"God doesn't work on my clock"

Dear friends,

Our family is still in Tulsa.  I'm going back and forth for work and such.  Coltrane is slowly getting better and better.  The leak is still there but it seems the amount is getting lower each day.  It's supposed to be basically a powder before the drains can come out.  Coltrane must have wanted to expedite things because he pulled his own drain out himself.  We're not sure if he'll have to go back into surgery to put one in again or not.  Please pray that the remaining drain will take over for the one that was pulled (intentionally or not) out, and that he won't have to go into surgery again.

Coltrane is smiling a lot more and is working on sitting up, holding his head up, and standing.  He's doing remarkably well.

The past four days or so Sonja and I have been very depressed and down.  It's been very hard to be in the hospital for this long.  It's our new record, 19 days in a row.  Eating out is not a treat anymore, it's a hassle financially and isn't great for our health.  We're trying to balance things out in different ways.  We've been clouded by the fact that we don't know when we will be going home.  And if we do, it will only be for a very short time due to the fact that the stem cell transplant will be soon after his recovery.  Someone asked me how Coltrane was doing.  I told them that he had his big surgery and they got all the visible tumor out, his bone marrow is clean from any cancer, the pathology from the tumors came back most likely all necrosis (dead tumor).  And that the surgery went really well over the six plus hours it took.  I told them that even though they had to take a lot more organs and parts than we expected, that we asked God to give the surgeons wisdom so we were glad that they had that intuition and knowledge to do that.  I was saying all of this to lead up to the fact we weren't coming home for a long time and it might screw up the timing for the stem cell harvest and everything.  But before I could say that last bit I caught myself.  I realized after all of the good things I was saying, that this lady was saying "Praise God."  "Praise God."  "Oh, praise God."  It suddenly hit me that I was getting so down about this one little yet annoying problem that was really only a timing issue.  And God doesn't work on my clock or the doctor's clock.  I realized that everything had gone so well with the surgery and everything but I was being attacked over this leaky duct.  Satan is like a komodo dragon sometimes.  He takes a poisonous bite out of you and waits and waits until you get a little more weak.  Then he takes another little venomous bite, and waits again until you slump over so he can devour you due to your weakened, dying state.  Satan was using that little bite to ruin our joy and thankfulness to God for all the good that He's doing.  God is working in our lives in a wonderful way.  He is healing our son.  Coltrane is doing so good and Jack too.  Sonja and I are doing well also, although more date nights would be nice.  I'm not going to worry over this timing issue.  I will trust my God who is omniscient.  I will strive to be patient in this tribulation.  I will strive to seek joy everyday for "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."  James 4:14

Please continue to pray for us.

Pray for Coltrane's duct to heal very quickly, like today.  :)

For strength and endurance, patience too

For when we are down and depressed

For us to be great witnesses

For Coltrane to gain the desire to eat and drink his clear liquids

For Sonja and I to bond stronger and stronger throughout this time 

For us to be consistent and loving parents 

For God's will to be done

For God to give the doctors and nurses supreme wisdom and insight

For the timing to be perfect for the stem cell transplant

For occupational guidance.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Love,

Justin,

Sonja,

Jackson,

and Coltrane the Yearning (to get better and go home)