Another Birthday

1 Thessalonians 1:3
"We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."

Most people don't like birthdays. Tammy likes them so much that she has now has three every year. Of course, when you look the same as you did 30 years ago, why should birthdays bother you? The first picture is of Tammy hugging our newborn son, David Lee, in October of 1983. The second photo was taken earlier this spring.

Tammy came into this world on July 24, 1959. She gained a new birthday when she got her first bone-marrow transplant on April 1, 2009. Her "clock" started all over again, and she was coming up on her third birthday last spring when the Leukemia returned.

She had another transplant May 16, 2012, one year ago today.

So today is her first birthday the third time around. We celebrated with more tests to make sure everything is progressing as it appears it is. Before the tests, however, we stopped by the BMT Unit at KU Medical Center. Tammy made cookies and we delivered them to the staff in the unit.

I knew that as much as Tammy would be inspired to return to the unit on her feet, the nurses would be more inspired to see how well she is doing. Many tears were shed as she told them about her progress. One of the nurses told her how much seeing her lifted her spirits. "This reminds us of why we do what we do," she said.

We left the unit and stopped by the office of two of the nurse practioners. They were expecting us and they met us at the door. Two more nurses called and told them to hold onto us until they could come by. There is a picture permanently burned in my mind of those four wonderful caregivers with wide-eyed awe looking at Tammy and commenting how good she looks.

We won't get the results of today's tests for a couple of weeks, but everything continues to look good. We continue to covet your prayers. We know God's Hand has been in this whole journey.