Updates

I have some updates on extended family:

My aunt Lisa, whom I posted about last August, continues to battle cancer.  She's been through numerous treatments and surgeries.  Things look good for awhile, then they look bad, then they look good, then they look bad.  It's been a very hard time . . . for her and also for the whole family.  She's been going through a clinical trial, which has seemed to be having good results.  But now she has to take a break from that to get radiation on some tumors causing intense pain.  She has been such a trooper through all this, and is trusting the Lord.  It's been great to see her responding to this in a way that glorifies God.  But, as wonderful as that is, I think the human side in all of us is desperate for this trial to be over and Lisa restored to health.

Meanwhile, my uncle (also on my dad's) side, just had a severe stroke this week and is in the hospital.  Both Lisa and Jeff are young--nowhere near the age where you expect to hear about health problems like these.  It's really strange because on both sides of my extended family, we've never dealt with big medical issues like this (at least to my recollection).  My mom's the oldest of 4 kids, my dad's the oldest of 10.  Both sets of my grandparents are still alive and healthy, and our extended family has always had good health for the most part.  I guess that's a pretty unusual blessing, but it's kind of made me feel that "all that stuff" happens to OTHER people's families, not mine!  Anyway, Lisa and Jeff are on opposite sides of the country (NC and CA), which I'm sure is putting an added toll on my grandparents and aunts and uncles.  Prayer for all of them is definitely appreciated!

And finally, some good news!  My brother Michael is home!!  He's still a few thousand miles away from me, but having him in Alaska is a much better feeling than having him in Afghanistan!!  We're very thankful for his service to our country, and we're very, very thankful for his safety!  Welcome home, Michael!!