Monday, May 31, 2010

Home again

For the first time in many months, our whole family is under one roof again. What a blessing it is to renew fellowship around meals again, and to have precious family time together. We know these times are to be savoured as our children are growing up.

Andrea is learning the ropes of working within our ministry, and hopes to become a research assistant for Peter. There are so many hats to wear and responsibilities to chose from. By the time her summer (ahem, winter) break is over, she will have experienced cross training in many aspects of our work. We are blessed to have her on board.

Christopher goes from strength to strength. We are still praying for God to intervene and allow his levels to improve. He still stands at 40% function of his graft kidney, and we pray that this would increase as God wills.

Calvin's gymnastics training is intensifying as he prepares for Western Province qualifications, and Daniela is really enjoying taking art as a subject for High school. This involves theory lessons as well as practical work.

As a family we strive to keep Scripture as our standard for the education of our children. This is hard as we go against the current cultural mandate. I am still praying for help with our homeschooling, especially in the Science department. Thank you for your prayers that we would keep strong and stay the course.

We continue to be grateful, knowing you pray for us. May God bless you in all you do.

With love,

Lenora

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Once a week visits

Finally, we have made it to the 'once a week' Hospital visit category. Christopher is still testing positive to the 'BK virus', which immunosupressed patients are very susceptible to. This virus attacks the graft kidney, and the steroid dose needs to therefore be kept as low as possible. So the balancing act continues. The right amount of steroids are needed so that the body does not reject the donor kidney, but levels that are too high will prove to be a breeding ground for this virus.

Christopher still has the stent, which will need to be removed in a week or two. This has caused some Urinary Tract infections, which are being treated by antibiotics.

Apart from these few hick-ups, we are back on a road to a semblance of normality. Christopher is active in Scouts again, and is starting to step up his physical training as well.

We are all anticipating Andrea's arrival tomorrow. She will be such a help and encouragement to all of us, and I will appreciate having an extra driver again. Thank you for your continued prayers for Peter as he travels Stateside. He has been blessed with good fellowship and productive meetings, as well as Radio and TV ministry opportunities.

We are grateful to God for using you to encourage us. Many continued thanks,

Lenora and family