PLEASE PRAY FOR JOEL AND CRISTY

JOEL

From margaret at leave it lay where Jesus flang it:

Yesterday, when I got home from work, Joel was cleaning the kitchen, frantically... his face looked white-hot... He hasn't been real well. Wednesday, I think it was, he fell on the sidewalk outside the house and was unable to get up. He has had extreme weakness, and has not felt well...

So, of course, I yelled at him to stop cleaning the damn kitchen.

He turned and said that he needed to clean --to get ready...

Ready for what? I ask as I leaned against the kitchen wall thinking --oh-oh... here it comes....

The doctor called back --when I told him everything, he didn't give me a choice --I am going in to the hospital for ten days for plasmapheresis. I have to get everything ready for you....

Plasmapheresis --kinda like dialysis, scrub the blood... for ten days....

Ohhhhhh.... my poor beloved....

Pray for Margaret, too, that God may give her strength, courage, and the peace that passes understanding to keep her mind and heart in Christ Jesus as she cares for Joel.

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servant Joel the help of your power, that his sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

CRISTY

Cristy and Liz are in Istanbul, Turkey, as Cristy awaits transplantation of her own bone marrow/stem cells with the hope of stopping the progression of the three auto-immune diseases from which she suffers - scleroderma, vasculitis, and ankylosing spondylitis.

From Liz at From Here to Istanbul:

After two very painful days of stem cell harvesting, Cristy now gets some down time before being admitted to the transplant unit next Monday for her three-week isolation period.

According to the doctor, on Monday [March 14] a port will be inserted in her jugular vein and on Tuesday the actual transplanting will begin. She’ll be receiving a chemo treatment – Endoxan – and an anti-rejection drug -- Antithymocyte Globulin – in the first few days to increase the potential for her body to accept the newly transplanted cells. Because the cells are her own, there is a much better chance that her body will accept them than if they had come from a donor. Then there will be a period of about 10-14 days for engraftment, to make sure the stem cells are integrating into her body the way they’re supposed to.

You may read Cristy's story at One of Our Own.

Almighty God our heavenly Father, graciously comfort your servant Cristy in her suffering, and bless the means made use of for her cure. Fill her heart with confidence that, though at times she may be afraid, she yet may put her trust in you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.