The peace of God... and a bunch of funny ducks

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:7

Peace: freedom of the mind from distraction, annoyance, anxiety

Wow, who can understand the peace of God? When the waves crash unceasingly and the water just seems to get deeper, I hear His still small voice telling me to trust Him. I have such incredible peace. If you've experienced it in your own life, you know what I'm talking about. The storm is raging all around, but it is well with my soul.

Earlier today I just felt like I needed to get outside.. to be alone.. to find a quiet spot. The sky was bright blue, with no clouds in sight... sunny, of course.. and warm. My kinda weather. I laid on a bench, but then it got to be too hard so I moved to the grass. I took my flip flops off and enjoyed the feel of the grass under my feet. I started day dreaming of what it would be like to be in Narnia. After a while, I walked over to the big fountains that are in front of the hospital. I sat down and watched all the ducks playing in the water. They were so funny! At first, they would dive simultaneously into the water like they were diving for food. And then come up, shake off, and do it all over again... like they were putting on a show for me. Then they all got out of the water and started cleaning themselves. The funniest part was watching them do everything together, at the same time.

We've had lots of visitors over the past few days. Wes and Nikki, friends from NC, arrived thursday morning and we've had such an awesome time. What a blessing! God knew exactly what we would need when He sent them here. Wes brought his guitar and Cody's congo is here, so it's been fun watching them play together and worship Jesus. It was a sweet, sweet sound. Cody's mom and sisters have also been here cheering us on...we love you guys!

Cody's doing great! I wish so much that you could see him. His cheeks are rosy, his eyes are bright and vibrant, and he always has a smile on his face. What a man!

The radiation is going good so far. The reason he's getting radiation is to shrink the tumor that caused the fracture. Once the tumor is dead, the fracture will begin to heal on it's own. The area is just to the right of his left shoulder blade, kind of between there and the spine - it has to be radiated front and back to get both sides of the tumor. Therefore, when they radiate the front it ends up being near his esophagus, so please please please pray that he won't get esophagitis again! The nurses warned us that he could get a sore throat, but please pray protection over his throat and esophagus from any radiation burns.

As I type, Cody's having another blood transfusion. His red counts were still low, so he's receiving 2 units.

We really are doing good. We have so much support from our family and friends. And everytime we think about how many of you are praying for us, we get teary eyed. It blesses us so much to know that so many people all over the world are constantly lifting us up into Jesus' lap and standing with us for Cody's complete recovery.

We love you so much and bless you in Jesus' name.