From the Department of Redundancy Department

Micah 6:8
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

We feel a little guilty because we've slowed down our posts. People keep asking us how Tammy is doing and the answer is always the same: a little better than yesterday. Unlike last time, this is a slow, steady climb. Looking back, that was true last time as well, but each day we wondered whether we would take two steps forward or one step back. While that resulted in a steady climb, we both remember it being bumpier. We thought that was normal, so we didn't worry about it.

This time really is a steady climb. She has had virtually no set-backs. The biggest problem has been elevated counts, but those are very treatable. How many times can we say the same thing? So we thought about options.

During one of her doctor visits this week, the doctor gave us permission to kiss each other. While that might not seem big, we haven't been able to kiss each other since March 23 because of her compromised immune system. We're both very affectionate, so that was a huge victory. But on May 15, 2009, we wrote about our first kiss since the first transplant, so that would be redundant.

Then this thought came to mind. This past week, I had the opportunity to cover the MLB All-Star Game in Kansas City. As a huge sports fan, it was a rush to be a part of that. It reminded me of the real all-stars in this journey. Besides Tammy, we can praise the efforts of the doctors and nurses of the KUMC BMT Unit and the Cancer Clinic. We also are very thankful for our parents, who have taken a yeomen's share of the "Tammy-sitting" that is required. We also could thank the other family and friends who have taken turns to spend time with her. That helps her because she has friendly faces to keep her spirits up, and it helps me because I can go to work knowing that she is being taken care of.

But on August 8, 2009, we wrote about all the people who had helped us get through the first 100 days. We did it as the promotional literature for an upcoming (fictitious) movie about Tammy's recovery. So that would be redundant.

As I was doing my daily Bible reading (I'm reading through the Bible in a year in chronological order), I came across the passage above in Micah. It was the key verse during "What If The Church?" in which nearly 40 Kansas City-area churches came together to worship, pray and serve. I read it to Tammy and it reminded us of a perspective we've always known, but sometimes is easy to put aside. That's what we're supposed to be doing during her recovery (as well as the rest of our lives). We're not supposed to try to figure out what's going to happen next. We're not supposed to do anything but follow God's leading.

Our prayer is that we would be able to "act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with (our) God."