Thank you for following this blog! Your prayers and support have helped more than words can say.
Sandy is now more stable than she's been. She has a normal schedule:
Up at 6 a.m.
Out to work by 7:15 a.m.
Home by 6:00 or 6:30 p.m.
Dialysis begins at 8 p.m.
On Friday she takes off at 3 p.m. On six or eight Saturdays per year she leads a pre-marriage seminar.
Our brother Jean-Emile Ngué is home from the hospital. We rejoice in his continued progress.
I'm closing down this blog for now. I'll be writing twice a week each for
www.i-youniverse.net and
www.africancounselingcenter.org.
We hope to raise $100,000 for a permanent home for ACC by early 2010. You can give through United Methodist Mission Advance #3020464.
See you there!
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Briefly
Dr. Jean-Emile Ngué is home, taking antibiotics to combat a high fever. Will return to the docs in a few days.
Sandy is doing well. No news.
Sandy is doing well. No news.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Ngué Report
After a week Dr. Jean-Emile Ngué continues in hospital in Yaoundé, Cameroon. He is running a very high fever. The family cherish our prayers. I'll post news here as soon as it's available.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The news for now
It's hard to write about our life now. We're finding our sea legs. Mostly, Sandy's health deficits manifest themselves in a lack of stamina. She used to leap tall buildings in a single bound; now she takes the elevator.
The key is meal planning, so that there's a good supper waiting when she comes in the door. The couple hours she has before she begins dialysis goes by so quickly. Everyone has been faithful to help us save that time for rest and family, rather than phone calls.
We welcome them on weekends.
We hope the doctors will find a fluid with fewer calories. We hope she'll continue to feel well. We hope that VIPCare will keep on being the strong pastoral presence it has been, especially since counselors now get LMFT or LPC credentials. Personal formation, exploration of the counselor's own inner world, the hallmark of pastoral counseling, isn't included in secular training.
Anyway, there's not much blow by blow action these days to report. I'll be sure to alert those of you who choose not to read regularly by email, if God forbid there is a big change.
God has and will continue to honor your prayers and love by sustaining us with God's Spirit.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
The key is meal planning, so that there's a good supper waiting when she comes in the door. The couple hours she has before she begins dialysis goes by so quickly. Everyone has been faithful to help us save that time for rest and family, rather than phone calls.
We welcome them on weekends.
We hope the doctors will find a fluid with fewer calories. We hope she'll continue to feel well. We hope that VIPCare will keep on being the strong pastoral presence it has been, especially since counselors now get LMFT or LPC credentials. Personal formation, exploration of the counselor's own inner world, the hallmark of pastoral counseling, isn't included in secular training.
Anyway, there's not much blow by blow action these days to report. I'll be sure to alert those of you who choose not to read regularly by email, if God forbid there is a big change.
God has and will continue to honor your prayers and love by sustaining us with God's Spirit.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Prayers for Dr. Ngué
From time to time our beloved brother Jean-Emile Ngué has extreme pain in his head, due to an injury from early in his life that left a scar on the brain. He is currently in hospital due to such a pain storm. Hospitalization exposes persons to many risks in Cameroon. This week the country celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Protestant Council, of which he is Secretary-General. Please pray for his recovery and for Sophie, his wife. (Their son Willie, 22, just passed Masters examinations this week, for which we rejoice.)
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Songs in the Night
It's 4 a.m. I've been awake for hours.
As a kid in high school, I adopted Isaiah 30.29 as my verse. Things at home weren't that great. I loved God's mighty nevertheless:
Tonight that verse has come true, once again.
I've found some verses that provide comfort.
("com-" suggests "with"; "fort," strength, obviously. To comfort in the Bible means not only to console, but also to fill with strength.)
In Narnia the little girl Lucy is scared. She buries her face in the Great Lion's mane, and is filled with courage. "Now you are a lionness again," says Aslan.
The remarkable thing about these verses is that they occur in a context of political intrigue and military conquest by Judah's savage enemy Assyria. The people have little to rejoice about, even less to feel secure in.
Yet God assures them.
When the king, ignoring the prophet, seeks help from Egypt, Isaiah tells him that Egypt will be no help at all, will in fact be like a defeated dragon.
But God's love remains, God's invitation to come home sounds as clearly, as tenderly as ever:
This last verse, Isa 30.21, gives such practical guidance on living by the Spirit. Many, many times I've faced alternatives. and could not discern which was God's will. Then, I heard a voice (in my heart, not my ears) telling me "This is the way, walk [ye] in it." (The King James Version adds "ye.")
There comes to my heart then a sense of peace, knowing God has led me to the right decision. Sometimes, though, that confidence doesn't come until long after.
God tells Isaiah to write the prophecy down. Ignored and rejected by his contemporaries, later generations will treasure his oracles as the Word of God.
Finally, tonight, I was chasing the cross references in my study Bible the New Interpreter's Study Bible (the best!!) I found this:
For those of us in the graying population, these promises are precious. Originally, they addressed the fledgling nation of Israel, reborn in 538 BCE, when Cyrus of Persia issued a decree allowing exiles to go home. But in my judgment they also apply to members of God's family as we continue to grow.
(You don't have to "grow older"; you can just "keep growing.")
This is a wordy post. But I hope you'll find much comfort and insight in these passages. Blessings.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
As a kid in high school, I adopted Isaiah 30.29 as my verse. Things at home weren't that great. I loved God's mighty nevertheless:
"You shall have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept; and gladness of heart..."
Tonight that verse has come true, once again.
I've found some verses that provide comfort.
("com-" suggests "with"; "fort," strength, obviously. To comfort in the Bible means not only to console, but also to fill with strength.)
In Narnia the little girl Lucy is scared. She buries her face in the Great Lion's mane, and is filled with courage. "Now you are a lionness again," says Aslan.
The remarkable thing about these verses is that they occur in a context of political intrigue and military conquest by Judah's savage enemy Assyria. The people have little to rejoice about, even less to feel secure in.
Yet God assures them.
"For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:(Isa 30.15 NRSV)
In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength."
When the king, ignoring the prophet, seeks help from Egypt, Isaiah tells him that Egypt will be no help at all, will in fact be like a defeated dragon.
But God's love remains, God's invitation to come home sounds as clearly, as tenderly as ever:
Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;(Isa 30.18a, 19-21)
therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you...
Truly, O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you will weep no more.
He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you. Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it."
This last verse, Isa 30.21, gives such practical guidance on living by the Spirit. Many, many times I've faced alternatives. and could not discern which was God's will. Then, I heard a voice (in my heart, not my ears) telling me "This is the way, walk [ye] in it." (The King James Version adds "ye.")
There comes to my heart then a sense of peace, knowing God has led me to the right decision. Sometimes, though, that confidence doesn't come until long after.
God tells Isaiah to write the prophecy down. Ignored and rejected by his contemporaries, later generations will treasure his oracles as the Word of God.
Finally, tonight, I was chasing the cross references in my study Bible the New Interpreter's Study Bible (the best!!) I found this:
Listen to me, O house of Jacob,(Isa 46.3-4)
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from your birth,
carried from the womb;
even to your old age I am he,
even when you turn gray I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.
For those of us in the graying population, these promises are precious. Originally, they addressed the fledgling nation of Israel, reborn in 538 BCE, when Cyrus of Persia issued a decree allowing exiles to go home. But in my judgment they also apply to members of God's family as we continue to grow.
(You don't have to "grow older"; you can just "keep growing.")
This is a wordy post. But I hope you'll find much comfort and insight in these passages. Blessings.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Red bags, 1000 calories each
Sandy had a tough week, until Friday, when they did an analysis of how well the dialysis is working. She came out of that process feeling great.
What made the difference?
They did two extra bags. (They ran two bags of fluid in and out of Sandy's body, carrying waste and toxins.) Important piece of info.
Where does excess fluid go, if not taken out of the body? Well, to your lungs, among other places.
Bags of fluid that goes into the peritoneum and then back out are color coded. The largest is red, the smallest green. Medium is yellow.
Each red bag packs on 1000 (count'em) 1000 empty dextrose calories. A green bag adds 500 calories.
That makes weight gain an issue. The docs are working to solve it.
Meanwhile, knowing that doing extra bags can make such a big difference is encouraging to me.
There's stuff they can do. Sandy will feel better.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
What made the difference?
They did two extra bags. (They ran two bags of fluid in and out of Sandy's body, carrying waste and toxins.) Important piece of info.
Where does excess fluid go, if not taken out of the body? Well, to your lungs, among other places.
Bags of fluid that goes into the peritoneum and then back out are color coded. The largest is red, the smallest green. Medium is yellow.
Each red bag packs on 1000 (count'em) 1000 empty dextrose calories. A green bag adds 500 calories.
That makes weight gain an issue. The docs are working to solve it.
Meanwhile, knowing that doing extra bags can make such a big difference is encouraging to me.
There's stuff they can do. Sandy will feel better.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
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