A busy few days...

On New Years Day we visited with our friends Gil and Maria at the assisted living facility where Gil has been recuperating from surgery and we were thrilled to learn that Gil may be being released soon and continue his therapy before they head back to their new home in Kenya. That’s right, Kenya. We wish they would update their blog (linked on our site) telling some of the adventures they have experienced while living in Kenya. There are times we feel like our lives are pretty boring by comparison and we live vicariously through their adventures in a foreign land. But of course, Gil and Maria have their own challenges that we don’t envy.


On Saturday, we attend a memorial funeral service for a fellow church member, Bob Stauffer, and Sam was so pleased to be able to attend. We were out for about four hours and that was pretty hard on Sam from a pain standpoint as he is still dealing with sciatic nerve pain, but Sam wasn’t going to be deterred. Sam admired the courage and grace Bob modeled in dealing with chronic pain – a pain that Sam personally understands. And his wife Marge was someone who, in one conversation, helped Maddy come to terms with Sam’s chronic pain condition. We are truly blessed by the legacy this man built through his love for God.

Sam is still evaluating his ability to consume foods and we had a bit of a scare tonight. Sam was trying some thin cut chicken breast and as he was chewing, he started to feel pain on the side of his face again…. the same kind of pain he experience when his tumor was active. While we were concerned, he decided to try grinding up the chicken in the baby food grinder we recently purchased and that seemed to make chewing easier and alleviated the pain. It’s probably that he just hasn’t used those facial muscles for a while… but we will note it and tell the doctor on our next visit, if the problem persists.

Everybody has challenges, have you noticed that? Just when you think your problems are pretty bad, you hear of someone else’s suffering and your situation doesn’t seem so bad by comparison.

Have you made any New Year resolutions?

While we are not typically ones to make resolutions, we have been inspired to think that maybe this year the best resolution is to live life to the fullest, taking each day as it comes, but with a heart for those who are suffering. And, it seems like we don’t have to look too far to find someone in need.