safe and sound

baby caleb is home safe and sound with his family. thanks for all the prayers during their scary chapter.

updates

just received an update on baby caleb and wanted to update everyone on ruth as well.

we're expecting ruth to start hospice care this week. she has been slowly slipping away - very painful to watch someone lose a little bit more of life each day. please pray that the Father takes her home gently, and pray that the rest of us would know "what it means to be held" (new favorite song by natalie grant - not a new song, just a new favorite). here is a recent picture of ruth with her sister faith and dear friend "al" as we waited for her radiation appointment and enjoyed some great conversations with this incredible woman.

baby caleb's parents wrote an update and i wanted to post it for you here to share in this family's journey as you continue to pray for them:

caleb has continued to have a normal temperature and reasonable energy. However, there are a few unresolved issues regarding which we covet your thoughts:
1. His first urine culture showed a very small amount of bacteria, but enough for the doctor to order a retest to confirm a negative result.
2. The blood tests have shown an enzyme that indicates damage to the heart muscle. This might be a permanent or temporary effect of a viral or bacterial infection. We have to wait to see if it goes down. There is currently no obvious sign of heart dysfunction.
3. However, This morning, when he was asleep, the doctor heard, for the first time, a heart murmur. It is only noticeable when his heart rate is very low. This is likely benign and unrelated to his fever, however, they are ordering an ultrasound to further investigate.

Despite a difficult couple of nights in the hallway due to a lack of beds, we are now in a private room and we feel we are well taken care of and believe the medical care is competent and good. We have been overwhelmed by the help and pr of friends, gratefully receiving that and other reminders of the Shepherd’s presence with us. Please ask that we’d have wisdom and endurance and that by trusting Him we would miss none of the good He intends to work through this painful, frightening chapter.

…The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd.

baby caleb

please join with us in lifting up baby caleb to the Father right now. he is the newborn son of our dear friends that we got to spend time with in China. he was hospitalized last week for jaundice and they ran tests to see whether the cause is simple or serious. they then sent him home and an hour later he vomited and is running a 102 fever. they are taking him back to the hospital and while there, they are restricted from seeing him - can you imagine much harder on a mom while wondering whether your baby is going to be okay? so please friends, join us on your knees for baby caleb and his precious family ... here are his big brother and sister (esther and james) ... thanks.

wedding details

we had the privilege this weekend of sharing in charlie & brooke weaver's wedding ... wanted to share some photos - many more are on the link. wedding prep couldn't help but make me think of the wedding feast that is being prepared for us - really, two thousand years of preparation, can you imagine? all the details that go into a wedding, and He goes to prepare a place for us ... wow. working on little name cards made me think of ruth's name card being prepared with anticipation and joy by those who are waiting to welcome her. so enjoy the pictures of these beautiful people and be encouraged as i was to think of the wedding that is yet to come ...

and yet ...

We are losing our lovely Aunt Ruth to Pancreatic Cancer. Jason's Aunt Ruth, but it's torn me up something terrible. She will be graduating to heaven very soon. This is a time when your theology really forces it's way into your reality. We KNOW that she will be with Christ. We KNOW that we will all follow. We KNOW that God is sovereign. And yet our hearts cry out that this is WRONG ... it aches to see her body lose strength even when her eyes are still bright. It screams out against a 29-year marriage being ended with such force. It cries out against this world losing someone of such grace and beauty. It mourns because simple things like Christmases just won't be the same.

The heart cries out that it is wrong because it IS wrong. Our bodies are not made for decay and brokenness brought on by this fallen world, AND YET we know that God is sovereign over it all. It's just that His power over death will not be seen by our eyes just yet. It will be the faith He asks from us that will carry us through ... assurance of that which we do not see, that which we hope for.

Here is a picture of her with the Miller Family from a few weeks ago - Ruth is the beauty in the middle. And if you are a glutton for humility, check out her blog - http://ruth.apsley.org/. She's been maintaining it faithfully since even before her diagnosis. In it you'll see the beauty of a woman who is prepared to meet her Maker.

Now, in other news ... because life keeps being life ... Jason has been given an interim opportunity at our home church - Northpoint, Corona - as the Ministry Director for Community & Outreach. We have been praying and searching for so long now that this came as a refreshing surprise to have the Leadership Team seek him out! The pastor in this position will be leaving this month to take a Senior Pastor position up North, and Jason is stepping in to maintain and continue building the ministry foundation he established in our Community. Already he has been excited to engage with the various non-profits that are hard at work in Corona, as our Church seeks ways to be engaged and in service alongside them. This is a big change for us and has included another new place to live as well ... more friends from Church invited us into their home for this interim time. Yes, we are blessed moochers and we know it.

Just the week before the job started, we had the chance to get a few days together in Yosemite and Mammoth ... tip, don't go to Yosemite in August - it's so dry! ... but it was still beautiful and we were so refreshed. With battered hearts from this summer's news, we really felt God come to us in His gentle way ... you know those moments when you feel like you need to work really hard to get yourself back before Him? And then He comes to you and the next thing you know His arms are around you and all that's left for you to do is sigh and relax. He's in control after all.