Graduation Day!
Dan graduated today from radiation, got the certificate for outstanding courage and cooperation under radiation. We are thankful to God that his skin is still whole. His energy level is fairly good. We see the oncologist in the morning, Friday, 9:30 for blood work, and chest x-ray. May 23, Dan is to have an MRI as the final check to see if he is truly in shape to go to Romania.
God heard your prayers, answered your pleas that his skin and muscles not be damaged. I believe He also answered your prayers that Dan be free of cancer. Because the radiation did not touch any of his organs, his energy level remained fairly good throughout. Last week, he was tired, but continued to function...even taught his Thursday afternoon Bible class at the Retirement Center near us.
If all his tests turn out well, on May 26, Memorial Day, we will board Delta #1630, departing DFW at 7 a.m. Changing planes in Atlanta, we'll refuel at JFK, arriving in Bucharest the next day, May 27, at 10:20 a.m. their time (2:20 a.m. Texas Time/8 hours later in Romania than in TX). We are thankful to God that we had enough air miles to upgrade to Business Class with recliner type seats. Dan usually can sleep several hours in such a chair. I, on the other hand, have never managed to sleep more than 20 minutes on an airplane.
After such a long trip, we will take a day of rest in Bucharest. The next day, Wednesday, May 28, Adolf will pick us up in a rented van...and take us to St. George. It is a lovely 4 hour drive across flat plains covered with crops of sunflowers, corn, maize. Then up into and over the Carpathian Mountains (also known as the Romanian Alps). Once on the other side, we drive through Brasov, a city of 300,000 people, into a beautiful huge valley. The excitement begins to build as we exit Brasov because we know that in 30 minutes we will be in St. George to be reunited with all the good people God has sent to us to mentor.
God keeps bringing Jonah to my mind. You remember, in the Old Testament book of Jonah, Jonah ran the other way when God called him to go preach to the people of Ninevah. God prepared a great fish who swallowed Jonah and kept him in the belly of that big fish for 3 days and nights. Through suffering, Jonah learned it is more blessed to listen and obey God.
We pray that all of you, dearly beloved, will learn how to listen to God and obey Him. We are still learning. He has made us stronger, our love sweeter, our life more rewarding. God is good! God is always is always good! -- Anne and Dan