RESURECTION SUNDAY

Instead of a side note this is a top note. I have been trying since Friday to get an up-date out. It was started and stopped and lost and started over and lost until this is still late coming to you and is still not an up to the minute update. Ken is requiring a lot more of my time to be active with him and therefore I do not get to the computer very much. When I finally do my brain and fingers do not work well together - or apart for that matter. I don't know what I am doing wrong that causes what was already written to be lost but if you have any suggestions -please send!! Just know that things are progressing well and I will try and update again tomorrow.


HAPPY EASTER!! I pray it was a glorious day of celebration for you. It has been a good day here in Baltimore. Josh called this morning, they were on their way to church, wanting to know if his dad had rose up from the bed and was walking around. Not yet, but we are moving toward that goal. I can't wait to get pictures of Jack's first Easter. Hannah is on her way from Portland, OR to spend the week with her dad and she says take care of me. The school system she works at is on spring break this week and I am so glad she can come. Someone from our church in Tennessee provided her airline ticket. God continues to use His people to meet our needs. Our Sunday School class sent a big Easter basket full of inspirational and silly-fun-cute items, and of course "Peeps" and other sweets. Mark and Amy, a couple God placed in our lives through a connection at our church, came to the hospital to visit and bring an Easter basket. I can't even tell you the last time I got an Easter basket, and I got two!!!

There has been much reason for celebration this past week. Our good friend number 73 (the ventilator) finally left Ken's room. He was able to get out of bed for the first time. We were both rescued from my limited lip reading skills. I just love purple - that is the color of Ken's speaking valve. A swallowing test was done and Ken can now receive some nourishment by mouth. A tremendous amount of progress has also been made on removing fluid from his body.

Even in the midst of celebration there can still be ups and downs. Breathing on his own with 40% oxygen is still hard to do at times. Being off the ventilator makes it easier for Ken to cough up what needs to be coughed up; however, all that coughing and trying to cough still takes a lot out of him and seems to be the cause of some hurting in his chest area and sides. Successful removal of fluid on his body allows for more body movement at this time but the nerve endings are hyper- sensitive. Getting out of bed and into a chair was a tremendous cause for celebration, yet there are times you can get too much of a good thing. He could not even tolerate an hour in the chair the next day.

Yesterday, March 22, was one month since the transplant and on that day I was not sure this last week would ever happen. According to our plans Ken should be out of the hospital and three weeks into rehab. I spoke with Mr. Burroughs on Friday and he was able to have the funeral service for his wife on Thursday. He said he hated to let her go - it was extremely hard and yet he had come to realize she was not going to get better. He knows that she is better off where she is, and that one day he will be able to see her again. There is comfort in that and rejoicing for her but at the same time there is pain for him. His plan for the last three months had been for them to go home together with her well. I often wonder about the life of the person who's heart now beats in Ken. In the midst of our celebration that Thursday night, there was pain for someone who lost a loved one. What had been his plans for life. We never know how our plans can be changed with our next breath.

I do not know how people make it through life's ups and downs without God. Today we celebrated Easter - the day Jesus rose from the grave. All of the prayers that were offered this last month for Ken would have been hopeless, empty words had Christ remained in that tomb. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus provides us the way for eternal life but it also provides a hope and a peace that passes all understanding. I am so thankful that God loves me so much He provided for Easter Sunday in my heart everyday. As the song says, "Because He lives I can face tomorrow".