March 30, 2000

Dear Family,

I am starting this letter on Thursday morning before leaving
the hotel.  When I write to you from the hospital, I am usually
under pressure to finish what I am doing and get off the
computer so others can use it.  Here at the hotel I am using
a laptop computer that I have been using for work.  It has no
modem, but it has a floppy disk that I can use to transfer this
letter to the internet computer at the hospital.

Even in the midst of trouble, there are many things that I am
very thankful for.  First and formost I am thankful for the
Lord Jesus, the only-begotten Son of the Father, full of grace
and truth.  In the terrible pain of this trial I have a greater
appreciation for what it must have meant to the Father to see
His Son die; I can scarcely fathom what it meant to actually
send His Son to die.

On Sunday I took a walk on the hospital roof with my other
grandson, Skylar's older brother Chris.  He and I were talking,
and he wondered out loud "I wonder what it would be like to
be God."  We sat and talked about that for a little while, and
my comment to him was "I don't think I would want to be God.
He sent His own Son to die for us, and that must have been more
painful than I can imagine."

And so I thank God for the unspeakable gift of His Son who died
to give us eternal life and to destroy and overcome the power
of sin and death.  Without this hope for Skylar's ultimate
rescue and deliverance from death I would be a complete wreck.
I am still greatly distressed, but I trust God by His grace to
one day reunite me and my precious grandson.

I am thankful for the kindnesses of various people.  The hotel
management here has been extraordinarily kind to us by always
making a room available when we need it, discounting the rate,
and even providing free nights from time to time.  The manager,
Kozi, has a two-month old daughter.  He has been very compassionate
to us, often with tears in his eyes.  Please pray for Kozi and
his family that they might come to know the Lord Jesus.

Leslie, a nurse at the hospital who has worked with Skylar,
continues to come and vist Skylar even though she does not work
in the Pediatric ICU.  Last night when she visited, she had many
encouraging things to say, which eased Pam's distress a great
deal.  She speaks of some sort of faith, but please pray that
God would grant her genuine faith in Christ.

Please pray also for Peter, Skylar's former hospital roommate
and friend.  He is at the worst point of his bone marrow
transplant now.  Pray that he may be strong and survive.  Pray
for his parents comfort and salvation.

I am thankful for our extended family;  our parents, our aunts
and uncles, brothers and sisters and cousins in various places
around the world who have been praying for us, talking to us
and writing to us, and enlisting their friends and churches to
aid us in prayer.  I am especially thankful for all of our
brothers and sisters of Grace Bible Church for all the many
prayers that have been lifted up to the Lord on Skylar's and
our behalf.  Thank you for all the encouraging words and all
the scriptures you have shared.

"What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me?
I shall lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of
the LORD.  I shall pay my vows to the LORD, Oh may it be in the
presence of all His people.... To Thee I shall offer a sacrifice
of thanksgiving, And call upon the name of the LORD."
Psalm 116:12-14,17

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Thy name give glory Because
of Thy lovingkindness, because of Thy truth.  Why should the
nations say, 'Where, now, is their God?'  But our God is in the
heavens; He does whatever He pleases... You who fear the LORD,
trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield.  The LORD
has been mindful of us; He will bless... He will bless those who
fear the LORD, The small together with the great... The dead
do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down into silence;
But as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time forth and
forever.  Praise the LORD!"  - from Psalm 115

.......

Hello again, it is now about 2:30 Thursday afternoon.  I am sitting
in the 2nd Floor North dayroom, a place I have found which is
for the most part more quiet and solitary than the more public
hallways and waiting areas.  Each day since Monday I have set up
on a table here - the company notebook computer which I am using,
my briefcase, a little development board/power supply, and a proto-
type of a new technology ventilator peripheral that I am working
on for my major client.

At this point in the project, I have a great deal of
software work to do.  I am truly grateful to the Lord that this
work is "portable" and that I can do so much of it without needing
any interaction with co-workers.  It is a blessing to be able to
continue the work (I have been able to average about five hours
of work per day) and still be able to visit Skylar and sing to him.
This is good both for our necessary income and for maintaining a
good relationship with my client.  Thanks to God for providing for
our needs!

Skylar had a good night, and is holding his own today.  His various
blood counts are pretty good, indicating that his major organs are
functioning well (other than his lungs).  His ventilator oxygen level
is at 60%, and they turned down his PEEP (air pressure) level one
notch to 12.  I thank God for these tokens of favor.

Deepu wrote to us telling how difficult it was for him when his
mother was ill to watch the minute changes in the readings of her
vital signs, and we have the same stress as Skylar moves one way or
the other during the day.  Minutes ago I was watching and praying
as Skylar's blood pressure became very elevated.  I had to stop
singing for a while because the sounds seemed to be increasing his
pressure.  I finally left the room for a while; I will go back and
sing to him later.  As I was leaving, the respiratory therapist
had started his special bed pulsating in a percussion sequence to
vibrate his lung chambers into a more free and open condition.
This seems to work well and quickly; his blood oxygen saturation
level goes up notably right away.  He also seems to enjoy the
sensation, as indicated by his blood pressure lowering as well.

The outcome of this is still very much in question.  We were
disturbed yesterday by a discouraging report from one of the ICU
doctors; and yet today there seems to be some improvement.  We
continue to hang on and entrust our child to the Lord's mercy.

Well, this has been a real long letter this time; thanks for
sticking with us, thanks for your prayers and letters.  We love
you all.

In Christ,

-Dann