Revitalize Your Church

She ate today! Yippee! The doctor smiled and said if she continues to make such excellent progress, she'll be coming home this weekend! Orange jello for breakfast Green Jello for lunch Yellow Jello f0r dinner

My lovely lady is doing much better this morning! They served her a fine goumet orange jello breakfast. Pray that this is the beginning of Chapter 2 entitled, "Coming Back Home." If she's able to eat, that's a BIG step in the right direction. We have been overwhelmed with the expressions of love and support from our congregation, as well as friends and family from across the land. Prayers have been lifted from Nova Scotia, Californnia, Indiana, Virginia, New York, Colorado, New Bruswick, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, South Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee -- and a bunch of other places I can't even remember right now. Amazing! God's family is really big. Today, Cathy asked, "What happens if they release me on Sunday? What will you do about church?" I replied, "The church is Jesus' bride -- and your mine! I'll let Him take care of His bride, and I'll take care of you!" She smiled and replied, "You've come a long way, baby."

"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the ways of them, who passing through the valley of Baca, make it a well ; the rain also fills the pools. They go from strength to strength—every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." --Psalm 84:5-7 (KJV) Some time ago, after I'd preached on this verse, my friend, Jim Burmeister, loaned me a casette tape by Jack Hyles on the "The Valley of Baca." Now, Jack Hyles isn't exactly my type. He's a snortin', yellin', narrow minded, independant, fundamentalist Baptist preacher. (Actually, he was that -- but five years ago, he went home to be with Jesus, so, most likely, his rough edges have been sanded off and he's a Wesleyan now!) However, driving to the hospital, ol' brother Jack really preached a good sermon to me -- snortin' and yellin' all the way. My heart was blessed. "Even though he's dead, yet he speaks." Basically, there were two points: 1. E...

Ryan has often remarked that Grandma reminds him a lot of Yoda: a small spiritual warrior. She's little, but mighty and wise. Thus, he blended pictures of Grandma and Yoda together into this unique work of art! "Try not. Do or do not. There is no try." "When 900 years you reach, look as good, you will not." "Size matters not."

About noon today, the specialist came in to visit with us. He said that 80% of all cases of pancreatitis are due to alcoholism or gall stones. The c.t. scan indicated that there are no gall stones -- and Cathy is definitely NOT an alcoholic -- so that leaves her in the 20%, and they are puzzled. Right now, they are calling it "idiopathic acute pancreatitis" -- which basically means, they have no idea what caused it. They are not planning on doing any surgeries or anything like that at the present moment -- but we are asking that you pray for her to be able to eat tomorrow. If she can't eat -- then they will end up feeding her through a tube down her nose, and she really doesn't want to do that. Thus far, she's progressing well, however, and may be able to go home in a few days.

Just now, they took Cathy down to have a c.t. scan. We waited all day -- and at 1o:00 p.m., it's finally happening. We won't know any of the results until tomorrow. As a pastor, I've visited hundreds of people in the hospital -- but I had no clue of the long endurance it requires to "wait" for the next step. The doctor was concerned about a rise in Cathy's white blood cell count -- but the situation won't get any better by fretting. Tonight, we prayed together and drew strength from Psalm 34. She's really groggy right now. I think this might be a good time to get her to agree to stuff! I am so thankful for good friends who took our children in -- Randy and Pam Young invited Luke and Wes to their place. Jeff and Roberta Jackson opened their home to Hannah -- and I'm staying free at Fairfield Inn, thanks to a generous donation of "lodging points" from Jeff. Ryan is at home, holding down the fort. Pastors Heath and Loretta assured me th...

There was room at the inn after all! The ambulance crew took her there this morning. They'll be running various tests, and we'll know much more later on today.