.to Minneapolis, but not to have a baby...

Yes, we are going to Minneapolis. Thursday April 3 is our appointment with the pediatric Cardiologist, the NICU people, the surgeon, and some other people. This appointment is just to discuss what the options will be, what may happen, and to answer our questions. Joel and I will be leaving Wed night after we drop the kids off at a babysitters and will be returning either Thurs late or Fri morning depending on how sleepy we are. The good news is we don't have to make a trip to Duluth on Tuesday! (We'll be receiving an ultrasound and looking at the baby in Minneapolis)

Everyone here is healthy now. No more flu, just your everyday runny noses. Hurrah! And the snow is melting. and melting. and melting. and very very dirty! Send those robins up, you southeners! Spring is almost here.

Update: Joel or I will be updating the blog probably Friday to let you know how things went on Thursday with the surgeon, etc.

To our Tuesday checkers:

Thanks to friends and family who check in with us each week and who continue to lift up Junebug to the One who will be exalted. We did not make the trip to Duluth this week. The lady who was planning on watching our kids called this morning to say her little girl has the flu. Josh and Rachel are still fighting lingering flu symptoms and I (Joel) went through the worst of it yesterday. So Renee thought she might go by herself. But now it seems it is her turn for a round of influenza B. So with heavy wet snow falling, slushy roads, and increasing tiredness, she remained at home. I think this was the Lord's will for us today.
Hope everyone had a good Easter. I was very minimally impacted by the days of reflection and celebration until the two baptisms at the end of the Sunday morning service. As the two men were each raised from the water I was once again floored by the grace of our good God who makes new creations out of wretches. And I am one of them. I walked up to the stage with tears in my eyes and fumbled to get my bass guitar on to join the worship team for the last song. Grace is good when you can't ignore it. When it come with the knowledge of the holiness of God that says we we deserve hell. When it is received through repentance. Thankyou Jesus.

.Still ok.

On Tuesday March 18th Joel and I again went down to St. Mary's for an ultrasound to check up on June Bug for any signs of heart failure. Everything still looks the same. The doctor received the images via computer and didn't even want to come see us, She just said, See you next week! through our lab tech guy.
Thank you for praying!

.Everything is well.

Today we received our weekly ultrasound to see how June Bug is doing. So far, so good. She is doing well, no sign of heart failure, though the heart anomaly remains the same.

Thank you to those who are praying for us so diligently. I feel as though I am being carried by Jesus and by all your prayers through all of this. Thank you.

And also thank you to those who are serving us, giving to us their time and money and their concern. We are so blessed.

Joel - And for my part, I really enjoy getting to say "hi" to JuneBug every week. And the date day with my wife is an added bonus. Renee's been doing all the hiway driving and I've been reading to her, a Mark Driscoll book, Confessions of a Reformission Rev. I'm grateful for each week that goes by. And although the Ronald McDonald house (for families with children with life-threatening illness) in Minneapolis looks like a fun place to live for two months, I wonder if God isn't going to bring about healing before then.

Thanks to Kirsten and 1-year-old Amelia for watching our kids today; Stephanie (Snefnee as Joshua says) and 1-year-old Claire last week; and Mary and 4-year-old Anna the week before that.

"Wouldn't it be easier, God, if..."

Joel and I took our first monitoring trip to St. Mary's on Tuesday. We had to get a babysitter for a good portion of the day, pack a bag in case we were going to Minneapolis, pack a lunch, and drive a total of four hours. Doesn't God realize that it would be so much easier if He just healed June Bug? Wouldn't the doctors be so amazed at seeing a changed heart? Then Joel and I could tell them about a God who heals and who does miracles. We wouldn't be a burden to our friends. Joel wouldn't be a burden to his boss and we would even save the environment by not driving an extra four hours a week. See how much easier it would be?
Or maybe He knows what He's doing. Certainly it's not because of lack of faith on our part that He has not healed June Bug, or maybe it is. Maybe God knows the valuable lessons Joel and I need to learn, like trust. Maybe God is glorifying Himself in ways that I can't imagine, or think of or understand. Maybe it's getting us and other people to pray more, to be that insistent, persistent, consistent widow. (now I'm sounding like our pastor) Maybe it's giving opportunities for the Body of Christ to serve. Maybe God is showing Himself to Joel's boss in all of this.
Maybe easier isn't better. Maybe all of the inconvenience that I see, is absolutely nothing compared to what God sees.