Thank you Father for your mercy and grace. Thank you for your kindness toward us and for answered prayer. Thank you all for all of your prayers and concerns. We have returned from our trip and all went well, thanks to your prayers.

We flew out to California on Sunday and came home last night. Before the trip Theresa started furosemide to help with all the lung congestion and coughing. She took it for a few days and it did seem to help. When we got to the airport, Theresa decided to walk through security and to our gate. Despite going pretty slow, she was very winded and realized she would have to use a wheelchair. We rented a wheelchair each day at Disney, as there was no way she could walk in the park, nor the 5-9 miles we ended up walking each day. Theresa was able to go on some rides, Soarin’ being her favorite and ended up going 4-5 times. She was able to do a few other rides, but realized the more extreme rides, such as Space Mountain, effected her heart, so we avoided those. We did a bit of waiting in lines, sitting and enjoying the sunshine and music, and going through the shops.

Theresa usually opens and closes the park – outlasting all of us, but this time we spent 6 or so hours in the park before coming back to the room. Disney gives her a second wind, so now she is pretty spent and will be for a few days.

We thank God for all your prayers and for being able to meet all these milestones since February, including our daughter’s birthday when we got home.

All of our kids were able to make the trip with us. Now the oldest goes off to College tomorrow and our next two will be off to Bible college in a couple of weeks. Our house will become very quiet with a bunch of mixed emotions, especially, not knowing how Theresa will fair. We hope for the holidays together, but live in today.

This whole fight to hold onto this gift of life, of what we know, onto family is emotionally very hard. We know at some point this cancer will progress. While the kids have their lives a head of them, gas pedal down, Theresa’s is ebbing away, slowing way down. How do you live in both worlds at the same time, with competing needs? How do you meet both needs empathetically, with the whole of your being? Being happy and sad at the same time? Ecclesiastes, Psalms, Leviticus and much of the New Testament become alive, not just words on a page, but actual heartfelt, soul searching/wrenching thoughts, pleadings, yearnings that are met by a loving, comforting God who understands our pain, walks in it with us, but also knows the joy of tomorrow – a for sure promise of life with Him. He is the solid rock on which we stand. He is our only hope! Thank you Father for showing us how to live in the midst of the storm.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers and for your continued walking with us.