The End of October

We've come to the end of October. Thanks for your prayers this month!

Our family celebrated Christmas this last weekend, and it was wonderful! We actually took the top of the tree that fell on our house the week before, and used it for our Christmas Tree. Josiah had to work that morning, so we had "Christmas Morning" in the afternoon, and it was a wonderful family time. Then we had The Big Breakfast, which is part of our tradition, and we invited teenage friends with us to go play Frisbee Golf at the Highways Department buildings near the capitol building. And rather than having a big turkey dinner, we had a Mediterranean Pizza for dinner.

Corrie leaves for Germany on Monday. Yikes. And it's on a one-way ticket. Yikes again! She believes that Germany is where God is calling her, and she's holding out for a job (and a work visa) over there; please pray to that end: we don't want her to be gone, but if she's hearing God say this, we want to support her in it! If you'd like to be on her monthly mailing list, you can email her at angelschild77@hotmail.com.

I need to either fly to California and drive a vehicle back, or pay to have it delivered. Looking for wisdom here. This would not replace another trip later, of course. Sigh. I'm getting to meet (by phone) some of Charlie's ("Chuck" as he was known in California) friends in California. Neat folks.

Sue's mom is back home; I said that last time, didn't I? She has 24/7 in-home care, which means we're facing some substantial financial mountains, though we have confidence that God has a plan for that. There are regular visits to the doctors, of course. Please pray for relationships: between Sue, her mother, and the caregivers. As you might imagine, the issues there are significant enough that tension wants to creep in.

We finally got the tree cut off the stump: it's bigger than my dad's pro-grade chainsaw. We're still cutting it up. We need folks to help work on the tree, and we need the use of a pretty hefty chipper for the limbs. We think we have a home for the firewood, but if you know someone who may want some of the compost from the chipper, please let us know.

Sue & I are stretched pretty thin. Frankly, we have a lot to cope with. We're trying to let go of most everything else and focus on our family right now: that and work, and not much else. Your prayers are the difference between coping and not coping. Thank you!

The pace is picking up again

The pace is picking up again, which stretches us again.

Sue’s mom improved enough in the past week that the doctor released her to go home. So she’s at home now, with 24-hour a day in-home care. It’s costly, but a long-term care facility isn’t really an option in her mind. It seems that the move has stirred up a fair bit of gossip, most of which targets Sue. That’s hard, so we pray for Sue’s strength and for the end of the gossip.

Regarding Charlie’s estate, things are coming to a head. We’ve been counting on help from his friends in California, which isn’t working out nearly as well as we wanted. One or both of us will probably have to travel to LA shortly; since I have the vacation time, it’ll probably be me. We’re finding the Pasadena police to be very helpful, though there are some other organizations to be far less helpful. We’re praying for advocates at the mini-storage and at the impound lot where his car is. Please also pray for our finances: this is cleaning us out fast!

The tree in our back yard is on the ground; we’re putting in what time we can every day to cut it into firewood lengths (that seems the best way to dispose of it: give away the firewood), and pile up the branches. We’ve put in about 50 hours (we’re keeping track) and I’m thinking we’re halfway done. The (small) hole in the roof is fixed; we’re working on fence and gutters. And we have yet to finalize arrangements with the insurance company.

Overall, our spirits are doing well, though things go up and down in waves. Right now, TJ is feeling the heat the most; we’re praying for strength in her.

We’re celebrating Christmas early this year: this weekend. Corrie will be heading back to Germany (on a one-way ticket L) shortly, and we wanted to share the holiday with her. So we took a piece of the tree from the roof, mounted it in a chunk of firewood, and we’re calling it our “Christmas tree”. I refer to it also as our “Lemonade tree” (“When life gives you lemons…”).

Thanks for your prayers!

Sore Muscles

We’ve gotten the major portion of the tree off of the house. Dang, that’s been a lot of work. My daughter Corrie (from Germany) described it this way:

We (that is, my family and anyone else who's come over to help) have put most of today, and yesterday, and the day before, into clearing up the yard and getting rid of excess, or dangerously unstable, branches and getting rained on. Afterwards, we were obliged to help ourselves to a pint of ice cream (hey, we deserved it!), pizza, and some stout... since American beer is terrible.

We had some interesting things happen. First, it appears that the damage to the house is limited mostly to a busted gutter and one or two broken shingles. We had just put a layer of plywood on the roof before re-roofing, and that probably kept the tree out of Corrie’s bed. We’re checking for hidden damage, but so far, it’s encouraging.

Second, while we were cutting the tree down, my friend Bill slipped and wrenched his back pretty badly. He tried to keep working (he’s like that) and it seemed to me that it got worse, to the point that he couldn’t bend over to pick up his chainsaw, and if he could, he couldn’t have used it. Meanwhile SteveO and I were telling stories about the good things God has been doing. So we grab Bill and pray for his back.

As we said “Amen,” I asked him how his back felt. He said, “It’s fine,” bent over and picked up his chainsaw and went back to work. The pain was completely gone, and stayed gone the rest of the day. Yay God!

We’re also thankful for God’s protection. Two of the very large logs basically exploded as I touched the chainsaw to them; one missed my foot by an inch. We had been working under those giants for a few days, climbing them to get at limbs (and just ‘cuz it’s fun); I guess they were ready to come down any minute. Sure glad they didn’t until we cut them back from the roof and cleared out space underneath.

Sue’s mom is getting stronger in the convalescent home, but she hasn’t been convalescing as well as Medicare thinks she should, so they want to discharge her tomorrow. Janet has improved (in our opinion) quite a lot in the last couple of days. We attribute it to getting her off of some pretty strong drugs, to getting her hearing aids fixed (I was amazed: the audiologist came to the home to fix the aids!), and perhaps to a realization that she needs to improve if she’s going to stay there.

Sue has asked for a re-evaluation in light of these changes. We’re praying for a better evaluation, as Janet clearly can’t go back home by herself right now. So on the one hand, we’re praying for her to stay in the home, and on the other hand, we’re trying to plan for her discharge.

I’m afraid that Charlie’s estate has suffered from a lack of attention in all this. Sue & I were trying to plan for some of the more urgent aspects last night on our date night. We’re going to need people down there – Charlie’s friends whom we don’t know – to help with some of this.

And while you’re praying, please pray for our rest, including our sleep. Neither of us is sleeping as we need to; I’ve gotten 4 hours a night recently, and it doesn’t seem to be enough. I’m not quite falling asleep at work. On the good side, however, we’re feeling like (mostly) we’re handling the stress better than we were a week or three ago. Again, thanks for your prayers.

Christmas is this weekend, before Corrie flies back to Germany. We’ve loved having her here, and we don’t know when she’s coming back: she’s on a one-way ticket this time. Sigh.

What else can happen?

That sounds a little dramatic, and I guess we feel like we’re in a soap opera. We had a windstorm today. We have a 40’ plum tree in our back yard (with our treehouse in it L) that’s leaning from the last storm. We expected it to go down, but it’s aimed at the garden, and this is October, so nothing serious is going to happen.

But no! The neighbor had a perfectly healthy 100’ tall tree in their back yard. We actually hated that tree: every spring, it would drip weird sap on Sue’s wildflower garden and kill half the plants there. Well, our plum tree stayed up (it’s leaning a little more), but their big tall tree landed on top of our house. It tore the gutter off, and the top was beyond the peak of the roof (the brand new roof! We just replaced it last month!).

It’s kinda weird, though. The damage is really pretty minimal, which is hard to explain. The new roof may have prevented more damage (it included a half inch of plywood under the new shingles), but mostly we figure, this shot mostly missed us. Scared us though.

Sue’s mom is weaker, but with her hearing aids working, she’s able to communicate better, and her attitude is perking up. She’s still not eating, so she’s really weak. She’s really grieving over Charlie. I don’t even really know how to ask you to pray. Just pray, please.

Charlie’s estate is the toughest to cope with, and that’s probably because I’m really not used to being completely ignorant of how to deal with something, and we are here. We think we have a plan of attack, but we could really use prayer for both wisdom and encouragement. It’s easy – frighteningly easy – to be overwhelmed in this.

And Josiah has just announced that he wants to go to Australia on a school program. Next month. For ten weeks. Sheesh.

And please rejoice with us that the fallen tree did so little damage. That is so cool.

Tuesday Update

It's been a few days since I updated this; it's been a busy couple of days. I won't bore you with all the details, though I'm amazed at how many there are.

We have three categories of issues we're working on dealing with. (I'm a teacher; I can break anything down to three points!)

1) Helping Sue's Mom, who's still in the convalescent home, but is not improving like we want her to.

2) Dealing with Charlie's death; he had no will, and he lived and died in California, and we're completely ignorant, so this is both frighteningly expensive and stunningly complicated.

3) The care and feeding of our own souls, both individually, as a couple and the family we lead. Our daughter from Germany is visiting, so it's wonderful and complicated; our own souls are being stretched, so it's wonderful that we're growing, but it's painful to grow, and our marriage relationship is having to carry more weight than ever before.

I'm afraid that a whole lot of outside duties and relationships and people and ideas are having to fall by the wayside as we concentrate our limited energies on these three. We miss our old church, but we're glad to not have those responsibilities on us right now.

Thanks so much for your prayers. We need wisdom to identify the priority tasks, courage to let the lower priorities slide, compassion where it is called for, boldness where that is required, and wisdom to administrate people, money and tasks. Oh, and we want to grow as much as we can in this season: we want to thrive, to come out stronger and wiser and kinder, not just survive. Your prayers help us get there! Thank you!

Learning about cremation

I haven’t updated things for a couple of days; it’s been a little hectic. Sue, of course, is grieving. I hope it isn’t irreverent to say this, but it’s cool to watch the steel developing in her spirit as she grieves. She’s such an incredible lady! She says she’s beginning to feel things again.

We’re learning about cremation services (Charlie asked to be cremated), about the legal system in California, and about grief: more, actually, than we ever wanted to know. I ran into some people who are really helpful and sincere, and some others that could make a killing selling used cars! Dang!

We’re getting to deal with all this because the relative that was going to be handling all of that has turned it over to us. We’re completely overwhelmed, but the reality is that it does make sense for us to take the lead in this. Sigh. We're meeting with him tonight to swap information and strategies.

Grandma Janet has her ears back: her hearing aids have been fixed and she can communicate with the rest of the world again; hoping to visit her again tonight. Sue got to spend some extended time with her yesterday; wheeled her down to the in-facility salon to get her hair done. She looks tired

Thanks again for keeping us in your prayers. We've heard - email, phone, replies on this blog - from many folks who are praying for us. We always share those notes, and we're thankful for every prayer. Thank you.

Charlie's Gone

OK, I'm going to say it again: Thank you so much for your prayers.

We got word yesterday at about 6:00 that Sue's brother had just died. We were not expecting it so soon; though we were preparing ourselves for the news, it was still a blow to Sue. He died quietly, just kind of slowed down on his breathing until he stopped altogether.

So we went to church to worship. It was an excellent choice, actually. A couple of folks prayed for Sue while she was worshiping (thanks guys!). Afterwards, we went to Mother Joseph's to tell Sue's mom. That was hard, and not just because her hearing aids were out for repair; we wept together for a while. Then we went home and wept for a while.

Thanks for your prayers, particularly for Sue. She's responding really well, but it's still tough for her. And we (mostly spelled "she") still needs to stay involved in planning for Janet's recovery. The nursing staff is saying, "We don't think she's going back to her house this time." That's not going to settle with her, and she's already taking a number of hits.

We need strength; we're getting it, thanks to your prayers, but we still need it. We need direction, we need wisdom, and maybe most of all, we need to see things from God's perspective. And Janet needs grace, needs clarity to see her options and choose wisely, and to trust God well for those options. Thanks for supporting us!

Sue and Anxiety/Stress

OK, this is cool. I wanted to hesitate on reporting it until it had at least a little time to be seen. Sue's anxiety - that heart-pounding, mind-numbing stuff that paralyzes - suddenly vanished about 2:40 on Sunday afternoon. It's real. Things have not let up, but her peace, while tempered by the surroundings, is real. Yay God! That's exactly what we've been praying for.

Her part of the decision about Charlie was not overwhelming. She says, "That's not my decision; I'm just giving voice to his own decision." She wept for a few hours, and then we played Balderdash as a family. (You haven't played Balderdash until you've played it with my family! ROFL!) Very comforting!

Sue is still stunningly weak. A week without eating and hardly sleeping does that. She's catching up.

Mike is going to look into getting set up as Conservator for Charlie. That means he'll be the point man on Charlie's situation, interacting with doctors, banks, police, etc. Mike is great.

My mom ("The Mom Who Rocks") has been staying in touch with Sue's mom. Her hearing aids have failed, so she's fiddling with that. Yesterday, Janet said, "You know, today's the first day I really haven't felt well."

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Change in Direction

I just got word. They're pulling the plug on Charlie. Probably won't be quick.

Ouch.

Mike is back in town

Mike is back from LA. He didn't find all that he was looking for, though he did "talk with" Charlie a couple of times. He doesn't see change in Charlie, though the doctors are saying "some progress" over "the past several days."

It seems that Charlie wasn't the best record-keeper. (Who among us is?). It's hard to find all the records when we don't know even where to look. Mike is a good detective, but there's only so much he can do.

Sue saw the doctor today; Doctor says "you need to eat" and that's why she's so weary she can't do anything; she hasn't eaten for five days.

Still praying for wisdom, direction, that kind of stuff.

Perspective

Uh... I've probably not been clear about the perspective question.

Yes, this is a tough season for us. Yes, we're terrifically concerned about the people around us that are (or should be) in the hospital. Yes, we hurt, both for them and for ourselves.

But we're aware that God is up to something. While He's got some things that we really want Him to do in Janet's health, in Dayton's health, in Charlie's health. But in addition to that, He's using those circumstances to forge something in us. We don't like the process, but we're looking forward to what (or "whatever") it is that He's building in us.

So we're tired, we're hurting, but we're not dying! Well, yes, we're dying, but we're working on that. We're just not dying. If that makes any sense at all.

Again, thanks so very much for your prayers!

Sunday Sunday

Well, it's complicated. Sue is going to see the doctor tomorrow about the 'flu or about her stress and symptoms thereof.

We haven't heard from Mike in Southern California with news about Charlie and his stroke. Awaiting a reply to voice mail.

Grandma Janet is stabilizing, but she still doesn't understand why Sue isn't there taking care of her. She does appreciate fresh fruit, though.

I just had a conversation with a good friend who was lying on his couch, literally listening to his lungs fill up with his own blood, determined that either God was going to heal him or take him home. The problem is that after I talked with him for 20 minutes or so (trying to persuade him that a hospital was a good idea), he began to make sense.

I don't need lunacy like this. Thanks so much for your prayers!

Saturday Morning

Because of our flu, Sue & I haven't visited Janet for two days, and Janet's hearing doesn't let her use the telephone, so we've been out of touch. My mom (Elsa; she rocks!) has been by to visit.

Janet was up and sitting, and the two grandma's shared an apple and conversation. Janet asked about Charlie (see the last post for that info). The interesting thing was that she had no real memory of the past week, during which she was transfered from the hospital to the convalescence center. She's having very vivid dreams that are disturbing.

I had asked for prayer for Janet and her beligerance in conversation with the medical staff. It appears that we're seeing marked improvement there.

We're also seeing real improvement in Sue's coping capacity. It was a tough night, but in the end she got some good sleep. Coping with demanding and stressful circumstances have never been Sue's strong points, frankly. She's one of the most caring individuals I've ever known, and because she cares so fiercely, when people she loves are hurting, it hurts her a lot too. How do you pray for that? "God make her care less?" I don't think so. God's giving her some strategies on the subject, in the realm of not taking responsibility for things that she can't control, and He's giving her a couple of specific places to give her attention in this growing season. I'll let her tell those stories when she's ready.

Suffice it to say that your prayers are having the desired effect: God is changing stuff in answer to your prayers (and ours). We know we're facing an uphill battle, but those are the ones with the treasures at the top. Thanks for helping us up the hill! You are wonderful!

Friday Night

There's actually a fair bit of new news now. First, the 'flu is really clobbering Sue, and it's lowering her defenses to the stress and/or anxiety of the whole picture. We're feeling like in the midst of all the crud, there's a breakthrough to be had for her.

Mike is in LA, and his job there is rapidly coming to resemble that of a private eye, and he's really accomplished a lot in his first hours there. He's seen Charlie (who is known as "Chuck" in California) and met with his doctor and with his social worker. Charlie is not looking good. The doctors are saying he's "showing some improvement" over the past couple of days, but he's not looking real good now. He made some noises, and it may have been intended to be speech, but it wasn't recognizable. He can move his right arm around, but that doesn't mean he can use it productively.

Guys, this is scary for Sue & me. This is her brother, my brother-in-law. This is a pretty ugly situation, scary, unfamiliar, dark, unknown. We don't know what to do with this, and with all the sickness in our house (Sue & me with the 'flu, two girls w/ wisdom teeth, and Sue's stress), and the challenges surrounding Sue's mom (Sue is the front line on this one), it's hard for us to press forward into Charlie's situation. I'm not saying we're discouraged, though we skirt the edges of it, and have to fight it off; it's more that we just don't have the resources to go very far into this. I sure am thankful for mike.

Mike also got permission from the police to get into Charlie's car, to get his possessions out of it. The car can't be driven now, though the issue is only a busted up tire and rim; that's probably not for this trip. He found Charlie's wallet and an address book there, both of which have clues for the next phase.

The biggest issue so far is that nobody has the legal right to do anything for Charlie. He has no wife nor kids; nobody has power of attorney, and therefore, there are several things that he must do himself, except he can't. Decisions about his medical care, about where he goes when the hospital has done all they can, about getting the car, about banking things, a storage facilty, and no doubt dozens of other things.

Please pray for clear direction for Mike, for encouragement for the whole family (there's more I'm not saying), for favor with government and medical officials. Please also pray for Charlie's friends: they're remarkably helpful, particularly Ken. Please also pray for wisdom to see the real lessons behind all the circumstances.

You guys rock. thanks!

Mike is in LA

Well, Sue's nephew (and Charlie's nephew) Mike is now in LA; he's just landed, so we don't have any news yet, and probably won't have any until well into tomorrow. He left in a hurry, so there's a lot of information-shuffling that needs to go on.

I've been talking with people in the Pasadena Police Department, who seemed for a while to have lost the records on Charlie's accident and his car, but they eventually found that information, and if Mike's cell phone voice mail works as advertised, then he'll have loads of names and phone numbers to sift through, including the phone number of a sympathetic lieutenant in in the PPD Traffic department.

Sue, meantime, is in the full throes of both the flu and the stress from many of her favorite people being in hospitals across the west coast. She is (and has been) one of my heroes, but she's having a rough go on this. I can tell you, I'm not sure I'd do as well as she, were our roles reversed. She rocks!

Please continue to pray for Sue, for her capacity to walk in God's strength, and to see from His perspective, for clear direction, and for quick healing from this stinkin' flu bug !! Please pray for Sue's mom, Janet, for good and healthy communications with both family and the facility she's in, and for the right progress in her recovery. I'm not even sure how to ask you to pray for Charlie; just please pray for him. If you have some strong impressions, please let me know. Please pray for Corrie & TJ who are (or will be by tomorrow) recovering from wisdom teeth surgery.

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Update on Grandma Janet

Not much news on Charlie today; Mike heads down to LA today to be eyes and ears for us, and to be our face to him. Hope to hear more soon. We're really concerned about Charlie. We're not used to having someone this sick, this alone, this far away.

Grandma Janet is the local excitement. The convalescent home called today; she's being "belligerent". She says, "I won't tell you another thing unless Susan is here." Sigh. I guess those are the perks for making it to 91, though it's "not a good sign." She still wants to be in her own house. She hasn't said it, but I think she just doesn't want to have to be 91 years old in her own house.

Sue is coping with overwhelmedness. One daughter is recovering from her wisdom teeth operation; the other is recovering from the flu and will be getting her wisdom teeth out on Friday. Sue herself is now fighting the flu and she hasn't slept more than a token amount for the past couple of nights. Me too. This is getting a little bit out of hand.

I had a long talk with a friend recently. No, we're not the only ones going through a lot of grief right now, and no, this isn't an indication that we're screwing up our lives or our choices. This is just what's going on right now. Ask for prayer.

Oh, wait. That's what we're doing. That's what this website is about (www.dmclain.com). I'm re-activating a few of the email addresses (the ones that I recognize) so that when we post fresh info on the site, you should get a copy in your email, provided I did it right. You can always unsubscribe (see the bottom of the email).

But thanks for praying for us. You're great! Thanks!

Update from

Boy, it's hard getting information out of a southern California.

Charlie is still slowly making improvements. He's gone from being pretty well completely out of it to following instructions, answering simple questions. He's even got some movement on his left side, which was thought to be paralyzed.

Mike (Charlie & Sue's nephew) is going down to LA on Thursday; he'll be the family's eyes on how Charlie's doing, and he'll be the family to Charlie.

A decision has been made to go ahead and give Charlie the feeding tube on Wednesday, though there's a chance that a neurologist could overrule that if he believes Charlie can't recover well. Charlie has said he doesn't want to be on tubes and wires.

Can you hear the sigh of relief from our house?

Thanks for praying!!

Tuesday Update

First, thanks for your prayers, for us, for Sue's mom, for her brother, and for the overall circumstances.

Sue's mom is hurting, but we can identify most of those things. There are some little things (the hospital lost her clothes) and some bigger ones (something - meds, age, infection? - is making her thinking unclear). And she's grieving for Charlie.

Sue's brother, Charlie, is in real trouble. He's been in the hospital for 8 days, and he's progressed to the point where he can mumble his name. They've been feeding him through a tube in his nose, but it's time to change that. They were planning to insert a feeding tube directly into his stomach, but they realized that this crosses some sort of boundary, and they need to make a decision: do we go to extreme measures to keep him alive, or do they let him go.

Sue & I are having a real hard time knowing how to cope with this, and of course, it's hitting Sue hardest. How do we respond? What can we do to help? So we pray. We follow as much path as we can see, and we work hard to keep our eyes where they belong.

Thanks so much for your prayers.

Praying for Clarity

We've been asking for clearer communication, and we're getting it. Charlie's doctor in LA called Sue personally to give her the strait scoop. The situation is not pretty, but we're finding ourselves encouraged in the whole conversation: bleakness is fading away and hopefulness is replacing it, though it's going to be a tough fight.

Apparently there are a couple of different kinds of strokes; Charlie has had the kind that appears to be less debilitating. He is awake (but groggy), he's becoming more alert, and he's working on communicating with the medical staff, though the damage is severe enough to make that difficult. Half of his body is recuperating faster than the other half (I can't remember which right now). Please pray for solid, remarkable, and quick recovery. If nothing else, Charlie needs to make peace with God.

Unusually, we are having difficulty connecting with Mike who is flying to LA. He may be mid-travels. He'll be in the thickest part of this; we're praying for clarity, compassion, and really smooth connections.

Please pray for clarity for Janet, Sue's mom, as well. The combination of her drugs and her infection and maybe her age have made for a tenuous distinction between reality and fantasy. That needs to clear up in order to deal with health issues more directly.

Interestingly, I have been talking with a number of otherwise peaceable young ladies who have found themselves angry about this whole situation, and have taken a spiritually pugnacious stance in prayer. (I love it! I'm very thankful!) More interesting, Sue & are hearing some particular strategic prayer direction in some surprising directions. We're hoping to have some time this evening - after all the connecting and discussing and communicating to - go after the specific directions God has given us.

One word of correction: in my daughter's vision, the phrase "I'm on it!" from God was apparently not etched in a golden ticket; it was in the 60% cacao dark chocolate itself (the details were in the vision); the golden ticket was someone's interpretation. We must be precise with revelation, mustn't we?

Again, thanks for your prayers!!

A New Hope

First and foremost, thanks for your prayers! We have updates, and they're good.

* Sue's mom is out of the hospital. She's in a convalescent home, which means that she's there to convalesce. She's not the least bit strong. She's a little confused, but her history gives us reason to question whether some of her drugs (antibiotics?) are doing that.

* We did break the news about Charlie's stroke/condition to Sue's mom. There were some complications, mostly because we needed to tell her at about the same time she moved out of the hospital, and the confusion made for some distractions. We were afraid she'd freak, but she didn't. She asked us to leave the room while she wept for a while (IMHO: the best possible response); when we came back, she asked us to pray with her for him (Wow!) Thanks for your prayers!

* We have (well, Sue has) finally heard from the hospital in Pasadena. She "just happened" to get a nurse that was remarkably helpful, and the nurse had good news. Charlie is no longer described as "nonresponsive." Now they're saying, "He's hard to rouse," which means that he can be roused and is in fact being roused. He's being fed by a tube, which means that he is being fed! We consider this hopeful. We're praying for a miraculous recovery!

* Sue is not going to travel to California; her mom (and others) need her here. Her nephew (and Charlie's nephew) Mike will be traveling to Pasadena/LA. We're praying for clean arrangements, favor with the hospital, the police, and whomever.... One prayer already answered: we know a place where he can stay; it turns out the hospital has a hostel-type thing right next to the hospital where he can stay.

Thanks again for your prayers. They're making a difference!