The 3 month celebration @ 6,500 feet

From an elevation gain of 2 feet on the bed in post-operative recovery, to 1,000 feet at Fragrance Lake, the wild flowers at 3,500 feet on Skyline – and now celebrating her 3 month anniversary at 6,500 feet on top of Yellow Aster Butte. The number and scale of change is hard to keep track of:

• From medical check ups every 20 minutes the first night post-op, to weekly visits for the next 3 months, now one visit every three months.


• From being tired from walking up three stairs and sleeping every afternoon, to entering more or less fully into the Polhamus lifestyle; full, fun, friendly and frenetic.


• From hoping simply to live, to planning on living well and fully

It is wonderful to behold. The rest of the family is slowing beginning to believe, and emotionally appropriate, the fact that our beloved Anne will remain well – well for hours, days, even weeks and years! Our God has been gracious to us, and we are so enjoying what we have now while not presuming upon the future. Come say hi some time, the fire pit is usually “on” and drop-ins are welocome.

A 998 foot gain

Not long ago, in the May 17 post for this blog, we were thrilled because Anne managed to raise herself 2 feet. A couple of mornings ago Anne and I hiked up to Fragrance Lake, an elevation gain of 1,000 feet. The scope, depth and quality of Anne’s recovery is difficult to explain; it is clearly experienced when you are with her. What a dramatic change from the May 16 post of “Some things have to be believed to be seen”.

We are learning as individuals, and as a family, to appropriate and live into this new life. We deeply appreciate your prayers for us – if you would share how you were led in prayer using the “Comments” below that would be a great encouragement to us.

Tenuous hope in dim sterile rooms,
Seeking to celebrate the least,
A finger squeezed, a milliliter gained,
Gradually life returns, so like sunrise,
First, the dim hope of light by faith,
Then the full warmth experienced
Now learning to walk in the full light,
He remains the faithful source of all strength and life,
Thank you Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Looking forward to higher elevations……

New life, and energy

Anne is feeling much, much better. Not long ago, being up and doing low energy things around the house in the morning would require taking a long nap in the afternoon. By contrast, this past Sunday Anne:

• Spent most of the day helping Bethany paint our newly designated “Music Room”


• Then we all went over to Lake Whatcom for a swim.


• Hiked down to Clayton beach and waded out to a small rock for a picnic dinner.


• Returned home to hang around the fire pit, finally sneaking into bed shortly before Monday.

What an awesome change, thank you Lord!

The summer ahead: Anne would like to do some hiking and possibly car camping. She plans to start working out soon, and we are starting to have people over, dinner parties etc. It is going to be a good summer.

It's the blood

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,”
Hebrews 10:19

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
1 John 1:7

“The life is in the blood [of Jesus]”

It’s about the blood. As a kidney recovers, and begins functioning as designed, it progresses through three stages: removing water from the body, removing toxins from the body, and the final stage is the creation of red blood cells. Anne’s kidney progressed through the first two phases in an exemplary fashion – and we waited for the third phase to begin. We were warned that not all transplanted kidneys achieve this higher stage. We learned yesterday that Anne can stop taking the drugs which produce red blood cells, because her kidney is!

Much of the work accomplished for us by Christ revolves around The Blood, and the Old and New Testaments are replete with references to all that the blood accomplishes. The blood of Christ accomplishes relationally, what blood in our bodies accomplishes physiologically. Blood cleanses, heals, restores, adds vitality, supports life, allows movement etc. How awesome that in Gods’ design, the highest function is that which restores and maintains life. Thank you for your blood Lord Jesus, for your gift dear Father and leading us into both, Holy Spirit.

We are home!

We were released early from our confinement due to good behavior (not Mark’s, the kidneys). It was wonderful to have our first full night of sleep since 12 May, to see Ben and Bethany, to return to friends and family.

His way – as we reflect on this whole process, we are most struck with the fact that God did this His way, leaving no doubt of His care and control for us. One example: The kidney Anne was offered last November was from a healthy 24 year old and a perfect genetic match – a match this good is literally almost impossible for Anne’s particular antibiotic system. And it didn’t make it here in time for the transplant. The kidney Anne actually received was far from a perfect match, was damaged prior to arriving in Seattle and was from an older person with compromised health. And this kidney is functioning far better than expected in every respect and continues to surprise the doctors with its progress. Thank you Lord for allowing us to see a piece of your glory.

Visiting with Anne, flowers etc.
To keep Anne’s body from destroying the new kidney (metabolically, it looks like any other foreign material which the white blood cells will naturally destroy), she is kept in a highly suppressed immune state. This makes her susceptible to illness. The net result is:

Good things:
Visiting with people here at the house 1-on-1 and in small groups.
Visiting with adults in their homes.
Cut flowers.
Traveling by car, private yachts, small planes and helicopters.

Not so good things:
Being in large groups of people
Hugging people
Potted plants in soil
Traveling by bus, large planes or cruise ship
Kick boxing
Rugby

Thank you for your care and please keep praying.

Heading Home

Unless some unexpected problem shows up in Anne’s final blood tests tomorrow, we expect to be home mid-day, which will be Friday up in Bellingham.

Our final day has been very pleasant, Anne continues to feel better, eat more and is required to do less measuring, monitoring, and mitering each day. After two weeks of shopping at the Pike Place Market, cooking in our apartment and living very simply, heart-to-heart, it is with some nostalgia that we get ready to leave this place.

The picture is of Anne during our final walk in the Madison neighborhood. As we meandered back to our hotel, we walked through the court yard of a stunning Cathedral which we have included in many of our walks. We noticed a small side door open, so we stepped inside for a peak. As we did, a woman walked up and asked us if we would like to join the choir in an open practice. We did and it was wonderful – the acoustics, the voices, the setting were all very moving. A couple of gifts from God for Anne in this impromptu event; She loves choral music, and during her time in post-op one of her closest friends prayed Psa 23 over her – the final song we sang tonight was Psa 23.

Thank you Father for meeting jus in so many ways, through those who came, those who called those who prayed and through your one-on-one times with us. You are, we worship you.

Speed of light - by two's

Twas a very low key day, Ben and Bethany soaking up lovin’s, Mark and Ben cooking for the ladies of leisure; walks, talks and games. RE breaking the speed of sound (see earlier entry), not quite there, but very close. At the speeds we are traveling, the relativistic mass increase (mass approaches infinity as velocity approaches speed of light) poses significant challenge to further relative gains.

Ben returned to Bellingham today, Bethany returns tomorrow – if you need to contact Bethany in Bellingham, please call her cell or talk to Mike Gowan. For Ben, he also has a cell or you can contact Jim Jefferies. Cell numbers on blog.

We realize that praying and “staying tuned” for three weeks requires significant effort – for those of you who have, thank you; Anne and I are very grateful.

The nucleus and the bread

“Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.”
Acts 27:35

“And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”
Luke 22:19

Ben and Bethany are here for the weekend and it has been so good to have our children with us. Anne and I are the nucleus of our family, and in particular, Anne has been our children's center, their nucleus, through out high school and middle school. We are such a tactile family that being able to touch each other and connect heart-to-hand is wonderful. Bethany and Ben stuck pretty close to the "nucleus" (see 24 May entry).
We had a celebration meal last night, thanking God for what he has done. While the setting was unique; the family, the food and the fun was a familiar and comfortable motif. It felt so good to celebrate with our children. Thank you Lord.

We are thankful for:

• Walking to the Pike Place market with Bethany to shop for dinner
• Playing Frisbee with Ben at the corner of Madison and Spring
• Our evening walk as a family
• An early morning walk with Ben to the Pike Plc Market for some breakfast goodies

Electrons and relationship

Bethany jumped off in Seattle as she returned from a concert tour in Long Beach. As she settled into Anne’s arms, she explained that she was like an electron orbiting around the nucleus which is mom. This is an amazingly apt model in so many dimensions and perspectives. We’ve had a number of visitors in the last couple of days, some who brought meals – Chef Mark really appreciated the break from planning/shopping/cooking!

Anne’s physical, and commensurate mental, state continues to improve significantly. We both sense that she is pretty much 100 clear and “out of the fog” which was caused by residual anesthesia, pain meds, edema etc. Evening on Capital Hill was lovely and we enjoyed our longest walk yet – 12 blocks.

We are thankful for:

• Friends who have visited


• The many gifts of different kinds


• Our God who leads us in prayer, protects us in love, guides us perfectly

The Big Shift Begins

Anne’s body finally started the big fluid shift/correction, the internal edema is down and she is feeling much better. Her appetite is coming back rapidly; this morning she said what she really wanted is a meat and cheese type pastry. So I jogged down to the Pike Place Market, got some pastries from her favorite bakery and ran them back up the hill. The picture shows Anne this evening.

An additional sign of her improvement; for the past 4 years, Anne feels O.K. for a couple hours after she gets done with dialysis, first thing in the morning. Then she would feel increasingly sick until the next treatment. Sitting after breakfast, she got this wonderful smile on her face – the oh-so-familiar ‘sick’ wasn’t happening. Thank you Lord for the wonder of a working kidney.

We’ve decided that rather than my going back to Bellingham next week, I would just stay here and finish this experience from front to back.

Ecstatic!

"O my soul, bless GOD. From head to toe, I'll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless GOD,
don't forget a single blessing!"
Psa 103:1-2

This morning, one of the men I am meeting with called to let me know that, as he was praying for Anne and I earlier this week, the Lord gave him these 2 verses for us. As the day progressed, I understood better why the Lord gave him these verses, for us, for today.

As I explained in earlier blog posting, Anne having Creatinine of 4.5 for a transplant patient is good and a cause for celebration (at 11 – 12 you die, 6 – 10 you live and feel sick all the time, 5 or lower is O.K., 1 or lower is totally normal; Anne rarely got below 8 - 9). Today Anne had her first blood test since leaving the hospital – the head of the transplant program saw her new creatinine number of 1.4 and explained that he was “ecstatic!”. Ecstatic because, based on his very significant experience and medical knowledge, her new kidney should not be performing any where near that well. I am hoping the Lord allows me to explain to this Dr. that one possibility for this very low number is your prayers.

One of our friends was here visiting with us, and I like his comment – “Nothing beats the real thing.” Our God is the Real thing, He creates and re-creates real things for His children.

Anne has been feeling better, sleeping way less and eating much better. The picture is of our lunch today in the apartment, and tonight we had a main course of pasta, a side of salad and fresh corn, and finished with a desert of apple, cheddar cheese and a sangeovaise/sirah red wine. “You’ve come a long way baby” from jello and clear broth earlier in the week.

In closing, there are no promises, and as our friend also observed “we are all only one phone call away from great tradgedy”, for now, we are experriencing new life and thanking the source of all life.

Greatfully,
Mark

Absolutely Everything

“We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.”
Col 1:15-18

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
1 John 4:4

The day started very pleasant, and closed with a lot of excitement. Shortly after waking up, the Lord impressed upon me to read the first few chapters of Colossians. Notice the following chronology and events in light of the overall chapter and the above verses.

• Anne woke up feeling the best she has in 10 days, her focused started moving outward.


• “My healing is for a larger purpose this is not just for me.” Anne


• Our van was moved from the C level in the hospital garage up to the very top level, in the primary spot reserved for doctors, right by the attendant booth. Note: all the doors were locked, I had the only set of keys and was away from the hospital; Anne’s are at home. There is NO natural explanation for this.


• Anne started bleeding significantly more, blood clots etc. and so we called the transplant unit.


• We got this weird phone call, tying up the phone just as unit coordinator called back, so the unit coordinator called my cell, which immediately hung up on him.


• The unit coordinator finally got through – and the blood clots and excess bleeding had just stopped.


• The Spirit prompted me to begin reading Colossians to Anne, and the spiritual atmosphere in the room immediately cleared.


• I was led to pray for tangible evidence of Father being for us – the phone rang, it was Nina praying for us – her prayer on the phone exactly matched and countered (exposed the lies) of the fear we were feeling.

Please pray for physical protection and healing for Anne, Spiritual strength and discernment for me – I am tired, and per earlier blog, God is not – I will lean on Him.

In the battle for my bride, and The King,
Mark

Syncing up with God's heart

Why is that lady smiling? Could it be the total absence of lines and devices attached to her body and she is drinking a cup of tea?

A reoccurring theme for Anne and I is “How do I trust God when things ‘go bad’”, does knowing Him make a difference, how do we ‘abide’, does our life reflect the trust we claim we have? I continue to think and chew on the following:

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.”
John 15:7-9

We moved into our apartment this evening, at it felt really nice to be just the two of us, without our usual “cast of thousands” in and out of the room and all the other aspects of a busy hospital. As Anne lay dozing in the chair, we had some guitar music playing; I was putting the finishing touches on dinner…… it felt good.

Tonight I will get to sleep by my bride for the first time in a week. For the past year, in the middle of the night, when Anne’s heart starts racing and missing beats, she reaches out to place her hand over my heart. When she does this, the strength, pace and warmth of my heart steadies her, her heart ‘syncs up’ with mine, becomes steady and Anne falls back to sleep.
So much like when we draw close to God’s heart when we are distressed, feel His love and strength……

I am such a fortunate man to know and love this precious, wonderful, strong woman. It has been a long day – thank you for your prayers – they help lead our hand to His Heart.

We have ignition!!!

”We have lift off” Anne

2.4! Those three characters represent an enormous amount of past hope realized, current joy appropriated and future expectations of life without chronic sickness. The number is the Creatinine level in Anne’s blood. At levels much over 11 or 12, you die, between 10 and 5 you are sick and feel that way, somewhere in the low single digits, the kidney actually begins to function normally, doing things like making red blood cells, regulating blood pressure, etc. Anne’s creatinine at best was in the 9 – 10 range. After the new kidney “woke up” the creatinine level went from 10 to 9 to 8 to 5 and now 2.4! Anne wants to thank you for your support and prayers this week and she looks forward to seeing you.

Another first occurred last night: Anne and I went for a walk side-by-side, without our usual companion (the traveling IV and medical machines) between us. It was a familiar place of the heart; a crucial part of our relational history is walking and talking, arm-in-arm, heart-to-heart.


Looking forward to:

• Being able to sit together in the apartment:


• Not being in the hospital with all its noises and smells and activity:


• Seeing our children this weekend:


• Walking outside together

Freedom from the Matrix

One more removed from "The Matrix"

Today, for the first time since 14 May, Anne was not hooked up, wired, plugged in, drained, intovated etc. She was, for a brief time, totally free to move around. The amount of machinery in our room has gone down significantly and the Dr’s expect to have Anne check out of the hospital tomorrow. YEAH! Her kidney continues to perform as expected. Pllease see the sidebar for some of the ways you can help Anne as she moves to the apartment. BTW I (Mark) found a great food co-op and have stocked up on good healthy foods, brought some of Anne's favorite recipes down with me, and "Chef Mark" begins serving in the main dining room tomorrow. Please call for reservations so Mark can adjust the quantities.

An important not-so-side note: Though we are allowing ourselves to hope that this new life Anne is experiencing will continue, organ transplants are complex and do fail on a regular basis. The failures can occur anywhere from days to years after the transplant. Please pray that we will be able to deal well with what ever happens – how to use this new life for God’s glory, or dealing with a failed transplant and all that is connected to it.

The sound barrier is in sight

Evening

“Keep running the race……..”

Disclaimer: We realize that the amount of detail provided here may not be fully engaged by all those reading this blog. Our readers involve those who want lots of detail, and those for whom a quick graze / skim is enough. Hence we write for the first; skimming is possible, filling in missing details is more difficult.

• Anne is out of bed and walking about the halls – we haven’t broken the sonic barrier yet, but it is in sight.
• Bethany was here and brought down some stuff to help make our apartment a home for 10 days. Much heart-health occurred as a result of her touching and talking to Anne.

Tonight there is no “Life intersects Scripture” – it already has, and I am focusing on the ‘doing’ part of what the Lord has shown me.

New life

Life begins at a distinct point, and grows stronger through time, stress and faith.

Anne’s new life began with the kidney transplant 4 days ago – now her kidney, and the life it provides, is growing stronger hour-by-hour. She has begun to walk around for a few minutes at a time and sit up in a chair for an hour or so. We had a number of visitors today, including one couple who brought Bethany down. Thank all of you who have helped Bethany and Ben to come down and visit with Anne – it is so important for Anne’s heart to see and touch her children. As for me (Mark), I am finding it difficult to consistently love Anne in a Christ-like manner – which led me to review Romans 6 and Nee’s comments on Rom 6:12-14 & 19.  Both follow.

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Rom 6:12-14
 
“I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.”
Rom 6:19

“When I really know I am crucified with Him, then spontaneously I reckon myself dead (verses 6 and 11); and when I know that I am raised with Him from the dead, then likewise I reckon myself “alive unto God in Christ Jesus” (verses 9 and 11), for both the death and the resurrection side of the Cross are to be accepted by faith. When this point is reached, giving myself to Him follows. In resurrection He is the source of my life—indeed He is my life; so I cannot but present everything to Him, for all is His, not mine. But without passing through death I have nothing to consecrate, nor is there anything God can accept, for He has condemned all that is of the old creation to the Cross.” Watchman Nee


BTW: As Bethany and I were stepping out for dinner, Anne’s kidney set a new record for urine production – it produced almost one liter in two hours, 50 times what it initially produced!

The longest journey...

Morning

..begins with sitting up. Anne reached a new physically and emotionally significant level of physical activity – she sat up on the edge of the bed! This elevation change of 24 inches has numerous positive ramifications for Anne: it helped to relieve blood-pooling in her legs and hence avoid potential blood clots, strokes etc.; it stimulated her GI track, radically changed her perspective (looking out the window vs. the ceiling), helped her feel less constrained and helpless….. Not long after sitting up, her internal systems were stimulated enough that she was allowed, for the first time since Tues. morning, to have a sip of water (vs. sucking on a damp sponge). Later in the day Anne walked a short distance.

Her new kidney continues to work in a consistent, if not spectacular fashion. I (Mark) slept in the apartment last night and it was wonderful to sleep more than 50 consecutive minutes. Logistically, and emotionally important for me, there is a Starbucks en-route from the apartment to Swedish.

Looking forward:

• Bethany will be arriving today with one of our neighbors – it will be so good to have her with us.


• Pastor from church is coming down.


• Hope to get the O.K. from doctor for Anne to begin walking around, returning to our oh-so-familiar scenario of lapping the halls of the hospital with a rolling menagerie of machines, IV drips etc. on one side of Anne; me on the other.

Some things have to

"Some things have to be believed to be seen."

The last twelve hours have been pretty rough for us emotionally and physically. It seems like the cumulative affects of sleep deprivation (Anne and I have slept roughly 10 hours in he last 3 days), Anne having lain flat on her back since mid-day Tuesday, concerns about the kidney etc. all came to a focal point this morning. And the “intersection of life and Scripture” happened once again.

In the midst of this time, I felt like I was to read in Isa 39 & 40, and came across the following.

“God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,”
Isa 40:28-29

What I received from this was like God gently speaking to me, saying:
• While you cannot see inside of Anne, I am and nothing has escaped my attention.
• You are feeling weary, I remain strong and unchanged.
• I will provide the energy you need.

As I received this gentle, emotional ‘course correction’, I began to believe what could not be seen and my faith was strengthened. Shortly after that, a number of encouraging things happened – first the believing, then the seeing.

Next to my sleeping bride

Evening

As one of the men visiting today observed “It’s interesting how our perspective changes… about what is truly important in life”. As I sit by the bed of my sleeping bride, I am not thrilled about the job, the new car, the fancy TV….. I am thrilled to see the tiniest evidence that her new kidney working. It’s about relationship, it’s about the heart. My heart that yearns to travel with Anne and encounter the wonderful, unplanned little events that make travel for us a ‘heart thing’; to fall asleep at night next to her with out all the plastic lines and metal alarms in between us, the constant noise and light and vibration of the dialysis machine next to us – and to wake up in the morning to quiet; it means being able to consider serving the Lord anywhere in the world; it means Anne can leave a life in which her very best state was feeling drained, weak and low energy.

What the Spirit has been showing me in the Word
Over the last 3 months I have spent the majority of my study time either in Psa 119, and trying to digest Chapter 4 of “The Normal Christian Life”. I returned to the later this morning, and noted the following once again.

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4-5

“We do not try to produce fruit or concentrate upon the fruit produced. Our business is to look away to Him. As we do so He undertakes to fulfill His Word in us.
How do we abide? ‘Of God are ye in Christ Jesus.’ It was the work of God to put you there and He has done it. Now stay there!” Nee

Nee goes on to explain that the “abide” sentence is comprised of an objective command (abide in me) and a subjective promise (and I in You). As we choose to do the objective, He will do the subjective – He promised. I am learning, one tiny step at a time to “abide”. A wonderful promise and a deeply satisfying way to live – I wish it were easier to accomplish and appropriate!

The intersection of life and Scripture

Good morning friends and family.

Yesterday (14 May) was a day of waiting and watching to see how Anne’s new kidney would perform. It started off slowly, and progressed slowly, finally moving on to slowly. At which point the head doc thought something might be amiss. After some investigation and consultation, it was decided to open Anne back up and try to resolve what what was causing the slow down. By 3 P.M., Anne was back in our room, and almost immediately the “updated” kidney began working better.

As I interact with many of you, I continue to experience that wonder-full intersection of life and Scripture: As believers gather together, from disparate locations and situations, they bring with them a set of Scriptures and insights from the Holy Spirit. As we share these Scriptures, we recieve a common theme and communication from God, experiencing the Truth and power of His Word in our lives. Most of these mini-gatherings also include three things:
1. We see how God has answered earlier prayers in which He showed us future events – prophecy glorifies the only One who knows the future.
2. We experience how God has given different people in each gathering a different and congruent part of His “here a and now” message for us. As each person shares, we receive from the many parts a complete communication of His love – The Body of Christ glorifies God in it’s unity.
3. We receive future, prophetic understandings as we pray, creating the anticipation of experiencing answered prayers in future gatherings.

Here are some of the Scriptures which I received yesterday:

In your great love revive me
so I can alertly obey your every word.
Psa 119:88

Your Word and truth are dependable as ever;
that's what you ordered—you set the earth going.
Psa 119:9x

So far this morning, 15 May, Anne’s kidney continues to function better than it did pre-tune up yesterday. We are waiting for the rest of Anne’s systems to recover from 2 surgeries in 15 hours. We look forward to seeing many of you soon, and the next ‘gathering” which the Lord will orchestrate. He is good. Psa 119:68

The Transplant

At 9 PM on 12 May we received a call from the head of the Swedish Kidney Transplant program saying a kidney may be available. Wow! We expected to get a call by 2 - 3 A.M. with a "go / no go" type message. The call came at 6:30 A.M. - they didn't know if it was going to work, but wanted us to come down just in case. We arrived at Swedish checked into our room - one very close to the one we used on our last (aborted) transplant check-in. After much prepping and waiting, we were told "it's a go" and Anne was prepped for surgery - then the doctor walked in and said "it is not 100% a sure thing yet, I still have to inspect the donor kidney" - more waiting....
At 4 P.M. we got the "GO!".

13 May 08

The kidney is working! albiet a bit slowly as it is still waking up - and this is normal for a non-living donor. Thank you for your support and prayers.
The schedule is: Anne will be in the hospital for another 4 - 5 days, then spend two weeks in an apartment close by. You are all welcome to come by and see her.
Following is a summary of the event and our experience of God's character in it.

New Life
Swedish Hospital
14 May 2008

The following Scriptures were a consistent theme in the prayers and conversations in the days leading up to Anne’s kidney transplant. The familiar experience of the Holy Spirit meeting us at the intersection of life and Scripture, the Mighty Counselor teaching, encouraging and training as only He can.

“When I told my story, you responded; train me well in your deep wisdom.
Help me understand these things inside and out so I can ponder your miracle-wonders.”
Psa 119:26

“With your very own hands you formed me; now breathe your wisdom over me so I can understand you.
When they see me waiting, expecting your Word, those who fear you will take heart and be glad.
I can see now, God, that your decisions are right; your testing has taught me what's true and right.
Oh, love me—and right now!—hold me tight! just the way you promised.
Now comfort me so I can live, really live; your revelation is the tune I dance to.”
Psa 119:73-77

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
1 Pet 5:6-7

****************************
It’s about the story, His Story

A story of death and life, fearful hearts
   and faithful Father;
Death of one provides redemption,
   the promise of freedom for the other;
Midst the wavering pain and prevailing doubt,
   the Rock whispers His presence;
Strands of brilliant light thread throughout the story,
   undaunted by the pretensions of Darkness;
Hearts are watching, faith increasing as the course ever changes,
   the Author immutable, never changing;
Weaving with friends and the Spirit through scripture and prayer,
   hand of prophetic revelation joins current need;
Bright eyes and smiling hearts, we dance in the current light,
   sure of our Father, His course is pure and right;

The Mighty hand, the velvet touch of compassion,
they took heart and were glad….
***************************

Swedish Hospital
Room 1150 East
Phone 206 215-3820