News from June 2008 Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 10:00 a.m. We have officially started our sabbatical. I took Blake and Isabel to Southern California for a few days to visit with my sister Melanie and her children from Colorado. She had been visiting the rest of our family down south and stayed another week to care for our sister Mandy's children while she was in Hawaii. My parents are in Cancun, so we got to visit with Mel and Mandy's husband, Albert, and our five cousins who are all between the ages of 2 and 9. We had a great time, and it was nice to have that time with only two of my children. I was able to interact with my nieces and nephews more without the priority of taking care of Micah. I love and missed my precious Micah, but it was nice to have the flexibility in schedule and be able to be helpful to my sisters. I am very thankful for that time. On Father's Day we picked up Kelly, Victoria, and Micah from the airport and headed to Lego Land, a long time dream of Blake's. We had a fun day. We then headed to Santa Barbara to see Kelly's parents and brother. Kelly's dad ended up back in the hospital with pneumonia. While we were there he was recovering and very weak. Kelly was able to be a huge support to his mom and offer a new perspective. Because of our own experience with hospitals and doctors, Kelly was able to address some important issues that had been overlooked and needed attention. Kelly stayed in Santa Barbara with his parents for part of the time while the kids and I were in Santa Maria, about an hour away, at the parents' house. We were able to help out with some things at their home. We did get to go to the beach one day and see my sister Mandy who is now home from Hawaii. She drove up to see us with her kids. We had a great time. We are very thankful that we were able to be there with our family, but it was not restful and quite emotionally draining for Kelly. We were actually glad to come home and rest for the first time since his sabbatical started. We are home this week working on projects around the house. We will be leaving again on July 5 to go visit my parents in Lake Havasu for a week. Then we will only be home for a couple days before we leave for our big east coast trip. Micah did well while we were gone. He seems to always do better when we are on the coast. Since we have been home, he has had a hard time, a lot of sleepless nights, and constant crying. Last night at 5:00, he decided to be content and happy. He slept pretty well last night and is doing great today. It is always so hard to determine what causes his pain or discomfort. Sometimes he just moans and complains, and we never know what it is. He seems to be having a lot of discomfort in his stomach associated with his bowels. He has also had a sty on his eye for weeks now that got really bad last week but is finally almost gone. He really does not enjoy the heat and that is my biggest concern as we enter our vacation: if he is miserable, we could all be miserable. I am gathering all the tools I can to try to keep him cool. We would really appreciate your prayers regarding his comfort and contentment this summer. We are still hoping to meet with the specialist in Philadelphia and I am waiting for a time. Please pray that this will happen. Thank you to all for your prayers and support. Update: I forgot to say in my earlier update that Kelly's dad, Bob, was able to transfer back to the rehabilitation center last Thursday. He was very grateful to be out of the hospital although all he really wants is to go home. He is still very weak, and they have to take therapy slow. He is not eating much although better than the last couple weeks. Please continue to pray for his physical healing and his mental and emotional stability and acceptance. He has a long way to go to be independent, and once they leave this facility, Kelly's mom will have a big job of caring for all his needs. Pray for protection and strength for them both and for Kelly's dear brother Chris who has sacrificed much to care for their needs. Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 7:30 a.m. Well thank you all for your prayers for our family. We are on the mend. Only Isabel out of our children got the nasty cold that Kelly and I got. God has protected the rest of our family so far. Kelly and I are doing much better. Kelly has terrible polyps in his nose and sinuses. With this cold they swelled up worse than ever before. Because Kelly's mom and brother have the same problem and have not had success with surgery or treatment, Kelly also has not tried much to treat them. But this week he was able to see a specialist, and he has been on steroids to help reduce his polyps. It has helped really well. I haven't seen his nose this small in a long time. It is interesting to see his face get thinner in a week. We are realizing he had a lot more polyps than we knew because as they're shrinking, his face is getting less puffy. We don't know how long this will last but at least for now he has some relief. Kelly's dad, Bob, had his surgery last Monday to have his leg amputated above the knee. The surgery went well, and he seems to be healing well from that. He was transferred on Friday to a rehabilitation center where he will most likely be for 3-4 weeks. He has had some other problems with his bowels and urinary tract, but the doctors have done many tests and believe that it will get better. Please pray for Bob's attitude and motivation. It is a struggle from day to day to know how he will respond to treatment, and he can be very stubborn. Pray that mentally and emotionally he will be of sound mind and that he will be encouraged spiritually. Deloris is staying in a hotel close by because they are about an hour from home. Pray that she too will have the strength to get through these weeks. We will be with them next week. I am taking Isabel and Blake today to Southern California to visit my sister Melanie and her kids who live in Colorado. They have been down visiting the rest of my family, and now it is our turn to visit. My parents and other sister are now on vacation, so we will just have some good times with all the cousins and Melanie. Then we will pick Kelly, Victoria, and Micah up at the airport on Sunday and head to Lego Land. Then we will go to visit with Kelly's parents for the rest of the week. When we are back in two weeks, I will send another update. We are looking forward to this wonderful opportunity to have so much time together this summer. This past Sunday was our last Sunday at New Harbor before Kelly's sabbatical. We were both emotional. We have been working to get everything done from day to day that we didn't think much about the fact that we are going to be away from our church family for three months. We will truly miss being with our family. This is our home. But we are so grateful for this opportunity for we know it is a privilege. We are very blessed by God's grace and provision for us. Thank you as always for your prayers and concern for our family. We are so grateful for all of you. Sunday, June 1, 2008, 9:30 p.m. Please keep praying for our family. If you can believe it, we have illness again in our home. I have been sick with a head cold all week. Kelly came down with it on Friday. He has been absolutely miserable the last couple days. He has polyps in his nose that are inflamed. His one nostril is completely filled with the polyp making it very difficult to breath, and his nose is twice its normal size. Despite that by God's grace and perseverance, he made it through this Sunday preaching two services, teaching a class, leading a leadership training seminar, and officiating a memorial service. He is completely wiped. So far our children all are free from illness. We are praying it will stay that way. We've loaded them all up on vitamins and are praying we can get through this last week of school without being sick. We are especially concerned for Micah because the congestion that comes with a cold like this could very easily turn to pneumonia for him. Kelly is will be going on his sabbatical from June 14 through September 13. We are looking forward to this time as a family. However these weeks leading up to it are full. Kelly has had much that he is trying to complete or prepare to pass to others while he is gone. We have also had a lot of extra stress with Kelly's dad's health and other family and ministry concerns. We covet your prayers for we know we have an enemy who would love to attack while we are down. Pray that these next two weeks Kelly will be able to accomplish all that God has for him to do. Pray that he will be encouraged in ministry and have peace about taking a break. We will be spending time with family over the first month and some time at home. The second month, we will be going to the east coast. We will try to see all the historic sites in Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., New York, and Williamsburg, Virginia. Plus we will be visiting some friends, visiting churches, and meeting with a doctor at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who has done research on Micah's diagnosis. He is one of three doctors who have done research on MPEI. The other doctors are in France and England. The last part of the sabbatical Kelly will be in Sweden representing our church's association and church planting team. He will be working with a group of people there who want to start churches. He will be doing some assessing and training with them. He will also use this time to do some writing. Kelly's dad, Bob, will be having surgery on Monday morning. He is having his leg amputated. He has gangrene in this foot and it is now necessary to amputate above the knee. Please pray that the surgery goes well and all the infection is removed. Pray for his recovery time and healing. Pray that he will mentally be able to accept and adjust to this huge life change. Pray too for Deloris, Kelly's mom, who is an amazing woman and caregiver. This is a big adjustment for her as well. Thank you for your love and concern for us. We know that you are praying.