Spring's Great Adventure: WHAT THINGS IN LIFE ARE CERTAIN?

Certain (surt’ n): adj. sure, fixed, established, positive

In our last blog I said, “We have a June MMAP project scheduled…in Stanwood, Washington…the June plans are certain.”

Again, I ask you – What things in life are certain? Perhaps the answer (at least in this life on earth) is – The uncertainty of each day.

Shortly after posting the last blog update on May 1^st (the one sharing our May travel plans and our certain MMAP assignment to a project in Washington for June) we found ourselves at the emergency room of the local hospital. Jim was passing a great deal of blood from his intestinal tract each time he would visit the “little boys’ room”. After four or five episodes of this in just a few hour time period, we decided to call the doctor. Her advice (of course) – “Go immediately to the hospital!”

After several more episodes while in the ER, they decided to admit him for an overnight observation and do some tests to locate the source of the bleeding. As we waited for them to get the admissions paperwork done, Jim decided he needed one more trip to the “loo”. As he was coming out of the bathroom and back to the ER room, he took a nose dive and passed out. (That, needless to say, gave me some concern!) But as it was later determined the cause of his swan dive was dehydration because of the amount of fluid he had lost over the course of the day each time he took a trip to the potty. However, just to be on the safe side, the ER doc “upgraded” his admit status to ICU for the night with an additional day in a regular room.

So, after three days of trips back and forth to the hospital, I was starting to wonder about the certainty of things. By the early morning of the third day, the bleeding had stopped and a colonoscopy and endoscopy were unable to determine the actual source. The “medically educated guess” was that the heavy duty anti-inflammatory drugs he was taking for his hip was the culprit. It apparently caused some of the diverticula in his colon to bleed for a time. So until the hip joint can be replaced in a year or two, he is going to have to control that discomfort with less intense medications. BUT the good news is that the test results from the colonoscopy and endoscopy showed no signs of serious problems – no cancer, no ulcers.

Yet, we wondered how this was going to affect our travel plans. An added side effect of passing so much fluid and then having a colonoscopy resulted in some super sized and very painful “boo boos” with blood clots on his south part (if you get my drift). He couldn’t walk, sit, stand or lay down without being in a great deal of pain. We were just a couple of weeks away from our planned departure, but there was no way he could even consider packing up the RV and driving it several hours each day for a multi-day trip of 1600+ miles to our project in Washington. And then what would he do if we could even get there? How could he do construction work? Should we go…..should we stay….should we delay……OH THE UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE!

After two more weeks of sitz baths, ice packs and doctors’ appointments we were still up in the air on a decision. God had to step in on this one. And so HE did!

One week before our scheduled departure we got a call from MMAP headquarters. “Would you consider changing the location of your June project from Stanwood, Washington to Donnelly, Idaho? There is an adequate number of MMAPers signed up for the Stanwood project, but the Donnelly project only had three couples and one couple has just crashed their rig and won’t be unable to go. If you can’t change your plans, the Idaho project will have to be canceled.”

“Give us a few minutes to pray about it and consider it. We’ll call you right back.” OK, God….what does this mean? Donnelly is 500 miles closer, and since we would have to postpone our stop at our son’s house in Northern California, we could get there in just three or four days time – giving us 6 extra days for Jim to heal up. OK, God….we get it. Our plans have a great deal of uncertainty – but yours are always certain.

So, a quick call back to MMAP HQ, a follow up call to our kids giving them the details of the change of plans, and here we are – packing up for a trip to a place we had no intention of going to. But, if memory serves me from past experiences – we will have some pretty awesome reports for you about why we were “sent” to Idaho.

And by the way, that same day we accepted the change of projects, Jim’s condition took a major turn for the better. The blood clots dissipated, the swelling is subsiding and he is feeling almost as good as new.

The project starts on June 1^st. We will be pulling out of here on May 27^th, stopping the first night in Kingman, AZ at our good friends, Sam and Mary’s then heading north to Idaho on the 28^th. Oh….one more note… when we told Sam and Mary about our change of plans, they changed their travel plans as well. The last week of May they were planning a one week RV trip to see their daughter and family in Idaho Falls then return to Kingman. Now, after their visit with family, they have decided to join us at the Donnelly project for the rest of June. Isn’t God good!

None of this has made our days any more certain, and we aren’t promising any of our plans will remain “sure, fixed, established or positive - but whatever happens is by His design and in His timing. So, I’m praying we will be sending you a great report at the end of June about the Idaho project and all that God has in store for us there.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..(Hebrews 12:2)

Lord, you established peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. (Isaiah 26:12)

OF ALL OF THIS, WE ARE POSITIVE!!

Since this blog focused on my dear husband (even though he hates to be the center of attention) I have decided to add some of my favorite photos of him. When he sees this addition, he will probably want to “do me harm”…..

Ooooo I’m so afraid….NOT!!