Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Transitions...and surgery today

It is the 20th of April and Easter is coming on Sunday. Our church does a great job helping us prepare our hearts and think about all that Easter- the first one- means to us. Wow! Did God do a cool thing coming to earth as a human after already being a resident of heaven. He gave all that up for us. And then He lived a human life witnessing pain, hunger, disease, unfairness, injustice. He also experienced relationships, love, joy, laughter, sharing meals with friends and generosity. All of it- all of life.

And then He experienced the accusations of crimes of which He was innocent. He paid the price for all of those felonies, lies, and wrongs- all ever committed by mankind born before and after Himself. Wow. That is love. At Bible study yesterday we talked about compassion and how we can learn to express it to those in our lives. Jesus was the amazing example. I do hope He gives me chances to express His love to others.

Transitions...
Greg's job at Partners International is coming to an end at the end of June. We need to figure out what the Lord has for us next. Last week as we had our annual meetings with our international regional directors, other leaders and staff gather for meetings, it was bittersweet for me. I already knew that Greg had been told that we are on our way out of PI. He was asked not to say anything about that during the week, so as I listened to reports and caught up with friends and made plans for a few Kidzana training trips, I was sad to know that I will soon be saying good-bye to this ministry.

At the time when our departure was announced, Greg spoke some and I can just tell you that I am married to an amazing man. He is full of integrity and humility and is an example to me. There were many tears and some sobbing as we hugged and processed this news with friends afterward. I was spent. I am grateful for the amazing brothers and sisters we have had the honor to know during these 4 years. When we moved to Spokane, the Lord gave me a promise that this time would be like a gift for me, and He has fulfilled that promise.

Surgery today
At 11:30 I am scheduled to have the neurostimulator installed to aid my bladder in working properly. I wrote about this in an entry a few times ago. The temporary one worked perfectly, so we scheduled this procedure to put in the permanent one. My doctor needs the aid of a special x-ray machine to get the lead placed exactly where she wants it. I may be sort of awake during the surgery so I can tell her what I am feeling, but it depends on the anesthesiologist assigned to her OR. If they don't understand what she is trying to communicate, they will probably just put me to sleep. She said it takes a special skill to keep me awake and pain free too. The device will be implanted a few inches deep in one of my hips. Then there will be a remote that will operate it which Greg and I will be taught about after the surgery. I have a feeling I will be sore for a few days.

My carpal tunnel surgery several weeks ago went great. I am still sore, but gradually it is doing better. I have been having low back pain and one of my doctors sent me for a PET scan. I haven't seen the doctor about it yet, but I got the report and it was clear. Arthritis showed up in my back. I will take that instead of cancer any day! It really is a relief to have a clean scan. It is like getting a "cancer-free for a year or so at least" card!

Well I have an early meeting about our regional missions conference in November. I am in charge of workshops and tracks and I have a lot to do still. If any of you have ideas of what Greg and I might do next in our lives, we are open to suggestions.

God bless you!  Nancy Fritz     509-990-8465    nancyfritz@aol.com