Precious Help (from Chicago) to the Rescue

Thank You...Terry & Joyce!

We received a call from Tom's brother, Terry and his wife, Joyce, on Monday night saying they were on their way to Columbus from Bourbonnais, IL!  What a treat and a surprise.  Terry and Joyce wanted to come and help us do some things around the house to get ready for Pops & Granny's (Tom's parents) visit and our hospital stay.  They arrived Tuesday around 10:30 a.m. with bells on their feet and joy in their hearts.  What a blessing they are.  I jumped in the car when they arrived so I could go to the grocery store to restock the pantry and fridge while they started to work.  Terry began raking leaves, then mowed and fertilized the lawn while Joyce started cleaning the house!  We enjoyed a simple lunch with great fellowship around the table.  While we were eating lunch we received a phone call from Tim, Terry and Tom's brother, who is still in Brussels, Belgium recovery from his appendectomy.  What a great "speaker phone" conversation we had with him!  He flies back to the states today.  We all then got back to work.  We did take a break to take in the beautiful weather outside for awhile.  Terry followed me to the car dealership so we could get an estimate on Matt's van that's not working properly.  This has been a concern of Tom's and now I think it will bring him relief knowing that we're getting it fixed (hopefully).  After Tom napped we encouraged them to stay for some turkey burgers on the grill.  We are so thankful for their love and support in such a practical way...serving.  They are true servants of the Lord and we are blessed beyond measure to be a part of the same family.

"A joyful heart is good medicine."  Proverbs 17:22

And a clean home too!

Monday afternoon we met with Tom's oncologist.  To say the least it was a bleak and bleary appointment.  We were pretty discouraged after meeting with him.  What do you do when you're down in the dumps?  Well...we went to Dairy Queen and celebrated with a Snicker Blizzard for Tom and a Peanut Buster Parfait for me!  Thank you to the Cunningham family for the DQ gift card...(she is the HS nurse and knows "good medicine").  Yes, we broke all the health food diet "rules" and for me it was worth it to see Tom smile like this:

On our way to DQ the sun was setting and was casting this most amazing orange glow across the sky.  The clouds were like tiny little pillows of orange sprinkled above us and Tom said "this makes me smile".  God had painted that picture just for us....a marriage memory made. 

I must tell you that not all things here are ice cream, sunsets and clean houses.  Tom has had the hiccups for over a week, off and on.  The steroids have made his sleep much more disturbed and the tension of waiting for surgery this long is difficult.  One of the great things about the steroid is it picks Tom's appetite up in an incredible way.  He ate three turkey burgers for dinner last night!  He was so excited when we were at the doctor's office when he weighed in at 196.5!  He had been down in the 180's and for a man with a stature like Tom's...that equals "skin and bones".  Thank you for lifting us up in prayer through this waiting period and beyond...we are blessed to have YOU joining us on this "journey".

We look forward to seeing Tom's parents today.  Tom has pre-op testing at the hospital today at 1:15 so my sister will be picking them up from the airport at 2:10.  We pray for their traveling mercies and for Tim as he flies home from Belgium today too.

We rejoice that my parents arrived safely, via car, yesterday from Florida.  They couldn't hold out down there any longer and went ahead and made the trip.  We enjoyed visiting with them last night.  They will be staying at my sisters while Tom's parents will stay with us.