Hebrews 12:1-2a

"Let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with Endurance
the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith."
Hebrews 12:1-2a

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Onward we go - Day 130

As Jim gets better (still has occasional dizziness and gaining weight is a very slow process), I have gone the opposite direction, trying to get out from under so much that is keeping me feeling rather poorly.

We enjoy the time God has allowed us to be at Wilton Baptist Church. We don't know how long that will continue, being the congregation does have need of full-time pastoral leadership.  During September Jim has preached there the 6th and will again the 20th. He is hopeful for following weeks as well as he already has sermon ideas. We plan to visit some of the folks in the hospital or recuperating at home in coming weeks.

In thinking of all the places where we have served and of all the events of this past year, I jotted down this prayer request -- "To be sent wherever God leads. To be used wherever needed. To recognize needs. To be open to staying places and filling roles for however long the Lord desires. To have those who desire our aid to be open, not hiding, not pretending, not being false or fake."

Jim was rather listless over Labor Day weekend. He has watched the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon for years - last year it was on TV only 3 hours and this year, not at all.  He didn't quite know what to do with himself. On Monday, Sept. 7, he remembered a DVD he put together last year from episodes that were on youtube.com and watched it.

AWANA at Immanuel began Wednesday, Sept. 2 - we started coming Sept. 9, bringing grandson Austin to participate in Cubbies, the preschool class, to learn about Jesus. I go in to work earlier and get off by 5:30 so we can all get to church on time and have supper too.

We took our second mini-trip to Northeast Missouri (LaGrange and Hannibal) Sept. 12-14, and it was enjoyable as always. We stopped at HLG and visited with Jim's friend, Ray Carty, who is vice president of something (LOL). He gave us a personal tour of the new science building that opened the end of August. We bought gas in Hannibal for $1.99, a huge decrease from the $2.29 we paid in Cedar Rapids before heading south.

On Tuesday, Sept. 15, Jim got a flu shot at HyVee Drug Town, and it apparently made him very tired, as he slept much of the afternoon, and we both went to bed early that night.

On Thursday, Sept. 17, Jim and I and Christina and our grandsons, Austin and James, went to Waterloo to attend the Cattle Congress fair. We weren't sure how the day was going to end up, being it was raining in Waterloo in the morning, then raining here and still raining when we headed north at noon. Fortunately, the rains stopped and the skies remained dry, although a little cloudy, the rest of the day and into early evening. We saw lots and did lots of things, everybody (except James) got in lots of walking ... and Jim has more stamina ... and I think Austin had fun. I'll include some photos at the end of this post.

Today is Saturday, Sept. 19. A nice sunny day, a bit on the cool side, but considerably better than Friday's downpour. This morning Jim and Rocky worked for an hour or two on cleaning the garage -it's a vast improvement.  Jim printed off his sermon - 11 pages - guess God gave him much to talk about!  His message for Sunday is "Be All You Can Be" and Scripture is I Peter 1:10-16.

 Upcoming appointments: 

  • Friday, Oct. 23 - 3 p.m., Jim meets with Dr. Bailin, a cardiologist at UIHC, for a second opinion re: use of coumadin for surgery-related afib.


  • Tuesday, Oct. 27 - 10:30 a.m., Jim has colonoscopy with Dr. Gerke at UIHC


  • Friday, Oct. 30 - 9:30 a.m., Cathy meets with Dr. Gerke re: digestive issues begun Aug. 5
Photos taken at Cattle Congress in Waterloo: 







Friday, September 4, 2015

Improvements continue - Day 115

How the days fly by ... 115 days now since Jim's cancer surgery.  He is getting stronger and he does not have as many dizzy spells.  Perhaps the Coumadin is more agreeable to his system  -  he has been taking it for nearly 4 months.  But of course he still has the lower than normal blood pressure.  We have not yet heard  from UIHC re: seeing a cardiologist there for a second opinion.

Tuesday, Sept. 1, was a tiring day  -  probably all those pain pills he took following oral surgery  -  so he slept, and when he wasn't sleeping,  he worked on his sermon.

Wednesday, Sept. 2, was the first night for Awana at church and they were offering a group for grandson Austin's age group  -  Cubbies.  We were hoping to take him, however, a few things prevented that ....

One, my sister, Helen's mother-in-law, Lorraine Snell, passed away on Sunday, and we decided to go to the visitation Wednesday after I got off work.

Two,  I had a sore on my right hip area that opened during the day.  So after visitation, we went to Urgent Care in Marion.  The doctor diagnosed it as a yeast infection, possibly a result of the antibiotics I have been on since Aug. 27 (for digestive issues) and the heat.  I have a cream to use twice a day.  After the first day, I noticed improvement.  But just because it is better doesn't mean I'm to stop taking it.  (On a side note, re: the digestive concerns, my primary doctor is working on getting me an appointment with Dr. Gerke,  the gastroenterologist at UIHC.)

Jim was really feeling better on Wednesday  -  he made meatloaf, mashed potatoes and veggies and homemade rolls (partially using the bread machine) for supper that night.

Jim will be preaching this Sunday at Wilton Baptist.  He has prepared a Labor Day message, "Laborers for Christ,"  taken from Ecclesiastes 5:18-20  and I Corinthians 3:8-10.  Communion will follow.

We are planning a 3-day trip to Northeast Missouri Sept. 12-14,  but  it may have to be postponed. We'll find out on Thursday, Sept. 10.  A co-worker's mother-in-law is having a procedure done in Indiana that day to shock her heart back into rhythm.  She has a heart condition and also cancer, and the cardiologist apparently won't allow the surgeon to operate until her heart is stable.

Prayers for that situation and for Jim and of course, probably me too, are very much appreciated.