A Long Overdue Update

A lot has happened since my last post, so here's a brief run-down of what's been going on.

At the end of November/for Thanksgiving I spent a week with my parents in Pennsylvania. In coming back to Grand Rapids after Thanksgiving, most of my time was spent doing physical therapy, writing/sending a Christmas/fundraising letter, and packing up my life in Grand Rapids. On December 18 I left my beloved Grand Rapids and moved back to my parents' house in Mechanicsburg, PA.  Being home brought another flurry of activities as dear friends from the Netherlands stayed with us December 20--January 4 and then my dad (and I) helped host a group of Dutch university students at Messiah College for most of January. This means I've been to Harrisburg, Lancaster, New York City, Niagara Falls, Hershey twice, Washington DC twice, and Gettysburg three times all in the past month ... on top of Christmas and Christmas parties, New Year's and being sick for about a week. In my "down time" I've been continuing physical therapy exercises at Messiah's athletic facilities (my knee is doing great, though feels sore after a long day of walking/being on my feet), playing with our new puppy CC, attempting to do more fundraising for Thailand, and doing a lot of reading and praying to help prepare for moving to Thailand.

I have a date for leaving!!! February 18th. It's fast approaching and a lot is still happening.

I'm currently in Grand Rapids for the week ... I'm sharing about what I'll be doing in Thailand during both services at the church I've been attending for the past 4 years this Sunday, doing a final round of fundraising here, and trying to sell my car.

Also, in the last week my 20-year-old brother has had some major kidney issues, which has hospitalized him since January 18.  We found out yesterday that he has a rare and aggressive kidney disease called Rapidly Progressive Glomerulonephritis (RPGN).  There are only a handful of cases out there, and not much research, but his nephrologist has been talking and consulting with the top nephrologists in the country to develop a treatment plan for him.  One procedure is plasmaphoresis (plasma transplant), another is a low dose of chemo-p-plasma (chemo therapy).  He's had a partial plasmaphoresis treatment, but developed an allergic reaction, so they're trying a different way and hoping he doesn't react the same way.  He will continue to stay in the hospital for the next couple of days to see how he reacts to daily plasmaphoresis, 3 times a week dialysis and 1-2 low doses of chemo.  While biopsy results showed that some of his kidneys are completely unrecoverable, they are hopeful that they can preserve what he has left to delay eventual kidney transplant.  

The past week has been quite a rollercoster for our family ... the first call from the doctor to get to the hospital ASAP, to being told he had complete kidney failure, to being told his kidneys might actually be working, to being told he could go home, to being told he needed to get back to the hospital ASAP because he has this rare disease ... it's been a bit tiring, but, we are by no means defeated!  We are buoyed by God's presence in this troublesome time and the outpouring of prayers, meals, concern, visits, and encouragement by so many of our friends, family, and brothers/sisters in Christ.  I was just reading today that, "as we participate in sufferings [of Christ, Col 1:24] we experience an intimacy with Him that we don't necessarily experience during seasons of joy."  How true this feels for our family right now as the body of Christ lifts us up in prayer and surrounds us with His love!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support for my preparations for Thailand ... the next 25 days will fly by and I am especially thankful for your prayers for my brother and parents as we're dealing with these other issues.

Untill next time, all my love