Weekly Rundown (7.31.2011)

• Closed out the 4-part series, Epic Fail, on the stumbles of first church leader, Peter.  I really felt God move in me and our church during this series.  And we saw numerous people make decisions for Christ, indicating salvation!


• I know of so many of us who are going through tough times and adversity.  Everything from illneses to the economy to struggles with sin.  Please ask for prayer and seek to participate in prayer with others through a small group or our monthly, First Wednesday service which is this week.


• A few staff members met me in Brooklyn, NY last week to attend the Brooklyn Tabernacle's Tuesday night prayer service. God's providence and power were so evident.  3000-4000 people fully focused on prayer with obvious passion for Christ was absolutely beautiful ... a taste of heaven!


• Ukraine mission trip reported over 450 individual presentations of the Gospel with over 100 indications of first-time salvation!! WOW!!


• Some of our staff department heads and pastors are going on a strategic work retreat in a few weeks and we'd appreciate your prayers.  We are committing the time to lots of prayer and discussions about everything (yes, everything!) in our church.  We are going to a place with no internet and no cell coverage ... unplugged from technology to plug into God!


• Got to marry two of the first students who participated in Rock Bridge Student Ministry this weekend ... yes, I cried :)


• Beth is doing okay. The mucus issue in her throat, sinuses, and nasal passages is still unresolved, causing some nausea and making 'normal' eating problematic. We are asking for 3 very specific prayer requests:
  
  
  
  • For the mucus issue to be resolved -- healing, removal of excess mucus, & restoration of normal eating.
  
  
  • For protection from infection and for EB virus to be completely gone (it's in retreat but not fully gone yet).
  
  
  • For 200 "T-cells".
    
    
    
    • 200 is the "magic number" because it means her immune system is strong/mature enough to offer adequate/better protection.  This is the number that triggers steps toward her returning home, being able to be around more people, etc.  As of last week, she is about 70% there.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  

The Rundown (7.25.2011)

I'm back in NYC for a few days with Beth after spending 2+ weeks at home. Beth & I continue to be humbled and blessed by your prayers and concern. We do feel like the big picture is much brighter as all the major problems and obstacles are resolving (leukemia in remission, EBV in full retreat); there are some lingering throat-mucus problems that cause eating-drinking issues and resulted in the G-tube.  Overall, cautiously optimistic yet prayerfully vigilant!

• The Rock Bridge staff team is simply amazing.  Almost every encounter I had over the past 2 weeks including praise for our staff:  work ethic, passion, leadership, growth, etc.


• Had lots of great conversations about the direction and health of our church.  We are all excited about what we see God doing in us and through us.
  
  
  
  • Biggest area we are working to upgrade is how we connect new people into the church.  Everything from first-time guests and salvation to group involvement and membership.
  
  
  
  


• I was able to connect with a few of our mission partners and I'm so excited about the "to the ends of the earth" work we get to be part of in our NW GA communities and across the oceans.
  
  
  
  • Our work with Compassion International will continue to grow. 4 Rock Bridgers went to Ethiopia to meet our partner church in Awassa and were blown away by Compassion and by the opportunity we have to do something significant for Christ!
  
  
  • The Living Water trip to Honduras to dig a water well was fantastic and another group goes in September. We anticipate 2-3 more trips in 2012.
  
  
  • Our Ukraine trip just returned and the initial reports are exciting!!
  
  
  • I'm very excited about our work with church planting through Launch Network. With 5 church planting "hubs" (and more to come) across the U.S. we are able to invest resources into planting healthy churches.
    
    
    
    • On a more local level, we can welcome and begin to pray for Wesley Odum and Dynamic Church which will be launching in Chattanooga in 2012.
    
    
    • Pray for Terrence Lester as God has called him to plant in Atlanta.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• Above all, I think many of us are being drawn by God to pray passionately, consistently, and specifically for Him to move. We are more aware than ever of our need for Him (apart from Him = nothing!!) and yet His desire to work through His people and churches.

Turning a Corner: The Latest on Beth

Been great to be back home and at Rock Bridge!!  I love our church!  Yet my heart is so with Beth in NYC, and as y'all have again shown me, your prayers are with her and our family in a "big" way.  Thank you so much!!

Beth just finished "Skype-ing" with our boys and she is looking great and feeling stronger.  She has had several good days in a row both in how she feels and what the doctors are observing.  The mucus problem in her throat (which is making eating difficult) seems to be a result of a fungus that took root in the dead Epstein-Barr virus tissues (that thing causes problems even after it dies!).  Thankfully, some infectious-disease specialists were able to pinpoint this likely culprit. So with some changes in her medicines, we are hopeful this latest challenge will be overcome soon.  While we wait, the G-Tube is doing its job so Beth is getting nutrion and feeling better.

So we are cautiously optimistic that she is turning a corner.  Her counts are very strong and there new signs (from her latest labs) that her immune system is maturing and getting closer to full capacity.  However, we are not there yet, we must remain careful and vigilant ... but we are very thankful for where we are today :)

A Hard and Hopeful Week from NYC

Whirlwind. Bitter. Sweet. Crazy. Tough. Long. Emotional. Doubting. Hoping.

That's about how I would describe this week for our family.

On Tuesday, I flew up to NYC with our boys and our family was reunited for the first time in 7 months.  Beth was thrilled just to watch them play and see how they had grown and changed.

However, Beth was still having trouble eating and drinking.  As the week progressed she grew very weak and tired, requiring IV fluids at the hospital on Wednesday & Thursday.  She started vomiting when she tried to swallow her medicines.  We both realized this had the potential to become serious and that her struggle eating/drinking had gone on long enough. So on Friday morning we made the difficult decision to cut the boys visit short  -- I would fly them home, Beth would go to the hospital, and I would fly back to NYC late Friday night.

Beth was readmitted to the hospital Friday afternoon to get an "NG Tube" for feeding (pretty uncomfortable procedure). However, by the time I got back to the hospital around midnight Beth was already feeling and looking much better.

The eating troubles seem to be coming from a severe case of mucus literally streaming down the back of Beth's throat and the cause is still somewhat unclear, although the doctors believe it is temporary and will resolve.  She will receive a G-tube on Wednesday as part of a longer term/less invasive "eating" solution.

Also, a PET Scan was repeated on Wednesday and the results show that the Epstein-Barr virus is in full retreat.  Most of the "nodes" are gone and the ones that remain are significantly smaller.

So while this week was not what we had hoped for with our boys, we have learned that our perspective cannot be limited to days or even weeks.  And the bigger picture perspective is much brighter: leukemia is in remission, her bone marrow graft is strong, EBV is going away, she is finally getting the nutrition her body needs, our boys are doing great, and ... most especially, the tomb of Jesus Christ is still empty!!