The last 24

I'm grabbing a quick minute before the campus open house to post about the last 24 hours. I managed to get dorm treat made, instructions passed around, our new boy moved in and hugs given out before heading to the hospital. Renata was in a comfortable bed in a room for three and the nursing staff found me a fold-out lawn chair so I could sleep next to her bed. We watched the highlights of the Olympics but were both tired so decided to try to sleep, knowing it would be a long night. I put my Ipod in, grabbed my Bible and fell asleep comforted by the words of the Lord from Ps 78 "We will tell the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power and the wonders he has done... so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands." These were good words for me - to remind me that God is constantly in the business of doing amazing things and when we lift up our eyes from the difficult or seemingly impossible situation at hand, we will see his sovereignty at work. And this is what is so important to talk about with our kids - all the amazing things God has done. Who can count them?? If we don't talk about these things, we will forget quickly and become discouraged or bitter. And I'm definitely not interested in going down that road!

We were up a lot through the night as the nurses checked on her and the other patients plus refilled her IV bottle. She didn't feel any better this morning before I left so I spent time with the nurse coming up with a different plan. Renata is now at another hospital, in line to see a new doc who hopefully will have a second opinion and other options for us to try. I was quite exhausted but we had dorm meeting at Chandler so I stayed up for that and another meeting at lunch. I crashed hard this afternoon but managed to get up on time to sell at the jr class table. Tonight is open house so the campus is packed with parents, students and other community members. We are prepared to feed 750 and then have dorms and classrooms open for people to peruse through.

A teacher who knows Renata's family is prepared to spend tonight at the hospital, if need be, which is good since I have jr class responsibilities tomorrow morning. I also haven't been around much in the dorm lately and feel badly for the other new students who are always surprised when they see me!! Thankfully Tim is doing well on his own with our crew of 12.

I must head out and greet folks as they arrive. I love the open house experience - I guess I'm just a partier at heart :) Please continue to pray for Renata and the new doctor who is treating her case. We need a miracle and we know the God of miracles!