"What a faithful God have I"

We used to sing this song at Grace Church in Primrose. I can still hear Beth Woollacott singing it. He is faithful in every way!

Brian is resting and also trying to take short walks on his crutches to help his circulation. He is not experiencing too much pain and has enjoyed having his meals in bed!
My mom is doing better too. Her blood pressure has come down. She is still dizzy, but she thinks it may be because of her cold.
I am doing much better. Praise the Lord for answered prayer. I have prayed that He would give me strength to look after Bied and He graciously has.
The doctor had said that he suspects no post-surgery infection. He also reminded me that I can't expect everything to just go away overnight. Being sick for so long will take time to heal. My body just has to take it easy. We should get the blood results soon.
Anyway, all that to say THANK YOU so much for praying. Our God is so faithful and we trust His plans because we know they're better than ours!

The B's Knees - right knee

Brian hasn't been kind to his knees over the years. He played football in high school and college and had knee surgery once back then. And now he is a 40 year-old man who likes to play basketball with 20 year-olds. Over the years there have been times where his knees have been sore and so he has had to ice them and lay off the exercise a bit - but it hasn't been sore enough or serious enough for him to consider surgery. This is why Brian was somewhat glad that he tore his cartilage 10 days ago playing basketball. Perhaps now, the doctors can really clean up his knees.

The first video is a survey of his right knee and the second one is where the doctor took "basket scissors" and started snipping away at the damaged pieces of Brian's cartilage. He later took a "shaver" (which looks like a high-tech nose-hair-trimmer) and shaved down the rough edges around Brian's knee.

Brian is home now and the surgery seems to have gone really well. Thanks for praying. Please pray for him in the coming weeks as he begins rehab.

The B's Knees - left knee

Brian's left knee was in worse shape than the right. This is the one with the cartilage tear that has been causing him so much pain for the past 10 days. It is quite amazing that they can go in and do surgery on both knees in the same morning. The nice thing about it is that they both can be rehabbed together and so you don't have to wait for one to get better and then go in for a second surgery on the other. Brian's surgeon told him that professional athletes can recover from this surgery and be playing again in as little as three weeks. Brian is not a professional athlete:)

Something is still wrong

I am still not well. Something is not right. We have removed all the so called stressors and yet I continue to suffer from dizziness, headaches and other symptoms which now may be endocrinal. My mom also hasn't been well and a doctor came to see her on Sunday night to check her blood pressure and adjust her medications. We are both going to see a doctor today for blood tests and Brian is at the orthopedic guy right now. He is having a MRI on his right knee too. There is a strong possibility that they will do surgery on both his knees! Please continue to pray. Thy will be done. To Him be all the glory. He knows exactly what is wrong. Pray for patient endurance and continued trust.

Knee

Brian injured his knee at the outreach basketball game here at Grace Church on Monday night. He went for an MRI today and will have surgery next week Thursday. Once again we are thankful to be here in LA where we can receive good medical care. Please pray for him. The surgery will be with a scope and apparently it's not an intensive procedure. He will however, have to take it easy and has already given us instructions on how he'd like to be pampered and looked after :)
Over these past weeks God has enabled Brian to care for and support us. Pray that the Lord would give my mom and me strength to serve and care for Brian while he recuperates.

Test Results

We received a call from the infectious diseases' doctor this week. The tests for bilharzia and tape worms both came back negative. Remember, apparently for tape worms, a positive can be negative. Who knows why it came back positive in the first place? But the doctors have said that there is nothing to be concerned about. Praise the Lord. We have tried to remind the kids, and certainly ourselves, while going through this trial that we should focus on what God has done and not allow our minds to dwell on things that are not true. We continue to trust that this is the best the Lord has for us right now and pray that He will continue to use this time to mould and shape us for His glory.

Thankful

This is Anita-
Wow there is SO much to be thankful for!
I thank God that He drew me to Himself and by His grace has saved me and that no matter what happens in this life, I have hope of eternity with Christ. I also know that all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. His ways are perfect. He is in complete control. He is faithful to His promises. His love endures forever. His grace is sufficient.

I remember Rachel saying, while we were in Malawi, "Nothing surprises God."

"Blessed be the Lord because He has heard the voice of my supplication. The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him." Psalm 28:6-7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6-7

We are still waiting for test results. Thankful to you for your prayers on our behalf.