Julia Is Doing Well . . . Considering

At 7:30 AM Julia was taken to surgery. The doctors amputated her left leg well above the knee. Her surgeon said the procedure had no unexpected complications and that she should recover nicely. I stopped by to see her this evening. She was conscious and very uncomfortable due to the pain. They want her to be still which is difficult given the intensity of her pain. Medication was on the way as I left. Please, pray that she will recover without any infection and that the pain would subside quickly. She will face some substantial adjustments which would be daunting to a person half her age. Her family is supporting her very well which should help greatly. She loves to sing, so our church will get a group together as soon as possible to help her praise the Lord.

Nathan has his appointment tomorrow concerning his scoliosis. His back is tilted 20 degrees out of line. It is at that point that doctors seek to take corrective action. We do not know what to expect from the appointment, so we simply ask for your prayers. On our way home, Nathan and I hope to visit with Richard. He is a friend from Salinas whom we have not seen in three or four years. He knows the Lord, but has been facing some health battles. We hope to be an encouragement to him.

We also have word that the school teacher who has been in Florida helping her elderly mother will be returning to the island at the end of October. I look forward to having her back in the classroom, but another job already awaits me. Our math teacher has resigned, so I will need to fill in that gap for the foreseeable future. We also have a pile of paperwork to do for varying government agencies. It seems that our office building was never properly registered in the church's name (in 1997). The lawyer or someone dropped the ball. Once that is straightened out there is the matter of a tax lien to resolve. Our tax exempt status should eliminate the debt, but pray that this will indeed be done and quickly. Then we must secure a new occupancy permit. At the same time we are being required to change our electric meter since the electric service is set for an industrial application far above the voltage we require. This involves digging a trench, building a cement column at the corner of the property, making the connection with our current system, and securing the electric company's assistance in shutting down and resuming the electrical service at a time convenient to us. Each of these things is time consuming, patience draining, and some facets are quite expensive. I don't think anyone will hear me complain of boredom any time soon. In fact, I would love to be bored for a while. :o)

Thank you so very much for praying. You are our lifeline. Isn't it wonderful to rest in the confidence that God is truly in control!