What's "normal" anyway?

(From Daniel):

It's so nice to have my family come visit. I enjoyed feeding Kezia lunch. A little bit of the old normal.

 

I have a possible infected IV site, and it hurts. It's worse than the last one. So I'm going on antibiotics and going for oral rather than a new IV.  It will probably take longer though. The IV site before had a small infection, and it on average takes three painful tries to start a new IV. It brings me to tears just thinking about it. I'm thankful that I don't need one now. The doctor also reduced how often I get blood work. I'm thankful for this as well. And I'm so thankful that my nausea is gone. 

I want to make the most of whatever time God has given me. So, do I wait for better circumstances? No, I'm going to do the best I can with what health God provides. I do not know what comes tomorrow; that's in God's hands. My goal is to serve Him the best I can today. 

More prayer requests for us both:
- Strength
- Sleep
- Wisdom with decisions
- We miss each other a lot and doing family life together.
- Bed sore heals (Dan only)

Thank you for your prayers and support. It means so much to us to know you're praying for us.

Daniel  

(From Evelyn):

Over the past week, we have been trying to tackle Daniel's nausea, still not knowing what was causing it. It seems to have largely abated now, and he has switched from the IV anti-nausea med to the oral version.

Then the bed sore appeared because Daniel was mostly bedridden for three days last week after the throwing-up episode. While we are thankful that that is the first sore he's gotten all this time, it is still concerning. Daniel is treating it naturally with a few things, so please pray they are effective and that the tissue heals without getting worse. It has already gotten better in the past few days, so we are very thankful for that. 

I also suggested to Daniel that he start on another complementary supplement which I was just told about last week. After doing a lot of research and reading many journal paper abstracts, I brought it up to the doctor, who was very open to it. This supplement, fulvic and humic acid, can potentially do a lot. We're just going to see if and what God wants to do through it. The results, as with EVERYTHING we're doing, are always up to Him! Please pray God will choose to use it to improve Daniel's immune system, blood system, and digestive system. As with a lot of natural supplements, because they generally don't override the body's systems (like drugs do), but instead they support the body's processes, seeing improvements can take a while. Please also pray God will continue to sustain Daniel through this. 

Our goal is to be diligent with the wisdom and resources God gives us. What He chooses to do with them is up to Him. I wish I could do more. But I need to be where I am -- in a place of intimate dependence on God. His will be done, and may He be glorified. 

The past several days, I've been reading and reflecting -- and praying -- through the Gospel of Mark. Jesus' character and power is so amazingly on display. (What a gift that God has given us not one, but FOUR, accounts of Jesus' life and ministry). To be honest, I've never been so keenly interested in the healing accounts. And while they don't hold any prescriptive power or promise (it's not that type of genre), they do tell us that Jesus is a God of compassion, and mercy, and grace. That is Whom we serve and seek to glorify, and we continue to boldly, yet humbly, make our requests of healing known to Him in our dire circumstances. Please continue to join with us, and let God change you in the process too.

Evelyn