week #3 recap... getting ready to go for week #4

we've been home for a few days, but now it is already time to leave again. abbie knows that sundays mark the beginning of us being gone, which is a little sad for her and for us, but we'll do what we need to do. overall both kids are doing well, adjusting fine to us being here then gone. asher doesn't really notice that we are not here... except when it is time for him to get up and it isn't 'momma' who gets him out of bed. he is pretty happy all of the time, especially when we walk in the door on wednesday nights! it is fun to come home to their hugs and kisses.

last week at MD Anderson was a test in waiting. because the clinics were closed monday for MLK day, everything was overbooked on tuesday. so we waited for the dr. for 3 hours (to spend 13 minutes with her!) and then went to wait for his treatment. after seeing how full the room was, and that no one was really being called, and that we were already 3 hours late for our appt. i requested that we have the chance to change his treatment to early wednesday morning. they had to call the dr. to get the approval, and she said we could. james just can't sit in uncomfortable chairs for that long, so being able to get out of there and return the next day was a good thing. i was frustrated too, because it was the only week that i didn't bring the laptop to do any work. it was a difficult day just waiting... but that is what the hospital is always about. hurry up and wait...

after making it home through crazy houston rush hour, we made it back to our wonderful place to stay. my sweet friend, jena, has been a blessing and we are enjoying our times together. tuesday nights are pizza night, now with some fun 'idol' to watch together. it is nice to unwind, and to enjoy sunny, warm days. last week it was 74! gotta love that for a change!

and now it is sunday night, and we are repacking our carry-on bag, which we've gotten really efficient at! since we are at jena's we've been leaving some things there, making it easier to get through security. james gets stopped every time, with his pile of meds and bottles of water. we've gotten through fine almost every time, so we haven't had it too rough. we flew on southwest last week and will do the same flight for the next several weeks. it is a pretty good flight.

we've been blessed again from people at our church, with plane tickets for this week and for next! and today we got 2 more envelopes of cash and gift cards to cover travel costs and daily living from our loving church friends. if you are not involved in a church, with a community of people surrounding you, i cannot express to you how invalueable it is. not just for the details being covered, but in knowing that every monetary gift and act of service is surrounded by prayer and encouragement for God's best for us. we are repeatedly in awe of how He has used the people around us, and feel amazed at the unity we are a part of. thank you to every single one of you who have prayed for us, given to us, served us, loved on us. we are making it through and know that the time spent doing this will reap benefits we will never know, first for james' health, but more importantly for the glory of His kingdom.

please be praying for the continued healing of james. the rash has gotten worse on his head, which is more tender than anywhere else. the acne like bumps are all over his chest and back and seem to be spreading more down his arms and some even showing up on his legs. it is on his face too. the creams and prescriptions they've given are helping a bit, but not enough. we will ask again this week if there is something else he can try, but for now he just has to endure. he isn't nauseous at all, and the lower back pain he has isn't too bad- it is just the irritating pain of the rash. he is able to sleep, which is great, but just needs relief from it during the day. we've been taking photos, and will post some soon, so you can see the progression of the side effects.

thank you again for journeying with us.
we will continue to press on....