2-21-04
“But He knows the way that I
take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold”
Job 23:10
“All kinds of trials come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which
perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine”
1 Peter 1:7
Amy Carmichael asks the village goldsmith, “How do you know how long to sit
and wait? How do you know when the gold is purified?”
“When I can see my face in it,” he replied.
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory…” 2
Corinthians 3:18
Dear Family and Friends,
Seven months have come and gone since Tim’s accident. Wow, that is a long time.
I find myself wondering, “Am I slow or dense? Do I really need this long of a
trial to learn what the Lord wants to teach me?? I didn’t think I was that
willful or stubborn.” As I was thinking these (self) righteous thoughts, I came
across this verse in Job, “Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that you
put me under guard?” (Job 7:12) Spurgeon countered, “Job hoped that he was not
so unruly as to need to be so restrained. The inquiry was natural from one
surrounded with such insupportable miseries, but after all, it is capable of a
very humbling answer. It is true that man is not the sea, but he is even more
troublesome and unruly. The sea obediently respects its boundary, and though
that boundary is only a belt of sand, it does not overleap the limit. O that our
nature were but one thousandth part as much conformed to the will of God…” Ouch.
Just a quick update on Tim. He was moved back to the sub-acute ward this week
(Room 301) simply because his room on the east ward was needed for two new
residents. They also said that his wound care would be better on this ward.
Speaking of which…I saw his pressure sores one day this week. He has been
bandaged up and I hadn’t seen them in a couple of weeks. It made me want to cry
- they were so bad. He wears orthopedic bboots so that he doesn’t develop “drop
foot”, but they think that the boots are contributing to his sores, so we are
leaving them off. I guess we can deal with the “drop foot” later on.
Tim finished his IV antibiotics last week, but his UTI didn’t clear up. After
his antibiotics stopped, they waited a few days to retest him. In the meantime,
our family noticed that he was still having some pain when he urinated and he
also started having his sweating attacks again. He hadn’t had any while he was
on IV antibiotics. So, we suspected that he still had an infection. We were
right. They started him on a different antibiotic for the next two weeks -
evidently it isn‘t the same bug, but a different one. After he finishes this
round of meds, they will keep him on a low dose of the same medication
constantly to help ward off any more infections. The doctor is also going to
consider removing Tim’s foley catheter - there are pros and cons to doing this,
so I don’t know if the doctor will decide to remove it or not. Other than that,
Tim’s been pretty stable.
Last week, Dr. Morris and his wife Mary visited us while they were in town. Doc
was our advisor/professor/department head in college (Idaho State University)
and has remained a dear friend over the years. Our kids really enjoyed meeting
them and said it was sort of like meeting a legend as they had heard stories
about Doc for years. We had a nice dinner and went to visit Tim.
It was a busy week, but I appreciated your prayers. At least, I am pretty sure
you were praying for me because the week went much better than I had
anticipated. I got a lot accomplished and didn’t have to do as much paperwork as
I previously thought. On Monday, we will have the final walk-through of the
house. Later on, I will be signing all the papers to close on the house. Next
Saturday (28th), if you aren’t busy (hint,hint), the kids and I will be moving a
whole mile down the road to the new place. I am so grateful that God has
provided a home for us and will be relieved to unpack and get the kids settled.
The kids have been so terrific - I think we have moved about 7 or 8 times in the
past two years due to some unsettling, stressful circumstances, and yet, they
haven’t given me a minute of grief. They are so resilient and a testimony of
God’s sustaining grace. I am so thankful for our kids - they give me a reason to
keep going.
Our “new” church is up and running as of tomorrow. Desert Springs Community
Church moved out to the west valley a few weeks ago, and Pastor and everyone
have been working day and night to ready everything for the dedication service
tomorrow. Please come and visit us - the Dedication Service is at 3 pm and the
church is located on the corner of Indian School Rd. and Old Litchfield Rd.
Praise God, He is faithful. I remember years ago hearing our pastor say once in
a sermon (Remember this, Bill K?), that when God allowed you to be down in the
pit, that we should pray that He wouldn’t bring us out of the depths until He
had finished every last thing that He intended to accomplish. I thought, “That’s
a crazy idea - no way!” But, Bill, you were right. This situation seems harsh
and hard, but it is being allowed by a loving, wise heavenly Father who has
never done an unkind thing to me yet. So, Lord, finish what You’ve started in
all our lives. We choose to trust You.
God bless you,
Carole and the kids