Good morning,

I have been remiss at not letting you, our dear friends and prayer partners, know of what transpired at Doug’s appointment with the Consultant plastic surgeon.

It has been a L-O-N-G week….  Anyway, there is MUCH to the story, but in essence, the specialist has ordered an MRI and a CT scan, before any decisions will be made, as to the next move. The lesion on Doug’s nose is cancer, and they didn’t get clear margins on the lip in the previous surgery.  However, the specialist mentioned his concern that Doug isn’t as strong physically as he was 3 years ago, and went through all those other operations….    He is also concerned that he is running out of options for reconstruction, and Doug could end up with one or two holes in his face if they have to cut away a large amount of his face.  So we are praying and asking the Lord for direction in decisions to be made.  The plastic surgeon will meet with the whole “Neck and Head” team next week, and discuss the options.  We then have an appointment to see the specialist on the 22nd January, but the earliest Doug could have his MRI done, was the 24th January, so I doubt we will come to any conclusions on the 22nd.  As for each one of us, it is one day at a time, and knowing God’s grace will be sufficient for each moment of each day.

Of another note…. After some “scorching days” a week or so ago, we are all thankful that the temperatures have been milder this week, with all the packing up for the Morris family.   Bryan and Renee managed to get the house empty yesterday, Brad came down and did the clean up of the yard and outside of the house…  Rachel helped with the cleaning of the interior, and there are just a FEW more walls, and all the interior windows to wash today.  I think I got “the best end of the deal” – I babysat the 5 children yesterday.  We had some fun times, amongst which were table games, and a swim in the pool.  The whole family is “camping” on the floor inside our house, until Bryan has time to set up the camper/tent trailer, in which they will reside for a week or two on our front lawn, as a practice for when they are ‘on the road’.

Tuesday past we celebrated Keenan’s 13th birthday here with a number of friends and family (about 30 in all)…  and 10 days from now, we will celebrate Gregan’s 5th birthday here, before he and Raewyn move out into their own unit.  It has been SO fun having them here, as Raewyn has recovered from knee surgery, and gotten plans into gear.

David, Roxanne and three children arrived safely back from Singapore and they report some wonderful fun times.  Brad and Rachel and three off spring are back from Sydney and similarly, had some good times.  For Bobby, Rhesa and girls, school has resumed, and they are back into a full schedule with classes, teaching, advisers to the 11th graders, and on their list of responsibilities go.  They have just heard that Bobby’s father has kidney cancer and is also facing surgery.

Thanking you all “for holding the ropes”, thanking God for His faithfulness moment by moment, and resting in His love,

Doug and Bev and family