Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Faithful.

Today, I am hoping Price will get to transfer out of ICU. A few more studies and procedures remain, but I am hopeful. From my point of view he seems very much improved. He is having a few new pains, which the medication is covering. He has restarted his feedings in earnest and we are praying and hoping the throwing up does NOT reappear. It has been absent this entire time in the hospital. That has been wonderful for Price. 

I want to thank Cathy, Melanie and Kerry for their help in the logistics, especially covering with Miss Julie. We are thankful for the faithfulness of Price’s brother who calls daily and gives us confirmation and support, but especially during acute care times in the hospital. I read all the e-mails to Price and they strengthen us both. The scriptures and prayers sent to us are truly the BEST medicine. This adventure could be described as a quick whirlwind &/or a long slough. It feels like both. 

Thank you for your faithfulness, as He is Faithful, so Faithful.

Jan

Monday, July 15, 2013

Thank you all for praying!! Dad continues to show improvement with all the right clinical numbers trending in a good direction. Or as dad has been calling them today his KPI (key performance indicators)...always the engineer.

He did wonderfully sitting in his chair all day, he really doesn't like those hospital beds. Always hard to keep him in them! :) The doctors have made progress in identifying a specific strain of bacteria in his blood that will lead us to the possible source of his infection. This is great progress.

He looks better and even had a nice visit from the new pastors at my parent’s church. We had a wonderful time of prayer, communion and fellowship. Also, my mom’s dear friend from 6th grade (or as we call her, Aunt Cathy) is in town and has been a great help and comfort.

Thank you again for your prayers and please continue to keep them up!

love,

c

Sunday Afternoon, July 14, 2013

Hey guys!

Just wanted to fill you in on how dad is doing. Right now he is in the ICU at Baylor Hospital Grapevine.

He has developed an infection so they put in a central line and they are giving him lots of fluids and antibiotics. They aren't real sure where the infection originated. All this intervention and your prayers have helped him stabilize! Right now it looks like he will be in the hospital for 4 days at the minimum.

Please continue to pray:

That they are able to find the origin of the infection.

That his organs are protected.

He will get to go home earlier than 4 days!

Strength for my mom and dad through this whole thing.

That Julie wouldn't have any seizures!

Thank you all for all the encouraging verses, texts, emails, and offers to help. You guys are our tangible "love letters" from God. We are so grateful for each of you.

love,

c

Sunday Morning, July 14, 2013

Dearest friends and family.

We could really use yall's prayers right now. Dad was taken to the hospital this morning. Not sure what is going on. Please pray! He had such a good day on Thursday after we sent the prayer update the day before. Prayer is so powerful! I will send an update on his status as soon as I hear anything.

Grateful to not be in this fight alone.

Robertson Bed and Breakfast

Wow, it has been almost a whole month since we have updated the blog.  The month of June brought us many special visitors that blessed us so much.  It was great to see Teresa, Wayne and Luke from New Mexico and Cathy, Janice, Micah, and the boys from Midland.   My friend from college and nursing school, Sylvia, came from Virginia.  It has been decades since we have seen each other, yet it was like the time did not pass.  Barb and Dirk from Georgia were a blessing and such a help.  Since we have not been able to get to Colorado, some of our Colorado Family came to Texas! We would have much preferred to have a “Jeepnic” on top of Saxon Mountain, but came up with a substitute, a “Citynic” on top of the Omni Hotel in Dallas.  Price enjoyed the time from a very comfortable chair with a wonderful view of the city.  The best part was spending the time with Kim, Pete, Claire and Gracie.  Carol and Catherine have both been here often.  They are a joy and a huge help.  All our special visitors brought us much happiness, support, and joy.

Price finished radiation June 27th.  The post radiation period has hit him especially hard leaving him very tired and weak.  He is also having frequent episodes of vomiting/dry heaving .  We are thankful that the J-tube he received in May is supplying all the calories and water he needs.  This has helped him maintain his weight.  We are trying different therapies to help with the retching.  Price is also having more discomfort.  This is usually controlled by simple oral medication.  A CT Scan is scheduled for July 19th.  The results will help us determine the next steps.  We are taking each precious day at a time.  Please continue to pray. 

Thankfully,

Jan

Confession of Our Hope

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)

Excerpts from Andrew Murray's commentary on Hebrews 10:23

“Faith and Hope ever go together.”

“Life in the Holiest, in the nearness of God, must be characterized by an infinite hopefulness.”

“We must live in faith, not looking to ourselves, but to God, and Hoping in Him.”

“Faith will still be tried, will perhaps most be tried when God wants most to bless.”

“Hope is the daughter of Faith, the messenger it sends out to see what is to come; it is Hope that becomes the strength and support of faith.”

“We must confess and give expression to our Hope. The confession strengthens the Hope; what we utter becomes clearer and more real to us. It glorifies God. It helps and encourages those around us.  It makes God, and men, and ourselves, see that we are committed to it.”

I have been mulling over Hebrews 10:23 the past few weeks. Carol found Andrew Murray’s commentary on this passage.  I have excerpted several key phrases from his commentary shown above. These phrases clarified for me the message that God has been working on in my heart. Before I go into an explanation of what all that means, I need to elucidate what God has been doing in my life since April 24^th, the day I was released from Baylor Grapevine Hospital after a six day stay. April 24^th was the day that God moved me from the “Waiting Room” to the “Intensive Care Room” or as I like to call it, the “Trying Room”. What I mean by “Trying Room” is the room where I wait for the doctors to figure out what to try next in my treatment and I seek God to receive His blessings during the times of trials and testing. It was a testing time when I tried so hard but was not able to meet my dietary requirements and was losing weight at an alarming rate. As a result the doctors wanted me to get a J-tube in a simple 15 minute procedure. This was a testing time because the procedure was instead another seven days in the hospital, this time at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

This brings me to Hebrews 10:23 and the message that God has placed on my heart. From the very beginning God’s provision for me has been very gentle. I took comfort in this because I could feel God by my side. It is much harder to realize God is by our side when it feels like the gentleness has been removed. The time spent in Spiritual Intensive Care has given me a new found understanding and appreciation of the suffering cancer patients go through. I believe that revelation was one of the primary purposes God has me in Spiritual Intensive Care. As Andrew Murray stated, faith and hope ever go together. Faith will still be tried, will perhaps most be tried, when God wants most to bless. God’s message to me during this time was that I needed to confess my hope. I am doing this through this update. I totally agree that hope is the daughter of faith, the messenger it sends out to see what is to come. I had not made that connection before, nor had I understood that I need to verbalize my confession of hope, to do so blesses those around us and strengthens the hope within us. Most importantly, it glorifies God. My hope is in God the Father, the Healer, and the provider of Salvation. Further, my hope is that this season of Spiritual Intensive Care I am currently going through will encourage others just as it has given me a new found appreciation of the suffering cancer patients go through.

When God has me in Spiritual Intensive Care there are two choices I can make. One is to seek an even closer walk with God by letting Jesus work in me every minute by asking the Holy Spirit to give me hope so that I can confess it to myself and to the world. The other choice is to blame God, call it unfair, and reject the blessing God has in store for me. Those actions tend to reduce our level of faith and put us in the very position the accuser wants a Christian in, estranged from God. I was blessed by God with Unshakable Faith so my choice was easy. I am receiving God’s blessing, confessing my hope and letting Jesus work in me every minute of every day.  

Please continue to pray for me and my family as God ordains. God is continuously using you to support, encourage, and lift me up. That is such a comfort to me and my family.

Thank you,

Price

Carol here! I wanted to add a little love letter to the end of Dad's post. 

We have had several special visitors come to the house last week to pray over and just spend time with us. We are so grateful for each visit. After everyone leaves, we always find ourselves thanking God for such an amazing community who truly knows how to live out the gospel in tangible ways. 

One specific dear visit was from Cindy Shirley and Gary Swindle (friends from my parents church) who brought with them Helen and Timothy Addah. Helen and Timothy are from Nigeria where God has given them an amazing ministry as a pastor to the pastors of Nigeria. The way God is using them for his Kingdom was phenomenal to learn about. And the prayers they prayed over dad were so powerful. It was a dear moment I know I will treasure for a long time. Thank you guys for coming and loving on this family so well.

Cindy, Gary, Pastor Timothy, Helen, and Price

It's Good To Be Home

It is good to be home!  Price was in Presbyterian Hospital Dallas from May 23rd to May 29th.  He was initially going to have a "15 minute" procedure.  We had to laugh remembering my "15 minute" procedure back in November.  However, this "15 minute" outpatient procedure turned into a 7 day hospital stay.

My prayer from the last blog was that Price would heal up, tolerate the feedings, and get home as soon as possible.  I am comforted even now as I write this to realize that this has indeed happened.  Glory!

I will also honestly say that the last weeks of May have been a rough time for our family.  Personally, I have found the heartbreak of watching my loved ones suffer, coupled with the extreme fatigue of the mind and body, a recipe for shaking one's faith.  I have also, once again, found that He is faithful to supply richly.  I must say, this is in contrast to Price who's faith remains unshakable as well as his joy unstoppable.  I will let Price describe his journey with real physical challenges that have recently tested his faith when he is able to update the blog.

A particular "rich" blessing was to be with all our girls last weekend which included our 38th
wedding anniversary.  Price and I prayed at the onset of this Adventure that our girl's faith would not be shaken or lost.  Little did I know that they would be such a strong encouragement to me when MY faith became.....as I now like to say "worn". (I heard this song last week and related to it. I then found this youtube video of the artist talking about where the song came from. It's worth the listen if you have time.)

It is through God's Word that He has most blessed me.  There are so many verses I could choose, but I will close with this: 

Romans 8:37-39 

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Love,

Jan