Monday, February 21, 2011

On the Homefront and beyond...

As some of you may know, Uganda just had their presidential election again this past Friday. I am thankful that the violence and rioting has been at a minimum and no one that I know was hurt or injured. I miss Uganda so much and miss my dear friends, co-workers and most especially the children.
I know more and more every day that God moved me back home to be with my family. It has been a crazy 4 weeks since I arrived. Though. on arrival I was still limping around from the spider bite I suffered before leaving, and when my plane landed, I hit the ground running. First to Children's Hospital there in Denver to visit with my Grandson Nathan newly diagnosed with Embryonic Rhabdomyosarcoma. In essence that means he was born with this particular childhood cancer.
He is doing pretty good with the treatments so far. He has had 5 rounds of Chemotherapy and 5 rounds of Radiation and two blood transfusions.
My mother is hanging in there despite the fact that I was sure she would not be here by the time I arrived from Uganda. She is in the Nursing home up in Craig, and though still frail and weak holding her own.
I caught a bad cold from my Grandkids after getting here, coming down with Sinusitis and Bronchitis. My Grandson Ryland started running fevers and his cough got worse and just as we thought he probably had the flu, he suffered a Febrile Seizure. He has had mild seizures in the past with fevers but this one was a full blown Grand Mal. Alone with him, I at least know what to do.
My daughter came in the door as he was starting to come out of it though he did not fully come out of it til about 15 minutes later when she was walking into the ER with him. That is when the Grandma part of me kicked in.
Testing positive for "Influenza A", the doctors all felt we all needed to be put on Tamiflu to either prevent getting it or combat it if we did. Well, 5 out of the 7 of us, have come down with it, myself included. While Ryland is home with us now from the hospital, he is still the sicker one of us.
I honestly did not expect to have so much to deal with upon arriving home, but so thankful to God that I am here with my family. They are certainly my mission field at present.
Many have asked if I am going to go back to work, and right now, I feel led to hold off on that and just be available to my family. Not to mention that I need to get myself well again.
I will be going to Denver with my son next week to trade places with Nathan's mommy and other Grandma. We will be with him for his last 3 weeks of Radiation treatment. The Chemo will continue for several more months.
I go frequently up to see my mother and though there is a lack of Transportation, I seem to manage to make it there and back, thanks to family members helping out picking and dropping.
In mid March I will head to Florida for a missionary debriefing and hopefully some down time to rest and relax a bit.
My heart and calling is missions and I know that God called me to that duty. Though right now, my mission field is my family, I continue to support Amani Baby Cottage as much as I can. That ministry will continue to always be very important to me.
I am so thankful to my family for providing a home and shelter and taking care of my basic needs. They are such a blessing and I am so glad to be here with them.
If anyone feels led to still support Reaching Hands Missions, during this interim time, as a home missionary, I can tell you that I will still be faithful and prove to be a good steward of my time and talents. This time will also give me an opportunity to minister to needs within my own church if necessary.
I do not know how long this time will last, if God will keep me here for awhile or call me to another field. I fairly certain it will be this entire year and maybe a portion of next year, but past that, He has not revealed to me yet.
May God bless you dear ones. Thank you for your faithful and loving support over the years and for trusting me to work on the Great Commission. I am thankful beyond belief for the prayers, the funds, the emails and the occassional care packages I received while in the field. You all mean so much to me. Thank you for continuing to hold my family up in your prayers. We certainly need it right now and I pray that God watches over you in the process. Till next time......I LOVE YOU ALL

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