One of Irene’s favorite activities is driving along the 12 mile stretch of oceanfront from Santa Cruz to Aptos .... we did so this morning .... the windy surf was invigorating ....

Hymn composed by John Rippon, 1751-1836

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

Irene and I were out early this morning exploring “The Door”, a new Christian bookstore in Santa Cruz, www.thedoorchristian.com.  We also met the owner, Mike Dunn, a local resident.  After coming home, Irene was still up to some additional shopping so while I napped she ventured to Trader Joe’s and jokingly said she was going to visit Beverly at Beverly’s, actually a place of therapeutic value and solace for her .... but to her surprise she actually ran into Beverly Sleeper at the store where they visited in the fabric aisle!!!

Later in the day as the storm front made its way inland we relaxed and enjoyed Jimmy Stewart western movies. 

As Irene patiently and optimistically treks the journey of faith, her confidence and HEALING rests in Him, His timing and in His redemptive purposes.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

ADVERSITY comes in all forms.

Horatio Spafford, 1828-1888, was a man familiar with tribulation ....

According to Wikipedia, Spafford faced the following ....

First Tragedy: The Great Chicago Fire
On October 8, 1871, as Horatio and his wife Anna were grieving over the death of their son, the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city. Horatio was a prominent lawyer in Chicago, and had invested heavily in the city’s real estate, and the fire destroyed almost everything he owned.

Second Tragedy: The Wreck of the Ville Du Havre
Two years later, in 1873, Spafford decided his family should take a holiday somewhere in Europe, and chose England knowing that his friend D. L. Moody would be preaching there in the fall. Delayed because of business, he sent ahead of him his family: his wife Anna, and his four remaining children, daughters Tanetta, Maggie, Annie and Bessie.

On November 21, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic on the S.S. Ville Du Havre, their ship was struck by an iron sailing vessel and two hundred and twenty six people lost their lives, including all four of Spafford’s daughters. Somehow his wife, Anna, survived. On arriving in England, she sent a telegram to Spafford beginning “Saved alone.”

Spafford then himself took a ship to England, going past the place where his daughters had died. According to Bertha Spafford, a daughter born after the tragedy, the hymn was written in mid-Atlantic.

The following is “the hymn” written by Spafford ....

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

(Refrain:) It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
(Refrain)

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(Refrain)

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
(Refrain)

And Lord haste the day, when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain)

Irene drove herself to and from dialysis this morning, went to a fabric store on the way home and rested for the balance of the day.  Irene is maintaining weight which is an answer to prayer.  Her nausea, however, persisted throughout the day.

God exhorts us that His Grace is sufficient to meet all of our needs .... and that is especially applicable in times of adversity.  Spafford exploited adversity by penning one of the most inspiring hymns of the ages.

We’re thankful that, no matter what we face, as Spafford’s hymn asserts, “.... it is well with our soul”.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

Irene was solo yesterday and today, with me staying in Sacramento last night for InterWest Board of Director’s meetings.  She really enjoyed the rainy days and I came home to two homemade pumpkin pies!!  Yum!!

Irene ran errands around town and the nausea was tolerable.

Thanks for caring and praying,

Dave

Hi Dave:

I thank God for what He put in you for desire and purpose to write your book, and I’m grateful to be able to share one of many stories I’m sure will come your way on its impact — I truly believe your dropping the books off yesterday was God-breathed .... yesterday afternoon, Jackie on my team learned her sister-in-law Pam has only 1-3 months to live related to her cancer. Not completely unexpected, but greatly accelerated and much more grave than previously known. She’s only in her 30’s, with husband and kids .... Jackie’s husband John is having a real hard time, they are both strong Christians and most of their family is Christian, but obviously this is devastating. I learned of this minutes after getting your book from Donna’s desk, and God led me to lend your book to Jackie and John in hopes it will build their faith and give them peace in these difficult circumstances. I pray God will bless them as they read your stories, and that the impact of their reading will be contagious to others in building them up in Christ in these circumstances ....

Nancy Short

My good friend, Dave Hanson, today encouraged me with the wonderful words of the hymn, God Moves in a Mysterious Way, by William Cowper.  Irene and I share it with you after the additional background information…

“Cowper often struggled with depression and doubt. One night he decided to commit suicide by drowning himself. He called a cab and told the driver to take him to the Thames River. However, thick fog came down and prevented them from finding the river (another version of the story has the driver getting lost deliberately). After driving around lost for a while, the cabby finally stopped and let Cowper out. To Cowper’s surprise, he found himself on his own doorstep: God had sent the fog to keep him from killing himself. Even in our blackest moments, God watches over us.” (cyberhymnal.org)

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea

And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never failing skill

He treasures up His bright designs

And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;

The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy and shall break

In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust Him for His grace;

Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,

But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err

And scan His work in vain;

God is His own interpreter,

And He will make it plain.

God comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we can comfort those in any affliction with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
2 Corinthians 1:4

Perhaps, unless we have faced affliction ourselves and have been comforted by God Himself, we are not yet qualified to comfort others with that which we have received from God.  Or, perhaps God allows our affliction in order for us to receive His comfort and therefore we can reproduce that comfort in others.  And yet one more brainstorm, perhaps we’re in “affliction training” for His Purposes to prevail in us and others.

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.
Romans 8:29a

In the last 24 hours, Irene received comfort from God Himself and rebounded after resting most of yesterday following dialysis treatment.  This new found comfort in the form of “energy” enabled her to accomplish several errands around town and tasks around the house! .... and the nausea remained at a low roar. Yay!

I am sure that you, like me, have visited people who are ill with the notion that we’re expressing concern and comforting them.  It’s been my experience that I have been the one receiving comfort on many occasions, rather than the one giving comfort.  I have been both comforted and inspired by “many a person” with an incredible outlook on life given their challenging circumstances.

With God comforting Irene in her affliction, she in turn comforts those around her by inspiring all of us with her rebounding spirit, her ardor for life and her contagious smile through it all.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

Patriotism trumps politics .... and victory trumps challenge, no matter what that challenge may be.

According to Wikipedia ....

Presidents Day (or Presidents’ Day), is the common name for the federal holiday officially designated as Washington’s Birthday, and both variants are among the official names of a number of coinciding state holidays. It is celebrated on the third Monday of February.

Irene drove herself to and from dialysis this morning; below is a photo of Irene on the hemodialysis machine with Registered Nurse, Scott, who closely monitors Irene’s day to day progress.  The vertical “pink” colored device attached to the machine is the filter which acts as Irene’s kidney three hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of every week.

President’s Day brings out the patriotism in most of us and it also draws out the deeply protected FREEDOM that the United States of America represents not only in our homeland but around the world.

We deeply respect the dignity due to the office of the President of the United States but also realize that we aren’t dependent upon presidential leadership to grant us victory.

Paul exhorts us to live above our circumstances, even the colossal warfare engagement with the enemy identified as Primary Amyloidosis.

.... we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.
Romans 8:37

If we are “more than conquerors” then victory is assured .... through Him who loves us and gives us strength.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

After breakfast, Kathy, Irene and Jocelyn went shopping while Joel, Dan and I took a 6 mile hike up to Hoffman’s Historic Site in Nicene Marks Forest.

All of us “crashed” this afternoon and later went to El Palomar Restaurant at the harbor ....

Nausea notwithstanding, Irene enjoyed a good day ....

Caminando con Fé

Dave

“Kicking back” in Aptos ....

A relaxing day on the bay ....

According to Wikipedia ....

In the beginning, various groups in India wrote eight more or less in one stroke as a curve that looks like an uppercase H with the bottom half of the left line and the upper half of the right line removed. At one point this glyph came close to looking like our modern five. With the western Ghubar Arabs, the similarity of the glyph to five was banished by connecting the beginning and the end of stroke together, and it was only a matter of the Europeans rounding the glyph that led to our modern eight.

What is 8?

• In physics, the second magic number
• There are eight known B vitamins
• All spiders, and generally all arachnids, have eight legs
• An octopus has eight tentacles
• Timothy Leary identified a hierarchy of eight levels of consciousness
• The atomic number of oxygen
• The Jewish religious rite of brit milah is held on a baby boy’s eighth day of life
• Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of Kislev
• A note played for one-eighth the duration of a whole note is called an eighth note, or quaver
• Eight ball billiards is played with 15 balls; the black ball numbered 8 being the most important one
• In liquid measurement (U.S. customary units), there are 8 fluid ounces in a cup, 8 pints in a gallon, and 8 tablespoons in a gill
• There are eight vegetables in V8 juice
• .... and the list goes on and on ....!!

Irene drove herself to and from dialysis this morning and has been preparing all afternoon for family visiting us this weekend.  She’s enjoying the longer days of daylight and is looking forward to daylight savings time so she can work outside even more often!  She’s been eating candied “ginger” the last couple of days and it appears to give some degree of nausea relief!  Yay!!!!!!

So, why all of the emphasis today on number 8?  It’s because today is Irene’s 8 month stem cell transplant birthday.  It’s hard to believe that the transfusion took place at UCSF on June 15, 2007.

As humans, we tend to measure just about EVERYTHING because it gives context to all that we’re constantly comparing and contrasting!!!

It’s also a way of gaining understanding and wisdom.

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12

We don’t know what the future holds, but we know WHO holds the future and we’re grateful that He numbers our days.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

Is it possible to literally EXPLOIT ADVERSITY?

In other words, can one take advantage of an adverse set of circumstances and, instead of becoming a victim of those circumstances, to actually PREVAIL upon them and influence a noteworthy and extraordinary outcome?

Irene enjoyed getting out of the house early this morning and accomplishing several items on her “to do” list.  The nausea and itching remained at a low roar so she was able to enjoy the day .... especially her time in the Wisteria Garden.  She prepared a wonderful Valentine’s Day dinner this evening and we enjoyed a romantic and amazing sunset on the Monterey Bay.  We also had a good conversation reflecting on the incredible journey that she’s on.

By any standard, Irene’s courageous response to her adversity has been remarkable.  Our goal has been to share the journey within the context of our faith.  Our primary public response has been through the website and ultimately through the recently released book, Irene’s Journey of Faith.  The website has been a means of transparency and vulnerability regarding many of the circuitous twists and turns on the trek.  We’re trying to get the book into as many patients’ hands and hospital chaplains as possible.  We’ve added a new “discussion forum” for people to share their own “journey of faith” story as well as the ability to add prayer requests as they’re led to do so.

Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Isaiah 30:19b-21

Through it all, our ultimate objective is pointing people to Jesus Christ as the way, the truth and the life.  We have much to learn as we walk along Irene’s Journey of Faith.  Our purpose isn’t to respond as a victim of this hideous disease, but rather expose it, overcome it, give HOPE to people and glorify God through it.  For we know that God gives eternal life, and with that, He also gives the Crown of Life.

As Irene walks through each day, we, together, are attempting to PREVAIL upon the adversity in order to influence a noteworthy and extraordinary outcome.

And that, in my humble opinion, is one way to EXPLOIT ADVERSITY.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

According to Wikipedia ....

Valentine’s Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other; sending Valentine’s cards, or offering confectionery. It is very common to present flowers on Valentine’s Day. The holiday is named after two among the numerous early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of “valentines.” Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

Irene drove herself to and from dialysis this morning and received the Creatinine Clearance test results measuring kidney function which remains at 5.9.  It’s exactly the same reading as that of one month ago.  Scott, one of the attending RN’s at the Satellite Dialysis Center, commented that one notable observation is that the recent increase in amyloid value has not adversely affected the kidney function…at least up to this point.

The HEART is the seed of human emotion.  Valentine’s Day is a “one day” holiday designation where we express “romantic” love to those who are dear to us.  In my humble opinion, EVERYDAY should be designated for expressions of “agape” love to all those around us and we don’t need the commercialization of a holiday as the matrix to do so.

Agape love, in the original Greek is defined as ....

• the love of God for humankind
• unselfish love of one person for another without sexual implications; brotherly love

Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.
Proverbs 4:23

Caminando con Fé

Dave

.... we walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7

Sometimes Irene’s Journey of Faith poses a treacherous intersection of what one sees .... and what one doesn’t see .... versus what we fear “could be” ....

UCSF called Irene today with the amyloid blood test results from last week’s blood draw:

Cappa Light Chain count: 56.7

For perspective, the value on the stem cell transplant date of June 15, 2007 was 652. In July, the Cappa Light Chain value was 78.5 and in October the value was 33.1. The value represents milligrams of Amyloid per liter of blood. What’s the “value” goal? Simply put, “ZERO” equals remission. So, what does the current value of 56.7 represent since it’s obviously higher than what it was in October? We’re not really sure. Our consultation scheduled with Dr. Damon at UCSF on March 13 will offer enlightenment to that question.

In summary, the Cappa Light Chain counts have been the following:

June, 2007		652
July, 2007		78.5
October, 2007		33.1
February, 2008		56.7

.... we walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7

Thank you for walking alongside of us on Irene’s Journey of Faith. It’s a gift from God to “not see” all of the potential pitfalls that surround each of us everyday. If we did, perhaps seeing those potential pitfalls would stir the human fear factor.

It’s a gift from God to walk by faith and not by sight.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

Hi Dave,

There’s a verse, “train up a child in the way they should go, and when they’re old they won’t depart from it.” You and Irene have done that brother — the biggest blessing in reading your book is the deep and heartfelt response to the very difficult circumstances from your daughters .... worth more than gold.

You guys remain in our prayers friend.

Dave McQuade