Christelle's Pride and Joy

School started for Christelle about the time of my last entry. She has now started her last year in high school and seems to be having fun. Yes. I did say fun. The child has always loved school and has never found it difficult, which, by the way, is an indictments of the schools. She is one of too many kids who learn more out of school than in school. But that is a discussion for another day. I don't think she sees the matter quite as I do, since easier schoolwork leaves her with time and energy to pursue her music.

When she started high school, she played her grandfather's trumpet in the band. She has since switch to playing the oboe, and oboes don't march, so she plays 'pit percussion,' which for her translates this year to the xylophone. No, she doesn't march with a xylophone either. She is positioned next to the field.

In the Fall semester, they do marching band. they have about 100 students in the band and auxiliary 9the dancing girls). In the Spring semester, they focus on Wind Ensemble, when they play classical music. The Hillcrest High School Wind Ensemble has built a solid reputation for quality music. People move to our neighborhood for their children to be in the band program. This last Thursday the football season started and the marching band played their first performance during the half time break.

For your delectation, I include a videoclip of that performance. Christelle is the tiny figure on the sideline to the right of the bandmaster. Once you view this video on youtube, you'll see there are many other videos of their performances from last year also.

if you wish to see a much better quality videoclip of the wind ensemble performance at a prestigious event in Chicago last December, please go here.

I hope you will enjoy this brief insight into Christelle's life.

The Joy of Grace - A Catharine health update

Firstly, I want to apologize for the messy formatting in the previous post. Somehow photos interfered and even though I previewed it and tried to fix mistakes, I guess I am not an expert on Blogger.

Now, about how I am experiencing grace this week. (With some suffering included.)

My brother Ben arrived on Tuesday for a ten day visit. Chris picked him up at the airport, brought him home for a tearful reunion (I cried, he teared up), and a shower. Then we left for Houston for my new set of tests and meeting with Dr. Trent, one of the worldwide experts of my type of cancer. We traveled well and talked and talked and talked.

In Houston, I went to all the different places where I had to have tests, and this is where the suffering comes in. The wait times were interminable. I had to wait three hours for the CT scan, and the doctor was two hours behind. The administration of the hospital has certain rules about scheduling apparently, that does not allow enough time for patient treatment according to how much time it really takes to treat each patient. Why, I can't imagine. But it creates a situation where VERY sick people have to sit for hours in uncomfortable waiting rooms and wait. And wait. And wait.

Anyhow, the grace really kicks in here. When I saw Dr. Trent he had good news about my tumors. For the CT scan, I have to drink two bottles of barium fluid - thick white stuff that tastes like chalk. Apparently this fluid spreads throughout one's intestines and allows the intestines and some organs to show up on the scan. Then the radiologist puts me on a bed and a thick ring that contains the laser beam moves over me. At specific points I have to breathe in deeply and hold for about five to ten seconds while the laser scans my body. At some point, they inject what they call contrast into my veins. It is apparently slightly radio active and it interacts with abnormal cells to make them show up better on the scan.

Dr. Trent said the scan showed that the tumors had shrunk slightly since March when I last had a scan in Houston. More significantly, the tumors showed significantly less interaction with the contrast. In his words, the tumors seem to be "shutting down." In a word, they are dying.

I thank God for that good report. It is grace in it's purest form.

Another thing the doctor suggested, was to lower my chemo medicine dose. He was concerned for the side effects I am experiencing. Apparently the sore mouth and cracking skin is part of the side effects of the toxic chemo. So, I am to suspend taking the chemo (currently three capsules a day) for a week, then take one capsule a day for a week, and up to two capsules. It seems that I may be able to continue for a considerable time on two capsules. He has great confidence that the side effects might be mitigate that way. I am hopeful.

Grace is defined as "unmerited favor." Miriam-Webster dictionary defines favor as:

Verb: Feel or show approval or preference for:

Noun: An attitude of approval or liking.

So I wanted to make sure you understand that though I talked about the cost of grace, we cannot earn it in any way. I know it is difficult to get your head around. It seems a contradiction in terms: You cannot earn grace, but it is costly. I did not earn God's grace, I never could.

He gives it freely.

The Cost of Grace

Last night I completed my grading and entered all grades online, so my students now know finally how they did. I have kept the online grade book up to date, so nothing should be a surprise for anyone, because the last grades to be added were for the final assignment.

I celebrated by playing online mahjong. It is the kind of game that relaxes me because I don't have to think too much - just the thing to relax after strenuous cognitive activity. It is a pattern matching game, where you click on two tiles with the same pattern to make them disappear until, hopefully, there are no tiles left and you win.

When I went to bed, curiously enough, I started thinking about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a German theologian who was adamantly opposed to Hitler. Bonhoeffer preached against Hitler and his policies and once, when speaking on the radio, he was cut off midsentence. This relatively young man, who was 28 or so when the radio incident happened, fervently believed that the Jews were God's chosen people and that the Nazis were sinning against God with their policies and actions.

Many historians say that Bonhoeffer got involved with the Abwehr (a German intelligence gathering operation that coordinated anti-Nazi resistance efforts) and were actually involved with some of the plots to assassinate Hitler. Bonhoeffer and his brother-in-law Dohnanyi were actively involved in helping Jews escape to Switzerland, and was arrested by the Gestapo on April 6, 1943. On April 8, 1945, he was condemned to death, without witnesses, without defense, and no records of the proceedings have ever been found. The next morning he was executed by hanging.

The camp doctor who witnessed the execution wrote: “I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer ... kneeling on the floor praying fervently to God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the few steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued after a few seconds. In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”

I found this last quote on WIkipedia. I do not know all this information about Bonhoeffer as part of my working knowledge, so I did a little research :) What I do remember, is Bonhoeffer's theology. I was about 24 or so when I discovered Bonhoeffer and I vividly remembered how his beliefs spoke to me. It in fact changed my life, because for the first time, I was confronted with the idea that Jesus suffered in his obedience to God. Christ is the center in which God and the world is reconciled through the suffering of Christ. For Bonhoeffer, the duty and joy of a christian is to be an imitator of Christ and to be the center in which the world and God is reconciled. As christian, we have to be involved with people.

Faith, in Bonhoeffer's view, is actuated by two elements: implementing justice, and accepting divine suffering.

Probably his best known book is The Cost of Discipleship, first published in 1937, and published in 1948 in English. The central idea is that of "cheap grace," which he defines as:

"cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace with discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."

Cheap grace is to believe and preach the following: "Of course you have sinned, but now everything is forgiven, so you can stay as you are and enjoy the consolations of forgiveness." There is of course no mention of giving up the sin, of changing, of becoming more like Christ - cheap.

1. Costly grace, on the other hand, "confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus said: 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light.'"

I realized last night, as I was pondering Bonhoeffer and how he lived his beliefs, to the point of being willing to give his life to fight injustice and to imitate Christ through

suffering in obedience to God, that Bonhoeffer's mindset has been very influential in how I approach my illness. I'm not exactly fighting injusti

ce just sitting here, but I think I did some of that when I was healthy. And I have always tried to be the place where God and people c

an become reconciled. Now, I am suffering.

I try to keep up my spirits and have a brave front. And I deliberately count my blessings, but the

re are days when I feel the suffering, when life is difficult, and when my physical frailty irks me beyond what I think I can stand. I also experience Jesus' light and easy yoke: just when I think I can't sta

nd it anymore, something happens or something says something, or I receive a facebook message, or I receive a photograph like the one below.

This photo was taken recently by Andre Lottering who runs the French speaking operations of AFMIN . He was in Lumbumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, involved with church leadership training. It shows the attendees of the training school praying for me. Andre said they spent at least an hour, standing and sitting before God, interceding for me and our family.

It makes it worthwhile, knowing God's people are concerned for one another, and are willing to spend time praying for each other - reconciling people with God.

I am confronted everyday with the choice between accepting God's grace together with the suffering He is allowing in my life, or rejecting the knowledge that God knows best and is control of the whole thing. I would rather experience His grace at whatever cost He imposes, than live on my own terms, choosing my own way, and taking whatever comes my selfish way.

At least this way I know there is grace.

Another Favorite Thing

I love Pandora Radio. It is an online service where you can have a free account and create different "radio stations" that play specific styles of music. This afternoon I have been listening to my Hillsong Australia stations. They play Hillsong music, and a lot of other artists in the same style, like Ross Parsley and New Life Worship, the Desperation Band, Passion, Chris Tomlin and Darlene Zschech, Matt Redman, it goes on and on.

My other stations are: Martin Sexton Radio, and Chris Botti Radio.

You can find it at www.pandora.com.

For Alice

This entry is for Alice - my little cousin. She is my cousin Nicci's daughter and also blogs. I won't give the address of her blog, since she is keeping it anonymous - a very good idea for a teenager. In one of her entries, she mentioned bringing friends home and having a spat about every aspect of pizza choice. While this is part of the fun for a teen, I thought I would give Alice (and everyone else interested) an idea for easy entertaining. Next time you bring friends home and want to feed them, Alice, try this recipe for chicken salad.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHICKEN SALAD
You'll need
2 large, plump chicken breasts, skin removed. Keep it on the bone for the initial cooking.
1 can of chicken stock
1 bay leaf
2 whole cloves
3 whole black peppercorns
Handful of parsley, leaves for salad and stalks for cooking
1 onion for cooking and 1 small red onion for the salad
2 celery sticks, including leaves, 1 for cooking and 1 for salad
1 cup grapes or ½ cup raisins
1 small apple – I prefer a green apple, or firm red apple
¼ cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup mayonnaise or ½ cup mayo and ½ cup greek yoghurt
1 large pickle

Here's what you do to cook the chicken:
Put the chicken, chicken stock, bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns, and parsley stalks in a pot. Chop one onion and one celery stick and the celery leaves roughly and add to the pot. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to gently simmer until the chicken is tender and its juices run clear. Be careful to not overcook. You don't want dry, rubbery chicken. Leave the chicken in the pot to cool down in the cooking liquid.

You can see that this part you can do ahead of time. You can also use left over chicken, although I don't suppose there will ever be two to three cups of leftover chicken in your house. Of course, you can also use a rotisserie chicken from the store.

MAKE THE SALAD
To make the salad, take the cold chicken out of the liquid and gently wipe it down with a paper towel. You don't want too much liquid in the salad. Take off the bones and discard. You can use the cooking liquid for a soup base or a gravy base if you want.

Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes and add to a bowl for mixing. Peel the red onion. I like the color of a red onion, but you can use any onion you have on hand. Cut in half and slice very thinly. Add to chicken. Trim the celery stick and slice very thinly. Add to chicken. The onion and celery add good flavor and some crunch.

Rinse the grapes and cut into halves. I rather like to use dark grapes for color, but you can use any grapes you have. If you do not have fresh grapes, just use raisins. Add the sweet, crunchy fruit to chicken.

Don’t peel the apple. The skin adds color and a lot of nutrients. Half and core the apple, and then slice thinly, or cut into 1 inch cubes if preferred. Slice the pickle very thinly. Add to the salad. You will notice we have highly flavorful chicken, and we have added color and crunch with the other ingredients.

Make a dressing according to your taste. I like the tang of mayonnaise, but if you are careful about adding fat, you can mix it with Greek yoghurt. If you like a more complex dressing, you can always add mustard too. I like it simple.

SIDE BAR: MAKING GREEK YOGHURT
For those who can't lay your hands on Greek yoghurt, you can easily make it yourself. It is just plain yoghurt that has been drained of excess liquid, so it is thick and creamy. To make your Greek yoghurt replacement, line a sieve with cheesecloth and pour a container full of plain yoghurt into it. You can control the fat content by using full fat, low fat, or no fat yoghurt. Put in the fridge overnight, or for at least three hours. Squeeze out the excess fluid and you are left with a creamy, cottage cheese like substance. Yummy!

BACK TO THE SALAD
Mix in enough dressing to coat all the ingredients and bind the salad together. Taste the salad and adjust salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until you need it.

This is a very versatile recipe. You can serve it on lettuce leaves on pretty plates for a full meal salad with really good bread and butter.

Or you can make a sandwich. Butter the bread you will use. Layer on a thin slice of onion, a nice thick slice of tomato and a heaping scoop of chicken salad.

Or you can fill little phyllo pastry cups with the chicken salad for appetizers. Other ideas for appetizers are:
- little toast triangles with chicken salad topping
- flapjacks (or dollar size pancakes) with salad topping
- crostini (french bread cut on the bias, rubbed with garlic and olive oil, and toasted in the oven) with salad topping.

I hope this helps, Alice, to impress your friends.

SUGGESTION:
I'm sure your Mom would love an elegant chicken salad lunch as a surprise one day :)

Short Chris Update

Chris went for physio-therapy these past two weeks.

He says it hurts when they push and pull, but it is alleviating pain somewhat. He faithfully does his exercises at home. That hurts too, but helps overall for pain. He still feels pain in his leg, but at least he could stand right through worship at church yesterday without having to sit down.

At his last therapy visit, the therapist tested strength in his legs and said he would need at least another two weeks of therapy.

One good thing has come from this as far as I am concerned: he does not try to do too much, although he has already started mowing the lawn again. At least, he has asked one of our friends to help with the painting of our entry hall. In fact, Chris did more supervision than painting, to my great joy. The greatest danger is that he overextends himself as his pain level subsides before he is completely healed.

He finds that the big recliner chair helps when he hurts, with the result that he sits downstairs with me more often, especially when he has computer work to do. The downside of this is that I can watch fewer cooking programs, because they bore him hugely. Ah well! I guess his company is better than that of Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri.
(For those who don't know, these two gentlemen are chefs who have cooking shows on FoodTV.)

Perhaps my obsession with cooking shows springs from the fact that I can eat such limited foods at this time. I enjoy watching other people make wonderful food, and I am learning all sorts of great skills by watching. When I am up and about in the kitchen again, watch me!

In the meantime, we thank the Lord for improvement in Chris' back pain.

One Step Forward, One Step Back

This sore mouth business is not much fun. I have adapted by drinking my meals, since my tongue is so sensitive, even icing sugar feels granular. So all is not lost, and it is forcing us to be creative about what I eat - I mean drink. At left a picture of my Jack LaLanne Juicer.

A friend sent me some information about the benefits of asparagus for cancer patients, and I have since taken asparagus everyday as one of my meals. Apparently the asparagus has to be cooked, so to make things easier for my personal cooks, Chris and Christelle, we are using canned asparagus. They put the contents of the can in the blender and it creates a rather thick fluid. They mix 4 tablespoons of this asparagus juice and chicken stock, heat it up a little, and then I drink it. It is delicious, always provided you like asparagus, of course. I have also discovered I can eat cheese wedges. It is smooth enough that it does not hurt my tongue. Other cheeses do, so I am very thankful for creamy cheese wedges.

So much for the forward steps. Initially, my doctor gave me something they call the miracle mouthwash. It deadens the mouth, but I think I told you before, if I eat right after taking the miracle, I can't taste anything. Then they said perhaps I have a yeast infection, and prescribed a medication designed to heal candidiasis or yeast infection. For a week or so it seemed to help, although it really burned my mouth when I swished and swallowed. Then yesterday, I started throwing up everything I ate, and being the good, informed patient that I am, I read the materials about the medication onnline, and found that this medication can cause nausea as a side effect. A phone call to the doctor, and now I should discontinue this yeast medication.

They also prescribed a third medication to counteract possible ulcers. Usually they use it for patients with stomach ulcers, who are to swish and swallow for ulcer relief. I should just swish and spit, not swish and swallow, because I might have ulcers in my mouth, definitely not in my stomach.

The Mystery of the Sore Mouth is a saga that will no doubt continue, and I will keep the story going. I hope it ends after another episode or two, but there is no denying that it might, just might become a soap opera that carries on and on and on. It seems the doctors don't really know and are making educated guesses.

I sure hope their guesses are educated.

In the meantime, the juicer is running and Chris tells me I am to have peach-carrot-apple juice for lunch, with a triangle of creamy swiss cheese. Yum!

Random Thoughts on Miracles

Several things have happened today that made me think about miracles.

Early this morning I received an email from a dear friend in the Congo - Bishop Ejiba Yamapia. He leads a very large church in Kinshasa. He tells of the Big Campaign of Restoration conference he has been conducting and that in one night over 600 people responded to the sermon and invitation to give their hearts and lives into the rulership of Christ. Among them was a man called Mavoka Martin, who had been bitten by a poisonous snake and could almost not walk for how his swollen foot ached. Bishop Ejiba prayed from him and immediately the swelling dissipated and the pain disappeared. Bishop Ejiba says, "Today like never before, Mister Mavoka Martin put on shoes, walked suitably and started to pray with us in the church. We thank God for his mercy."

Many people, including seminaries and professors of religious studies teach that miracles only happened in the Old Testament and during the life of Christ. Perhaps they'll stretch a point and concede that the disciples also performed miracles - just think of Peter and the lame man.

The story Bishop Ejiba relayed is the kind of thing you might think of as a miracle. This is the kind of miracle we Africans see often. God does spectacular feats of healing and restoration within seconds and everyone can see His power and glory. I can remember when I was a child, my father prayed for a man who had a tumor on his cheek. It was an ugly, black thing, disfiguring him and causing him great distress. Dad put his hand on this man's cheek and prayed. When he took his hand away, the cheek was clean, covered with new skin, and the tumor was lying in Dad's hand.

There are other kinds of miracles, though. Last night I ventured outside and looked at my little herb garden in pots. It is very hot in Tuscaloosa right now, and the basil and peppermint were looking terrible. The pots were dry and the leaves where shriveled. Chris brought me the hosepipe and I sat there for a half hour watering my little garden. Today, those same leaves have perked up and look green and glossy. I will just have to keep watering the poor darlings in the heat. To me, that is a miracle too, that a dry plant will perk up and grow with the addition of life giving water.

Consider also how babies grow. A man and woman come together and nine months later a baby is born. No one has been able to replicate the process from start to finish. (Yes, I know about invitro fertilization and so on, but has anyone been able to make a baby without sperm and eggs harvested from real live people?) I watched Malone and Judah, our two grandchildren while they were here. They are truly little miracles that God has given into our lives.

Other things are happening that seem like miracles to me. We are working on getting seats for my mom and sister to come and visit during the Fall. Mom has been here to visit before, but Riana has not. The trouble is we are using Chris' frequent flyer miles, but the airlines have very few seats available for frequent flyers. We need a miracle there. And then this morning my brother Ben sent an email that he wants to come visit at the same time. We already have a miracle there, since he can buy his own ticket.

And then, I see God doing a series of small miracles in my body everyday. Every time I walk between the living room and my bedroom without having to hold onto the wall, it is evidence of miracle - two weeks ago I could not do that. You may say it is not a miracle at all, just the effects of the fruit juice I'm drinking and the full cream ice cream I'm having for breakfast (did it again this morning), but I tell you it is a miracle. God is at work and working on healing me. If He healed me all at once, I would have one huge miracle to celebrate. This way, I have a whole series of little miracles to sustain me.

I am very glad miracles did not stop when the last disciple died.

Another Chris Update

Chris had his first physio therapy session on Monday and is conscientiously doing his exercises everyday. He is walking with more ease and he says the pain has abated somewhat, but I can see he is still in pain on occasion, especially when he has not moved for a while. Getting up in the morning is the hardest.

We are trusting God for a complete intervention. I hate that he is in pain.

A Chris Update

Chris' doctor has said he needs to follow a treatment protocol set by the medical insurance company. It works like this:

STEP 1. Someone comes in with severe back pain. Treatment: Doctor prescribes pain medication, muscle relaxants, and anti-inflamatory medicine. If it works, good. Stop treatment (or continue medications as the situation warrants) and keep an eye on it. If it does not work, go to step 2.

STEP 2. Continue medications as needed and send patient for a course in physio-therapy. If it works, great. Keep and eye on it and prescribe medications as needed. If it doesn't work, go on to step 3.

STEP 3. Refer patient to a surgeon who specializes in the appropriate condition. Surgeon orders tests like CT scans or MRI scans and decides on treatment. If needed, perform surgery to correct condition in the back. If it works, everybody is happy, most of all the patient. If it does not work, shoot the patient.

No, I'm kidding. I don't know what comes after Step 3.

So Chris went through step 1, and now has to go on to step 2.

He starts physio-therapy on Monday.

These are a few of my favorite things

News Flash: I'm feeling so much better, I cleaned the microwave door.

First, I heated water for my new expensive mouthwash: 8oz warm water, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda. Stir to dissolve and rinse the mouth every hour or two. (That in itself is a

major thing - the first time I have touched the microwave since before Christmas).

Second, I noticed the door was not as clean as I would have liked it, so I got the soap and cleanser and wiped it down. I did not have the strength to clean the inside, but hey, I did the first piece of housework since before Christmas. Happy. Happy.

Now, the things I have learned to love in this time:

During the misery and horrible experiences since I got so sick, I have come to greatly appreciate small things. It has helped me handle the difficult times.

1. My husband.

Not s

o small a

thing, w

hen you think about it. But Chris has been the most faithful and loving companion, and h

as

shown me (and all of those around us, Christelle included) what servant leadership is all about. He could quite easily have used his work as an excuse and

hired a caregiver, but he

did all his own work, took my care on himself, and took over my hou

sehold duties as well. He did all this with patience and good humor and encouraged me when I'm sure he had his own emotions to d

eal with.

2. Christelle. She finished out the last semester of her junior year with joy and dedication, and processed my illness with grace. She would come lie on my bed with me at times and just cry. Sometimes, she would just come and sit on the bed next to me to do her homework, and at other times we talked about my illness and what it meant for all of us. I have watched her grow spiritually, and at the same time date for the first time - a lovely young man who is caring and protective of her. She cooked for us and did her part in keeping the house clean, while working hard at her schoolwork and music. She has been a joy to me during this time.

3. Our Children and Grandchildren.

Lydia and Joel have been

very generous this summer. Lydia was completing the last semester of her Masters Degree and Joel kept his office going, but came to Tuscaloosa to visit this summer. Lydia was scheduled to be here three weeks, but while everyone was gathered in June, Joel came to tell me that he and Lydia had decidedshe should stay longer. She has been our support during these last weeks while Chris was incapacitated - shopping, cleaning, cooking, laughing, joking,

watching the Cooking Channel with me. I so appreciated Joel's generosity in lending us his wife for 6 weeks. It takes a special son to show his love in such a tangible way.

Cameron and Marelize have been no less generous and loving. Cameron has kept busy flying all over the world and then doing training to become flight commander.

As soon as they could, they came to Tuscaloosa on an Air Force transport plane, apparently quite an adventure. When Cameron had to go back to work, Marelize and the children stayed another several weeks, enlivening all our lives. She just went back to Tacoma last week, taking Christelle with her to help with the children on the plane. Imaging flying across country with a 5 month old baby and an active 2 1/2 year old little girl. Marelize was up early every morning, baking and making all sorts of goodies for us to eat, cooking with her sisters and cleaning, and doing all the things that a big house needs to have done. Cameron also, showed his loved in this tangible way when he could have legitimately have expected his wife and children home after he had been gone for three weeks.

4. Friends.

During these months I have learned how many good friends I have. Friends have called and written notes and emailed and done small and large acts of service. There are several friends who regularly send a card or a note or a text message to encourage me.

There have been those friends who came to stay for extended periods of time to help. I think of my South African friend Martie who came in January/February from South Africa to take care of me when I was very, very ill. She was helped by Rina and Johan to buy the airplane ticket. I appreciate it. I think of Laura who came twice with her little girl Anna to stay with me and try to find something to tempt my appetite while her husband stayed in Atlanta to work.

There have been those friends who put together a scrapbook to remind me of how they remember me. Thanks for those pages that made me laugh, Uconn friends.

There have been those friends who sent an enormous gift box of food to help during those times when nobody is here to cook for us or we have unexpected guests or not enough time to prepare something nutritious and delicious. Thanks Liz and Adam.

There have been those friends from Tuscaloosa Vineyard Church who called to pray with me and came to visit and sing hymns with us and brought magazines - too many to mention. And Judy who took me to the doctor when Chris could not.

There are my friends from work: My department head who has come to see me every month and who has supported me and prayed with me and served me with good advice in how to navigate the university bureaucracy during this time; the lady colleagues from the dinner club who put money together to buy me pretty pajamas when I was so weak I did not dress to go to the doctor; the colleague who sent a check in lieu of flowers so that I could buy something more lasting to help me during this hard time; the many friends I thought I did not know so very well, who have shown themselves faithful prayer partners and encouragers. I also have some students who have written emails and kept in touch on Facebook and came to see me bearing Cokes and good wishes.

5. Jack LaLane's Power Juicer

We used the money gift mentioned above to buy a power juicer. What a pleasure. You have not really tasted an apple until it has gone whole through the juicer. Breakfast: 3 carrots with a smidgen of orange juice. Lunch: 3 medium tomatoes and 2 celery sticks. Dinner: handful of strawberries and blueberries, apple, peach. Extra snack: pear, cucumber and apple. And on and on.............. It is also Lydia's favorite new toy, so we have the benefit of her experimentations.

6. My Handwork.

I have always loved to knit and crochet and embroider and so on. Not so much time during the busy academic year. During the last month or so, my energy has picked up to the point where I am enjoying the crochet work again. I'll upload pictures when I have a finished product to show.

7. My Teaching.

I am teaching two online classes this summer and I am loving it. The students are wonderfully responsive and are working very hard. I am amazed at their insight and how they ask searching questions and investigate certain concepts of interest to them.

A Little Realtime News

I have been delving into the past, but today I need to give some real time news.

Chris hurt his back.

He has had trouble with a herniated disk for many years. For long periods of time he has no trouble whatsoever, and then he will turn badly, or make a random move that sets off the pain again. Two weeks ago he was moving boxes in the garage when he hurt his back. He took some pain pills as usual, and the back became much better as it has for so many times. Then one morning, while he was getting dressed, he moved somehow and something in the back snapped and he found himself on the floor, unable to get up. It was of course on the weekend and he had to wait several days to see the doctor, in excruciating pain.

The doctor gave him medication - a muscle relaxant, heavy duty pain medication, and something to counteract inflammation - and recommended waiting another two weeks to see whether the back would pull together like it always does, but so far it has not. He can move (with the help of my walking cane ironically), but he suffers in pain. We are now waiting for the doctor's office to call back. Chris believes the time for waiting is over, and that it is time for surgery. We are waiting for the doctor.

The funny side of all of this, is that I am not quite in as much pain as Chris is. I am not sure which one of us will win a race walking down the hall to the bedroom :) Chris will be shuffling along with the walking stick. I will be holding on to the walls for balance.

Thank God for Lydia who is still with us and is a support (spiritually and physically) for both of us!

Catharine's Past Two Years

Since I am writing the blog, my point of view is up front here. And since what happened to me seems to have change all our lives, perhaps it is not inappropriate.

In November 2008 I was diagnosed with cancer - a gastrointestinal stromal tumor. It is apparently a rare kind of cancer. Since there seemed to be one tumor initially, and that quite large, the decision was made to remove it surgically. It was only after surgery that the nature of the tumor became clear. It was a shock when I saw the oncologist for the first time, because CANCER is such a dreaded word. I have believed for a long time, though, that Romans 8:28 is true in my life:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

So, this diagnosis did not scare me or Chris, especially since the doctor had good news - the tumor was removed, the cancer was under control, and I could live for another 10 or 15 years. I recovered fairly quickly from the surgery and after 8 months was taken off the chemo medication. We thanked the Lord for a quick recovery.

There was a moment while I was in hospital that was significant, I think. I was very weak after the surgical procedure, and I remember lying in my bed in the intensive care unit, with blood flowing to my veins since my blood pressure was so low. I had for years wondered about the process of dying. My dad had gone off to heaven very easily, I always thought. He sat down in his chair one afternoon and said he was tired. He fell asleep and never woke up. The last thing he wrote in his journal was a verse from the Psalms: God lives in the praises of His people. What a wonderful way to leave the earth and join Jesus.

I want above all else to get to heaven and meet Jesus face to face. I have lived my life for Him since I can remember. How glorious to have Him take my hand and say, "Welcome, good and faithful servant."

So, as I lay there, I said to the Lord that I was ready to leave this earth and meet Him in heaven. I had made my peace with Him. Romans 8:1 is clear and I had taken it as part of the foundation of my life, years ago.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

I took a deep breath and thought of Jesus on the cross, breathing out His last breath and asking the Father to take charge of His spirit. And then I did it - I said, "Please take my spirit, Father," and I blew out this large breath.

And I had to breathe in again, because the Father did not take my spirit.

I had to laugh a little, but I have to confess to some disappointment. I SO wanted to go to heaven. But God sent me a clear message - the time is not yet. I still have something to do for Him in the world. I have been contemplating what that means ever since. Oh, if you have any suggestions, let me know.

So far so good.

In December 2009 I went to Chicago with Christelle and the Hillcrest High School Band. It was a big deal for her, for the Wind Ensemble were invited to play at the Midwest Clinic. This is an annual international Band and Orchestra Directors clinic. Bands and orchestras have to audition to play there and our kids played with highly acclaimed bands such as th United States Coast Guard Band. You can see two videos from that performance here. I was not feeling well - creeping fatigue and lower abdominal pain.

From there we went to Lydia and Joel's house for Christmas. Things went downhill from there. I started feeling very tired, and I was experiencing severe abdominal pain. Chris and I tracked down Dr. Brian Olivier, who was our family physician when we lived in Colorado Springs. Apart from being a really good doctor, he is also a beloved Christian brother and a dear friend. I trusted him. On his recommendation I went to the emergency room. They took a CT scan and saw an unidentifiable mass in my lower abdomen, and another where the original tumor had been. Dr. Olivier recommended that I get home immediately to my medical care team.

That's what we did, and Chris upgraded our airplane seats to first class - an excellent way to use some of his frequent flyer miles. We got home, I went into hospital the next day, and life changed in the blink of an eye.

Resurgence of the Family News blog

It has been a long time since I posted anything on this blog. Since I have so many friends who need to be updated about my health and other family news, I decided to revive it. I have never been good at doing things that require consistency, but I will try to update the blog on a regular basis.

The last post talked about Malone's birth. That was well over two years ago. She is a precocious little girl, who talks up a storm. Adorable and very clever. She is enjoying the attention of all her family members.

(Did I mention that all the children are visiting for the summer?)

Talking about births - Marelize and her Air Force pilot husband had another baby in January. Judah is 5 months old today (23rd) and a very happy baby! He is content to lie around on the carpet and kick and has started rolling over onto his tummy. He cries only when he's hungry or sleepy and LOVES being held by all and sundry.

Marelize's husband Cameron, has just been promoted to Captain and completed his training to be flight commander.

Lydia graduated with distinction in May with a Masters degree in Counseling. After she leaves us here, she will find a job and complete 700 hours of practicum and internship before she can take her licensure exam. Lydia and Joel celebrated their 7th wedding anniversary last week.

Christelle, our baby, will be a senior in high school this upcoming academic year and is very excited about the future. We don't know yet what direction her studies will take, but she is already doing college courses through the University of Alabama's Early College program.

Chris is working very hard keeping the house and yard going. He has always been a better housekeeper than I. He is also still CEO of AFMIN (Africa Ministeries Network). You can read more about his work at http://www.afmin.org/.

To see some of the pictures we had taken last week, go to Kellen Jacob's website and look at the photos labeled Generations.

Next time, I'll talk about me.