The Good The Bad and The Ugly

Hello dear friends,

You may find this a strange title to my blog this month, but I have a wide variety of things to share with you this month, from fun in Wisconsin to new news about my life as a "worker" to a pretty serious prayer request.

I guess I'll start with the good! I was able to go home for Christmas for about a week and a half. It was great! If this really is my last Christmas in a cold climate, God sure gave me a good one! It snowed almost every day and was so beautiful! It has been a few years since I've had a white Christmas and this was very special. I had a great time with family and friends and it was a great time of refreshing and renewal. My time at home never seems long enough anymore, knowing that I will be leaving for four years soon.

Speaking of leaving for four years...I got my packet of more information about the country I will be going to, including a packing list and the location of my first two years for lanuage study. This was pretty exciting! I have a lot of things to do before I leave and it is quite daunting to think about getting everything done.

This brings me to the bad. I have been having some health problems latley and I really need your prayers. For the last two months probably my hand has been hurting some, but I didn't think too much of it. Then on my way back to South Carolina I started having some strange things happen. On my first flight from Minneapolis to Detroit my toes got cold and numb, but that is not unusual. It was cold out and with my Reynodes Syndrom symptoms that is to be expected. (Many of you know this as my strange finger and toe thing where the circulation does not get to my fingers and toes and they can turn white, then blue, then red. This is the condition that I have that makes a warm climate necessary for overseas service.) Anyway, I got off the plane and had to hurry to my next gate. As I was quickly walking through the airport both of my legs started to get very numb from the knees down. This was a very strange feeling to be walking without being able to really feel my legs. I had quite a time getting home between cancelled flights and delays, etc.... By the time I finally got home my hip was hurting very badly and my legs were swollen and purpleish. This was on last Tuesday. I thought maybe it was just from flying or some fluke thing, but over the days it has gotten worse. My joints hurt and my muscles hurt and I am very tired. It seems as if the pain is much worse at night and in the mornings and then gets somewhat better during the day. Most mornings it even hurts to pick up the pillows when I make my bed. I talked to my rhumatologist back home and she suggested that I see someone down here since my next appointment with her isn't until April. I talked to my friend Daniel who has Rhumatoid Arthritis and sees a very good rhumatologist and he is going to try to help me get an appointment with him. (Thanks Daniel!)

Please pray:

1) That I would be able to get an appointment with this rhumatologist as he has a ton of patients and is booked solid. I will be calling on Monday after Daniel calls and tells his nurse about me.

2) Pray for healing for Daniel of his Rhumatoid Arthritis.

3) Pray for healing for me from whaterver this is.

4) Pray for strength as I go back to work on Monday.

I can't help but wonder if this is a spiritual attack. I am sure that Satan (The Ugly!) isn't so excited to see me head to a creative access country and work amongst an unreached people group. I trust that God has a plan and will ultimately use this for good.

This last week I was able to sit in on a class called Islam in the 21st Century. I must say that it was probably the best class I have ever taken on Islam. It was an eye openening week and I learned so many practical things that will help my future work. My attitude was changed, my prejudices were revealed and I learned how to see the world as a Muslim sees the world. I would love to share with you in person or over the phone what I learned, there is way too much to go into detail here!

I am sorry this got so long. I thank you in advance for your prayers. I look forward to seeing what God is up to in my life. Well, I'm off to watch the Packers hopefully beat Seattle!