I started reading Stephen Saint’s newest book last night at dialysis “Walking His Trail”. It is a bunch of short stories telling all the day to day interventions and miracles they have seen in their lives, and how God is active and intervening all the time for His glory in our lives. If you don’t know who he is, his Dad was martyred along with 4 other men bringing the Gospel to the Waodani tribe in Ecuador. That story was made into the movie “The End of the Spear”. They have some pretty remarkable testimonies, but also some moving ordinary testimonies too where God has also built a “sand castle” for all to see. It was just the type of pick me up I was needing to help me from feeling sorry for myself in my cold and not wanting to be in the dialysis center next to someone with pneumonia. Saint calls these stories the sand castles God is building. You don’t go to a beach and mistake a sand castle being built by natural means. By the same thing, these stories of sand castles show God’s involvement with them in their life. This book was a tiny sand castle for me – and it has challenged and inspired me to try to document my sand castles. I would challenge anyone who reads this to do the same. Give me a few weeks and I’ll post what I have so far, and God willing I’ll put together enough for a “sand castle” book too at some point.
Today was a beautiful day. Dave G, Lisa, and I went and played frisbee golf after work. I was a little unsure how the new catheter would hold up, but I am in no pain so I figured it was worth giving it a try. I threw pretty well – I was acutally 1 under for the first 9 with 3 gimme birdies. The back nine wasn’t quite as good, but it was a blessing to be able to get out and play today. The catheter and more importantly the stitches holding it in place held up very well and was not a hinderance at all – other than it is really unnatural for me for some reason to carry my “frisbee purse” on my left shoulder.
Kevin
Last week was a really rough week. In addition to all of the infection and catheter stuff, I caught a pretty nasty cold/cough. The class on Thursday was really good. I am highly confident of the decision to go with peritioneal dialysis now. I’ll just want to talk with my doctor and discuss the details with him, and then I’ll get the surgery scheduled. It is an outpatient day surgery. I really need to get out of the dialysis center. I think you just get exposed to so much in there and I’ll do so much better at home. On Friday night, a woman a couple of machines down had pneumonia. This poor same lady also had a hepatitis scare a few weeks ago when someone that used the machine before her was exposed to hepatitis-b in the hospital. The machines should isolate that where there is minimal risk – but all of this has happened in a month where I just think it wiser to minimize your exposure – not to mention the more common stuff like cathether infections, colds, and flu. So, please pray for Lisa and me to heal and get over this cough – and for straight paths for getting to treatment at home.
Sunday school went well today. It was another day where we were led into a great discussion and it was a pretty hands off class for me. We’re through the denser parts of Colossians now. We should finish off the 3rd and 4th chapters conservatively in the next month – maybe a little faster even. We’ll then start on Philemon and then Philippians. We started this study about 6 years ago now. We started in Acts, and then branched off and studied each epistle as when we came to the time it was written chronologically. So, it has been just an incredibly rich and moving race – and to have a glance that the finish line is not too far ahead is pretty cool. It has been a life changing blessing and study for me.
Colossians 2:18-23.pdf
I hope God has blessed your week.
Kevin
The catheter insertion went well yesterday. It was a much better experience this time, although my neck is probably just as stiff. Dialysis afterwards went well and I didn’t clot at all. Thank you to God for carrying me through the day. Thank you for your prayers.
Kevin
The catheter removal went well. The actual procedure was dreadful, but quick and I wasn’t in any pain when it was done.
Lisa and I did get to spend time with my group from work at the H4H worksite today. That was great. We are really blessed to work for an employer that encourages philanthropy, and backs up that encouragement by giving us time each month for volunteer work. We got to dodge Pam and Tiffany throwing shingles off the roof at us 
. One of the main tasks was tearing some old shingles off of the roof, so there was a demolition crew and a clean up crew. There wasn’t really any intentional targeting of the cleanup crew, but it made the job exciting.
We got done, came home and let Sally out for a brief reprieve from captivity (it was a bad day to be Sally today), and then went to the hospital. They got me in and out really quickly. I have a big pressure bandage covering the site. We then went to a park near the hospital and had a quick picnic lunch, then killed a little time visiting the Christian used bookstore in downtown Englewood.
We then boarded light rail and went to the Rockies game for batting practice. I should have had one of the first balls hit. It couldn’t have been more than 6″ above my outstretched arm, but I didn’t have it judged well enough to jump or hop up onto the bleacher in time. Nothing else came close. We ended up leaving early – time is really precious nowadays and this week I just couldn’t afford a 3 hour ballgame.
So, I thank God for a really good day today – with a painful 15 minutes but a procedure that went well.
I really appreciated an encouraging email from my cousin Dora. She encouraged me to keep an eternal perspective on this trial. The peace and hope I have been gracefully given because of keeping an eternal perspective is what keeps me going. This would be just an awful experience if I didn’t know that it was temporary and I have an eternity with Christ to look foward to. The grace, peace, and hope I have been given are just amazing. I know I am being carried through this by God, and because of that things really are very good in my life right now. I wouldn’t wish this experience on anyone else even though I truly believe it has been good for me, but I am thankful so much for God’s grace and the hope I have in Christ.
Please continue to pray, especially for tomorrow’s catheter insertion procedure to go well and for the infection to be cured.
Kevin
Thank you to God for a smooth treatment tonight. The alarm didn’t go off at all. I did get some bad news though. My fever was in fact due to a bloodstream infection. So, I have to get my catheter removed tomorrow afternoon, and then a new temporary one put in Wednesday before dialysis, and then a new permacatheter once the infection is gone. I’m not really discouraged although I do dread the catheter procedures. I just trust God in this and ask for your continued prayer. I am very much looking forward to the peritoneal dialysis (PD) class on Thursday. I know it has some infection risk too – but I just really believe that with an at home option I’ll get exposed to so much less. I think I’ll learn more about home hemodialysis as well on Thursday. The only part I’m really discouraged about is I was really looking forward to building in a habitat for humanity home tomorrow with Lisa. I can probably still put in a little time, but I feel bad about the last minute change of plans. I’ll keep everyone posted as soon as I can how the next few days go.
Kevin
Expelled was an excellent movie. The main point that was reinforced to me coming out of it is the whole debate over naturalistic evolution vs intelligent design is a worldview conflict. Science is supposed to examine nature and find the answer where ever it leads. Unfortunately, right now, the prevalent Darwinism worldview is trying to protect itself and not allowing answers that lead outside of that worldview by trying to eliminate any path that could lead to God as “non-science”, even though the evidence of the complexity of the cell and the amount of information in DNA strongly should suggest design and not random processes. Every option needs to be on the table for science to explain the origins of life and the universe. I don’t see how anyone could rule out a design explanation where it isn’t even considered an option, even without the additional benefit of scripture (Romans 1, John 1, Genesis 1). I have the faith that there are answers because of the belief that the universe is designed, and as we find and understand those answers better, they will point to God. The Christian worldview has nothing to fear from science – science will only reinforce it.
Below is a picture of Lisa at the Av’s game last night.
Kevin
Lisa and I did make it to the Avalanche game last night. It was a good game. The Av’s played a little more just clear the zone, dump it in for a change, and conservative hockey with the defensemen staying pretty far back than I was hoping for, but they won 2-1 so I can’t complain. The crowd at the end was the loudest I had ever heard – it was deafening.
Attached is this weeks lesson on Colossians 2:9-17. Basically I look at it as Paul’s countering of legalism by the Colossian false teachers. Christ alone is sufficient for our salvation.
Colossians 2:9-17.pdf
I hope to still go see “Expelled” this afternoon with Lisa.
Kevin
I still had a fever this morning, so we went into the emergency room. They drew and tested a lot of blood, and gave me some IV antibiotics. I’m home now. I feel worse now than when I went in, but I am so thankful to be home. My temperature when I got home was 98.6 – so hopefully this is over and all is well. I didn’t have an elevated white blood cell count. They took some blood cultures as well that take longer to process, but I am thinking the fever was from my cold and not a blood infection from what we know now.
Kevin
Tonight’s treatment was one of my worst. The veinous pressure was going off every ten minutes or so – which is a signal for clotting. I am very grateful I was able to make it through the whole treatment, but it was not smooth. When I got off of the machine, I was running a little bit of a fever. We are monitoring it really closely. The catheter sites are a little red, but don’t really look infected. I am not in any pain. So, we are kind of getting mixed symptoms on whether or not I might have an infection. Please pray for God’s wisdom and healing. I do not want to go to the hospital or emergency room. If the fever spikes though, I probably won’t have a choice. If that were to happen, Lisa will send out updates about what is going on. I really believe though that I don’t have a blood infection or catheter infection – so I am hopeful to avoid a trip. I trust God, and know he’ll take me when and where I need to go. Just also please pray for wisdom for Lisa and I and obedience that if I need to go, I will be obedient.
I definitely want to get out of the dialysis clinic as soon as I can. I think you just get exposed to so much in there, and I’ll do so much better with some type of at home treatment. I have the peritoneal dialysis class on Thursday. I am looking forward to so much this weekend – Av’s tickets tomorrow night and going to see Expelled some time either Saturday or Sunday, plus teaching Sunday School on my birthday Sunday.
Anyway, I really appreciate your prayers. I know that only through prayer and God’s hand will I be carried through this, and even though tonight is a low spot, I have faith in God and the power of prayer as my rock and foundation. I cannot thank God enough for answering the prayers for 0 alarms on Wednesday and carrying me through that treatment, and even though tonight wasn’t as smooth, I trust in His sovereignty and may this whole experience glorify Him.
In Christ,
Kevin
Tonight’s dialysis went great. I didn’t set of the alarm once. What an answer to prayer and I am very grateful. Thank you to God, and to everyone for praying. My hip flexors are sore from ultimate frisbee yesterday. Last time I had sore muscles, dialysis actually cleaned out some of the lactic acid (I think) and I wasn’t sore any longer afterwards. But, I wasn’t as sore going in last time, so it is probably degrees of overuse.
Kevin