Thank you to everyone for praying for me during my first round of chemotherapy this past week. I was admitted to the hospital on Monday morning, and discharged just before noon on Friday.

My four days in the hospital were shaped around the clock-driven nature of chemotherapy. One drug starts at a certain time, and the next drug a certain number of hours later. Overall, my side effects were not too bad. I was very sleepy at times, and my appetite came and went, but otherwise I was quite comfortable. I’m thankful to God for sparing me anything worse than that.

While I was away from home, God provided some special blessings that kept Joanne and the kids busy. A new friend offered them the chance to meet her horse. Hershey was a big hit! Another friend took some of the kids to her house. And my parents were involved almost every day in looking after some of the kids, while they and Joanne took turns visiting me.

Here's a picture of Liam enjoying Hershey:

The doctors and nurses and other hospital staff were kind and competent, but I’m so glad to be home! I managed to attend a birthday party on Friday evening, and since then I’ve been feeling even stronger and more comfortable. It was a great joy to attend morning worship today. These blessings too are God’s answers to prayer.

We are getting ready for evening worship now, with a bit of neighborhood Christmas caroling to follow. I’m thankful to be able to hear and sing Jesus’s name “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.”

Merry Christmas!