Good-bye July

Here we are enjoying the last day of July 2009. This summer has been dry, cool and life has been busy with challenges, changes and people. We are so thankful for a life full of family, friends, events and to see God so present in all things.

Camp is almost here. In fact 2 short weeks from now we will be packing up to come home from camp. We had our second pre camp meeting last night. It is so wonderful to see so many "veterans" of camp as well as so so many young people. As I looked at 42 staff who will be working with units 27 of them are under the age of 25. Now that is exciting. The anticipation of what God will do, how he will change us and what miracles he will do always almost leaves one breathless. Come Lord in your love and power as you always do and fill us with a new level of your Holy Spirit.

Gail continues to hold her own in many ways. Of course there are ups and downs daily but generally she is doing well. She is so strong, so loving, so determined all of you should be so proud of her. She now does not use the cane but there are many things happening in her body that says she is not well and there remains much healing to come. There are days when she is physically a bit up and she welcomes short visits and then there are days when it is best to just "be" alone to heal. The last few days she has had enough energy to help me some and you guessed it more papers are in order and more things have been completed. Thank you Lord. I did stop in to the State Fair Grounds yesterday to let Mr. Anderson know that she would not be working the night shift. He was so nice and said if she wanted to work a few hours each day where she could just sit he would be delighted to arrange that for her. I doubt that will happen but we will see.

As I sign off Gail just came downstairs and she slept all night. That is the first time in the last week. Thank you Lord.

We are hopeful that she can go to Amy Saunders' shower on Sunday. That should be fun. If she can't I will go but I don't like going places without her.

Enjoy this last day of July and have a wonderful weekend.

Tuesday

Camp is getting closer and with it time is getting shorter. Much to do and too little time but then we could be bored so I am thankful!!

The good, the bad and the ugly. The good is that Gail's hip is better and she is now not using her cane. She is so excited and thankful to be able to walk almost normally again. Thank you Lord. The bad is that her back and front right mid section hurt. She is currently on a 4 hour schedule of doing 4 IB and then 1 Aleve. She does not like to take that much but if she forgets or tries to go without she is in pain. We are hopeful that she can stop soon. Pray that her back and her front right side HEAL. We do believe. The ugly----well I have no idea as from my eyes all things that are were made in God's eyes and as you all know God makes no junk!

End of the Weekend

It is Sunday afternoon. The weather today has been A+. I have been spending most of the day working on camp. We have a meeting this afternoon at 6:00. We will be meeting at the Chatterbox cafe and Gail will not be going. These last 3 days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday have been challenging. Gail's back has bothered her a lot and it has been difficult to find relief so it has been a lot of aspirin, back rubs and Mineral Ice rubbed on her back. Yesterday was the worst with today being a tiny bit better so we are hoping that tomorrow brings more relief. Lord, come with your healing power and take that back pain away. Her hip seems a bit better. I came home with the paper this morning and a neighbor, Mary Pat, was watering her flowers. I shared with her what we are dealing with and she was so positive and uplifting. Later she put a beautiful pot flowering plants on our step with a nice note. It is so nice and actually so important to have family, neighbors and friends who love, support and believe in God's healing.

As we enter the last few days of July tomorrow don't forget to count your blessings and remember your friends.

Happy Friday

It is 9:00 AM on Friday and the clouds have rolled in with a bit of rain. The cooler temp is nice and the rain, very little yet, is welcome.

Travis drove Gail to Monticello for a treatment yesterday afternoon as I stayed behind to prepare for our first pre camp meeting. Gail was very tired last night but actually could not find her cane at one point which of course means she wasn't using it. She looked good yesterday and was walking better. She is still taking the garlic but this last jar that she got is difficult to take so she will try taking it with a bit of tomato juice. Lord with all of the things Gail is eating and taking come in your mercy and love to heal her.

With our first pre-camp meeting we are in the "full camp mode" around here. I was delighted to welcome about 60, mostly young adults, last night as we met. We will end up having about 52 junior staff, 30 staff under 25 and another 25 staff over 25. I expect camp to be more exciting and more spirit filled than ever which is saying a lot. I am amazed that more than 50 11Th and 12Th grade young gals and guys come out. I pray that they will sense our God, see our God, feel our God, hear our God and go home on Friday, August 14 renewed in their faith and full of the Holy Spirit which of course will give their life even more meaning and purpose.

Have a great weekend. As you know this is our last full weekend in July and as all of us grow older (I mean mature) we know with great clarity that when time slips away it can not be recaptured.

Countdown

As camp nears it is more difficult to find time to download pictures but I will try to update Gail's health often. Camp is now about 18 days away as I drove to camp today for a meeting and then stopped in at Northfield and also in Burnsville. Camp begins with the arrival of campers on Sunday, August 9 @ 4:00 PM. and lasts until the morning of Friday, August 14. I really believe that this camp, our 32nd, will be the most fun and the most Spirit filled ever.

Gail slept very little last night so spent much of the day resting. She actually did not use the cane all the time this evening so that is good. We are now in the middle of trying to figure out how to eat. There are challenges daily as we expect and believe that Gail will once again be healthy---When we do not know but it will happen. Travis will drive her to another treatment tomorrow afternoon as I will be preparing for our first pre-camp meeting tomorrow evening.

We are already on the downside of the last full week of July, now I can hardly believe that.

Rain rain don't go away

We are finally getting some rain as it is so so dry. I would guess we have had 1/2+ so far and we are expecting and hoping for more through the morning.

Gail continues to deal with health issues daily and I would say continues to heal daily. She is still getting around with a cane but actually there are times mostly in the afternoon when she may walk without it. The raised area on her sternum is not larger and is actually more defined which we say is good. Her energy level is moderate to low but we feel that is because her body is using so much energy up healing itself. In fact her body is working so hard to heal her weight is now at 111. It was good for her to get out in the sun a bit the last 2 days as that tends to give her good color. There are so many people praying for her, we have heard so many words of God healing her I believe God hears all of us. Just as in Genesis 18 where Abraham bargains with God to save Sodom. He convinced God to not destroy the city even if there were only 10 good people!! I believe God is in Gail's health situation and he is listening to ALL the requests, all the prayers and He is saying that regardless of what WAS going to happen he is NOW going to heal Gail in His way. He does hear us and he will respond. Thank you Lord.

It's a beautiful day

Happy Sunday. The weather is a A+ today. After many days of cool cloudy days it is bright sun and mid 70's. God is oh so good.

Gail's health remains stable. We have yet to see signs of healing but she is feeling well except for that hip which remains troublesome. Last night she had some discomfort in it which is unusual as most of the time it is weak but not painful. Lord come with your healing spirit to make Gail well. We continue to talk about camp and what she should do. She does need to get better or she will not be able to spend much if any time at camp. She also continues to be quite tired as she is resting upstairs now. She did not sleep well last night so she will be resting some today.

Hope this note find all of your well and thank you for keeping the prayers coming.

We're going to score

As grdma and grdpa walked up Henry scored and all was good. The second half, well just say there were a bit too many cartwheels and also some rest times (while the game was happening!) but everyone had fun. While Liam watched he engaged a lady who was walking her dog in a conversation. He told her that her dog looked like a coyote! He must have spent to much vacation time in the North Dakota Badlands.

Things seem to be same old same old same old around here. Water the flowers, water the wheat grass, dig the weeds, wash the dishes, drink the wg juice and of course take a nap! Gail continues to be about the same. We still need to see much improvement if she is to come to camp Aug 9-14 but that is a ways off. Her hip remains the same. Not much pain but it does not support her very well so it is slow where ever you go.

If you are reading this and live out of town the weather here is COOL. As I write this it is 56 and the high may hit 70 today. I hope it stays cool as we head towards camp because everyone then stays well covered up if you get my drift!!

Travis and I are going to go out for breakfast so got to go. Can you believe we are headed into the weekend already.

Look a busy it's a coming!!!

I can tell that camp is getting nearer. I missed juicing wheat grass this morning, I should have mowed the lawn but did not today, I was late to men's group because of a camp call, I feel a bit stressed and the list goes on. It's a coming and there are not enough days left to prepare!!!

Gail, I am not sure what to say. Her hip is not better at this time and the last few days she has been very very tired. I know it is a bit late right now but Gail is in bed. She was exhausted when she finished her nightly bath. Please pray for strength and of course a healing. With these last couple of days we are now questioning if she will come to camp. We will see.

A new week

Today was busy. Camp program directors met here so most of the day revolved around getting ready and preparing for camp. Among the things that needed to be discussed was staff, precamp, evening program, older AM program, afternoon activities and the list goes on. It is always a joy to meet as Jeanne Oberg, Mike Oberg, Molly Annala and Ginny DeSanto are about as family as one can get without actually being family. It seems like they are always postive, faith filled and of course honored to work with our young people which is what it is all about.

I was able to get away enough to purchase more wheat grass trays. Among the people here was Susan Wind, Ken Kuehn and Don Ferber.

Tomorrow at 7:00 AM we are headed up north a bit to get somethings for Gail. It should mean we will be home about 10:00 or so.

Have a great week.

Farmer bigtime

As you know I am practicing my farming skill by growing wheat grass but I now have 2 helpers and I am trying to dress the part!! My cow even gives brown milk which has a chocolate flavor!!!!

Today is Sunday, July 12TH and can you believe that we are close to the down hill side of July! Time slips away quickly when one is having fun.

I thought it may be good to just summarize a bit where we are at with Gail's health.

• We are finished with 4 weeks of wheat grass enemas
• Gail is now taking about 10-12 ounces of wheat grass juice daily along with celery and tomato juice. She drinks juice twice a day.
• Gail is mostly on a raw food, veggie diet.
  
• At this time she is also taking some gelatin that is supposed to help cartilage which we suspect is a problem with her hip.
• Gail is having few, but some symptoms of health problems in her body. There are daily little things that feel or happen that remind her she is not well at this time.
  
• It is difficult to walk much as her hip is hurting at this time.
• The majority of our time is taken up with health issues and eating in the correct way. Of course camp is happening and there is work there but most home projects are put on hold for a time. I think most people find that hard to comprehend but the thing is I am concerned about nothing else except Gail most of the time.
  

We are looking forward to the day when we can put health issues on the back burner and live a "normal" life. We hope and we expect this to happen. We have decided to have Gail come to camp regardless of her health and working at the fair is up in the air at this time. The fair work is a bit gruelling as it involves not a lot of work but it is working 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM for 14 days straight. Unless Gail feels a lot better by then we are not sure that would be good for her.

Happy Birthday

We are excited to join in Betina's birthday party this afternoon. Happy birthday Betina!!

I missed blogging yesterday. We traveled to Monticello yesterday morning for Gail's treatment. Her therapist said she has lost some cartilage in her hip. We are hopeful that we can restore some of that and heal it. Lord, come in your mercy and love to heal Gail's hip.

Gail enjoyed a visit from her sister and mother yesterday. Her sister, Deb, came to help one of her daughters paint their house and grandma stayed here for a while to visit.

Gail continues to move pretty slowly. Except for that hip she is feeling well. As usual she looks great to me and of course others say the same!!! We have made the decision that she will come to camp Aug 9-14. We expect her to feel well and move well by then but if that is not the case she will still come as I believe that if she is not healed by that time the Lord ALWAYS works miracles at camp so he may have that in mind. We will see. We do have a nice large cabin with air so Gail will be comfortable.

Here it is 8:30 and I have not watered the wheat grass so best be going. Have a great Saturday.

Hope you're not tired!!

We saw this sign when in Hawaii. Not sure what you would do if you have an emergency!!!

More of the same today. Camp work, wheat grass juice, gardening etc.

No news on Gail's hip as it still bothers her much. Tomorrow we head west for a treatment and then north after that for some meds for her so we will not be home much. We continue to think and believe that Gail will be healed and please join us in that.

We totally missed the rain today so not so good as we need it. I think they are saying the weather from now through the weekend should be perfect. Sister Helen that northern Minnesota cabin sure would be ice now!!!

What???

Leo and Amy sure look happy.

Here we are at Wednesday, the enemas are finished and we are saying our schedule is all up in the air now!! We were used to the same routine for 4 weeks and now it is different. For now Gail will be doing 2 different things of wheat grass juice in the morning and again at night.

Gail's hip continues to be the bother. It seems to get a bit better and then a bit worse. This morning it is on the worse side. She is working a bit in the yard now but it is a challenge to move around very much. At this point we just do not know. She is putting cream on it, rubbing it and different things but it just does not want to get much better for now.

The day should be a bit busy. Don F will be here shortly to help with camp, Larry B will be bringing communion for Gail about 12:30 and then I will be at men's group tonight. Also need to get new wheat berries soaking and growing each day!

Have a great day.

Anything is possible

Here is a camper we saw in Nova Scotia when we were camping. I should have parked our pickup near as the camper is almost twice as high as our pickup. It was made from scratch by a man in Germany and shipped here. He made it with the idea that he and his wife would travel from the north end of Africa to the south end but just as they started it was deemed to dangerous so they came here. It is as big as a tank and it could actually be one. I say that if one man did that we should never say God can I do this but rather say God HOW can I do this!!!

Today marks the end of our 4 week wheat grass program with the enemas etc. We are not sure where we will go from here but we are confident that God will lead. Gail continues to keep weight off her hip and it still stubbornly refuses to get better at this time. Pray that it gets better soon.

I am excited, Mike, Cynthia's husband, was able to negotiate a lower price on the scroll saw that I looked at a month ago so I will get it today. I have never had one and I think it should be fun.

John e-mailed and said they love their van and would not be able to part with it now!! That is great. I still ponder getting a different car, one that has side curtains and airbags. Our Highlander has 175,000 miles on it so don't know how far it will go but to put out money for a different car is hard. Any thoughts???? I am sold on our newer cars with many more safety features on like side curtains and airbags.

Grandma is still living off the wonderful memories of Leo over the weekend. We get to see him so seldom compared to the others and he is so so so cute and good I might add.

Enough, there are 2 more items to wrap up before the WG is totally finished.

Splash Splash

Leo finds fun in splashing the water on top of the pail that sat there from the rain. Faustina stands by as if to say here I am only 1 and already I don't understand those boys!!

As we enter the first full week of July we have cloudy skies with a few sprinkles. The week is supposed to bring heat and perhaps a bit of rain, we will see.

Gail feels well but she is still dealing with that hip. In an effort to keep weight off it she is resting as much as possible and walking with a cane. That makes it very slow going but we are hoping that the total rest will help heal it. Lord we once again ask (beg) you to come with your healing spirit on Gail. For her entire body but we focus in on her hip today.

Have a wonderful week.

Lotz of help

Grandma is enjoying help from Leo, Faustina and of course Wallace. They are getting rhubarb so Aaron can take it home and make rhubarb cake I think.

Yesterday was busy and fun. Travis came about 1:00, Aaron/Amy/Leo came about 3:30 I think and then Cynthia/Mike and Faustina arrived at 4:30. We put brats, burgers and chicken on the grill and Gail had made some cole slaw and cucumber salads. Grandma managed to get in a short rest in the afternoon and I think she held up better than grandpa!!
We also got about 1/2 inch of rain in the afternoon which was badly needed.

When we finish the WG today we only have Mon and Tue for that and it will be finished. Perhaps we will drink more then but will see. Gail continues to feel well but the pesky hip still bothers her a lot.

Thank you for your continued prayers and belief that Gail will be healed. Have a great Sunday.

Leo is here

Leo loves grandpa's sandbox and he plays so nicely in it.

Gail felt better yesterday than she had felt for some time. If you were to watch her move you would think it is pretty slow but actually it was better yesterday than for some time.

We really enjoyed having Aaron/Amy over in the afternoon and then Matt Vernon and his lovely wife Amanda came for a visit which was really nice. Today we will again see A/A along with Travis and maybe Cynthia and Mike who arrived home from their vacation yesterday.

Today is WG day #25 and we have 3 left. Then, we do not know but we are confident that God will lead the way.

Almost forgot, happy 4TH. Gail and I were talking yesterday how blessed and how lucky we are to live in the country we do where so many things are available to so many. Now with everything that is happening in our country we could say I am not sure but to compare us with other places, thank you Lord for having us here.

Have a great day and may all of your fireworks be GOOD.

Little critters

Here is a picture of one of those little critters that love our wheat grass!!

We are excited, Aaron/Amy and Leo will be here for a time this afternoon. They are in town for the long weekend.

Not a lot happened yesterday. I got some camp work done, decided how I will deal with chickweed and other unwanted growth in our lawn without using chemicals, Gail baked some great cookies, finished staking the tomato plants and of course marked one more day towards the end of our WG program. After that it may be MORE drinking so it is not going to go away. Gail continues to be slowed down with her hip but does feel well.

We are wondering how the two camping families are doing. John/Mary and family will arrive at Mary's aunt tomorrow and we think Cynthia/Mike could be back today or tomorrow. I hope they had enough open fires and outdoor food for Gail and I too.

Gail had a great night last night, slept through the night. That hip just does not want to improve a lot. Is it better?? If it is the improvement is difficult to see. Lord, we pray for a healing of that hip so that Gail can move well again.

I hope all of you have a great 4Th weekend and if you have fireworks keep it safe!!

Two treasures

Grandma, Leo and Faustina about 6 weeks ago. Everyone loves Grandma!

Another cool cloudy day and the next few days look like nice weather. Thank you Lord.

We continued our routine yesterday. Got a later start than usual but finished the WG by 2:00 PM. I had a 2:00 meeting and then worked on camp a bit. I had men's group in the evening. Gail had a bite to eat after 2:00 and then took a rest. She has been taking about a 2 hour rest each afternoon. This morning she is moving a bit slowly, Lord come to heal that hip. I have been concerned that we would run out of wheat grass for juice before we finish next Tu but now it looks like it should last. We now have 5 days left and then only drink---no other method!!! After Tu we will need less so it will not be so important to get those trays started each day. Gail continues to have some discomfort in her neck and right side but we view that as healing. We now expect to get the results back from some tests from last week perhaps today or tomorrow.

I need to pick up the work pace for camp a bit as time is going fast. Today and tomorrow will be mostly camp work so am hoping to finish data entry etc.

Lord continue to heal Gail as we live our lives for you and your kingdom.

Hawaii Sunset

This picture is about as peaceful as one can get. It was taken from the balcony in the condo we stayed in on the big island in 2008

We continue our countdown to the end of our interesting WG program. After today there are 6 left. Gail continues to do well. Yesterday we had a picnic with a group of people so I went and Gail stayed home. About the time I was ready to leave the picnic Gail showed up! It was great and of course everyone was excited to see her. We had a great "pray over her" time which she always likes. For some reason she did not sleep well last night so she did sleep in a bit this morning and that is why the WG things is a bit later.

That is about all for the day. Temp this morning as we woke up was again 55 so it still is cool. Got to go as I have about an hour of work with the wheat grass trays. My farmer skills, the very little I ever had, are coming back oh so slowly.

Lord continue to come with your healing grace to every cell in Gail's body, thank you.