Feburary's News

Hi Everyone,

What a wild and crazy, completely unpredictable life we live. I guess it is important to have things happen so that we can stay utterly dependent on God. Self-sufficiency has always been an issue for me, so the humility necessary to realize I can’t do it all still stings. Unbelievable! You’d think I’d be used to this “new normal” of accepting help where I need it, but it stings the pride. On the flip side, I’m excited that I am stable. I feel the best I have felt since last September before my health completely plummeted. The aspergillus counts are low, and my entire body has settled way down. My bone-marrow isn’t going nuts anymore, and I actually went out and did a few minutes of yard work yesterday. I felt a little sorry for my neighbor because I looked like a space alien wearing a respirator and goggles, and he nearly wrecked doing a double take trying to figure out what sort of contraption I had on my head. Ahhhh…humility. It is so painful, and yet so beautiful on people. The most beautiful people I know are completely humble. I look forward to the day when I will wear that beauty…. but not with pride! J

I’ve heard the phrase lately from well meaning people that “God will not give us more than we can handle.” As much as I would like to draw comfort from those words, I experienced an “ah ha!” moment about 3 weeks ago when I realized that “Oh yes He will!” He will DEFINITELY give us more than we can handle in the hopes of beating the ever loving pride right out of us and making us utterly and completely dependent on Him. That is what He wants. No self-sufficiency. No pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. No self-medicating. No running to another person. And no running away from your problems. He wants us to just throw our helpless selves at His feet. What a moment that was to realize I could do nothing, and I mean nothing, to “fix” everything that is going on here. That certainly is not in my nature to release control of a situation to anyone. To describe me as determined and goal oriented might be an understatement. After all, I’m just like every one else…I just want things the way “I want things!” Humph!

I’d like to apologize in advance, because this is the shortest version of the past several weeks I can come up with. I had my appt. with the specialist in Seattle this week. They are going to place a scope in my throat and then inject aspergillus causing my throat to close. This will let them know which muscles in my neck are definitely involved in closing off my airway, and the plan is to cut those muscles. Apparently, each of us has several extra muscles in our necks, and we can all spare a few. So, I’m thinking a little valium to take the edge off prior to the impending anaphylaxis would be nice, but they said “no”. Bummer. It could interfere with the meds used to restart my breathing. I’m super excited about this test, and I’m sure it will just be a swell party. (You do realize this is sarcasm, right?) The procedure isn’t scheduled yet, but I will send out a prayer request. No worries on that one!

Excellent news on Mikey. Miraculously, he has been pulled from this deployment and will be staying with us. Wahooo!

The lawsuit is moving forward. We are still waiting to see if the construction company had a mold exclusion in their insurance policy. We won’t know until the deadline for the initial request for settlement. Regardless, we cannot sell the house until the lawsuit is completely done. Once that is done, a major down size is in order so that I can handle our home.

Noah had both his medical procedures this week and did very well. All the biopsy results won’t be back for 2 weeks. He has lost almost 20 lbs since July. He definitely needed the full scope and biopsies to see if there is more we can do to treat his tummy. I’ll let you know the results once I get them. Poor little guy. He has been saving 2 cookies from church since last week that he still hasn’t been able to eat. What a bummer!

Aaron is going through a huge amount of genetic testing right now and a repeat IEP (Individual Education Plan). He has never had the genetic testing done before, but with his seizures and memory lose much more pronounced, the doc decided to try this route too. The new IEP is a major answer to prayer, because it means the school has to provide for and PAY for all of Aaron’s special education services that I have been doing. WHEW! Let me say that one again…WHEW!

We are just one wacked out family; I’ll tell you what! It is good to know that I have a healthy husband. Now isn’t that a walking miracle?! Who ever would have guessed that 10 years ago God would have healed him from a disease that was “incurable”? Yeh, yeh, yeh, this update is long but I wouldn’t know how to shorten it and still convey what I’ve learned these past few weeks. I’ve learned that God will give me more than I can handle for the sole purpose of trusting Him. I was doodling in my journal and starting writing a study about it. So far I’ve got it nailed down to TRUSTING HIM.

T R U S T

T Total

R Release

U Under

S Sovereign

T Truth