience any negative side-effects until Monday. Extreme tiredness, increased back and stomach pain, and constipation made him very uncomfortable until today!! Just today he's had significant relief in all of those areas, so he's gone off to dialysis without the dread of sitting in a recliner and unable to move for over four hours while in a lot of pain.

Bob's sister Vi flew here from Edmonton on Sunday and spent two wonderful days with us. Thankfully Bob was feeling fairly well when she arrived and we were all able to enjoy lots of good conversation, tasty food, and Vi got some much-needed rest. She and I also had two delightful walks on the promenade and pier at the beach.

Vi and I went with Bob to dialysis on Tuesday evening, just before I drove her to the airport. Bob was in quite a bit of pain then, but managed to smile for this picture with his sis!!

And tomorrow morning Bob will have chemo once again--this time only one drug instead of two. We're hoping and praying that this time it will be easier on him. We have a number of involvements in the next couple of weeks and so want to be well enough to be able to participate.

After a few months without pain, we're learning once again the reality that these times of weakness are reminders of our dependence on the Lord who promises that "His power is made perfect in weakness". And although we're very consciously living one day at a time, we have so much to look forward to. Barbie's flying out here at the end of the month for a week and both David and Tim and their families will be coming this summer. What a joyful prospect!!

Back Home

Yesterday we returned home after six wonderful days in Regina with Tim, Kim, their precious four, and Barbie.

Nothing beats spending time with our kids and grandkids. What a busy household, but so full of love. Such fun to wake up to four sets of eyes staring at us in our cozy dark basement bedroom before jumping into bed with us for lots of snuggles and shennanigans!! So much for sleeping in!!

We were there to help Gracyn celebrate her 7th birthday last Sunday. She's such a little tomboy princess, all dressed up in her Christmas dress, but putting in a special request for a "Dirt" cake with worms!!!

"Auntie" was SO amazing and full of energy, helping Papa and Grammy take care of the kids on Saturday and Sunday while Tim and Kim went to Moose Jaw for a horse clinic.

Kim's feeling just about back to normal after her chemo--a very active Mom and homemaker. She's resumed helping Tim with chores and caring for the horses, with special attention to the newest member of the family, Smartie, their three week old fillie.

Tim and Kim managed to escape the ever-present camera except for a couple of appearances with little Mykenna!!

We are so proud of them and the courage and faith with which they have faced Kim's cancer. Although her prognosis is very good, there's that "niggling" fear that it may return, so prayers for a release from those anxieties are much needed.

It's so sweet to hear the children pray at bedtime for Mommy, Papa, and Uncle Jim to get better. One of the kids asked Papa "What kind of breast cancer do you have?" Bob had two hemo-dialysis treatments at the Regina General Hospital and it all went very well. The pain in his lower back continues and is moderately increasing. He will have his first chemo on Friday, beginning another round of treatments two times every three weeks.

The wall hanging that Tim made Kim for Christmas hangs on their bedroom wall as a constant reminder of our faith, hope, and love that find their source in Jesus Christ, our ever-present Helper and Healer.

A week of celebrations!!

We’ve had a very full week that will be reported with mostly pictures!!

Easter weekend began with a wonderful Good Friday service at our church where Bob played the keyboard as we gathered together to remember Jesus’ sacrifice and death for us.

Then that very evening in Regina, Tim and Kim’s mare gave birth to a beautiful little “filly”, bringing an early celebration of new life!!

Resurrection Sunday was a wonderful celebration of the fact that Jesus Is Alive . . . and because He lives, we will live also!! That promise means more to us today than ever before!!

And last evening, the District Office had a Retirement Party for Bob, even though he hasn’t been working much for over a year. The delightful time began as we all gathered at a ceramic painting studio to exercise our creative juices and enjoy a relaxed time together.

Here are Dave and Agnes Hearn, our beloved District Superintendent and his wonderful wife!

This was followed by a delicious dinner at a quaint restaurant in Fort Langley and the presentation of some wonderful gifts—both silly and serious. We have LOVED being a part of the Pacific District Family and feel SO incredibly blessed!!

Our plans are to fly to Regina on Wednesday to spend six days with our children Barbie, Tim, and Kim and of course our wonderful grandchildren Colby, Gracyn, Carson, and Mykenna. Kim is almost feeling back to her normal self since her chemo and we anticipate having a great time together. Bob will have two dialysis treatments at the Regina General Hospital.

We really appreciate your prayers for this trip. The pain in Bob’s lower back is increasing and he won’t be able to begin chemo until after we return. The oncologist told us that some of the cancer cells may be resistant to the chemo this time around, but we are hopeful that he will have a good response as he did last time. God knows and our ultimate confidence is in Him!!

Our theme song this week has been -- “I’ll say yes, Lord, yes to Your will and to Your way . . . “ There is such freedom in saying “Yes” to the Lord!!

More chemo coming!!

Bob had his appointment with the oncologist this afternoon. Unfortunately he didn't have the results of the ultrasound, but he did have the labwork which revealed that his tumour markers have gone up again--and that, plus the increase in pain in his lower back, would indicate that there's more cancer activity going on again. Bob will resume chemo towards the end of the month--on April 27. The earliest he could get chemo would be the week earlier when we plan to be in Regina. At this point we still plan to go to Regina and then he will have his first chemo when we return.

We were kind of expecting to hear this, but of course were hoping and praying that we wouldn't. It's interesting that the first news of Bob's cancer came during Easter week last year, and at the very same time this year we're dealing with a bit of a setback. Thankfully Bob is feeling well overall--no weight loss or extreme tiredness that characterized him a year ago, but a recurrence of more cancer activity and some accompanying pain. Thankfully Tylenol taken every three hours is fairly effective at this point.

Being Passion Week, Bob and I have been doing a lot of reading and meditating on the sufferings of Jesus and have been touched more powerfully than ever at His deep love for us and His willingness to suffer. We've been reading a number of the Easter "Moments with the Savior" from one of our very favorite devotional books. They have been particularly poignant for us right now.

The author of "Moments with the Savior", Ken Gire, includes a prayer at the end of each meditation, and the reading about Jesus in Gethsemane was followed with a beautiful prayer that includes the following, as it addresses the difficult times in our lives:

"Lord, I know that sometime, somewhere, some type of Gethsemane awaits me. Just as it did you . . .

. . . Prepare me for that dark night, Lord. Prepare me now by helping me realize that although Gethsemane is the most terrifying of places, it is also the most tranquil.

The terror comes in realizing I am not in control of my life or the lives of those I love. The tranquility comes in realizing that You are!!”

Wow--That prayer struck me so profoundly when we read and prayed it two days ago, and we very consciously once again put our hands in the Lord's hand and entrusted Him with our lives.

There's NO safer place to be!!

SO . . . Let not your hearts be troubled--ours aren't--just a little tender!!

Thanks so much for your continued prayers.