Just waiting

Good morning, thanks for the prayers. Erin is doing fine this a.m. but actually had a pretty painful evening. Her bone pain was really acting up. She seems to have a harder time in the evenings with nausea and pain. Bone pain, as you may recall, means her marrow is starting to produce cells again which is why her numbers are starting to creep up. We hope that the chemo wiped out all the leukemia cells but we won't know that until her next biopsy. So thanks for the prayers for pain relief and no nausea. Erin has been keeping herself pretty busy with all this new cable to explore and movies she has or has not seen before. We also play alot of cards. She doesn't have alot of energy so I haven't been able to get her to walk her laps. Maybe you all could encourage her to walk!! Nothing like peer pressure! Thanks for the prayers. We are so lifted up by your faithful encouragement and scripture references. Blessings, janet

"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 15:4-6

clinic day

Hello Friends, Thanks for checking in, all is well today. Erin had bone pain last night but seems o.k. today. We just got back from the clinic and her numbers were up a little. White count 0.8, platelets 43. So we are o.k . til next week. Hopefully, we won't have to go in sooner. She had a low grade temp last night but it didn't get high enough to call the Dr. It was lower this a.m. thank the good Lord. So, we are hoping to just rest this afternoon. Bless you all for your prayers. Keep 'em coming. There is power in prayer!! love, janet

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Hanging out

Hello Prayer Warriors, Thanks for praying that hedge of protection around us. We feel very secure in God's arms. Each morning we face this decision. We have the choice to fall apart or the choice to trust God for His love and protection. Sounds like an easy choice but I tell you, it can be very difficult. There is a verse that says God's word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I remember someone once explaining that the reason we don't get a big light to see what is far ahead is that we are to trust EVERY SMALL STEP to God. He gives us a small lamp to see the steps we need to take now. If we knew what was up ahead we might not lean on Him for each individual step. So this is our faith walk, more like a marathon really. Knowing the God we serve makes it easier to continue to choose Him every day instead of the chaos of this world. And believe me, the chaos is knocking on our door rather loudly! So we stay in the word and trust in a Savior that loves us. Or as my friends at work call it, my "bubble!"
Erin is feeling well today. She is enjoying some Gilmore Girls reruns and catching up on her e-mails etc. Thanks for keeping up the prayers!! blessings, janet

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. I have suffered much; preserve my life, O Lord, according to your word. Accept, O Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws." Psalm 119:105-108

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith..." Hebrews 12:1-2

Sunday at the clinic

Hello and thanks for the free time suggestions. Sounds like fun. We had a clinic appt today and I am so glad we did. Erin was feeling short of breath and tired, pounding headache and pale last night and this a.m., which means she needed blood. Two units later and she feels so much better. It is amazing how quickly that helps. Her platelets were up on their own a bit from 31 to 40 and her white count crept up to 0.6. Every little bit helps. So, she isn't climbing fast, but it is a start. Our next appt is Tues for labs. Until then, a few movies, some card games and rest. Thanks for checking in. Thanks bunches to those of you able to give blood this morning at church. We love you for helping us with prayers!! God is infinitely pleased to hear from you! Blessings, janet

"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer..."
1 Peter 3:12

saturday

Hello Prayer Warriors, We are so thankful for you all. Yeah for more map stickers in Asia! Thanks Amy. Erin is doing well this morning. Last night she got nauseous and couldn't take her nighttime bucket of pills. That's probably why she feels o.k. this morning. Sometimes you just have to say no. Bill, Amanda, Laura and I went to clean out Erin's room at school. We have never seen so many pens and paper clips in our lives. Erin was so sad that we had to move all that stuff out. She really wants to be able to go back to teaching this year, but the Dr said no. As a matter of fact the Dr said we have to treat Erin like a newborn baby when she has her transplant. She can't be exposed to anything until she is reimmunized 6 months after the transplant. She will have to have all the "childhood immunizations" all over again. Anyway, lots to learn. We are eternally grateful for your company on this journey and blessed by your love, janet

Not sure this scripture matches the note today but I couldn't get it out of my head, so here goes:

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18: 3-5

clinic day

Bless you Prayer Warriors for keeping that pager buzzing. We feel your prayers every day. We just got back from the clinic and the big orientation meeting with our transplant Dr. She was very thorough in her explanations and patient with our questions. We are set to go as soon as Erin's numbers come back up to normal. Her counts were a little further down today, we will recheck on Sunday. This waiting game is hard. As soon as her counts are up, they will do another biopsy to check on the leukemia. If it is gone or nearly all gone, they will start the transplant chemo. On the transplant day, they retrieve the cells from the donor and transport them directly to Emory. She will receive them on the same day they are collected unless they are from a donor overseas. The next 3 weeks are the miserable period of time in the hospital. Please pray for easy side effects at that time. After she starts to recover from that, we will be watching for graft vs. host disease. That could last from 3 months up to 3 years until her donor cells and her body come to a truce. It is all quite scary but we will just take it one day at a time. That is probably more info than anyone wanted but we want you all to know how to pray. Blessings on you for your faithful concern and prayers!! love, janet

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

A good day for movies

Thanks for all the prayers. Davis informed Erin last night that someone in Uganda is praying for her. We will get the world map back out and put a star there. Thanks Davis. We will take all the prayers we can get. We need to keep God's hot line busy 24/7. Erin feels well today, so far, praise the Lord. Hoping tomorrows numbers will be up. I know she would like to get out of the house a little before we go in for the long haul. We are supposed to meet with the transplant Dr. tomorrow and get details. We are anxious to get this process started. The sooner the better. Please continue to pray for our donor. I know this must be a little scarey for him/her as well. We have a huge praise that we didn't even know we should be praying about. Bill's company was having lay-offs today and Bill did not get laid off. Wow, God is so good. He is covering all the details around us. Can you imagine how many things He takes care of that we don't even know about every day?? Glory! love, janet

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-34