March 4

Sitting here late in the evening I realize I haven't updated you in several days.

Sunday's always a slower day for Barbara. Thanks to our Associate Pastor Brian Jones, who is handling our evening worship service at GFM, I am able to spend the rest of the day at the hospital after morning activities and lunch.

As the day progressed today, she complained more and more about feeling sick. She had some nasty stomach pains. She also has an infection that they're trying to keep under control. Anytime they mention infection, my mind immediately goes back to those scary days in intensive care at Methodist.

I got a different cell phone this week that has one of those ear piece gizmos so that Barbara can now talk to people without me holding the phone. This is a real blessing. She talked with Jackie over an hour today! How wonderful that was. Jackie will be with us next weekend, but unfortunately, Peter won't be along this time. It will be so great to have her here, and I'm sure she's really excited to see how well Barbara has progressed.

It's been a big week, from my excitement early on to special visits and a lot of work at the house. Thanks so much to my dad and Sharon for coming and helping me start the process of preparing the house for Barb's return. Still MUCH work to be done. Also, among those visiting were Lucas and Fayth, 2 kids from GFM. They both pretended to be shy, although managing to sing a song together. Then, Fayth soloed on another song and really belted it out! I've asked her to sing for us next Sunday morning.

The biggest challenge of the week ahead will be when they stand Barbara up for the first time with help of some kind of lift. I am continually amazed at the progress on her arms and hands. She can now do Sodoku puzzles and blow her own nose. Hey - don't laugh - that's big stuff. OK, go ahead and laugh!

Pray that Barbara and I will not get sick as we continue steps towards normalcy (whatever that is),

Pray that her strength and stamina will increase many times over this week,

Pray that her infection will clear QUICKLY,

Pray for Jackie as she travels here, and Peter as he presses on forlornly without her (also pray for Peter and Jackie as they purchase a different car to replace the one Peter "totaled" on icy roads),

Pray that things will progress well as we try to figure out how to make the house more handicap ready.