The Wild Animal Park

Val, Chris, and the boys went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park yesterday. The weather was glorious. The park is just 10 minutes from our home in Escondido. For all of you snowbirds, this photo was taken on February 4th! Val was on the phone with her brother Jeff. After looking more closely at the picture, I found it Spooky how much the girl in black on the left looks like Val.

Another busy week. Val's bloodwork from last Friday is in Dr. Rose' office. The numbers look good. This is the first step into our cautious consideration of Yttrium-90 SIR Spheres. Thursday is a chemo day at USC. Chris will be out of town and I am booked with an FDA Inspection so Val, Paul, and Nancy will be making the trip. 09:30 appointment time.

Aside from pain management and ascites, our biggest challenge is getting some muscle mass back on Val. She was 107 on her home scale last night. This is critically low. She has an appointment this Wednesday with the Nutritionist at UCSD Moores. Julie is going to pull together the planning necessary to get the nutritionist's meals delivered to Val. Char has graciously offered to pick up the cost of these meals. In talking to Trisha, a cholangio patient from New York, she indicated that a 150 mg. dosage of Tarceva had caused her to lose weight. Val is on the same dose so we are going to ask Dr. Lenz to reduce it to 100 mg or even 50 mg.

The author of Jude, a short letter found just before Revelation was Judas (not Escariot), one of the twelve apostles. He was Jesus' cousin. His father, Cleophas, was the brother of Mary's husband Joseph. It was Jude who, At the Last Supper, when Jesus promised to manifest Himself to those who heard Him, asked why He would not manifest Himself to the whole world. Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him."

The letter begins; "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:".

"Called" in the original language is a very serious word that referred to an official summons from the court to appear.

The Court of Heaven has sent an official summons to every soul who has cried out to God Most High for mercy.

Who is worthy to receive this summons? John answers the question in Revelation 22:17, "whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."

Beloved, you who have been called, when must you appear?

Jude answers the question in his doxology. "and now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."

Beloved of God, the end of the matter is this. You have been summoned to appear. The date of your court appointment is written in The Lamb's Book of Life. You are kept in this life by the power of Jesus Christ. You will be presented to the Court of Heaven by Jesus Christ. You will be found perfect, without fault. And your spirit will overflow with great joy when God Most High pronounces the verdict of the court, "well done faithful witness."

As a college freshman, I pledged Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. The 13th week of pledging, "Hell Week", involved sleep deprivation, road trips, and other various types of abuse. At the end of the week, each pledge must appear before a court of approval. Unknown to the pledge, this is a "Kangaroo Court" populated by alumni who systematically tear the pledge down and then throw him out as a reject. It happens to every pledge. Most get over it. I did'nt.

I left with my "Big Brother", Tony Anzalone from New York. I swore to Tony that I would never set foot in that house again. Finally, he had to admit that it was all a ruse.

I tell you this story because I was not a christian at the time and it was a devastating experience. Now I look back at it with great joy knowing that The God of Heaven is the exact opposite of that group of "judges" who rejected me.

Prayer requests:

1. Val has been under too much stress recently. It is affecting her ability to grow stronger Please pray that she can pull the plug on all stress.
2. Pray for wisdom in our considerations of SIR Spheres.
3. Pray for increased weight and muscle mass.
4. Pray for wisdom on chemo selections. Pray for our plans to transfer from USC to UCSD


Godspeed