Pamela's Pregnancy 34 weeks gestation

Pamela had a midwife appointment today. The midwife told Pamela that her blood sugar was really low. The midwife can't diagnose, but it looks like she has Hypo-glycemia. This is opposite of sugar diabetes. Sugar diabetes is where your body doesn't make enough insulin for the amount of sugar you have in your system. Hypo-glycemia is where you don't have enough sugar for the amount of insulin your body makes. This can cause all kinds of problems. You can't just eat a candy bar to raise your sugars, because it will put your body into a kind of shock because it isn't used to the sugar and then all of a sudden has it. The midwife told her to make sure to eat protiens with carbs and then she can follow with some fruit to gain some sugar. She seems to be getting a little better.

She is still on bed rest. The midwife told her to get plenty of rest right now. She didn't gain any weight this week, but she didn't lose any either which means she is at least maintaining her weight. The praise item, though, is that her measurement went up two inches.

The endocrinoligist is supposed to call and schedule an appointment this week. He got all of her blood test results back, so he should have something to work with as he sees her. Please pray for this appointment to happen quickly.

I want to thank our church family (Western Hills Church) for all they have done and are doing for us. They have truly showed the love of Christ to us during our time of need. I am humbled to be a part of such a fellowship. I grew up in the church and have never been to a church that has lived out their faith in such a practical way. "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" (1Jo 3:16-17 ESV) Our homeschool group has also went above and beyond for us as well. Between our church and the homeschool group, we have had meals and snacks provided, children watched, laundry washed and folded, dishes washed, and floors vacuumed. I want to give God all the glory for the provision he has provided for us through these groups.

May the Lamb that was slain received the reward for his suffering.

Derek

Bricktown Street Fishing Saturday March 24, 2007

I was back in Bricktown this weekend. I went out by myself with the hopes to have some one on one conversations, but the Lord had other plans. I started walking around praying and seeing to whom God would have me speak. I walked around and tried talking to a few people, but everytime was interrupted. After a while, I felt like God wanted me to do something different. So, I went back to the car and loaded up on some tracts. I started walking around passing out "What If?" tracts to the people I passed. This went really well and I got into a great conversation with a couple from Tulsa. They were Christians and were very encouraged to see someone sharing their faith. The written seed was scattered to several people and I know that God can use those seeds to draw people to him. Remember the power is in the seed not in the sower. So, I will continue sowing seeds for the Master.

Till the nets are full,

Derek

Pamela's Pregnancy 33 weeks gestation

Pamela went to the midwife today. They took 5 tubes of blood for different tests that the endocrinologist wanted ran before he saw her. They have officially put her on bed rest until further notice. She tummy measured 30 when she should measure 33, but praise God this is up one from last week. She has lost another pound though. So please pray that she can put on some weight. They are checking her thyroid, blood sugar, and several other things to see if they can figure out what is wrong. Please pray that they can figure this out.

She had a problem like this a few years ago and we took her to the hospital and they didn't really do anything for her. They told her that she was just have some type of mental problems and prescribed her some medicine that helped her to sleep. She lost quite a bit of weight and had almost exactly the same symptoms.

Please pray for her as we try to figure out what steps to take from here. Please pray for Caitlyn as she tries to run the household and take care of her mother as I go to work. Please pray for me that I will be able to handle working all day and then coming home working with the kids. Please pray for Pamela as she has to lay around and feels she can't fulfill her role as keeper of her home.

Derek

St. Patick's Day at O'Connell's Pub

O'Connell's Pub is famous for their green beer on St. Patrick's day. Hundreds, no thousands, of people come every year to drink it. We took around 200 tracts with us and they were gone in less than an hour. My kids and I met a family, the Martins, from our church there to pass these out. It was very sad seeing such a long line of people waiting to go drink green beer. It is sad to think that in Ireland up until the 1970's all of the pubs would close on St. Patty's Day. It is even more sad to think that people are celebrating a great missionary by drinking. To learn more about Patrick, listen to my interview on my podcast.

I was able to talk with one young man named Lance. It was a really good conversation. He had no idea who St. Patrick was or what we were suppoosed to be celebrating. When I asked him about eternity, he said there was heaven or hell. I asked him the criteria to get into heaven and he said, "you have to be saved, and repent, and ask Jesus into your heart." I then made him define his terms and he didn't quite know what the biblical meanings of the words meant. You can listen to this and other witnes encounters at my podcast page.

Till the nets are full,

Pamela Health Update 3/15/07

Pamela went to the midwife on Tuesday. The baby is still doing fine, but Pamela isn't. The midwife was very concerned with her weight. She has lost weight over the last several visits and her measurements aren't where they should be. Pamela has been eating like every two hours and has been drinking lots of water, but she still doesn't seem to be gaining much weight. The midwife is scheduling her an appointment with an endocrinologist to have her checked out. Please pray that they can find what is wrong and how to treat it.

My Podcast

I have a new podcast that will let you listen in as I interview people about eternity and share the Gospel with them. Check it out, here.

Pamela's pregnancy 32 weeks gestation

Please lift up my wife in prayer. She has not been feeling well for several weeks, but we haven't been able to figure out why. I took her to the hospital last Saturday and they said she was slightly dehydrated and was having some acid reflux. They told her to drink lots of fluids and to take some over the counter medicine for this. She felt a little better for a day or two, but on Thursday she started having more problems. She was laying down and she was kind of coming in and out of reality. She couldn't keep track of time and couldn't even answer simple questions. Caitlyn, my oldest, tried to call me at work, but I was away from my desk. She then called 911 and the paramedics came. They took Pamela to the hospital again and a family friend came to watch the kids. I went straight to the hospital when I got word on my voicemail. They said she had a urinary tract infection. The infection was wreaking havoc on her body. She is on some antibiotics now and is doing some better. She does fine as long as she is resting, but if she gets up for very long she starts feeling shaky all over and has to sit down again. Please pray as we have about 8 more weeks of this pregnancy.