Happy New Year! I hope the first few pages of your new calendar have positive and fun things written in. I have a dental cleaning and Khloe’s 2nd birthday! Andy and I no longer have any teenage children — Miss Rachel turned 20 on 12/30. Cady, Kevin and Zach are tiptoeing toward 30 (still a year or two left in their 20’s). I hope 2018 will bring you and your family many reminders of how much God cares for you.
At the beginning of November I broke the fourth toe on my left foot (the toe next to the pinkie toe). My foot turned lovely shades of purple and yellow and green. Having never broken a bone before, I was surprised by the amount of “ache” and discomfort there was. And this little broken thing influenced my days: how I got up from chairs, how I got out of the car, my choices of activities and even my wardrobe. Not much matched my orthopedic shoe. I will never again say, “but it was just a toe.” My whole being was affected.
The aortic valve in an adult human is roughly the size of a dime. I know that because it has been the focus of my dad’s health since November. My stepmother, Steff, had a quintuple bypass in 2017 and was fitted with an external valve (LVAD). Just before Thanksgiving my father was fatigued (he was Steff’s 24/7 care) and in doing CAT scans for his heart docs found my dad needed a stent, an aortic valve repair, a pacemaker; and, saw he has lymphoma. That dime-sized item affected the whole of my father’s system, his life and his wife’s care. He is currently building strength at cardiac rehab in Rockland, Maine.
Something NOT little is our level of gratitude for your partnership with us in this ministry work, the jobs to which God has called us. Thank you for praying, participating and walking this with us. Once again I am putting your photos from Christmas/End of Year notes on our fridge so we can be praying for each of you and your family.
The Mediterranean island of Cyprus is about the size of Houston, Texas with 1/6 the number of people. At the end of this month Andy will be serving at the Campus Crusade Eastern European Staff Conference being held in Cyprus. In the past Andy would help run conferences like this, but this year he’s going as part of his team’s “Mobile Help Desk”. Andy and two other people from his office team will be fixing computers and phones and training our staff in all things technology. They are offering these services in hopes of helping our staff minister more effectively in Eastern Europe. And not just there, the “Mobile Help Desk” has traveled worldwide to offer services for our staff. Andy and I see this as “the ultimate” in our jobs: serving others so they can hear from God and connect with Him and be refreshed! Please keep Andy and his teammates in your prayers, especially for safe travel. Your prayers and partnership make this possible.
Thanks so much you for serving and standing with us,
The Kelloggs 