Happy Birthday!

"This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it."--Psalm 118:24 (NASB)

Today is Tammy's second birthday. It's hard to believe but two years ago today she received her bone-marrow transplant. We were talking earlier tonight that her donor is now 39 years old. Somewhere, he is probably thinking about the sacrifice he made two years ago today, and we hope he is proud of his service. We still hope to meet him some day to say thank you in person.

So much has happened in those two years, and we are celebrating in a special way today. Tammy is a walking miracle. She looks great (I always thought she looked great). People tell her all the time they can't believe she's a former cancer patient so early into her recovery.

Let us catch you up on what has happened since our last post almost six months ago. Our daughter Julie got engaged in November, and she and Erich got married March 5 (see the photo above). It was a beautiful wedding, and we are thrilled to welcome Erich into our family. We told him it was hard to imagine saying it, but he measured up. Julie and Erich Braden live in Louisville, Kentucky, and are preparing to go into the mission field sometime in the next few months. They will serve in Poland.

David Lee is still in Poland. He went over there on a three-year commitment in September. He came home for almost a month for Julie's wedding, and he has been back in Poland for almost two weeks. He's doing very well, looking forward to another camp season this summer.

Tammy is working again, part-time for a financial services company. She's an on-call/substitute office administrator. She enjoys the flexibility of working when she wants and not having to when she doesn't.

I don't know that we'll ever take her recovery for granted, but it's not front-of-mind any more. It seems so natural now that she's doing so well. It's on anniversaries like this one that we take the time to praise God in a special way for the miracle He performed in saving her life.

We're at a point in our weekly Bible study at church where this past week we took a pointed look at the miracles Jesus performed when He was walking on Earth. The question was raised, “Is God still doing miracles today?”

We believe He is, and Tammy is proof. A miracle is something that could not have happened without the supernatural intrusion by God. It was His will that Tammy developed Leukemia, we believe, because He knew that Tammy would give Him the glory through the whole journey. It was His will that the young man would become a donor, not knowing that Tammy existed but with the knowledge that there might be someone out there who someday would need his donation. It was His will that the skillful doctors would choose to study oncology/hematology so that they would be there when Tammy's donation was ready. And it was His will that Tammy would receive the donation and with only a few bumps in the road be well on the way to a total recovery. She hasn't received the all-clear, because that takes five years, but all signs point that way.

We thank you for your continued prayers during the past two years, but especially since the original diagnosis was made in the fall of 2008. You are a special blessing to us.