Resurrection Sunday

Resurrection Sunday will be here tomorrow! Normally, we have certain family traditions surrounding our holidays. Our children have felt a little short-changed this year, as many of our family traditions have gone by the wayside over the last three months (we never have finished our Advent story from Christmas and the Valentines are still in boxes that have never been opened). They have been asking about the usual things we do for Easter such as the resurrection story eggs, coloring wooden eggs (because of our egg allergies), and, of course, the candy. Our current plan is to do an abbreviated version of the celebration by hiding the wooden eggs we colored last year instead of coloring new ones and limiting the amount of candy, etc. that we distribute. There will be no new clothes or haircuts (we are all looking very shaggy). In light of Christ's sacrifice for our sins, none of these things are really very important, but I realize that they still mean something to my children. We are hoping to go to church tomorrow (this will be the first time in over two months that we have been), so, hopefully, everyone will be feeling well and energetic enough to attend.

Going Back to Work Monday :-)

Jason got his release to go back to work on Monday, March 24th. He thought about going back tomorrow, but has decided to do some work on his van instead. It has been having problems, and now that we need two vehicles again, it is time to get it running smoothly. Please pray for him as he heads back to work. While he is doing much better, he still isn't back to where he was before all of this happened.

Hope all of you have a blessed Resurrection Day!

Doctor's Appointment Today

Jason has a doctor's apointment at 3:15pm. His goal is to go back to work tomorrow. I will update later with the doctor's report.

A Goal in Mind

This coming Thursday (March 20), Jason will be going back to the doctor to try and get his release for work. He was planning to see the surgeon again, but Dr. Hemric is back in the hospital with heart trouble. Please keep praying for him. He will be seeing the internal medicine doctor instead.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

We have all been suffering with the flu over the last week or so. Jason seems to have been hit particularly hard. He has run a fever for several days now. He was doing better about getting up and moving around, but since getting the flu, he is now back to being in bed almost constantly. The kids are finally getting over it, although they seem to have a cough hanging on that I would like to see gone.

One funny: The night "Miney" (age 3 1/2) came down with the flu, her neck started aching very badly. I guess she didn't know how to tell us, so she stood in the middle of the living room floor and just burst out sobbing. We asked her what was wrong, and she replied, "My neck has diarrhea!" :-)

Blessings to all of you.

It Is With Great Sadness. . .

that I share with you news of a dear friend's passing. Mrs. Glenna Conley passed away today after being removed from her ventilator. Mrs. Conley was preceeded in death by her only child, Carla Gambill, who died in 1997 of breast cancer. She is survived by her faithful and loving husband and two grandsons who live in Louisiana.

My heart is broken at the loss of such a wonderful woman. Her husband has stood faithfully by her side since the onset of her illness in October. Medicare simply wouldn't pay for any more time in the facility which allowed her to remain on her ventilator. Please pray for her husband. He is weak and exhausted and obviously very distraught.

March 4th

The last few days have been rough. "Eenie" is recovering from the flu, which "Meanie" has caught now. So far, no one else is showing obvious signs. My nausea is getting so bad that I am forced to spend much of the day lying down. It is frustrating. Jason has been more active this week, but it is still causing him quite a bit of pain. He has decided he is going to have to get up and work through the pain if he is going to stand any chance of going back to work in a few weeks.

Our best friends are in town from Kansas City. We had hoped to spend more time with them, but with our illness, we were only able to spend a couple of hours with them this evening. Maybe the next time we try to get together it won't be cold and flu season :-0

Thank you for your continued prayers. Please keep praying for Jason's recovery and strength, strength and health for me and baby, and health and strength for our children.

ETA: Please pray for a dear couple that we know. She has been on a ventilator since Oct after several health issues. She is not doing well, and they haven't been able to wean her from the vent. They have run out of days that Medicare will pay for her care and are looking at having to shut off the ventilator. She is 83 and her husband is 79. Their only child (my aunt) died 10 years ago, and they have no close family here to support them during this trial.