From Frank in California

Well, as usual with my lovely spouse, California has been an adventure! We have
had a great time with my family in non-humid Newport Beach. My Dad's 89th
birthday was a blast!  Christine and Erik came out and Chip was up from San
Diego for the weekend. Carol was in her element. Unfortunately she continued to
have lower back pain throughout the 10 days, but with medication and sleep she
was able to control it.  This last Wednesday we saw some wonderful friends from the
CBS board for lunch and then went out to dinner with my family where Carol
looked as our British friends would say "smashing". We were looking forward to
seeing all our dear friends in Oak Park and strategizing how best to
insure Carol would be in top shape to see everyone.   (By the way we delayed the
trip by a day so that I could go with my brother Bob to a men's prayer breakfast
at Saddleback Church yesterday morning. It started at 6:30 so we left at 6:00am - hey,
I'm retired and not used to early hours but it was worth it! That church is
really on fire.  As you will see following it was most definitely a "God thing")

When I returned just before 9, Carol complained of being nauseous and then in a
span of five minutes twice vomited only blood and couldn't get up. One of my
wonderful sisters-in-law (Michele) came running from her home, took one look and
called an ambulance. At the same time the fiancees of my two nephews showed up to  stay
with my folks. Long story short, the ER folks at Hoag Hospital, a great regional hospital,
stabilized her and gave her blood. She was "scoped" early in the afternoon to stop the
bleeding  but had bled so much that they could not see the source. She was then taken to
Interventional Radiology where they were able to stop the bleeds thru a catheterization
process.  Praise the Lord!  Carol spent the night in the ICU where they will monitor her
to make sure they stopped all the bleeding and then at least another two days
for healing and observation.

Needless to say we did not make Oak Park and will be in California a bit longer.
This all has been very scary but the Lord is watching over us and as always
blessing us here with family and a great nearby hospital. Though we wish we were
at Johns Hopkins! We will keep you posted on this at times bumpy journey. I
cannot begin to tell you how much your continued prayers mean to us-please pray
for a speedy recovery and ultimately a complete healing. We are  in good hands . . .
our Lord's.

Carol asked to add this verse:  "Great is Thy faithfulness. Morning by 
morning new mercies we see."

Frank