Friday, the 25th

What an amazingly awesome God we serve! 

Clem's surgery was a wonderful surprise. Not only was it successful, it was completed without a skin graft from Clem's right side. The wound had closed up enough and his skin was pliable enough for the surgeon to stitch it together with the skin around the opening. After three days I am told that I can remove the gauze from the area and leave it to breathe and to heal. We still won't be able to get it wet, but in a week when they look at it we may be able to wash it during a shower. This is really exciting stuff, folks. We never even dreamed that closing the wound could be possible without the skin graft. God is so gracious to spare Clem additional pain from the area where they would have had to harvest the skin. Clem's Mom and Dad and I were so relieved and grateful for God's grace. Many thanks for your prayers that reached God in answer to your petitions. Can't wait to see what God has in store for us next.

We arrived home Thursday afternoon about 4 o' clock. It was pretty hectic, but Clem was so excited to be home that is was worth it. A very good neighbor of ours had a spaghetti supper ready for our evening meal; Clem's Dad adjusted Clem's bed to his liking, we got the shower bench leveled out, the on-call home health nurse did everything necessary to set us up for care over the next month, Clem got a shower and we finally got to bed. Clem slept very well, only got up once. It's amazing that he didn't have any unusual pain. I had an ear open for any problems, so I slept lightly, but I did get some sleep. Naturally, we have a lot of adjustments to make as a family, but Clem's first night home turned out well.

Today, with the sleeting rain and overcast sky, was a somewhat quiet day. A home health nurse came to check out Clem and give him his shot this morning. I buzzed around the house cleaning here and there, lining out Clem's medicines for the next week; the medical supply came and switched out Clem's air mattress for a regular one and delivered a new wheel chair. The other chair's breaks were not sticking well enough, so for safety sake I insisted we get another. This one is smaller and fits through our doorways better. I also ordered a thick cushion for the seat and Clem is much more comfortable because of it. The insurance man came so we could settle out on the motorcycle (it was totaled) and our last visitor was another home health nurse for another shot (two a day for up to 7 days--blood thinner) and to test his blood levels. Dinner was simple, but Clem's taste buds are on the fritz so a lot of the things that he would normally eat taste yucky to him now. Lots of phone calls and a short visit from a neighbor filled out our day. That's how Clem's first full day at home was and it was nice to do mostly normal activities under extraordinary circumstances.

Daily, Clem and I pray for God to give us strength and He pours out all that we need. Your prayers have lifted us up on a cushion of God's grace and we are so grateful. Please continuing praying in faith, not only for our needs, but for everyone that you love and even for your enemies. Keep us posted on how we can pray for your needs. It would be as much a blessing to us as your prayers have been to us. All our love, DV & CV