Ponderings..

I have not been over to TJ's room as yet- moving kinda slow this morning-so I do not have any medical updates. I wanted to put some things out there that have been stirring in my mind since Chip's first phone call, but between jet lag and the challenges of the situation it has been hard to articulate these thoughts.

This is a spiritual battle. Please continue to keep up praying in that mode. I think that I have sort of a warped view of things because it has not been as terrifying as last year and TJ is awake- so he just seems a lot better. However, he is still on a vent and not out of danger by a long stretch. During the conference that TJ and Chip were a part of here there were prayer teams and they felt like they did " a lot of damage". The enemy is fighting back. The following is from an email I received today:

" I went over to get more stuff from my old house a few days ago and was talking to my old landlord who is a Christ follower. I told her about my dream. She said, "I had a dream too. There was a man in a hospital in a foreign place. There was evil and people going throughout the hospital releasing flies (infection/illness) everywhere and draining blood of patients." I told her about TJ and asked her to pray."

Bangkok is one of the darkest cities one earth with the highest concentration of the sweetest and kindest people on earth. A word that has come to several peoples minds is illumination. Please pray that God's light emanates from TJ's room and our lives to the staff here. It would be quite a coup if the enemy was trying to take TJ out of commission and we gained some family members instead!

Finally, it has been impressed upon me that God will not share His glory with anyone else. Last time we said that if TJ had not been at United Hospital, if Dr. Corbett had not been around, if I had not been around, if TJ's dad had not been around things easily could have turned out differently. I think God is proving that He can do miracles in our lives without our help.

Now I am going to finish the way too strong coffee i made in a press mug I bought at Starbucks in the Tokyo airport, shower, and head over to his room.

May God bless you and keep you, make his face shine upon you and give you peace.

MA