Day 7 - the journey continues...

It is hard to believe that a week ago we just arrived in Gainesville. So much has happened since then.

Mom is still resting comfortably in the hotel in Gainesville. She got dressed today and had my Aunt Rita drive her to the hospital to see Laurie. She could only stay a little while before she needed to go back and rest. She really should not have ventured that far today....but she is a hard head. I am sure that I would have done the same thing if it were one of my girls.....

As of right now, we are waiting for an x-ray to come back of Laurie's lungs. They did a procedure on her this afternoon that ran a tube into her neck to run down to her kidney. In doing the procedure, there is a change of lung collapse, so they had to x-ray the lung before they can start administering a highly potent anti-rejection drug through the tube. If the lung is ok, they will give her this drug for 6 hours a day for 3-5 days. She will also have a kidney biopsy tomorrow to see if anything is wrong with the kidney.

She is still very anxious and more irritable due to the very high amounts of steriods that they give transplant patients to suppress their immune systems.

I was so happy to be home and get to go to church with my family today. Pastor Erik's sermon from John 1 was so good. I was overwhelmed by the people that came up to me at church today that said that they have been praying for us. Many people that I don't have on my e-mail list for this blog. I thank you so much for all of you - family and friends.

This is an excerpt from my Pastor's blog that I was reading tonight. It is really good and I thought that I would share it:

In considering the promises of God that are ours through Christ and to be enjoyed in the world to come we make much of God and from such a perspective we minimize ourselves. As he increases, we decrease- and our problems and struggles are put into proper perspective.

Do you struggle with ongoing and ever present sin? Consider the promises of God - you have become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21); you have been given the sanctifying work of the Spirit (1 Pet 1:2); greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). Fight sin with the promises of God and their reality in your heart!This can, indeed MUST be done in every arena of our life. In every circumstance, in every problem, in every conflict, we must sink our roots deep down in the promises of God. Let his Word, His promise, and the fulfillment of them (whether present or future) be fuel for joy, for relief, for endurance in our lives.Yesterday, as I obsessed over a complex of issues that I faced for that day- the Lord said to me, "Son! LOOK AT MY WORD!" As I looked at Peter's letter I decided to drink deep the fountain of God's promises that poured out, and not go away thirsty hoping the world, the flesh, or the devil might offer me a cup.All those problems are not solved. I have not found complete resolution in each conflict. I did not go through the day with a pristine attitude and total victory over all my sin. But, throughout the day God's promises energized me to take hope in the goodness and greatness of God. His promises were fuel for my weak heart when it tended toward despair or depression. It propelled me to holiness when my flesh enticed me to go down its path.God has given precious and magnificent promises! As I dwell on his goodness and greatness my problems didn't go away- they were just put in their proper place.Peter tells us in God's Word:"we have received faith by the rigteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ""grace and peace are multiplied to us in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord""his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him""we have been called by His glory and excellence""he has granted us His preciaous and magnificent promises""by these promises we become partakers of the divine nature""by them we have escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust"And, further down in 1:10-11 we find this great promise: Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.So, life is hard and then you die. By the promises of God we can look this reality in the face and say, "God is good and great and his promises are precious and magnificent!" I hope that these truths from God's Word might be fuel for joy and obedience in your life today by God's grace.

Thanks Erik - great wisdom for us all.

Love, H