Prayer – Page 2 – The Lowedown

January 29, 2020January 29, 2020

A Health Setback

I recently met a Young Professional for a coaching appointment over dinner and to my surprise, I saw another Young Professional who had attended a home group we hosted during the time in our lives when Jen was really sick.

Baxter (left), was involved in a Home Group we led for Young Professionals several years ago. I happened to bump into her while meeting another Young Professional for a dinner appointment.

Baxter had moved out of the area a few years ago to take another job but recently moved back to Orange County. Though we had exchanged some texts and engaged on Facebook, we hadn’t actually had an opportunity to connect personally since she moved back to the area.

Having been around during the time Jen was struggling with her health, Baxter saw first-hand the effects of the disease and medications Jen was taking. Naturally Baxter was curious about how Jen was doing.

For the past few years, as I’ve been asked frequently about Jen’s health, I’ve been able to share about how well Jen is doing and how the condition that afflicts her (Vasculitis) is under control, thanks to the care she’s been receiving by her doctors at UCLA.

In fact, early last year, I wrote about how Jen’s condition was considered to be in remission and her doctors wanted to take her off her medication completely, which they did in May of last year (see April 26, 2019 post on Lowedown.com).

Unfortunately though, I was not able to give such a positive and glowing response to Baxter in that moment, as Jen has recently suffered a setback in her health.

Jen sports her Navy spirit on Christmas day!

Back in December, Jen received the results from some blood work which indicated elevated levels in her kidney. Jen has only one kidney so this was very concerning to her and her doctors. Shortly after Christmas, Jen experienced elevated potassium levels which forced her to spend the night in the hospital.

Last week, Jen made several trips to UCLA to meet with her nephrologist as they try to figure out what is happening with her kidney. The good news is that the ultrasound and CT scan that she had showed no abnormalities in her kidney. However, some of the most recent bloodwork came back indicating that the vasculitis that has been in remission for the last four years has returned.

We suspect that this is the reason for the elevated levels in her kidney, as these same symptoms were present back in 2014 when the vasculitis first presented itself.

To say there is discouragement with this development would be a huge understatement. Jen is not looking forward to going back on Prednisone as the reminder of the damaging effects it had on her body are pretty painful.

Enjoying a Philly Cheesesteak tradition while in Philadelphia visiting our boys over Thanksgiving!

We are hoping and praying that because we know what we’re dealing with and Jen’s doctors are extremely competent that the path to stabilizing this “flare” will be quicker and much less traumatic than before.

We don’t know why we continue to be faced with these health challenges, but we know God is good and He has blessed us in so many ways. We would greatly appreciate your prayers.

Specifically, we are praying for the following:

We are praying that this vasculitis flare would be quickly stabilized
We are praying that Jen would not have to be on Prednisone for very long.
Lastly, we are praying that Jen would not have to be admitted to the hospital for ongoing treatment but that whatever treatments are prescribed could be done on an outpatient basis.

We are grateful for you, our friends, whose prayers and encouragement have sustained us. Thank you for your ministry in our lives!

October 2, 2017

Dealing With Disappointment

Life isn’t fair.

Things don’t always go the way you want.

You can’t control everything.

In the grand scheme of life, this is just a momentary setback.

We’ve all heard statements like these. But try helping a disappointed 16 year old to understand and embrace these truths.

Life can be a cruel teacher at times.

In the last 3 months, we’ve experienced a number of unexpected life events.

In July, while our family was in Colorado, I received a call to tell me that my grandmother had passed away. She was 96 so it was not completely surprising. Still, you’re never quite prepared for the news that your last living grandparent has passed away.

In August, I received the news that my aunt, the last living sibling of my grandfather, had passed away.

And just two weeks ago, I received the news that my uncle, who was in his early 70’s had died unexpectedly.

Jacob (left) and Joshua (middle) running with their team in Mammoth. Joshua’s injury occurred some time during this training run to Rainbow Falls. Check out the video of this trail below, or at: https://youtu.be/T1czVLdEyKA

The hardest issue though that we’ve been dealing with these last two months centers around our son Joshua, who has been dealing with a foot injury.

As a parent, it’s so hard to see your kids struggle and deal with setbacks and disappointment. Our tendency is to want to fix things and make things better and to shield them from hurt. But that’s not always possible and it’s not always advisable either.

In early August, Jacob and Joshua headed up to Mammoth with the rest of the varsity Cross Country team for a week of training at altitude. I (Dave) tagged along as a parent volunteer.

It was a great week of bonding and conditioning. Their team is really strong this year and is highly ranked, both in the county and even in the state. Expectations are high and the anticipation for this season has been palpable.

Towards the end of the week, Joshua started experiencing pain on the top his right foot. He was immediately shut down from running until we could get it checked out.

An MRI revealed a stress reaction in the 2nd long bone of his right foot.

A stress reaction is basically a pre-cursor to a stress fracture, and though it sounds less severe, the recovery time is the same.

For the last 7 weeks Joshua has been doing nothing but pool workouts, by himself, isolated from the rest of the team.

Twice, he’s tried to start running again, only to experience a setback with new pain in his foot.

There have been lots of tears and the frustration has come out in a variety of ways. Every night we pray. Joshua’s constant request has been, “Pray that my foot heals quickly.”

After spending many conversations trying to dispense my sage advice (see statements above), with varying degrees of receptivity, I decided that maybe I needed another approach.

After much reflection, I’ve learned that I need to be slower to react and give advice and I need to listen more.

Joshua’s (far right) season so far has been relegated to trying to be a good team-mate and cheer his team-mates when they race.

I realize that I need to be more patient and not get so easily worked up when the response and heart attitude isn’t what I want.

I need to let Joshua process his own disappointment and loss while communicating that I’m for him and that we grieve with him.

Lastly, I want to help Joshua process his circumstances and learn what he can from this situation.

I’ve found that some of the coaching training we’ve been going through has been helpful to just ask questions. Questions such as:

What is the Lord teaching you? What are you learning about your identity and yourself through this? How can this situation help shape you as a person and leader? What can you learn about being a good team-mate through this?

Sixteen year olds are not always ready to learn these life lessons. But then again, us old guys aren’t always ready either!

Thanks for your ministry in our lives as we navigate the ups and downs of life and seek to learn our own life lessons.

Please pray for wisdom for us as we parent our twins and seek to guide them toward Jesus!

If you think about it, please pray for Joshua and his injury. Pray that his foot would heal and that he wouldn’t have any recurrence of the foot issue. Lastly, pray that he would consider the lessons the Lord is wanting to teach him through the situation he’s been in.

November 5, 2015

Cheering from the Sideline

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, Jen was at home recovering from an 11 day hospital stay as her doctors struggled to stabilize her Vasculitis condition.

In January, Jen had another flare and spent another week in the hospital as doctors blasted her body with high doses of Prednisone in an effort to get her Vasculitis under control.

This last year has been filled with unknowns and uncertainties, along with anxiety, worry and plenty of discouragement. We’ve been sustained by the prayers and words of encouragement from our many friends and family.

I remember getting a hand-written note in the mail from a friend who’s also on staff with Cru. Her husband had been dealing with an unusual spinal condition that had been hard to diagnose and treat for over a year. She wrote me a note as a fellow care-giver encouraging me to continue trusting the Lord and praying specifically that by the same time the next year, our situation would look much better and we would be well on the road to recovery.

I was very touched by the thoughtfulness of her note but admit that it was hard to imagine what things would look like in a year.

Things have been steadily progressing for Jen and our family since we began seeing Pulmonary and Rheumatology specialists at UCLA in February. By getting Jen on an immunosuppressant that her body can tolerate, Jen’s condition has become stable, allowing the doctors to begin slowly tapering her off the Prednisone drug which has caused so many negative side effects. In fact, by God’s grace, Jen will be completely off Prednisone on November 20th (two days after she has her 2nd Prednisone-related cataract surgery)!

This fall has been a new season in the life of our family. Jacob and Joshua have started high school and are running on the Cross Country team. Jen and I are taking steps to establish our ministry to Millennials & Jen has resumed her role as part of a team that oversees a leadership development training program for leaders throughout Cru.

Jen (2nd from the right) with the 4 Cru Leaders who will be a part of her Process group for the next 2 years.

In fact, we experienced a small milestone of sorts in early October. Jen boarded a plane for a week-long conference in Orlando related to her Leadership Development role, while I drove a group of 7 unruly freshman and sophomore boys to Clovis to compete in a Cross Country race. It marked the first time in 18 months that either of us had traveled outside of the Southern California basin. It was a significant step for us and our family as we’ve journeyed on the road of recovery.

Yesterday marked the conclusion of Jacob and Joshua’s first season running Cross Country in high school. It’s really been a great year for them and they capped it off with their best race of the season at the league finals. Joshua finished 4th and Jacob was 5th (1/10th of a second behind Joshua) among freshman boys. Their excellent finish earned them both freshman all-league honors.

As I was sorting through the plethora of pictures I took at the meet, I came across one that caught my eye that I wanted to share with you. Unbeknownst to me, Jen was in the frame of pictures I took of Jacob and Joshua sprinting toward the finish line. In the pictures, Jen can clearly be seen cheering Jacob & Joshua on.

Jacob and Joshua fend of a Dana Hills rival as they sprint to the finish line in the league finals race. Jen is on the left cheering them on.

To me, it was an accidental bonus to get Jen in the picture of Jacob and Joshua sprinting to the finish. But more than that, this picture illustrates what we’ve experienced in our lives as a family these past 18 months. As we’ve struggled to move forward, experiencing obstacles and barriers that might discourage us, you, our friends and our family, have been there cheering us on, encouraging us to press on.

Thanks for encouraging us to keep pressing on, and please continue to pray for us and cheer for us as we keep sprinting toward the goal!

June 12, 2015

Overcoming June Gloom

Jen shares about her year-long struggle with health issues at our church's Sunday service. — Jen shares about her year-long struggle with health issues at our church’s Sunday service.

The weather in Southern California is great almost year round. While much of the country was under several feet of snow this past winter, we had almost spring like weather conditions here. It’s one of the things that makes Southern California such an attractive vacation destination and it’s also why so many people want to live here, which in turn explains why it’s so expensive to live here.

In June, however, most of the the Los Angeles and Orange County basin experiences a phenomenon that has come to be known as June gloom. I’m not a meteorologist, so I can’t explain all of the meteorological conditions that contribute to June gloom. I just know that for much of June, for some reason, a thick marine layer often creeps in off the coast and envelopes the southland, creating overcast skies in the morning that often burn off by late morning or mid day.

Because our house is located up against the Saddleback mountain foothills at about 800 feet elevation, we often will walk out of our house in the morning to clear, sunny skies. But as I drive down the hill to take the boys to school, it’s not uncommon for us to drive right down into that marine layer where it’s overcast and the sun is not directly visible.

This last year for us has felt a lot like June gloom. It’s as if one day everything was going great and it was sunny outside, but then we experienced some health issues that felt a lot like driving down into that thick marine layer.

For the last year, life has not had the clear, sunny outlook that we would want. Instead, it’s been overcast and even foggy at times. Life has been challenging and at times we’ve wondered if we would ever see the sun through the dark clouds.

These last few months have given us hope that perhaps the June gloom clouds are beginning to burn off and dissipate. We are beginning to see signs of the sun peeking through.

Several months ago, when we started seeing experts at UCLA, Jen was put on a new immunosuppressant that seems to be working. As a result, she has been able to slowly taper down on the amount of Prednisone she’s taking and that alone has helped her to begin to feel more like herself each day.

A few weeks ago, Jen was able to be on a conference call with a work group with which she’s been involved. That was a big step forward since she’s had to disengage with much of her work load for many months now.

Jen-Crossline4 — Jen is interviewed by JP Jones, Senior Pastor of Crossline Church.

Last Sunday, Jen was asked to share in front of our church congregation a bit of her journey this past year with her health and how God has met her in the midst of the challenges of life. It was another key moment in her recovery, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. (You can watch the video interview online at: vimeo.com/130399778)

Things aren’t back to normal by any stretch but there is more hope now than anytime in the last 8 months that perhaps this disease can be managed and we can fully resume the mission to which we’ve been called.

We’re so grateful for your prayers and the way you’ve cared for our family this past year. Would you please continue to pray for our family and for Jen’s continued recovery?

Pray specifically for Jen’s blurred vision to clear and for her lung capacity to increase. Pray too that the side effects of long-term Prednisone use would continue to dissipate.

We continue to trust the Lord for this road we’re on and we pray that the Lord might find us faithful and fruitful as we follow Him and serve Him.

May 5, 2015

Starstruck

Waiting at UCLA to meet with the Rheumatologist

This last week marked the one year anniversary of the current health journey that we have been on. I remember vividly being in Nashville when Jen began experiencing sharp pains in her chest that landed her in the ER. I remember my friend Mark Short, who was a student years ago during our University of Arizona days and who also happens to now live near Nashville, adjusting his schedule on a moment’s notice to come and visit us in the hospital. I also remember my fears and anxieties being relieved when the doctor told us that he believed that Jen was suffering from walking pneumonia.

Of course that was just the beginning of the journey. There have been 5 hospital stays, countless doctor visits, chemo-therapy infusions, biopsies, endless tests and procedures and enough blood drawn it seems to fill an empty blood bank.

After Jen’s last flare in January landed her back in the hospital for a week, we were advised by our Pulmonologist to seek more advanced medical care and treatment from experts at a teaching hospital. We ended up setting up some appointments at UCLA and that has been very helpful for Jen in the course of her treatment.

Last month, we had two appointments at UCLA that were helpful and encouraging. The first appointment was scheduled during the first day of spring break so it became an all day family event. We made the best of our time in L.A. by spending a day at Universal Studios, which the boys were pretty excited about.

Joshua (left) and Jacob in front of the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine at Universal Studios.

The next week we were back at UCLA for a full day of tests followed by a consultation with the Pulmonologist. Jen got a CAT Scan of her lungs and also had a Pulmonary Function Test.

When we met with the doctor, he showed us the image of the CAT Scan and compared it side by side with the image of her lungs when she was in the hospital in January. The difference was noticeable. Her lungs now look more clear.

However, Jen’s Pulmonary Function Test results showed that there is still some kind of restriction. The doctor said that could be the result of some lingering inflammation or it could be the result of nearly a year of being pretty inactive and sedentary. We remain hopeful that Jen’s lung capacity will increase over time.

Near the end of our appointment, we met with the head of the Pulmonary group, a doctor named John Lynch. Apparently, Dr. Lynch is one of the leading experts on Vasculitis in the United States. He told us that Vasculitis is pretty rare, with only 3 to 7 cases per million each year. That means there are probably only about 1000-2000 cases of it each year in the U.S. Because of that, he said it’s good to get treatment from doctors who are very familiar with the disorder.

He also told us that based on his observations and Jen’s test results, he thought she might be in remission. That was certainly good news – probably the most positive news we’ve heard in the last year!

Later in the week, when Jen met with her local Pulmonologist, he seemed star struck when Jen told him that we had met with Dr. Lynch. His comment, in an excited tone was, “You met with John Lynch! Wow! I spoke with him at a conference once!”

After our appointment, Jen and I went to dinner at a local mall in hopes of avoiding the rush hour traffic on our way home.

Dave & Jen pause to take a picture with Millhouse from the Simpsons at Universal Studios.

As we were exiting the restaurant, I walked right by Bob Newhart, who was walking with his wife into a different restaurant. Jen had already walked past him without noticing. Starstruck, I caught up to her and in an excited voice exclaimed, “Jen, we just walked right past Bob Newhart!” I guess it’s just a fun footnote of our trips to L.A.

Jen is continuing with her current treatment and continues to lower her dosage of Prednisone, which is now being reduced at a slower rate. She is now taking 9 mg per day.

The main issues now are continuing to build lung capacity, while hoping and praying that the many side effects of Prednisone will begin to subside. Among the side effects we are hoping will dissipate are blurred vision, bursitis in the knees, water retention and weight gain, and loss of hair.

Please pray with us for Jen’s continued recovery. Pray both for increased lung capacity and also that her body will be healed of the many negative side effects of Prednisone. Pray especially for perseverance as the recovery process often feels like 2 steps forward and 1 step backward.

Please pray for healing from a minor surgery Jen had to remove a skin cancerous mole as well as a tooth extraction and permanent implant that will be coming up in the near future.

As always, we are grateful for your continued prayers, support and many notes of love and encouragement!

Click here to read the pdf version of The Lowedown.

October 31, 2014

A Temporary Setback

(NOTE: this is a follow up to my earlier posts on 10/13 and 10/22)…

Click here to read the pdf version of the Lowedown

Recently, I was watching an episode of Dancing with the Stars. Jen and I enjoy watching the transformation that takes place in the lives of people who have no dancing experience and yet are able to learn to perform sophisticated dance routines at a high level.

The theme of this particular week was “your most challenging year”. One contestant mentioned the year that he went to jail. Another contestant mentioned the year that her dad passed away. Still another contestant mentioned being bullied as a teenager.

I think I can confidently say that if I were on that show and had to respond to the theme of that week, that this year would definitely be listed as our most challenging year.

It’s been a six month journey in getting sick, trying to diagnose the problem, getting a diagnosis and then beginning treatment. Last month, Jen had just finished 4 weeks of chemo-therapy infusions that were designed to suppress her immune system and put her vasculitis into remission.

Everything seemed to be going well. Jen was responding well to the treatment and the blood work indicated that her kidney functioning, which had been declining over the summer, was beginning to stabilize.

But about 2 weeks after her last infusion, Jen started to experience some symptoms of shortness of breath, accompanied by some low grade fevers. When we met with her rheumatologist, her initial words were, “this is not good.” She was concerned that Jen might have an infection and with a compromised immune system, that could be extremely dangerous.

hospital1 — Jen spent 10 days in the hospital getting tests and being treated for a vasculitis recurrence.

Jen was admitted to the hospital and remained there for 10 days. Tests indicated that there was no infection, which means that what Jen was experiencing was a recurrence of her vasculitis. After all the treatments that she had received, this was a bit of a bummer.

To combat this vasculitis flare, Jen had to be given very high doses of Prednisone intravenously for several days. Once the doctors were confident that the vasculitis flare was under control, it took them several days to taper Jen down to a Prednisone dosage that was low enough to take at home.

Jen has now been home for a week. The good news is that her kidney function, blood work and chest x-ray all look good and for now the vasculitis symptoms seem to be under control. The hard part is that Jen is on a higher dose of Prednisone than when she first started treatment in July, so in some ways, it feels a bit like treatment is starting completely over at the beginning.

Jen’s rheumatologist tells us that the treatment phase for this disease will likely last a year. After that, if there are no other setbacks, we can move into a maintenance phase. Maintenance would require Jen to take low doses of an immunosuppressant drug in order to keep the vasculitis from recurring.

During this challenging time, we’ve been overwhelmed by the love and support from family, friends and co-workers. Thank you for praying for us and for serving us in so many ways, whether through cards, notes of encouragement, timely meals for our family or an additional financial gift. We are so grateful for you.

We would greatly covet your continued prayers for us as we continue to navigate this journey the Lord has us on.

Specifically, pray for Jen to remain healthy as her immune system will be compromised until well after the first of the year. Pray also that there would be no recurrence of the vasculitis as Jen continues to be tapered off of Prednisone, which has many undesirable side effects.

Pray too for us as we try to balance our desire to build on our new ministry while continuing to deal with Jen’s ongoing disease and recovery.

Thank you so much for standing with us. We are eternally grateful!

October 22, 2014

Home Sweet Home!

After 10 days in the hospital, Jen finally was released today and able to come home. We are very excited and happy to have her home with us.

We would still very much appreciate your prayers for Jen. Vasculitis is a tricky disease to get a handle on. It’s an auto-immune disorder so there really is no cure but can often be managed with a combination of medications. Finding that combination is the tricky part and our rheumatologist tells us that this phase, which she’s calling the treatment phase, can last about a year.

If there are no setbacks, the hope is to move into a maintenance phase where the vasculitis can be kept in check with a minimal immuno-suppressant. Getting to that maintenance phase can often have setbacks like the one Jen just had. The hope is that once we get to a maintenance phase, Jen’s lifestyle will begin to resemble more of the activities and commitments to which she’s been accustomed.

So please continue to pray for the following:

Pray that Jen would remain healthy for the next 5 months while her immune system will be compromised because of the infusions she recently received.
Pray that Jen would begin to feel more normal now that she is out of the hospital. She’s pretty tired. We think that’s a combination of not getting the best rest, being confined to a bed for 10 days, and being restricted in her diet because she’s diabetic. Jen told me that she was constantly feeling hungry.
Pray that she would not have a recurrence of the vasculitis as they continue to taper her steroid dosage down over the next several weeks.
Pray that we would continue to put our hope and trust in the Lord. The last 10 days have been a roller coaster of emotions. Pray that we would be able to experience some spiritual and emotional rest.

We are so grateful for you. Your prayers and notes have sustained us during this difficult time.

If you haven’t checked out Jen’s CaringBridge site, you can do so by going to: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jenlowe

Thanks again for your prayers and support!

October 13, 2014

A Setback for Jen’s Recovery

Friends,

Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Jen. Please, please, please continue to pray for healing.Today, Jen was readmitted to the hospital for more tests. Let me explain why.

After Jen’s last infusion 4 weeks ago, she had some blood work done that seemed to indicate that things were going well with her lungs and her kidney. We were encouraged.

However, 2 weeks ago, Jen unexpectedly started experiencing some low grade fevers off and on and also was dealing with some shortness of breath.

Last week we visited Jen’s rheumatologist who was concerned when Jen shared about the symptoms she was experiencing. The possible causes of her symptoms could be a return of the vasculitis or maybe an infection that she has developed in her lungs.

Today, Jen saw her pulmonologist who determined that her lung functioning is only at about 50%. Because of that, Jen has been readmitted to the hospital for further testing to try to determine the cause of her lung issues.

Would you take a moment and pray for Jen right now? Pray that the doctors would have wisdom to correctly diagnose what is happening. And pray that she would be able to get treatment to correct her condition. Please pray that the Lord would heal her and restore her health.

We serve a mighty God who is able to do exceedingly more than we ask or imagine. Pray that God would be glorified through Jen and that He would choose to bring healing to her body.

Because Jen’s health issues have been ongoing, we’ve decided to set up a Caring Bridge site where we can post regular updates about Jen and her health. Please check out her site and register to receive updates whenever a new journal entry is posted.

The site is: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jenlowe

Thank you so much and God Bless!

Dave & Jen

September 18, 2014

The Waiting Game

Dear Friends,

Jennifer and I are so encouraged and overwhelmed by the love and support that we have received during these last few months as Jen has been undergoing tests and treatment for her Vasculitis condition.

Many have asked how Jen is doing now and what lies ahead.

The short answers are that Jen is doing well and we’re not quite sure what is next. Please read on for the more full explanation of what is happening.

Jen continues to do well and feel well as a result of the Prednizone (steroid) that she has been taking for the last 9 weeks. The steroid has reduced the inflammation that was causing a lot of pneumonia-like symptoms. As a result, she has felt a lot more like herself.

But the goal now is to get off the steroid (because of some of its negative side effects) without seeing the symptoms return. To do that, she’s received 4 weekly infusions of Rituxan, which is designed to put the vasculitis into remission so that when she is tapered off the steroid, the symptoms do not return.

Last Wednesday Jen received her fourth and final infusion. Her doctor also has begun tapering her off the Prednizone.

Where are we now in the recovery process? We don’t really know. We really have to take a wait and see approach.

Jen had some blood work done this week which we hope will show positive signs with many of the markers that the doctors look for when analyzing her condition. Specifically, they’ll be looking at inflammation rate, kidney functioning and the presence of certain anti-bodies.

Over the next 6 months, Jen’s immune system will begin to break down as a result of her infusions. In about 3 months, she should reach the low point of her immune system being compromised and as it builds itself back up, the hope is that the vasculitis will not return.

Please continue to pray with us. Specifically, pray that the Rituxan medication would be effective and that her symptoms would not return as she is slowly tapered off of steroids.

Pray too that Jen would not get sick during the time that her immune system is compromised.

Lastly, please continue to pray that we would trust the Lord as we navigate the various issues associated with this disease.

Thanks again for your continued prayers and your notes of encouragement. We feel loved!

God Bless!

Dave & Jen

September 5, 2014

The Fall Forecast

20140806_124441 — Dave, with Joshua and Jacob on the USC campus early in August on Dave’s birthday!

Each day, sometime after I (Dave) wake up, I grab my phone and the first thing I do is __________ ? Many of you probably would think that I check my e-mail but that is not correct. One of the first things I do when I grab my smartphone is check my weather app. I want to see what the forecast is for the day. How hot is it going to be? Will I need to run the air conditioner? And will it be so hot that I need to think about extra water for the grass and plants? And most importantly, is there any chance of rain in the forecast?

For much of California, we have been in extreme drought conditions for the past 2 years. Our snowfall in the Sierras in 2013 was about 25% less than average and 2014 was much worse at only about 30% of our average snowfall. (see this link for satellite images on the California drought: http://goo.gl/U56uFH)

Earlier in the year, forecasters had been predicting El Nino conditions for this winter which would bring the promise of above average rain and snow in the west. However, those forecasts may have been premature and the possibility of another dry winter still looms. (This article from the IndyStar explains: http://goo.gl/HNSyf6)

Water is essential for life and the lack of water can complicate normal daily activities and routines. The forecast for this fall calls for more dry weather but we’re praying for rain and snow to help bring relief and normalcy back to this region.

In our personal lives and ministry, we’re also forecasting what life and ministry will look like for the fall.

Typically, the fall is a busy season. The kids head back to school and with it comes lots of homework and other activities.

Jen is usually busy with travel for her Leadership development role and of course, we have our local ministry with Millennials that we are developing.

However, the forecast for our fall looks different than normal. Recently, Jen has been getting infusions of a chemotherapy grade drug that is designed to put her vasculitis disease into remission. As I write this, she has received 3 of the 4 infusions, with her last infusion next week. Over the next couple of months, her immune system will be broken down and rebuilt. This is normal and expected but the result will be a compromised immune system for several months.

Jen’s third Rituxan infusion bag. Though it looks like simple water, we’re trusting that the Lord will use this to reset Jen’s immune system and restore her health.

After consulting Jen’s rheumatologist and learning how the process works, we realized that traveling this fall would not be wise with a compromised immune system.

As a drought impairs normal activity for those who are affected, our lives and ministry have been affected by Jen’s condition. Ironically, the drug that Jen is taking looks as clear as water and we’re praying that the infusions have the desired effect on Jen’s immune system.

So while the short term forecast means we’ll be grounded and working more locally and virtually, we’re hoping and trusting the Lord to bring some healing and restoration to Jen so that the long term forecast might bring a return of normal activity to our lives.

Whatever the circumstances we’re in, our prayer is that we would glorify Him with our lives and that He would bear fruit through us as we serve Him in whatever capacity we’re able to serve.

Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement. Please pray with us, that the Lord would “bring the rain” in our personal lives as well as this region in which we live.

We are so grateful for you and we thank the Lord for you and we pray for the Lord’s blessings in your life as well. And we invite you to share your needs and requests with us so that we can pray for you as well!

Click here to read the pdf version of “The Lowedown”