Slow going

Well I'm into day 3 of recovery from my reconnect surgery. I've developed some slight fever and some swelling around the surgery site - which will require some new antibiotics. I'm doing well in the larger areas of attitude and spirit. The drugs are intense but I'm not having many of the nasty side effects like the last time. No set time yet for my return home either. God knows the time - and tho that can drive my controlling mind into a tailspin, I still need to learn to wait - and in due season He will bring it to pass.

Blessings, Pat

Waiting

Starting my 3rd day in the hospital and things are progressing and the pain isn't too bad. God willing, I'll be back home by Wednesday. My nurses and doc have been great. Still can't eat or drink anything. It can take a few days for the digestive system to wake up after my kind of surgery. That's what I'm waiting for now.

Hope all of you are having a blessed day!

In His Arm's,

Pat

No more bag!

Thanks for all your prayers folks! My ileostomy bag was successfully removed this morning and all the parts are now back together. Now, I just need everything working properly - so please continue to pray!

In His Caring Arm's,

Pat

Two more days

Less than 48 hours to knife time! Surgery is scheduled for 10:15 Saturday morning. I'm a little nervous about it but over all I'm guardedly optimistic :-)

God has been so good to me! He has seen me thru a tough year and I know He will hold me thru whatever is ahead. Just got to try not to wiggle out of His grip!

In His Arm's,

Pat

Yuma

I'm in Yuma, AZ. for a couple of days, spending some time hanging out with Pastor Chuck Stewart of CC Yuma and his family. Just a neat time talking about his ministry, sharing ideas, and telling lots of stories. Should be back in town late Tuesday to begin my prep for Surgery on Saturday.

Blessings!

Pat

On Track

Met with my surgeon Wednesday and he said everything looks good for my reconnect surgery next Saturday morning, the 26th. I should expect 3 to 4 days in the hospital with 4 to 6 weeks of recovery time - then rock-n-roll :-) Jesus is my Rock and He rolled my blues away! That's my expectation. 

In His Arm's,

Pat

catching my breath

Hi Folks! Well since last Sunday I've been doing OK - just trying to set a course for the next couple of weeks before my surgery on the 26th. Keeping busy helps the time not drag.

It's hard to grasp sometimes that a whole year has passed since Joyce went home - and even harder to think that it's been nearly 5 years since the whole battle with her cancer started. For most of those 5 years I have been out of sinc with the pattern of ministry I was used to. I'm so grateful for the patience and support of the church family, my staff and the elders of our church during these uncertain years.

New things are ahead and I am eager to see and be a part of what God has next. I'm meeting this week with another pastor friend who is in a similar position as me. He has turned his church over to his son and is desiring, as I am, to be an encouragement, resource, and help to other pastors and churches in the Calvary Chapel family. So we're meeting to brainstorm how we can work together, along with a couple other guys, to more effectively minister to those needs. Appreciate your prayer concerning that!

In the weeks following my surgery, I'll be posting my speaking/teaching/travel schedule here on this blog - and on a new website my technically challenged brain is trying to develop :-)

May our Lord continue to bless and use each of you for His glory!

In His Arm's,

Pat

Scattering

Thanks to all who prayed for my family and I as we scattered Joyce's ashes about a mile out in the ocean, directly west of the end of the Oceanside pier. It was a pretty calm Sunday evening and the two hour journey went well. There were many tears and the ache in all our hearts was still pretty fresh. I shared with my family what I thought might be Joyce's perspective after a year in heaven. What would she say to us who were still on this side of heaven? I'm certain if she could, she would urge each of us to receive Jesus gift of eternal life by putting our trust in His sacrifice for our sins. I could almost hear her say, "You don't want to miss this! It's all more real than you could possibly imagine!"

After a little more sharing, the captain lowered the beautifully painted bio-degradable urn into the water covered with flower petals. We circled the site for a little while before heading back to the harbor.

In His Arm's,

Pat

One Year

Today is the one year anniversary of Joyce graduating to heaven! I can't even begin to thank all of you who have lifted up my family and I throughout this tough year. Your prayers and cards and calls and visits have all been the mortar that's held the wall together.

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." Ps 133:1

"So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." Ro. 12:5

In His Arm's (and held up by your's too!)

Pat

Freedom

Whom the Son has set free, they are free indeed!

How grateful I am for my personal freedom as an American citizen. I can go anywhere I please, express my opinions and views without impunity (at least not yet) and I can talk about Jesus freely in the public arena. But even more than my political freedom I am overwhelmed and humbled by my spiritual freedom.

Thru Jesus sacrifice on the cross of Calvary for my sins I have been freed from the bondage of sin and death. Thru the indwelling person of the Holy Spirit I can go against the flow of my carnal nature and choose to live for God's glory. Thru the Father's love I have total access to His throne of grace and have an inheritance that will not fade away! Plus, He will never leave me or forsake me and will always be my ever present help in time of trouble.

We all have times when life is challenging to say the least, and trials seem unending, but we have to rest on the proven promises of God and His faithfulness.

As most of you know, tomorrow it will be one year since the Lord took Joyce home to begin her eternity with her Savior in heaven. I'm sure the suffering of this present time that she endured for a while is nothing compared to the glory that is being revealed to her in ways beyond what we could ever imagine. Joyce is experience the fulfillment of God's faithfulness right now! There is no question or doubt in her mind that God is faithful and does all things well!

I, on the other hand, still have to trust what I often cannot see. The suffering of the present time seems often to fill my field of vision so I can't see beyond it. That's where the promises and truth and power and authority of God's Word comes in. When I'm looking to the wisdom and counsel of His Word, there is a sort of pulling back from what's blocking my vision. Then I am able to catch a glimpse of the majesty beyond the clouds of suffering or grief or sickness or loneliness or whatever might be hindering my faith at any given moment :-)

And that is really true freedom. Have a blessed holiday. Thanks for keeping us in prayer this weekend too!

In His Arm's,

Pat

Let Him Work!

The Lord has been ministering to me out of Psalm 145 the past couple of days. It's a beautiful Psalm about the greatness and majesty of God and the lover of Gods' response to His greatness.

Consider, "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, glorious in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them." Ps. 145:17-19

This tells me that no matter what may be going on around my life, God is in control. His ways are righteous and glorious. I often can't see how what's happening to me is righteous and glorious - but I know it is! Everything you and I go thru prepares us for something else down the road - and that something else isn't necessarily something bad or traumatic. It could be preparatory for trouble or hardship but it could also be for blessing and developing of character and ministry.

The "I wills" of this Psalm are instructive. Vs. 1,2 "I will bless Your name," vs. 2, "I will praise Your name forever and ever," vs. 5, " I will meditate on Your glorious splendor," vs. 6, "I will declare Your greatness," vss. 10-12, "praise, bless, speak, talk, make known..." All these exhort us to openly glorify God all the time!

He is always at work in our lives. He is always instructing. He is always preparing. Despise not the day of small things or the chastening of the Lord - it's all in His hands and He is fashioning us every day to be more like Jesus than we were the day before! Truly His greatness is beyond our understanding. Let Him work in you today!

In His Arm's,

Pat