Winter Surf

Yesterday I had the priviledge of sharing with Lea our 43rd wedding anniversary. I took her out to dinner at an oceanside restaurant here in Kailua-Kona, which is a local favorite location for watching the famous Kona sunset. The surf was up quite a bit above normal, and was a joy to experience. In fact, I took a little video clip of the raging surf and sent it back to friends and family in the midwest, where temperatures have been well below freezing for several days now. I’ve been getting hate email ever since. 🙂

God’s creation is just SO amazing when you take time to pause and take it in. I have spent quite a bit of time in recent months reflecting on the joyful relationship Lea and I have shared over the years, and find myself thanking her for all she has been to me, and thanking God for putting her in my life. She inspired me to try to capture in writing how important our relationship with God has been in our marriage, raising our children, and ministering to others. That inspiration was very evident in the Updates I sent from Hartford.

Many readers have suggested that body of work be collected into book form, and I continue to work on “the Hartford Letters” when I have some spare time (usually when Lea is sleeping). I have already completed the draft of the first two volumes, and am now working on the final volume of the set. The first two volumes, of course, were already written. The first is a 200-page collection of emails my family sent out alerting family and friends to Lea’s sudden illness, and it includes the updates “I” wrote during the 180 days we were in the hospital. You’ll also find them posted here on this website.

Volume two is a 300-page collection of the emails I received from friends, family, and folks we have never met who were forwarded the updates, and often forwarded on to others they knew would benefit from reading them. Many of those emails contained wonderful testimony that uplifted me, and, I am absolutely certain, will be spiritually inspiring for readers of that volume. They, too, will appear here eventually.

The third volume is going to be lessons learned from the experience, my personal philosophy and my relationship with God. I’m planning chapters on my youth, Lea’s childhood (If I can get her out of the drug-induced fog to write it), and our marriage. I think those chapters will prepare the reader to better understand how my relationship with Lea developed as the catalyst for building my adult relationship with God.

I pray continually that the Lord will lead me to write the message He would have me deliver. I also wasnt to dedicate a portion of any profits from the sale of this book to Living Stones Church, which was so supportive during our time in Hartford. How it would be marketed, and who would publish it, is yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, we continue in prayer daily seeking direction from God; who, what, when, where, and sometimes how. We will probably return to Noblesville from Hawaii as soon as she is permitted/able to travel, probably sometime in late March or early April. We are also in prayer trying to determine whether we should return to Hartford CT to get her stomach closed up, and also, whether we should get her stomach closed up first, or get her knee replaced so she can walk first. That is all unknown at this point in time.

Believe it or not, there seems to be some question whether insurance will pay for her stomach-closing surgery if we insist on going back to Hartford Hospital. It is considered somewhat “elective,” because the insurance company believes there are qualified surgeons in Indiana who could perform the operations needed. We must get this surgery done, and I don’t suppose it really matters where we have it done, although Dr Mah knows the case very well, and would probably be the most qualified.

So, Lea is on disability now, having been fired by her employer after a year of sick leave. I am currently not working since I am focused on taking care of her, our COBRA insurance ends this December, and I don’t think we have enough time to get both of her needed surgeries completed before our insurance coverage runs out. So, some of the questions we are pondering (and praying about) include which surgery should come first, realizing that the second surgery may never happen.

If she doesn’t get the abdominal surgery, she can never drive, or do any activity that might expose her to risk of rupturing the very thin skin covering over her intestines. If we don’t get her knee replaced, she will be wheelchair bound from now on, as the knee has deteriorated beyond the point of stability. We have placed this in the Lord’s hands, and know that He will provide the solution in His time.

Meanwhile, we are at my son, Link’s, home in Kailua-Kona Hawai’i, and we have our cell phones on all the time for friends and family can reach us. Keep in mind that we may be several time zones behind those in the U.S. mainland time zones; (four hours Central, five hours Eastern). So, we’d prefer afternoon or evening calls (your time) to early morning (middle of the night here) calls.   : -)

Thank you for your comments and support. May God bless and keep you. Here’s shot of Lea at dinner last night. Glory to God!