Tag! You're Pruned!

We had a family dinner on Sunday, delayed from Christmas as the extended family wanted to wait for John to feel better, which was sweet. Nice to see everyone and enjoy the lovely home of my cousin and his wife (although we all know it is the woman who creates the home!). Unfortunately, I felt under the weather due to a tooth infection and although it is not behind me, I am improving and see the dentist again on the 16th. All the antibiotics and pain meds have left me feeling out of kilter.

The dinner wore John out, even with our lovely driver handling transportation, and he spent Monday feeling extremely fatigued. JR did the driving for him to do some work things and also took me to the dentist. Tues was a MUCH better day and he seems to be springing back with a little more consistency. Thank you, Lord.

Missed bible study on Monday night due to tooth infection and son JR popping in from KY, but am doing my bookwork in preparation for next week and wanted to share these verses. We've all read them but they are really leaping off the page for me this time. I think I'm in a time of a severe pruning and it shows. The kids and John have been really loving and I'm very blessed by all of them - their guidance, counsel and wisdom - beyond their years.

John 15:1-17

The Vine and the Branches

¹"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes^a]">[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

⁹"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. ¹¹I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.

Should She Or Not

Hi, everyone.

I tell you the truth, I don't know if I should continue the blog. While there are still updates to give about John, I have made few posts lately as I fear the blog will turn into an electronic therapist's couch. I guess I'm reluctant to take anyone there - I mean, sometimes people just need for others to be fine and I understand that. That said, I'll try to keep things at a comfortable level.

John continues to gain strength but it is a long, slow process. He tries to work some each day, unless he is having a really bad day. Really bad days involve camping out in the bathroom and are extremely fatiguing. I think we need to mount a small flat screen tv in there! On a positive note, he has been burning through his Bible reading like crazy! What is a bit unsettling is that the oncologist said he should be 80% back eight weeks after chemo. Tomorrow (3-6) is ten weeks since the last chemo and he is nowhere near 80% improved. We are trying to look at this logically and feel that it is rather optimistic to overcome six months of chemo, a bi-lateral thoracotomy, and blood clots in the lungs in eight weeks time. We still have lots of dinners in the family room as by the end of the day John's back has had it, but he works regularly at his physical therapy to strengthen the area where the ribs are missing. So, we press on and thank God for one another.

When chemo ended, I set a goal for us to take a mini-vacation end of February to see son, JR, in KY and spend the night at a nice hotel. We wanted to celebrate his 24th birthday as well as his girlfriend Mindy's birthday, as they are two days apart. So, last weekend we headed to Lexington with daughter Audrey doing the driving (bless you, Aud) We all had a good time of fellowship although it was a pretty tough trip for John. The drive and bathroom stops going down wore him out and by the time we finished lunch on Sat., we all decided the best thing to do was head to the hotel and get settled in. We had a nice suite and I took birthday cake, games and snacks and we ordered a pizza on Saturday night. We swam too but John was not able to join us. We did enjoy the free cocktail hour on Saturday and a great breakfast buffet on Sunday. Unfortunately, John was pretty miserable so we skipped church. We had so looked forward to going to John and Mindy's church and meeting their friends but that will have to wait for another time. Mindy and John made us a nice lunch at her apt. on Sunday and we were joined by her folks, Scott and Pam. It was great to be together, even with the challenges, and we're thankful our kids want to hang out with us! Audrey's boyfriend, Caleb, is in England so couldn't join us. We beat it home by dinner time on Sunday.

There are some new developments in the family. JR has become one of the many to join the ranks of the unemployed, having become the victim of cutbacks at the newspaper. While somewhat disconcerting, it was a bit of a blessing (at least to him!) as he had been carrying around a resignation letter in his pocket for about six weeks. Now he will qualify for unemployment. Since John never lacks for creative ideas, stay tuned to see where his road leads but pray he doesn't miss any road signs God may plant along the way.

Audrey is in the midst of mid-terms and I'm pretty sure once the thermometer hits 65 she'll be outside in her bathing suit trying to soak up some sun. There are baskets of knitting in just about every room of the house and I'm really glad she has this creative outlet. Audrey and Mindy have discussed a trip to England this summer and it would really be great if they can work something out.

I am really grateful for my job! There is so much going on with our conversion from quarters to semesters and I am really trying to stay engaged and redeem myself after missing so much these last nine months. The stress took its toll and I do have trouble concentrating.

I'm learning so much in my Bible study and am very thankful for getting to know the ladies at my table.

I want to encourage you in all your endeavors, to live well and with purpose for Him, keeping Christ in your heart in all things, and remind you that He is actually praying for you and interceding on your behalf to God. Keep fanning the flame of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you because you accepted Christ.

Blessings,

Pam