To my Tia,

I returned to work this morning, 7:30am. (YIKES!!) I got on the computer and I looked over to my left on my wall. My coworker and I always try to surround our selves with scriptures to encourage us and remind us that even we feel lonely or sad that He is there to help. But, one that I keep next to me remind me of you.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1

There are things we have not seen. But, these is hope. Attaaining these thigs will happen through Faith!!

I love you~ Ceci

Dear Mom,

I watered your plants today, inside and out.  How nice it was to hear the water flow from the hose.  I held my thumb over the spout a bit and let the water arch over the succulents in the yard, (they are yellowing without your attentive hand) and I was reminded of countless hours spent in the evening through dusk with you and dad washing the car and attending to the yard while I rode around on my roller skates or bike and Annie played with sidewalk chalk and a jump-rope.

I miss you, Mom, and I can’t wait to celebrate your return home to your yard and the ‘Peaceful Garden’ Dad has named “Wisteria.”

I was pleased to see Wisteria today.  There is a sunflower blooming in the center pot that is usually on the upper deck.  The Jade is deep green and plump.  The bamboo I gave to you because I under-watered it, is shooting nicely, and I repotted the pink roses you received while still on the 14th floor.  Everything waits for you to grace it with your radiant smile, Mom.  Especially the Ficus. 

The beautiful Ficus that once stood over eight feet tall in your living room, which because of over-fertilization, is half the height it was. 

Remember when it first showed spots on the leaves and we wondered if it was over-fertilized?  You rinsed the roots and repotted it several times before you had to prune it back significantly and send it to recovery in Wisteria.

It has new leaves, Mom.  It’s recovery is slow.  It comes and goes with the temperature changes, strong and weak breezes, hydration, fertilization, sunshine and fog.  But it IS coming back.  Although not very visible at first, gradually, it is returning to its splendor after the trauma it experienced.  I can’t wait for you to come recover in Wisteria, Mom.

You are the Lords.  Do not be afraid. 

Matthew 6:27-34
27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Deuteronomy 31:8
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

2 Chronicles 20:17
You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face [amyloids] tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’ “

Psalm 46:10-11
10 “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

:::::NOTE:::::
[Selah (Hebrew: סלה) may be the most difficult word in the Hebrew Bible to translate. Selah is probably either a liturgico-musical mark, being held to be a variant of “shelah” (="pause"); or an instruction on the reading of the text, something like “stop and listen”.  Alternatively, Selah may mean “forever”.]

Dave:  I had lunch with John Evans and John Grover today and learned of Irene’s circumstances.  My wife Pam and I will be praying for you, Irene and the family.  I would like to include Irene on our church prayer list with your permission and, ask that blood be donated in Irene’s name.  My wife and I belong to Modesto Covenant Church.

Sandy

Hi Dave-

It’s so difficult to read about this situation that Irene is in.  Just seeing her healthy “inspiring” smile in the photo makes me ask the question why.  But then again, she is such a remarkable person that I know God will use all of this to bless countless people across the globe.  Patrice and I are praying for Irene and for your family.  God is our provider and healer!

Ron Demolar and I talked today and we’re getting the word out.  Ron has posted the information and we’ll both be sharing about Irene at staff meetings we run.  I’ll capture almost 20 key management and leadership staff (which then reaches all other staff) & Ron will reach the entire summer staff.  We’ve printed the instructions on how to give locally so that the blood (and platelet) will be credited to Irene at UCSF.

We’ll also be praying for her as a staff and as family.

We love you all.  Tell Irene and the girls that Patrice and I said hello.

Bill

Dave:

Thanks for sending me this link.  I didn’t know anything about any of this.  I have prayed daily for your sweet wife…

Please express our concern for her, and our commitment to pray for Irene.  She is one of the sweetest women I have ever met in my life.

John

Dear Irene and Dave,

A few verses from Psalm 84 to enourage your hearts today:  “Blessed is the man (and woman) whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.  Passing through the Valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs; the early rain also fills the pools with blessings.  They go from strength to strength increasing in victorious power; each of them appears before God in Zion. . . . For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows present grace and favor and future glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)!  No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of Hosts, blessed is the man (or woman) who trusts in You (leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving)!”

Paul and I continue to pray for you.

Jacque

Dave,

I just found out about your wife.  I don’t know if you knew but I lost my husband four years ago this past April — he was a truck driver and was killed in a semi-truck accident.  We had 22 wonderful years together and three awesome sons and two beautiful granddaughters.  What I wanted to tell you is that the only way I got thru that (and still today) is with the Lord’s help.  My faith in God is what has kept me and my family going day by day and sometimes hour by hour.  I want you to know that my prayers are with you and your family to give you peace and your wife comfort thru these trying times.  Your family is so beautiful!!

God Bless........

After reading many of the other well wishes and the updates on Irene’s health status, I think what a great testament to the Dias Family and network of amazing friends that are so filled with God’s love and faithfulness to His Word. 

Joyce and I want to add our love and prayers to each of you, but especially to Irene.  We know that at a time like this, it’s so hard to know what God’s plan is, only time will reveal that. But, in the mean time it’s clear to me that Irene is surrounded in prayer on a constant basis with the full trust that God is in control. Dave, I still remember the scripture verses to told me to focus on when you discipled me to accept the Lord about 13 years ago. I think they apply very well to this situation:  Prov. 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Our Merced Friday morning men’s group are all praying for God’s healing hand to cure Irene from this rare disease.

With love and peace in Him,

Larry & Joyce

Ps. I will be looking into donating blood from our local blood bank tomorrow.

Dear Irene, I hope this email gets to you as I am not very computer savey...It took me a while and hope this works as I want to send you my heartfelt love and prayers as I heard of your illness Irene...I am sure this makes no sense and wonder why me....You might even at times question God’s love and comfort which are all normal...I know there isn’t any pefect thing to say but want you to know that you are never alone as the Holy Spirit is in all of this and nothing suprised Him..  I pray you may come to understand why God allowed you to have this disease and how you may use this to advance His kingdom to your family, friends and strangers alike… Dear Lord, please comfort Irene as only you can, give her renewed strength to fight the good fight, take the medications, follow the procedures and come out the other end of this trial even stronger.  Keep her eyes on you dearest Jesus and may she never lose faith, love or the hope she has within.  Help her to be an encouragement to her family as they watch, unable to physically help her and only able to do the most important thing of prayer..Answer her prayers and that of Dave her family God and may she rise up one day soon to use this experience to bless even more people than she already has.  Yes Lord, hold her close to you, warm her with your Spirit, give her a smile of confidence on her face and say to you, thank you for not giving me anything more than I can bear...I ask for this in the powerful Name of Jesus our Savior.  Amen...Irene I will try to keep updated on your situation so I can pray specifically for you..

Dave I am praying for you to as I know it is hard for a can-do guy like yourself not to be able to help your wife as you would desire...Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you..

Sincerely Yours, Mark Schwenne

We are ceaselessly praying for your whole family.  The time that we spend in prayer for you is giving us an even greater intimacy with both the Lord and with you as we pray. 

Our God can heal.  You have such a public testimony of faith that I watch with eagerness as to how HE will weave this very difficult chapter of your life into the story that will be used to draw others in need to their Heavenly Father.

May your faith continue strongly....know that love and prayers surround you!

Love from Atlanta,
Price and Nancy

Hello friends and family,

It’s almost 6 p.m. on Monday evening.  Irene is in dialysis as I write this update.  Even though she is now in Oncology, she has had a rough day… extreme fatique and can only stand from the sitting position with significant assistance. 

Tomorrow she faces a surgical procedure to “install” a new catheter called a Tesio.  This will replace the Quinton catheter.  The Tesio is a more permanent port which will be placed under her collar bone and will be used for more dialysis.  Doctors would not give us a date for starting the chemo therapy as they want her to grow stronger first....

Irene’s brother David flew in from Virginia on Saturday to donate blood.  Her niece, Cecelia, drove to SF yesterday from L.A. and donated blood today.  She’s driving back now...Simply amazing.  Other family members and friends are also donating.  We can’t thank you enough; her life depends upon it!!!

Irene is determined to beat the odds and wants to get to the chemo therapy asap!! 

God is LOVE and faithful; He never changes; we can depend on Him to be near us and in us during this difficult journey.  His Word comforts us.  Thank you for all of the scriptural references being sent to us in well wishes and emails.  It is very meaningful and I read everyone of them to Irene.  Mark Joseph’s two young daughters sang “Mighty Fortress” to Irene over the telephone several days ago… from the mouth of babes for sure… because HE is our Fortress…

Thanks to all of you who are visiting the “Donate Blood for Irene” section of the website.  We’re hopeful that an abundance of blood will be donated for Irene and others in need of this precious commodity. 

Brennan Manning wrote a book called “Ruthless Trust” which was recently given to Irene.  I have been reading it because she hasn’t been able to do so because of her blurred vision.  Manning talks about trust being “ruthless” because it is a bold act… to trust God in the most trying of circumstances.  We’re endeavoring to do just that, no matter what the outcome is, and no matter what God in his sovereignty decides to do.  We’re asking in faith for His divine intervention...and we sense His presence in our midst because we gather in His Name…

Dave
Gal 2.20
Is 48.17

Thank you, still, for everyone who is leaving us encouragement. As the days go on, your encouragement continues to bless us all.

I left the hospital and, for a few days, am back to only sending prayers for my mom’s healing. My mom is definitely more encouraged today, but at this point her body is kind of discouraging. The edema is causing her legs to be so heavy. She is able to walk short distances, but the water tends to be just “hanging out” in her. The doctors told her she can eat whatever she wants right now as they are trying to “bulk her up” before the chemo, that will, Lord willing, happen this week.

Last I heard…

she is in dialysis and they will hopefully take some water out of her.

I was sleeping as I was flying home, but at one point, I woke up, looked out the window and there it was: Santa Cruz County - “Home”. I could see the cement ship and could figure out where our house was. It was really awesome. I’ve decided that home is where my parents and sister are. So, in a weird way, UCSF Hospital has become “home.”

We are hoping and praying that God will bring complete healing to my mom. “Home” will return to Aptos soon, we hope. There my mom will be able to garden and cook and scrapbook like she loves to do. And God will have restored her body.

No matter what, we trust and hope in Him.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

Dear Irene and Dave,

Although we have never actually met, it seems as if we did, as Dave has mentioned you so often over the years of our relationship, especially the last episode with your ankle. Anyway, you continue to be in our thoughts and prayers daily for full preservation in the spirtual, physical, emotional and mental realm of your lives together, as well as your daughters. Clearly, you are an inspiration to us both, as we were both in the delivery room last week with the birth of Shawn’s first born (Andrew Domingo Sherrod) imbibing each other as I gave him the latest update (Shawn may be a good donor).

By the way, Chuck C. is a good facilitator but no match for your presence Dave.

Love and Peace in Him,
Chuck and Shawn Sherrod

Dear Irene and Dave,
It was good to talk to Joanna and know it was special to have your family all together for a few days.
Was so pleased to hear the report and know you are moved out of ICU.
Am really wanting to see you so hope we can make it happen possibly Tuesday.....even if its just for a little while.  In all honesty it is probably as much for me as it is for you.  Guess I know its because we are leaving for a couple weeks....at least we will have our computer so we can keep in touch that way while we are in NC.
I can’t tell you how many ask about you daily and tell me they are praying for you.  You are a much loved young lady!
Praying you are being renewed and strengthened these days.  God knows the plans He has for You and they are for Good!  Love and a Hug, Phyllis

Dear Dave and Irene,

Thank you so much for the updates.  I woke up from a vivid dream of hundreds of angels surrounding you both...it was amazing and wonderful.  This led me into prayer and praise for all that God is doing.  So many are standing with you. 

Hugs.  Susan