Taking one day at a time....

Here's the latest information on Jim:

The colonoscopy that was scheduled for Wednesday (after having already been rescheduled from Tuesday) finally happened on Thursday. Apparently during the procedure they found a "small, cancerous tumor" in his large intestine, and this cancer has metastasized to his liver, explaining the tumors they already found there. He was able to come home from the hospital yesterday, and now they're awaiting an appointment for surgery to put a port in his chest through which they can administer chemotherapy.

According to Elsa, besides feeling weak and dealing with the uncomfortableness of an enlarged liver, Jim's feeling okay right now. Their daughter, Karin, will arrive in town from Switzerland this evening to stay for a few days, and I think this visit will be a really good thing for all of them. The emotional support alone will be a great help to Elsa. The congregation can do a lot to comfort and to ease the burden of daily tasks like cooking and cleaning, but other people, even close friends and fellow Christians, can't provide the support that family can.

The rest of us are suffering through this in our own ways. Jim means a lot to a lot of people, and to many here he fills the role of a spiritual mentor and father figure. Despite our own personal difficulties, though, I think we all realize that this is much more painful for Elsa and, obviously, Jim. We're all trying to do whatever we can to help out. I've known since I arrived that this congregation is like a family, and I'm seeing that even more so now.

In much less significant news, the repairman finally came on Thursday to fix my water heater. Between the letter that I wrote on Tuesday and a few phone calls from Elsa on Wednesday, things got moving much faster. Thursday evening, though, I noticed that the heater was dripping from several places. Yesterday I left a message for the repairman, but I don't expect to hear from him until Monday. At least the heater isn't making the horrible noises it was making before.

Thank you for your prayers for Jim as well as for the rest of us here. Please keep praying. Prayer really is powerful, and I know God is listening.