The countdown till Josh’s bone marrow transplant is winding down and the day is quickly approaching! Friday, March 17th, Josh will receive new bone marrow from an unrelated donor age 23 who is a nearly a perfect match. The Lord has been very kind in his provisions, love, and support through his people.  Yet, the suffering and pain are very real and raw. It’s something that Josh is enduring with much grace. It’s something our entire family is experiencing in different ways.  Please pray for our whole family and for Katelynn, our volunteer live-in nanny.  This is the most difficult thing our family has ever gone through… pray especially for our children throughout this trial, that they would know that God is good and loves them and that they would love Jesus more than ever.

Refreshingly, today Josh did better–his temperature and blood pressure were normal and he hasn’t needed oxygen again Praise God! His new missionary and pastor friend Peter came in and visited us and blessed us with the reading of scripture and prayer.  We got to walk around the unit together with a number of times, laughed together, cried together, and even got to pray for another couple going through similar circumstances with a father of 4-year-old daughter having a transplant soon.  We hope to have been used to plant seeds for salvation and that we form a relationship with them for the next couple of weeks that Josh and he will be staying in the hospital.  It’s almost an instant bond to share in the same sufferings. In a like manner, is our relationship with Christ. He suffered so much more and he did nothing to deserve it.  When we suffer for our obedience to His will, we suffer like Jesus did on the cross. When we suffer the consequences over sin, we suffer like Jesus–only he never sinned but suffered over OUR sins! When we suffer watching others we love suffer, so does God as he watches all the pain and death that was caused by the fall.  Thankfully, it doesn’t end there though… our bond with Christ takes us into a beautiful eternal destination… a place where pain and sin and death is no more and where we will share in his joy forever.

Please pray for my dad Servando-he will have surgery for prostate cancer tomorrow–March 16th. Even though his surgery is minor compared to Josh’s treatment, it’s still scary and like everything comes with risks. Pray for everything to go smoothly and for peace that would clearly be from Christ. I wish I could be there to encourage him on and pray for him in person.

I really enjoy keeping Josh company and being at his side. I hope that I will stay well enough to visit him daily.  I’m thankful for the time I get to be with my beloved.  Also happening tomorrow morning March 16th–Josh will be undergoing a mild treatment of radiation. Even though his chemo is now over, he may still experience some more symptoms including his hair falling out. We were encouraged to find our Josh will be able to receive massage therapy from his hospital room to alleviate some of his symptoms. Please pray for both the radiation and the effects of the chemo. At the same time, pray that Josh would be encouraged and have faith that God can use even some gnarly drugs to bring about a wonderful cure and grant him more years of life to come. We take comfort in knowing God is present, that he abundantly loves and watches over us, and is powerfully answering prayers for Josh according to his good and perfect will.