Our little family set out to sail along the interstate 5 north Tuesday afternoon for an early appointment in Portland the next day. Our voyage was a bit turbulent as the kids fussed and made strange noises from the back seat. Lol. Then, about halfway through our journey I checked my email on our lodging accommodations from our social worker and realized we didn’t have a room booked for that day but the following week! So the kids were a bit restless yet eagerly anticipating a nice dip in the heated pool at this hotel, and we actually didn’t even have a place to stay as we were driving to our now unknown destination! The first thing I did was pray and then tried to think of possible solutions before breaking the news to Josh and the kids… I made some calls to no avail. I thought about contacting our wonderful host Juliet; thank you, Juliet! She had already been kindly trying to figure out how she was going to host us and her daughter plus 8 of her friends in March. So I didn’t want to add to the burden. Then, I remembered a call I got from a sweet saint named Bonnie who had found a duplex at an affordable rate owned by a local church that was available for us to stay. I called Pastor Ken there and was embarrassed to ask if we could not only look at the place but also stay for the night, and he gladly said yes and didn’t charge us for the night! Thanks, Pastor Ken and Bonnie!
Noah was disappointed at first but later realized it was probably the best thing since half our family was struggling with fighting a cold. Please pray for these cold germs to be defeated prior to Josh’s transplant. If not, Josh will need antibiotics soon. I’m not sure what would happen if that didn’t work but it’s imperative for this BMT to happen as soon as possible! We are keeping a close watch on him and he has to wear a mask now in public. No matter what though, we must trust God with it.
We really liked the duplex where we stayed a night! It has no stairs and three bedrooms and a small fenced yard and is literally right next to the church building! The neighbor is the youth pastor and his family! We decided to stay for the first month while Josh is in the hospital since Juliet will have a full house.
Wednesday Josh had his final bone marrow aspiration before transplant! All prayers were felt as Josh had the least amount of pain ever thru this kind of procedure where they drill a piece of his hip bone out! We were thinking Josh may need another blood transfusion since his plates had been steadily decreasing, but they actually have increased! Praise God! Josh is feeling more at ease with the upcoming treatment. We all got to ride the tram again except this time we had clear skies and a beautiful view of downtown Portland! They also set a date for admission for next week and transplant for March 17th! Noah was sad to hear Josh’s transplant would be on his birthday, but quickly cheered up by our wonderful nurse coordinator Lisa who exclaimed that they would now share birthdays together! March 17th will be Josh’s new birth in transplant terms! It reminds us of how we all must be born again in Christ, in order to live eternally.
Katelynn is on her way over from Kingman, Arizona! We are so thankful for this beautiful young woman! Thank you, Katelynn and Rob & Traca! Katelynn will be a missionary to our children and is going to be such a blessing to our family! The kids are excited to see her after about 8months. Prayers for their safe travels and for Katelynn to be received well by the kids. We hope she is also blessed in the process of her service to us!
This Thorny Rose 