Sunday Afternoon

Greetings:

Praise the Lord – Marty WON her year long (almost five year long) struggle with breast cancer and AML by going to be with the Lord eternally this morning at 8:30 am Eastern Day Light Savings Time. The very end was very peaceful with three short breaths and then much deserved peace and rest. Praise the Lord!

The publication I did before this one at 5:00 am pretty much tells about yester-day and the events of the night. The three and a half hours in between were much of the same: Marty was not responding and breathing pretty deep. She wanted a WIN to her struggle so much, and since she was not able to get it through medical science she was ready to get the WIN with her Lord and that she has. Praise the Lord! God is good – all the time! All the time – God is good!

As we enter into this new week, we as the family and friends of Marty, we do so with our lives feeling different, with a hole in them, with an empty spot, with another change in our lives that affects us at different levels. But, we do so with at least two things in common: 1.) we are hurting because we will miss Marty, and 2.) we are strengthened, guided, encouraged, loved, and supported by a gracious God who has been with us and will be with us as we grieve and adjust to the death of Marty. So, we are WINNERS too because we have the opportunity to strengthen our relationship with God during this time. Praise the Lord! That is without a doubt what I want to do and I hope that you will do it as well. As God is constantly revealing Himself to us, we are never in a situation when we do not have the opportunity to grow spiritually and strengthen our relationship with God. I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to the glory of God.

When it comes to the life of Martha (“Marty”) May Veenis Hess we have a lot to celebrate and to thank and praise God for. She was indeed a faithful servant of God’s and true “Biblical Martha”. In order to celebrate her life there will be a time of visitation with the family on Friday, August 17, 2007 from 2 to 8 pm at the First Presbyterian Church, 102 West Main Street, Peru, IN. And a service of celebration, thanksgiving, and praise to the Lord will be held at 10:00 am on Saturday, August 18, 2007 at First Presbyterian Church, 102 West Main Street, Peru, IN. There will also be a grave side service at 3:00 pm at the Riverside Cemetery, South Clinton Street, Defiance, OH and a time of visitation with the family at First Presbyterian Church, 501 Washington Street, Defiance, OH following the grave side service.

May you have a positive day and God bless.

Jack
John 3:16

Early Sunday Morning – 5:00 am

Greetings:

Saturday was truly a day of transition and it is not completed yet. I was sure I was going to be able to tell you Marty had her WIN with the Lord, and soon I do believe I will be able to, but as of now I cannot.

Saturday morning was a difficult time. Marty got up about 7:30 am to use the bedside toilet and we found that she was hurting all over her body. You could not touch her that she did not hurt and so she had a very difficult time getting back in bed. At that time I called hospice and the nurse came checked her all over, had a good conversation with her, talked to the doctor to increase the medicine, and we thought we were pretty well set. Marty had some yogurt for breakfast and went off to sleep. This was about 10:30 am. She slept very peacefully until a little after 4 pm and then her breathing pattern changed. We talked to hospice again several times and tried several different things to try and be sure that Marty was comfortable. At around 6 pm Claudia, our hospice nurse, arrived and felt that the end of Marty’s transition to her heavenly WIN was nearing.

The first thing that Eric did was to make arrangements to get Erin here. And we are certainly grateful, beyond words, to Nancy and Emily Black from Defiance and Cheryl Jaqua who met half way to get Erin here. Praise the Lord for those three and thank you very much. With all the grandchildren, Marty’s love, here they had their time with grandma before they went to bed. The surprise for them may be that she is still here when they get up but still unable to respond to them.

It was a little after midnight when Claudia left because it seemed like Marty had leveled off at a very low level and perhaps was not going to complete the transition until later. And indeed that has been true. It is now after 5:30 am and Marty is still breathing but not responding to me.

We have said from the beginning that Marty was in a win – win situation and that the Lord our God had a plan that we wished to be faithful to so that God would indeed be glorified. Our faith and our belief told us that and we Praise the Lord for that information. At the same time I acknowledge that it was not and is not my understanding of God’s plan that knows and/or understands the details of the plan. We certainly are experiencing again that God is in control and I pray to Him for His grace to receive Marty into His everlasting keeping of peace and love. The two things that Marty strived for, exemplified, and wanted the most in life were peace and love. And I pray that she will soon fully have them with her Lord, and I will glorify and thank Him forever for His child and servant Martha May Veenis Hess. Praise the Lord!

I will let you know as the day progresses and may we all have a very positive day to the glory of God. May the Lord bless you.

Jack
John 3: 16

Ps This has not been proofed, so I will have to take credit for any and all errors, but I will not charge extra for them. You are welcome!

Friday Night

Greetings:

Praise the Lord! It seems to me that there are so many things to complain about: the hot weather, the lack of rain, the war, sickness, the stock market, cost of living, and on I could go. But, what about the positive things: the beauty of nature, the birds of the air, the plants of the field, the animals, family, friends, soft music in the background, prayer, medicine, food, water, air, shelter, clothing, and when we really stop to think about it on we can go with the positives as well. Yet, it seems like all too often the negative gets more of the lime light, many more of the headlines, and most of the talk of the people in our society. If you talk to the media people and ask why they stay more on top of the negative news rather than the positive news, they will tell you because it is what sells and gets you the ratings and therefore the advertisement dollars. Why do we as a people want the negative? Could it be because we rest too secure in the promises of our Lord, rather than in the example and guidance of our Lord and our God? Or let me say it another way, do we rest so secure in our own reception of salvation, that we really do not let it rule our lives, rather we join others in worshipping the negative, so we are part of the accepted crowd, knowing that God’s promises will be made good to us?

The point that I am getting at comes from a conversation I had with the hospice chaplain today about Christians standing up for what we believe. We were sharing a few examples of where we have seen this happen and saying why it is not done more. For example, I had a friend that was an official for junior high football. He called an unsports-man-like call on a player and the coach came out on the field yelling and screaming wanting to know why. My friend said to the coach, unless you have a player on your roaster by the name of Jesus Christ the penalty stands. And while you are at it, you better watch the example you are showing these young boys or you will get one too. I have another friend who tutored four boys so they could pass from 6th to 7th grade. The first day they came to him they used all kinds of four letter words and even God’s name in vain. The boys were sent home and told to have their parents call my friend that night. The parents were told that if they wanted their boys to be tutored there would have to be a change in language used and in attitude. The boys came back the next morning and apologized with a little better attitude. But, one of the boys said during the conservation “I don’t understand what the big problem is, we talk that way at home all the time.” The other day, I had an interesting situation when a young man in a company truck almost hit a friend of mine in the back of his car because we were stopped just down the street from our house talking, and yes, blocking the road. When I said something to the young man about being in a really big hurry, he became very mouthy, using a number of four letter words, and with a real attitude. Well, the truck he was driving had the company name and phone number all over it, so I took it down and called it. I got an answering machine so I felt a message for the owner about the rude and unpleasant behavior of their employee. I also left my name and phone number if they cared to discuss the situation.

In the three stories above, it would have been very easy to have done nothing as far as Christian values and behavior and no one would really know the difference. But instead, we went against the grain to try and make a difference because we believed that God would want us to and Jesus gave us the example to. Think about it, was there any time today that you did and/or you could have stood up for God’s teachings and/or way? Having thought about it in the past tense now put it in the present and future tense and keep it right in the front of your thought process and life style so that you will always do it in the future. The chaplain and I agreed that it is only as we, one on one, change our life style toward each other that we will see the change in our society that is needed. And if we as Christians will not do it – then who will?????????

Marty has had a pretty rough day. She woke up this morning with the right shoulder really hurting. She said to me that she could not understand how it could hurt so much more just over night. She just did a very quick wash up job and was so tired she hardly made it to the sun porch and hospital bed. With out any breakfast she was back to sleep. She got a little sleep and was feeling better when Claudia, the hospice nurse got here. About the same time Marty’s nice, Clair and her husband Mike and daughter, Beth all arrived. The next couple of hours were wonderful and certainly busy. When Claudia left, hospice chaplain Guy arrived and we had a great visit with him. Marty got some lunch and a little nap before Jackie and her two daughters stopped by. Then came Joan J. followed in about a half hour by Linda M. who brought dinner. However, Marty never made it to the dinner table. She went into the bathroom, and her shoulder and back got so painful that she wanted to go right back to bed. We started giving her some medicine to control the pain and it took almost 2 hours. Now, she has been sleeping for the last two and a half hours thus we have not been able to get a pain level. Marty’s blood pressure had dropped lower today and so we will be watching that.

Marty is ready for her “win with the Lord” the question is “when is the Lord ready for her”? Of course that one we cannot answer but to say that “God is good – all the time! - All the time – God is good!” In His time all will be done and God will be glorified – Praise the Lord!

Have a positive day and God bless!

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Thursday Night

Greetings:

Another hot and humid day in Peru; and for Marty it was another “bad” morning and a pretty good day and evening. Marty started her morning about 9 am with a right shoulder that was hurting as much today as it had yesterday even though she was taking extra pain medication every six hours. But, she ate her breakfast and headed to the bath room to bath. About 11:30 am she was in the hospital bed on the sun porch and started to get sick to her stomach. This was a first for Marty. The entire time she has had cancer treatment she has not had as powerful of suggestion that she was going to throw up as she did today. But, she held it all off and dropped off to sleep. About 12:15 pm she had more pain medication and went back to sleep. When she woke up about 2 pm give or take, she felt a lot better and so the rest of the day has gone.

She was pleased to have David S. from Presbytery (Pastor to Pastors) stop by, as well as Cheryl J. (who the boys had a great time with, thanks Cheryl), Vern and Bev W., Denies S. who brought dinner, and Carolyn W. Marty had a wonderful time visiting with each and every one of them. She says that “visitors help make the time go by faster and it is a joy to see everyone again.”

Tomorrow Marty’s niece from the Chicago area is to stop by; she is a hospice RN up there and is keeping close tabs on her Aunt. The hospice nurse will also be by and is to bring some other pain medication so we can see if we can get the right shoulder pain under better control.

Jeremiah 10:23 is a very interesting verse, I think. It reads: “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” It seems to me that we all know this, I have been saying it in this blog, and yet it is with out a doubt what we try to do; we try to direct our own foot steps, we really want to be in control. And you see this is nothing new, it has been going on since Jeremiah’s time and even before. The reality is that it was going on in the Garden with Adam and Eve. And still we have not learned what God really wants from us. Talk about slow learners!! I do believe we have been even slower than slow, or should I say that we have been more than just too stubborn to change, we have defied God and said we are not going to change.

What if we did change, what would your day be like, how would it be different? For one thing, I do not believe we would be as anxious about who we are and what we do. I do not believe that there would be as much competition and a lot more working together for a common goal. I don’t believe there would be war, or hunger, or poverty, or illegal use of drugs, and so on. As my mind snowballs on out with this idea I begin to see “perfection” and here it being said, “That will never happen!” And I have to respond “Isn’t that the problem, we don’t believe that we will ever change, nor will society change, therefore forget it!” What a bad attitude, it doesn’t even give God a chance.

Think about it: what would your day be like if you totally acknowledged that your life is not your own; and that it is not for you to direct your own steps and you allowed God to totally direct your day? Since God has wanted us to do that for centuries, what do you have to loose to give it a try right now, even today? You know since God is LOVE there just may be a lot to gain by doing it. So, I hope you will give it a try. “Let Go and Let God!”

Have a positive day and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Wednesday Night

Greetings:

This has been an interesting day to say the least. This morning for Marty, was a rather difficult time, as it took her over two hours to bath, flush her lines (actually for the first time she allowed Jennifer to do that), and get out to the sun porch to her hospital bed. The above was all done with her O2 on and with Jennifer and/or my help. Since she did not eat any breakfast and was so late getting finished with the above she went right to lunch in her bed. All of this was the difficult part of the day.

This afternoon Marty, I think even without taking a nap, really perked up. By dinner time she came to the table ate a really good dinner, was talking to and having fun with the kids, was not holding her head up with both hands like so often happens when she is eating, and was acting the best we have seen her act for some time. Then, we had several visitors this evening and at 9:45 pm when the last one was leaving, Marty announced that she was going out to water the flowers. We told her that we would do the watering, but she would not hear of it. I figured when she hit the heat in the garage she would turn around, but again I was wrong. So, we got her outside as far as her O2 line would allow her to go and gave her a stool to sit on and she started watering the plants and giving me water to take to the roses and the tomatoes. At about 10:20 pm we headed back into the house and she was one tired “Martha,” but she had watered the flowers she planted back in May before going to the hospital. Praise the Lord!

Several have been asking about pain and it does seem to be increasing: particularly the right shoulder which has been a problem since last Oct. or Nov. There have been many pictures taken of it and a number of doctors have examined it, but as we have said all along, we believe it all has to do with the AML. She is wearing a patch for pain and has some pills that we can give her every six hours. Today we have had to give the pills every 6 hours for the first time, before today she had only taken two or three of the pills. I had asked about increasing the patch when the nurse was here yesterday, but Marty did not want it done. Maybe by Friday when the nurse comes back she may be willing for that to happen.

Marty’s wonderful visitors for today were: Judy F., Steve F., Patty M., Bruce E., Beth E., Terry and Susie G., the last three brought us dinner, Cindy K., and Andy H. What a joy it was to have each one stop by. I might also mention that Vern W. saw my truck at the church; I was picking up some CD’s, and called me to go and have a coke with him. That too was a good time of fellowship and an “outing”. God is good - all the time! All the time - God is good. It just seems that God knows when to send visitors and provide “breaks” and to do all the things that we need at the right times. Praise the Lord!
Some of you have no doubt seen the green thermo cup that Marty has used for a long time now. She use to take it to work with her filled with iced tea, I know that many times she took it to the church with her for a meeting, cancer support group, to work in the kitchen, and for the many other things she has done at church. She also took it to the hospital with her and at both lunch and dinner she would order two glasses of the hospital tea and put it into her glass to drink during the afternoon and evening. Iced tea is a favorite of hers as is this glass. As I mentioned earlier, the glass is green, the church liturgical color for everlasting life. And, on the one side of the glass are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, under them is the name JESUS, and around the letters are the words “the Beginning and the End.” Then on the back of the glass it says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Living One, the Beginning and the End. I was dead and behold I am alive for evermore.”

Now, the fact that this is Marty’s favorite glass and that she uses it so much is no big surprise, because she knows that her salvation is not because of anything that she has done, but rather is because of God’s sacrifice of His own Son, Jesus Christ, that she and all who confess Him as Lord and Savior may have life everlasting. But, what is interesting is that Marty has taught Jennifer and me that when you put the top back on this glass after filling it, you must put the opening through which you drink directly above the Greek letters, Alpha and Omega. Now isn’t that awesome, and another lesson from Marty, that each time she takes a drink of iced tea she is reminded of Jesus. You see, here is a way that quietly, yet directly we can express and celebrate our faith many times a day and every day of the week. Praise the Lord!

Have a positive day and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Tuesday Evening

Greetings:

The “sleepy time tea” lasted through today for Marty, because all she has been doing today is sleeping. Actually when one sees her blood counts one can see the reason why she is sleeping. For you nurses and those who have some knowledge about these things here are her numbers.

WBC HGB PLT BLASTS NEUTROPH BUN CR
RANGE 4-10.5 12.5-16 150-450 0 44-74 6-20 8-25

7.25.07 3.1 11.2 57 12 4 17 0.6

7.31.07 6.4 10.8 4 6 7 25 0.6

8.7.07 7.2 7.6 0 6 4 17 0.6

The normal points for transfusions are HGB at 8 and PLT at 20. When Marty would get close to needing either transfusion she would get tired and sleepy and when she needed both she really got tired and sleepy. So, looking at the above it is clear to me why she is tired and sleepy. The neutrophils are one of the indicators that the bone marrow is not recovering yet. As you can see above, that number should be 44-74 and it is only 4 so, baby cells are not being made. God is in charge and has a plan. I try hard to figure it out, and sometimes even to second guess God, but guess what! - I am not able to do it. I am still not in the know of the plan or purpose or goal of all of this, I just know that God is good – all the time! All the time – God is good! And that His plan will glorify Him and be a fulfillment for us. Praise the Lord!

Marty has eaten two good meals today, but was not up to eating much dinner. She has still been up to the bathroom and able to visit a little with John R., Cheryl J., Nancy and Mark B. who brought dinner, and Joan J. We know that a couple of others have been by but the heart has not been on the door because she has been sleeping. I can see that happening more as time goes on, but we will do our best to keep it up for as much as she is awake.

I happened to notice the other day that animals are as much creatures of habit as we are, or the other way, we are as much creatures of habit as animals are, at least as humming birds are. You see our humming bird feeder was in front of the kitchen windows. Well, that was a little hard for Marty to see, because she had to roll over and look back at the same time to see it. So, I changed the feeder with a wind chime that was hanging on the end of the sun porch roof. It was indeed a good change all the way around and particularly for Marty because she can see it much better. But, the first day and a half the birds had a terrible time, they just could not get a drink out of the wind chimes, yet they kept going back to it. Even some of the birds that got a drink out of the feeder in its new place would still fly back to the old place to see what was going on. I thought for a while I was going to have to get the birds some help to be able to cope with the change, but today it seemed like things were much better and they went to the feeder for their food.

Watching all of this made me think about how we are all creatures of habit and slow to make changes in our lives, particularly when we do not feel that we need the changes. When that happens we really wonder why the changes are being made. They don’t meet our needs, so we really don’t want them!

Think about it in your own life if you have some change going on and see if it isn’t true. And, if you don’t have change right now, the next time do think about it in these terms and see if it doesn’t make it easier to make that change. And, if that doesn’t work, think about all the changes you ask God to make on your behalf: like over looking a bad attitude; forgiving a big sin; not noticing a small sin; excusing the lack of bible study because of a busy schedule and an unwillingness to change that schedule to put God as the first priority. Just a thought, that maybe the changes we are asked to make are not really as bad and/or as hard as we first think. And, the reality may be that when we get over feeling sorry for ourselves because we have always done it that way and are being asked to change, we may find the change to be very meaningful. You know God is good – all the time! All the time – God is good! And, He wants the best for each of us. Further, I do not believe there is a one of us that would give up many of the changes that have been made in our life since we were born to go back to the way things were then. We do accept a lot of change in our lives without even realizing that there is change. Perhaps, that is why when there is change that we recognize, we fight it so hard and do not even really give it a chance.

Give some thought as to how you would have reacted to the change that the humming birds had at our house, if you would have a similar change for a similar reason!

Have a positive day and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Monday Night

Greetings:

Today has been somewhat of a roller-coaster ride: this morning started off pretty low for Marty and then got better only to go back down tonight. Don’t really like days like this, but I guess we are going to have them. After washing and dressing this morning Marty was so tired that she got in her hospital bed on the sun porch, ate her breakfast, and then went back to sleep. By mid- afternoon she seemed to be feeling a lot better and ready to take on a little more, but tonight she is again asleep and does not appear to be ready to take on much of anything.

Marty was pleased to welcome a number of visors today. Those who stopped by included: Sharon and Bob A. from FL; Danese S.; Juanita G. and Carolyn W. who brought dinner and then stayed to eat with us; Cheryl J. was here and watered the outside plants, then of course it rained, praise the Lord. It is always good to see visitors and get caught up with what has been going on with them and their families and in their individual lives.

Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” What an awesome verse in language that is easy to understand, and think about it, wow what a message. Here is a definition of a shepherd that is to watch over me. It is the Lord and God is going to take care of all of my needs. What more do I need? Where do I sign up?

The bottom line is that we sign up by asking God to be the first priority in our lives. Now, of course, that sounds easy enough and it is so easy that I probably do it 15 to 20 times a day. But, it really doesn’t make a difference, because when I do it that many times, I don’t really mean for it to happen and anyway I probably am trying to hold something back from God for whatever reason. So, how do I give things to God and really mean it? Well, it seems to me that here we have to follow in the example of Jesus in at least two ways. First, we have to continue to call upon God for His help and guidance for the little things as well as in the big things. God is never, never, never to busy to help us with whatever is happening, but we must ask. And, in our day of control, as well as being able to do everything it is very hard for us to ask for help. We would rather take hours to get it finished than to ask for help. Second, we must be prepared to let God’s will be done, and that may not be the same as ours. But, when we ask God for His help, we must be ready to accept it in whatever form it comes to us in. It seems to me that the Bible shows that Jesus was good at doing that sort of thing and that today’s society shows that we, you and I, are very poor at doing it.

What do you think? Does it make any sense? Do you think it could make a difference in your life if you really did the last two things that are suggested? It is not easy, but pray about it and give it a try – okay!

Have a positive day and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Sunday Night

Greetings:

This has been a sleepy time day for Marty. Last night she had a tea party with the kids and they drank “sleepy time tea” and I think it must have really worked on Marty. No, the real reason I believe she was so tired today is that she took a shower this morning. This was the first time in 5 or 6 days that she had a shower, the other days she washed in the sink. I wonder if the nurses on 6 south east at St. V’s Hospital can believe the above statements. You see in the hospital Marty had to have a shower everyday and there for a couple of days we said “NO SHOWER” and believe me she was not happy with us, particularly me. Since Marty has slept so much today, not a lot else happened that would be of interest to report.

Marty did wake up enough to welcome Jackie and George Q.; Katie and Ray Q., who brought Holy Communion to us and it was really neat for the family to take it together for the first time in along time, right here on the sun porch of our own home; Anna and John P.; and Bob and Kristi H. also stopped by this afternoon. Marty’s final visitors of the day where the pastor, wife, and 4 children of Jennifer and Travis when they lived in DeKalb, IL. They were on their way to Indy for their annual conference and wanted to stop by. It was really great to see them and all who stopped in. It was a refreshing day. Praise the Lord!

Last night the blog got a little long, so I saved one thing from last night for tonight. And that is that as I wrote about compassion, newness, and faithful-ness encouraging each of us to look at those charastics of God in each of us, I could not help but think of the nurses on 6 south of St. V’s Hospital. There is no doubt in my mind that they have compassion. For 49 days this last time I saw it and it was not only to Marty the patient, but also toward me the family. It was awesome – praise and thanks to You Lord! Most all of the shifts on 6 south are 12 and a half hour shifts and often the nurses didn’t get off on time. Yet if they worked the next day they were there on time and with a “newness” “freshness” and “readiness” to work another 12 and a half hour shift. Most of the time this did not go on for more than 3 days in a row, but then sometimes it did last for 5 days straight. Still, they were fresh and compassionate – praise the Lord! The third thing that Lamentations 3:23 listed was faithfulness and I have to say that I believe that those nurses are faithful to their God, to their patients, to each other as they worked together in four teams, and to the spirit of the hospital for patient and family care. The nurses that took care of Marty were indeed concerned for Marty’s welfare and to what was best for her and they were faithful to see that those things were done for her. Praise the Lord!
Thank you Lord for the character traits of compassion, newness, and faithful-ness that were so visible in the nurses on 6 south at ST. V’s.

Have a positive day and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Saturday Night

Greetings:

This has been a positive day for us, how about for you? We sure hope that it was for you and that you had a number of opportunities to recognize God’s presence with you and His love and grace upon you.

For some time now a few of you have been telling us how meaningful, helpful, and inspiritational the blog is. Well, the interesting thing that has happened most recently is that the more and more visitors we get, and those that we get from out of town are reporting to us on how the blog is affecting and helping them. Praise the Lord! All that I can really say is that I am grateful to God who gives me the ideas and the words for the blog. Many, many nights I sit down not having the slightest idea what to write, so I pray and give myself to God to use me. Praise the Lord that it is working and hopefully will continue to.

Marty has had a pretty good day. She slept all through the night to get up about 9 am. Of course, for Marty the first thing is to get washed, flush the lines of her central line, and get dressed for the day. All of this sounds so easy, but it takes about an hour, give or take, for Marty to complete. Then, she does her blood sugar test and eats some breakfast. By the time this is done she is ready for some rest. So she goes on to the sun porch to her hospital bed, and rests and/or sleeps. A lot of what she does depends on the activity outside. The humming bird feeder is right outside the window, the other two bird feeders are straight out the window from her, the butterfly plants are off the deck to her left, and the flowers that she planted in May while she was sick but before going to the hospital are out the window to her right. Oh, I forgot to mention that the woods are straight ahead of her and there are squirrels all over the place. We also keep our eyes open for deer and our son has put some corn out there for them. The problem is that the underbrush at the edge is rather thick and we most often miss them. But, the beauty is the opportunity to see so much of God’s beautiful creation. It is awesome – praise the Lord! And, since we have been home one of the most beautiful things have been all of the butterflies that have been flying all around the sun porch. It has just been unbelievable! God has so blessed us with all of this beauty of His creation. Thanks be to God.

For the past two days Marty’s blood sugar has been under control. Praise the Lord! Maybe, just maybe it is now back to normal and she will not have to do the sticks in her finger twice a day. However, Marty has continued to have the sores in her mouth. She had a really bad one on the left lower check, but finally tonight it seems like it is improving. There are also a couple of others and so she continues to take the medications she has to numb her mouth before she eats, and then another one to clean her mouth after she eats.

This afternoon Marty was pleased to welcome the following visitors: Kelly and Danny R. from Winchester, Dave S., Ray F. the Interim General Presbyter of our Presbytery, Joan J., Linda and Ed M., and this evening Cheryl J. What a great afternoon and evening. It all went by so fast, because so many friends were by to share the time. Praise the Lord!

Travis arrived in the middle of the night from Chicago where he had been all week for work and left early this evening to get home in south west IL and get ready for work on Monday. Eric and Erin arrived last night and will be here until Monday night. Eric this afternoon and evening built a big fire in the fire circle and we cooked hot dogs and made s’mores. Marty stayed in the house and we brought food in to her, but the kids were outside and had a wonderful time. We praise God for families and times of sharing fun and fellowship.

It seems to me that the awesomeness and greatness of all of the activities and events above is not only from God, but is also recorded for us in Lamentations 3:23, that reads: “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Remember that verse, it is often used in a call to worship. It absolutely says so much about our awesome triune God: His compassion, His newness, and His faithfulness. What more could one ask for – doesn’t that cover it all? What if our friends and neighbors and all those we come in contact with could count on us, all the time, for those three character traits? Indeed, would that not be awesome, would that not make a really big difference in our society and world? Compassion, newness, and faithfulness how much of each of those do you express on a daily basis? Oh, what a difference I believe they could make in our lives and world. Think about it in your life.

May you praise the Lord tomorrow, have a positive day, know God’s presence and His blessing.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Friday Night

Greetings to all:

Happy TGIF day! We hope that it brings a positive week to a close for you and all who you love. For us we give God praise and thanks for His grace and love that has indeed been shown to us in so many ways this past week. Not that we haven’t seen it before, because we have, but have not always recognized it and/or thanked God for it. So we certainly do so tonight for this week.

Marty’s day has been about the same as yesterday and as they have been this past week. The hospice nurse was here today and her evaluation was about the same as Tuesday. Marty’s blood pressure was 98 over 57 which is about what it was Tuesday. Her temperature was 99.1, and her o2 blood concentration was 98. So, all of Marty’s vital signs were okay. It has seemed that maybe she has had a little more time to nap today and has taken advantage of it. She did use her o2 this morning when she was getting washed and taking care of her central line. It was about half way through the process when she put it on and it did seem to help make the rest of the process easier.

Visitors today included Rhonda and Gary D., Jane and Gary H. who brought dinner, and Paula and Wally J. It was indeed good to see them all. Marty does enjoy the visits very much, even though at times, she has a lot of trouble keeping her eyes open. Probably, the more and more the blood numbers go down and the blood gets weaker the more she will sleep. So, come and visit, but don’t be offended if Marty falls asleep.

Today’s thought centers around “God’s timing.” In a lot of ways “time” is control. For there is no doubt that when we set the time for this and that and the other thing, we are indeed then in control. And, of course, in our society that is a good thing. But, there are certain things that we cannot set the time for, nor do we have control over. These are the things that God controls. I am not telling you anything new. But, what I am going to ask you to think about is, what are the things in your life right now that have God’s timing at work with them? And how are you dealing with them? What do you wish could happen?

Now let’s think about some of the times that Jesus had issues with “timing” and what did He do about them:
The first one that comes to my mind is the turning of water into wine – and He said His time had not yet come, but still He did the miracle.
Then, there was the Mountain of Transfiguration when He told the disciples not to tell what they had seen when they went down because of timing, and they did not tell.
Think about the timing for the woman who was being stoned, wow it couldn’t have been better, and He saved her life.
And the woman at the well, Jesus had stayed back as the disciples went into town and she came to the well, a perfect time for Jesus to minister to her even if she was not expecting it.

I believe there are a lot of other examples of God’s timing in the scriptures. However, what I have wanted to try and show above is that sometimes the timing is exactly right, other times it is not quite right but God acts anyway, and sometime we just plain have to wait. The point is God is in control of those times just as we have the control of how we respond to that timing. That to me is the key to the whole thing – how do we respond to God’s timing particularly when it is not the same as our timing. So, to me the issue should not be the one of control, because we know that God is in control, but the issue is our response. There are indeed a lot of responses we can make, but what seems most appropriate to me is to respond as Jesus did on the night before He was betrayed and He asked God about the timing, “can’t this cup pass by me” right now and then He said to God “but not my will but your will be done.” So, when we are not happy with God’s timing Jesus shows that we can let God know that but, at the same time we must express our faith in God and that our bottom line response will be to follow God’s will as hard as it may be. We will be patient and willing to follow God’s plan. Praise the Lord!

Have a positive day and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Thursday Night

Greetings to all:

God is good – all the time! All the time – God is good! Today has been another pretty good day. Marty got up about 9:00 am this morning after having good nights sleep and received a number of people about 11 am. For a few minutes it was kind of wild around here with O2 being delivered, some medicine being delivered, the nurse stopping in with some information, and our neighbors Gail and Millie D. coming over for a visit. You may be a little surprised at the first item listed above, but some of the folks from hospice thought it would be a good idea. They think if she uses the O2 while being up and about and getting over tired that the O2 may help to get over that easier. At this point and time it is not full time. In fact, she has not had it on at all today.

The biggest thing new today is that there has been some spontaneous bleeding from Marty’s nose. She has had bleeding for about two days from the nose when she blows it. But today she woke up with blood on the pillow and several times she has had a little run out of her nose with no help from anything else. We are told that with the platelets are so low we can expect that to happen.

Marty has eaten three good meals today done some reading in her Bible as well as her devotions, had the grandchildren busy around her, and greeted the following visitors: Joan J. who brought dinner, Francis and Cheryl J., Andy H., and Brad H. It was sure good to see each and every one of you and be able to spend some time with you. Praise the Lord!

Matthew 16:26 reads: “What good will it be for a person if they gain the whole world, yet forfeits their soul?” It seems to me that this is an awesome verse for us to think about often – about every time we go to buy some new “thing” that we have seen advertised and/or some new “thing” that someone else has and we don’t. We are such a materialistic, technological society that it is unbelievable. I can remember when the computer first came out and it was to give us more free time – have you found that free time yet? I sure do not believe that I have! And what about the addictions and the “bad” uses of the computer that have found their way into our society and each of our lives? Indeed, have we forfeited our souls to modern materialism? What is it in us that leads us to want to gain the whole world? It seems to me that we place our comfort, etc. at a higher priority than we do the comfort and well being of our soul. As Christians we know better than doing what we do, but yet we still do it. You know that is a problem, yet we continue to want all of the material “things” and the technological “things” because we are lead to believe by society that we will have a better life if we have all of these “things”. Bottom line is we believe society more that we believe and live out the biblical teachings and the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
If I might say it, that is one of the things that really speaks to me about the decision Marty has made about her treatment. She has spent her life in the medical world, has found it very rewarding, and has ministered to a lot of people. Yet, in her own situation she recognizes that three attempts were made to put her disease in remission and it did not happen. Yes, there was another treatment that she could have had, and other suggestions that the doctor made to her but her soul said that was time to get the “win” of the Lord in the “Win/Win” situation that she has found herself in the last eleven months. To me, she did not take the worldly way, but the way of her soul and for that I say Praise the Lord. And indeed, I do believe that God will be praised and I am grateful for that. At the same time, Marty will win her reward and will be glorified in the presence of her God in His timing. Praise and thanks be to God.

Have a positive day and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Wednesday Night

Greetings

Wow! This has been a busy day. Last night Eric, Erin, and a long time friend of Eric’s, Julie and her son Holden all arrived at our house. This morning while Jennifer was taking care of Marty in the house; Eric, Julie, and I were outside cleaning the deck, gutters, and windows. None of that was done last fall or this spring, so it really needed to be done. Praise the Lord! It is almost all done. Then Jennifer, Julie, and Eric took the five children to McDonald’s for lunch. That started the people in with Cathy C. who was followed by Meg, the hospice social worker. We found her to be very delightful and certainly enjoyed our time with her. Next on the visitors list was Donna who Marty used to work with at Dukes, followed by Ray and Katie Q. who brought dinner (including Mac n’ cheese for the kids, who say “THANKS”), Cheryl J., Joan J., and arriving from Defiance, OH were Diane and Mike W., bearing care packages for all of us young & old alike. What a wonderful day it was, and having the opportunity to be with all the above was awesome.

Marty’s condition has remained much the same overnight. She does not have a lot of energy, but ate pretty good for 2 of the 3 meals today, and sure enjoys visiting with others from both near and far.

It is so good to make friends and to have them around. As I sit here and think about the places we have lived, we have seen friends from all but one of the towns and communities of faith in which we have lived. And the one we are missing is Newark, OH, were I was an assistant pastor for two years. The truth is we have, I believe, lost contact with everyone over there. But praise the Lord that is not true for all the other communities. The support we have from Peru and from all the other communities has been awesome. It has been so helpful to know you have not only God, but so many of His children right here praying and pulling for you. But for me, I pull so much from my friends that when they are not around I have to make more friends. I need to have God’s children around me. And, I believe that while we were on the 6th floor of St. V’s Hospital we did make friends and did have God’s children around us and caring for Marty. The bottom line is, that I now miss all of those who did such an awesome job taking care of Marty, while sharing God’s grace and ministering unto her while she received and recovered from the chemo. What a blessing it was to meet each and every one of them with their individual gifts that are so beautifully shared with the patients and families along with the love of God. They are a great group of nurses and I give God the praise and thanks that they came into our lives. May God be with you and bless you always, may you know and do His will, and may the glory not only be the Fathers, but yours as well.

May you receive a good rest tonight, and tomorrow be a light to Almighty God. May you be positive in all you say and do and to God be the glory to all of us as we head for home: God bless.


Marty & Jack
John 3:16