Condition Update

I want to give you an update on how we are doing on our journey, especially for those of you who we don't see too often, and who live far away.

We are grateful for the cards, emails, calls and visits we receive on a regular basis. Your prayers and thoughts are a great encouragement to us. Our church has initiated a home cooked meals on wheels service for us for as long as we need it. We receive much love and care from our family, the
church and school community. We often wonder how people ever manage through trials without God and without fellow believers walking alongside.

My ability to speak is basically gone now. Even Lena is having trouble understanding my mumbling. I am also having more difficulty in breathing, especially on a full stomach, since I use stomach muscles to breathe. I use
a bipap machine at night now and sometimes during naps to help in breathing. It took me a while to get used to it, but I know that I need to use it now.

I can still eat almost everything by mouth, but I am very slow because chewing and swallowing is difficult for me. Lena has to feed me, because I can't use my hands anymore. I use a straw for all my drinking, yes even for coffee. The PEG tube is working well for me, and I use it every other day or
so, just to keep it open.

Transferring from lazyboy, to wheelchair, to commode, to the bed is getting very risky using my legs, so we are beginning to use a sling and hoyer lift. It is also getting hard on Lena's back to do all that heavy lifting, even though I lost 30 lbs. My hands are getting so weak that I am having trouble controlling my computer mouse and wheelchair joystick.

My biggest problem is that I have great difficulty sleeping and I am very restless through the night. I have a sleeping pill, but it is not helping that much. I might sleep a total of two hours per night for several months now. This is keeping Lena from getting her rest, so we have begun to schedule family members taking turns for the nights. Please pray that I may sleep at night.

Despite all my physical problems, I must confess that God has been faithful. I have His Word and the many comforting promises to lean on. I may trust His covenant faithfulness to never let me go. His providences are sufficient to my needs. His people are a daily encouragement to me. I pray for daily
submission to His way in my life, and that I might not dishonour His name in any way. Oh for a rich measure of the Holy Spirit to apply the words and works of Christ to my heart.

Jack.