Finally!

Well, where to begin? It has been too long, so I guess I will begin first with excuses. My main reason for not posting in so long is I had to two back-to-back trips that ended up being much closer together than it seemed when I first planned them (some time last year).

On Friday, February 29th, I headed to Edwardsville, IL, to be with Center Grove Presbyterian church during their missions conference. Edwardsville is a suburb of St. Louis. Since Leslie had just had chemo on Tuesday, my mom came up to stay with her and the kids while I was gone. The missions conference went well and the weather was unseasonably warm and beautiful. However, after the conference ended on Sunday afternoon, things started to cool off rapidly. By Monday, as I was driving around St. Louis visiting other PCA churches, the rain turned to sleet and eventually to snow. But the roads were fine and I ended up with a four-wheel drive, so I was confident. Then on Tuesday morning, the real snow began about 7:30. I was set to visit more churches on Tuesday and then fly home that evening. By 3:30 that afternoon there was more than 10 inches of snow on the ground, roads were snarled, and my flight was cancelled. It was nearly noon on Wednesday before I made it home. This is a photo that was taken about halfway through the big snow assault.

I then had until Saturday morning before I headed back to the airport, this time to go to Indianapolis for another missions conference. Leslie had recuperated well, or as well as I’ve come to expect. On an aside, it’s hard to convey how yucky this whole experience is without sounding like whining. I usually try to stay positive, not only on the blog but also in conversation. And I guess it is harder for people who see us to understand what it is like for Leslie while she is recovering, because when she is better and they do see her, she looks great! But during the majority of her physical struggles, it has been just the two of us. Some in our family have seen portions of this pain, but even they haven’t seen all of what Leslie has really been through. So all that to say, when I write that she is doing well or feeling better, it all has to be taken within the context of chemo. Chemo stinks. I’d have stronger words if I wasn’t writing in a medium that could be held against me! Leslie has endured, and is continuing to fight, a battle that most of us won’t ever face. And few face it at this stage of life, when you are trying to work, and mother three little ones, and deal with a lousy husband, etc… I’m not writing this because she needs pity or praise, but mainly so that I (and maybe you) will become more aware (and be reminded later) of the depth of struggles that a family goes through during an illness like this, so that I will be more compassionate, caring, and a servant to them. I know I’ve been around people going through great difficulties before, but I’ve allowed myself to be distracted by my own life. I’ve also realized that when people are going through really tough things like this, they use descriptions that we all use, like, “I feel crummy,” which means something very different than we do. When I feel crummy it might be a headache or fatigue, but when I write that Leslie feels crummy, it means that I am sparing you from some really gross details of things that are going on in her body. Maybe I should be more graphic (not for your sake, but for mine, in the future). I think of the impact of the gore in the movie, The Passion. I hope I never forget all that she has been through, and lose an awareness of what others are going through in similar situations. Anyway, I’ve got a lot to learn.

So I was home for a few days, which felt like very short days. I spent very little time in the office, but ended up working more than I wanted to from home. Friday, I spent the better part of the morning at an ENT’s office with a scope down my throat. The chronic sore throat that I have had for the past few months is evidently caused by some variation of reflux for which the normal treatment wasn’t working. It’s never encouraging when the doctor reacts, “oh wow, I’ve never seen one that bad before.” He had the monitor right in front of me the whole time and explained everything as we was going in through my nose and then down my throat. It was irritating to say the least, and it didn’t feel good at all when I tried to answer his question. But I was desperate to have a solution as the discomfort is actually keeping me from sleeping. Anyway, he increased one drug, a couple more, and a supplement of Zinc, and told me to stay away from citrus (but not from coffee!!). He also said not to clear my throat, cough, yell or whisper and to try to talk as little as possible to allow it to heal. Yes, as if that could ever happen. Not that I have any problem talking on my own, but my job now requires a great deal of talking and speaking to groups, and I was supposed to preach two days from this. He was thorough, though, and took his time, for which I was appreciative. I’ll go see him again in April.

By the time I left for Indianapolis on Saturday morning, Leslie was doing better. So my mom did not come up for this trip. As I was packing up to head to the airport, McGrooter came down to my office (about 6:15 AM) and told me he didn’t want me to go. Yikes! As if it wasn’t hard enough to leave without him saying that! He hugged on me a lot, so it was bitter sweet. I really thought flying out on Saturday morning would be a breeze as compared to a weekday. But there were two things I didn’t account for: 1) the beginning of Spring Break for many colleges, and 2) the blizzard that was brewing in the Midwest (a continuation of what caught me in St. Louis just a few days before). Driving there, the rain changed to snow, and boy was it coming down (at least for Georgia)! But it didn’t stick any where that I saw. When I finally got to the airport, it was busier than I have ever seen it. The lines for security were wrapped around and went places I never knew they could go. But just as I joined the line, I met a man and his family who were headed to Colorado to go skiing. As we talked he asked me who I worked for and when I told him, he said, “Oh, I know MTW. We helped plant a PCA church in Mississippi a few years back.” Well the 30-45 minutes it took to get through security went much quicker as we visited. They were neat folks and a real encouragement to me (three well-mannered and mature boys).

After deciding to skip deicing, we were finally airborne only an hour later than scheduled. We left behind many people who couldn’t get to their destinations in Ohio because of the blizzard event that was just beginning slightly east of Indianapolis. We hit the ground to a balmy 20 degrees, with a high expected Saturday around 26. I hopped in my car and headed for the hotel. After checking in and getting a little dinner, I went to my first meeting. It went until 10 pm, and then I headed back to the hotel to cram one more time for my sermon the next morning. We lost an hour of sleep, which left me at about 5 hours for the night after getting about the same the night before. My voice was really scratchy (as lack of sleep seems to make my throat worse). But God was good and I was able to speak during the SS hour, and then preach with only a few cracks and scratches. Afterward, I spent time with the folks there, and then went to lunch with a couple of families. It was a warm group of people, and a really encouraging time.

I spent Monday and Tuesday meeting with different pastors and missions leaders around Indianapolis (a town I really found was nice…with plenty of Starbucks’ locations everywhere I went!). Tuesday I drove over to Richmond, where my parents are from, and met with the PCA pastor and missions leader there. Afterward, I had just enough time to drive past the old Wallace farm before heading to the airport. I haven’t seen it in about 15 years. It really looked different in that most of the barns were gone. The few buildings that remained were really dilapidated. But the house had some improvements from what I could tell from the road. It was a fun little walk down memory lane. Here are a few pictures I snapped: Farm-1, Farm-2, Farm-3

I got home from Indy at about 9 PM on Tuesday. Leslie had received her chemo treatment that morning, and the kids were beginning to display some behavioral indications that daddy had been gone too long. Needless to say, it’s not the kind of homecoming you see in the movies. Leslie was resting, and the two oldest were asleep. But the Munch was wide-awake and wiggling in her bed. I got a quick hug, and laid down the law that it was time to close our eyes and be quiet.

Wednesday I actually got the kids to school on time! They have been tardy this year more than I care to count. I zipped on into work and spent the day on a team with two others, assessing new missionaries. It is always a joy to be a part of that process, but it was especially exhausting this time with all that was going on before it. I got home around 6:30 or 7 and Mimi had dinner going, and the two oldest through their showers (to my relief). I took over and got through the evening, finally getting a few minutes to go back to the bedroom and talk to Leslie. The cumulative effects of chemo have really built up, and her platelet counts were only 82,000 this time (the lowest they have ever been). But the doc decided to go forward anyway, I think just so we can get to the end of this. We are all, especially Les, weary of it. By 10 I was downstairs beginning the process of playing catch for being gone too long. Many customers had many requests, and I think my Inbox had over 500 new messages. Needless to say, the past two nights have been very late ones.

On Thursday I didn’t go into the office, but stayed with Leslie and took her to get her pump removed and get the “wonderful bone shot” that causes her so much additional pain. But it is necessary to keep her from bleeding, and since she is having some of those issues, this shot and what it does is especially important. We kept Munchkin with us for the day and really enjoyed some time just with her. She made us laugh so much! It ended up being especially beautiful yesterday, so after getting the older two from school, we came home to play outside and enjoy creation. McGrooter is really improving with the football, both catching and receiving. Aggie spent the better part of that time with Miss Cindy. She is the socialite and would much rather visit and talk about girly things than play outside or get dirty.

Today, Leslie really wanted to make it to work. But this morning she didn’t have the strength. After I took the kids to school she thought she might get ready and go in for half a day. She tried, but by 11:00 realized she still didn’t have the strength, and still felt too crummy. But she was finally able to get ready and pick up the Munch from her school about 1.

I am home today, still trying to play catch-up. I lost another customer which is good for the workload, but bad for the checkbook. I will hopefully get done with all of this so I can switch over to our taxes and get those done. Oh, a wonderful time of the year!

Yes, this is more of a book than I (or you) ever wished. But it was good to get some of this out and be reminded of God’s goodness to us in the midst of a difficult time. And nothing reminds me more of His goodness in the moments of life, than laughter. I think it is one of His greatest gifts to us. So, in line with that I must share these two pictures with you. The first, I came across last night while trying to find a file. It involves everyone's favorite televangelist, Rod Parsley, and my good friend Van (and some very bad photo editing skills). The second is of my favorite Uncle Bob (he is the one on the left...in the back row), on what must have been his first date. ;-) He finally got over his fear of women by the time he met Aunt Fran, for which we were all thankful. She has managed to keep him out of major trouble as they protect our nation's freedom and put the finishing touches on raising their two children (who are strangely normal, and well-adjusted for having such a father!). Of course, neither is probably as scary as this photo.