Prayer Requests A-Plenty!

First of all, please pray for little Cali Moody, the one-year old girl in our church who had surgery on Tuesday to remove a brain tumor. Immediately after the surgery, the doctors said that they had been able to remove all of the tumor - a major plus! There is some talk, now, that a tiny sliver may have been left on the brain stem. The post-op MRI did not show anything, but it is not clear how complete the resection was. At any rate, chemotherapy will begin at the earliest possible moment. Chad and Sara (Cali's parents) have learned that Cali had a stroke on her first day at Duke. Since she is so young, it is possible that she will be able to avoid permanent damage, but we need to pray to that end! Also, pray that her breathing and vision return to normal quickly so that, among other things, chemotherapy can begin. It will be a long road for Chad and Sara, but as I have said about Linda many times, we will take the long road!

While you are praying for Cali and Linda, do not forget to pray for Elyse Fenerty, the young mother of five I recently told you about. Three brain tumors in our relatively small church! We come to Jesus and say with the disciples, "Lord, to Whom (else) shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God!" Indeed, we fall on Jesus and God's grace at this moment.

Now, for some specific requests for Linda - we go for an MRI tomorrow morning (Friday, June 29). Duke has requested this MRI in preparation for our consultation with them on July 11. The MRI will, in the meantime, give us an idea of where we stand, exactly. We would love for the tumor to be gone, but we would probably know that it is gone without an MRI to tell us. We continue to pray for complete healing and we continue to trust God's wisdom and goodness as we pray. If you read this before 10:00 AM on Friday, please pray for Linda while she is in the tube - she will greatly appreciate you standing with her!

We are once again trying to ween off the steroids. Linda has gone from 4 mg per day to 3 mg per day. That may not seem significant, but since the adrenal glands have essentially shut down while steroids have done their job, a return to normalcy is often a rocky road. She has had slight headaches these days (another concern for the MRI). It would be so wonderful if she could completely eliminate steroids from her medicine regimen! Please pray!

Linda is quite tired these days - and, she has restarted physical and occupational therapy. You know what the specific requests would be.

Linda and I talk much about trust these days. One of the key elements of trust is a grateful heart. It is difficult to doubt God's wisdom or goodness when grateful hearts lift His praises! Linda is constantly thanking God for specific blessings. His good hand is everywhere in this trial, if one is looking. Linda looks - and, finds. As we close, would you take a moment and thank God for the good things He has done for you?