Virginia Laughing

Thought you might enjoy Virginia laughing. Olivia was making the noise (and not getting Virginia wet despite the sound). At the end, Virginia just stops as if to say, "It's not funny anymore."

Derek was baptized this evening. Hopefully this week I'll put some pix on here of that. I did add one to Daddy's CaringBridge site and one on my wall on Facebook.

Have a blessed week!

Melinda =0)

All Dressed Up... (part 2)

Well, are you ready! (Be sure & read the post below FIRST before continuing.)

When we pulled in, there were mostly men in the parking lot. They were all dressed very nicely... in American clothes... fancy, fancy suits. I noticed a few women. They had on very nice dresses... formals, like black tie formals...

I began to wonder if I was dressed appropriately.

Well, when we got inside I felt like a fish out of water. It wasn't enough that Olivia and I were the only WHITE people there besides Barbara from class, BUT we were almost the only ones wearing African clothing! I expected to be the only white people. That didn't bother me. BUT I felt pretty goofy wearing African clothing since it is pretty obvious that I'm not African. (Yes, I know there are white Africans. I have some friends who are white Africans, but you know what I mean.) I'd say 98% of the women were wearing American clothing. They were dressed very formally...like prom! So I was wearing cotton... and most women were wearing Satin. I was wearing a headdress and most of the women were wearing gorgeous hair styles!

Even though I felt pretty awkward, I just laughed. It was quite hilarious! I was wishing that I knew how to text so that I could text my siblings & tell them this funny story! Instead, Olivia & I just sat there & giggled in disbelief!

You might be wondering what part of the wedding we missed by arriving so late. Well, none of it of course! The church was only half full. Barbara arrived a little before five and the doors were still locked! No one walked down the aisle until almost 6:00, I think! How is that for African time?

Everyone looked so beautiful: the wedding party and the guests. They all complimented us on our dresses. I don't know if they were serious or just very kind.

Another surprise for me was the wedding ceremony. I was expecting something different. I was expecting something African. Honestly, I had no idea what African would be, but I was certain it would be different from what I'm used to.

Well, the ceremony had some differences, but for the most part, it seemed very American.

Here is a picture of the beautiful bride and her father. They walked down the aisle to a jazz song, I believe. All the attendants before her also walked down the aisle to a jazz song. I'm pretty sure that isn't an African tradition. I was also surprised that the ceremony was in English. French is their first language or main language, so I was shocked that they chose English for the ceremony. But it was nice for me since I don't understand French... unless they say Bonjour! =0)

The one thing that seemed very African was after the couple was announced "man & wife" they did not quickly rush down the aisle; instead, they kind of danced down the aisle with everyone cheering in an African way. Below is a very short video of that. There is another short video of one of the attendant couples leaving the front in the same dancing manner, followed by the flower girls and ring bearers, followed by family and guests. The way they walked down the aisle may not have been African, but the noises were African, I'm sure! It was such a fun atmosphere of celebration!

After the ceremony, we were graciously invited to the reception! I decided to go. Olivia & Virginia were game. Barbara went, too. Like any reception, there was a lot of waiting. Here a lot of French was spoken. Sometimes there was an interpreter. Sometimes there wasn't. We enjoyed some delicious African food. Even Olivia ate some. Finally, at 10 p.m. when Virginia started getting fussy from being so tired, I decided the responsible thing to do was leave. Unfortunately the dancing was just getting started. Olivia was so disappointed!

All in all, we had a GREAT time sharing in this time of celebration with these Congolese Africans! We were so thankful for their generosity and gracious spirits!

All Dressed Up...

I'm wearing borrowed clothes from a friend from JAARS (and our regular church). Olivia is wearing a dress from a family at JAARS who lived in Africa. My "headdress" is a long piece of material all wrapped up & tied. Thankfully, my friend had it already fixed, and I just had to sit it on my head like a hat! My dress is made from English wax print material which is considered very fancy in Africa from what I'm told. My dress is made in a Western style though instead of a traditional African style. Olivia's dress is made from Batik fabric. It was very pretty.

...and someplace to go! If you've been reading the blog, you know this month we're attending an African church. Most of the members are from the Republic of Congo which is a French speaking country. Part of our assignment is to attend other functions besides Sunday morning worship if possible. The first Sunday we were there, the pastor announced that one of the members was getting married & the church was invited. He stressed that the wedding was starting at FIVE o'clock... not five o'clock "African time" (meaning it might start at 6 or whenever), but FIVE o'clock. Another lady from our class, Barbara, is also attending this church. She called during the week to see if it would be okay for us to attend the wedding. They were very gracious and welcomed us. I think Barbara asked what to wear or asked if they'd be wearing traditional African clothes or something to that effect. Barbara understood that YES, African clothes would be appropriate. So, my search began.

It didn't take long. I sent out an e-mail Friday afternoon (nothing like waiting to the last minute) to the JAARS yahoo group to see if anyone in the area had any African clothing that Olivia and I could wear. I had responses very quickly since so many missionaries are living here around JAARS. After a few e-mails back & some phone calls, Olivia and I ran some errands and picked up several outfits for us for the wedding and the rest of the Sundays we'll be attending!

Well, Saturday came. This was last Saturday. First the women from our class were having lunch at a Peruvian restaurant. I couldn't miss out on that fun, so I went! It was YUMMY! Then after that I ran to Wal-Mart for some much needed groceries. Well, when I walked in, there were school supplies! I don't know what it is about school supplies, but I just want to buy them. (Is that sad or what?) But who can pass up glue sticks two for 25 cents? I had to look up and down all those aisles and make sure I got what I thought the kids & I would need for our upcoming school year. Then I noticed the 15 cent 70 page spirals were no where to be found. So I had to look up & down the aisles again to make sure I didn't overlook them. Nope... no where! Bummer. Suddenly, I remembered that this was supposed to be a QUICK run into Wal-Mart to grab what we needed to make it through next week! So, off I went to get the rest of the stuff I NEEDED! Then just as I was about to check out, I remembered I should bring a gift to the wedding... I guess! Then I ran into someone from JAARS who was helping me think about a good gift for someone from Africa??? I finally decided on kitchen stuff. Everyone has to eat! Then it took me a while to decide on WHAT to get!

Finally, I finished the school/grocery/wedding gift shopping and checking out. I realized I had put myself in quite the time pinch! (This is actually nothing new... but somehow I'm always shocked when I do it!) I realized I would be arriving HOME at the time I wanted to LEAVE for the wedding!

When I got home, I had to nurse Virginia, get her ready to go with us, get Olivia ready, and change my clothes! If I could do all of this in 3o minutes, then I still might leave in enough time to get to the church by 5 p.m.

Well, it took me just a little bit longer, and we were going outside by a little after 4 p.m. BUT I had to have Dano take pictures of us... well because, you know... how often will I be dressed like this again??? Probably never (unless we go to Africa)! Then I was getting in the truck to leave & my keys had vanished! I think we spent at least 10 minutes looking for them! UGH! I was so frustrated. FINALLY, I found them in the wedding gift!! They had fallen in when I set all my stuff in the truck.

So off we went to the wedding! It was 4:22 p.m. when we pulled out. Hmmmm... would we magically get there before 5 p.m. I didn't think so. If I would have thought long enough, I probably wouldn't have left. I guess something inside of me was hoping (and praying) that this African wedding would start at 5 p.m. "African time."

At last, we were pulling into the church parking lot around 5:20 p.m. Thankfully, there were still a lot of others pulling in and getting out to go inside. I asked a gentleman I recognized from church on Sunday if it was too late to go inside, and he insisted we should go right on in. So, we did!

You'll NEVER guess what I discovered on the inside!

(And you'll have to wait! Since this is already so long, I'm going to do a "to be continued.")

A Full Plate - Please Pray

We are standing in the need of prayers. Nothing tragic... but we just need the body to lift us up through prayers.

As you know, Daddy is fighting a battle with cancer. It is challenging being away from him while this is happening. I wish I could be there to help.

Also, we are taking a month long course called ICC. I mentioned this in our e-mail update that went out a little while ago. We have had 7 classes so far! We have 14 more to go. It is an excellent class that is preparing us as we serve now and as we will serve overseas.

It is preparing us: for serving cross-culturally and all that entails, for new language acquisition, to be spiritually hardy, to be emotionally honest & mature, and other things, too! Some days we only have class in the mornings up til lunch time. Other times we have afternoon sessions as well. Outside of class we have a lot of reading & written homework assignments. On the weekends, we have additional activities we must do like attending an ethnic church.

We are THOROUGHLY enjoying the class, being challenged, and learning a lot. However, we are exhausted and we've just finished the first week... we are just beginning the second week... and we have two more after that!

This is a completely different routine for our family. All seven of us need to be out the door by 7:45 a.m. in order to drop the kids off & make it to class on time. Thankfully, they are flexible with me since I'm still nursing Virginia. However, this is VERY hard emotionally for me to be dropping off my baby each morning. They do an excellent job taking care of her & the other kids. The kids are having a blast. It is just an adjustment for me, and I am thankful that it is temporary. =0)

Sundays are challenging. We are enjoying the experience of our ethnic church, but that doesn't make it less challenging. Basically we leave around 10 a.m. for the 11 a.m. service that doesn't get out til around 2 p.m. During that 3+ hours, we have all 5 children with us in the service. This is new to us. They do pretty good... as good as everyone else's kids! When we leave church, we then stop to eat a LATE lunch then travel the rest of the journey home. Yesterday we got home from the MORNING service at 5:08 p.m.!! Our round trip to & from church is about 85 miles!

Trying to get homework done in addition to the "normal" responsibilities of our home & family is very challenging. I should be doing some right now, but I decided I needed to take the time to ask you to pray for us to strengthen us. We are standing in the need of prayer! I also wanted to explain why you may not hear from me/us til sometime in September! Please still feel free to e-mail or comment here or write on my facebook wall... just forgive me if I forget to respond. =0)

I hope you don't see this as complaining. I'm not! I am so thankful for our class. I'm so thankful that my siblings are in TN & able to help with Daddy (who has been doing great until this weekend). I'm so thankful for Dano who certainly does more than his share to help with the kids. Mostly I'm thankful for the Grace of our Lord! I'm thankful to be in a place of service to Him. I am thankful for you & your prayers and support in many ways! Thank you for standing with us in service!

So, as you pray for us, please pray for our stamina, our discipline, our encouragement, my Daddy, God's provision for our needs, and whatever else the Lord leads you to pray!

Blessings,

Melinda & family =0)

Daddy's CaringBridge Site

You can read the last two updates on my Daddy at CaringBridge. Be sure and sign up for updates if you want to keep receiving them. I'm going to stop putting all the updates on my blog. Also, Daddy would be very encouraged to read your notes on his guestbook whether you know him or not.

Blessings,

Melinda & family

(We are leaving for SC on Wednesday.)

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/richardmcdonald

Daddy's First Oncology Appointment (6)

See below for prayer requests.

Well, today didn’t yield as much information as we had hoped in terms of diagnosis & stages; however, we did get to meet Dr. Dianna Shipley (in Gallatin). We were VERY impressed with her professionally and personally! We were quite the circus, too! Daddy & all FIVE of his children (and Virginia, my 4 mo. old) went to his appointment. They even let all of us go back to the exam room with him!

I know that if each one of us wrote this update, you’d get five very different reports, but I’ll do my best to give you a summary with the important details.

1. More testing is needed to be SURE of the TYPE of non-Hodgkin’s B-cell Lymphoma Daddy has. He will have another biopsy by removing some of a lymph node. (There was not enough tissue for the biopsy to have a definite diagnosis. According to the pathology reports, it is either Follicular Center Cell Lymphoma OR Burkitt’s Lymphoma. The former is less aggressive than the latter. The treatment protocol for each is VERY different. If it is Burkitt’s, then the treatment must be VERY aggressive. Regardless of the type, however, Dr. Shipley seemed confident that Daddy’s cancer could be put into remission. Yea!)

2. More testing is needed to determine the STAGE. The Stage is determined by the location of the cancer. A PET scan needs to be done to ascertain this information.

3. He also has to have an echocardiogram to make sure his heart is okay to receive chemotherapy (standard procedure, we don’t expect anything to be wrong with his heart).

4. When he has his biopsy, he’ll also have a port put in to receive his chemotherapy, and they will extract bone marrow for further diagnostic reasons. Thankfully, he’ll have all three of these done on the same day while he is “asleep.”

As of now, it seems that he will have 6-8 cycles of chemo with a possibility of radiation later. We don’t know anything more than that, and that is subject to change based on the outcome of the additional tests.

So next week his schedule is as follows:

Monday: echocardiogram

Tuesday: biopsy, port implanted, & bone marrow extraction which will be done outpatient at Hendersonville Hospital (This is the day that my family has planned to return to SC.)

Wednesday: recovery

Thursday: PET scan

Friday: appointment with Dr. Shipley & most likely his first treatment of chemo

So, we are waiting for the exact type of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma B-cell.

We are waiting to find out the stage (1-4 with 1 being the best. Again this is based on how much the cancer is spread).

We are waiting on the grade (Low-grade which is usually slow growing or high-grade which is fast growing).

Prayer requests:

Please continue to pray…

for Daddy’s complete healing.

for Daddy’s desire to smoke to be gone.

for Daddy’s craving for sugar to go away. (He asked me to add this today. Dr. Shipley confirmed that sugar FEEDS cancer.)

for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

for Daddy to respond to treatment without suffering.

for Daddy to make healthy choices to aid in his healing (no desserts w/sugar or artificial sweetners, no smoking, exercise, overall healthy eating).

for the Lord to provide for all of Daddy’s needs since he will continue to miss so much work.

PRAISES!!

Daddy continues to have a GREAT attitude full of faith.

Daddy’s continued progress in healing.

We are thrilled with the care he has received so far.

That I (Melinda) have been able to be here during this time.

Thank YOU for praying and the cards.

You can call the house, JA, or Alicia if you need additional information. Or you can e-mail me or them.

Blessings,

Melinda for Richard and family =0)

Thursday Night Update on Daddy (5)

Sorry I have neglected to update my blog with updates for my Daddy (Jim or Richard McDonald).

Short explanation on his name. He grew up as Richard McDonald so childhood friends & family call him Richard. When he joined the Army, he became Jim (because his first name is James). Also, at Oscar Mayer where he worked as a supervisor for 20 years, he was known as Jim. So depending on where or when people met him determined which name he went by. =0)

Short summary:

Daddy came home from the hospital on Sunday morning, and he's been doing great since!

He has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins, B-Cell Lymphoma. This is actually an aggressive type of cancer, so that isn't great news. However, the doctors seem hopeful that he will respond well to treatment.

The e-mail update I sent out tonight:

Thursday, July 30^th

^{Main Prayer Requests:}

For Daddy’s complete healing.

For the Lord to give Daddy strength to REMAIN SMOKE-FREE!

For Daddy’s appointment Friday morning.

For an accurate diagnosis of the type of lymphoma.

For a treatment plan that will STOP the cancer and not cause suffering on Daddy’s part.

For Daddy to make healthy choices to aid in his healing (food, exercise, not smoking, etc.).

Answered prayers:

Daddy’s pain has gotten less every day!

Saturday night when he was still in the hospital, I asked if he was glad he’d had the surgery… and he said, “YES!” (but maybe not that loudly). At that time while I was looking at him & seeing the pain he was in, I was wondering if he had regretted it, but he said he didn’t. As a matter of fact, he said he could breathe easier and talking was easier even that soon after surgery. He even said then that each day the pain was getting better. He even surprised us by coming to Olivia’s birthday party Sunday night! (Olivia is my oldest daughter.)

This week Daddy has continued improving. He is healing wonderfully. It is kind of misleading, because we think… ahhhhhhhhh, it’s over, & Daddy is doing great. But then we realize that this surgery is not the end; instead, it marks the beginning of this journey. So please don’t stop praying. Please let this just be the beginning of our prayer journey for Daddy.

Today (Thursday) was Daddy’s follow up appointment with his ENT, Dr. DeMoville. The doctor said Daddy was doing great & healing wonderfully. He will follow up with him 3 weeks from today. He said the “swelling” Daddy had was actually air that was forced under his skin from coughing that Daddy was doing as a result of the tracheotomy. This has gone down dramatically!

The doctor said if Daddy hadn’t done the surgery, that the mass “would have gotten him.” Basically, he was saying that Daddy would have died from suffocation because the mass was growing so quickly. Praise the Lord that Daddy went to the ER when he did (2.5 weeks ago)!

Tomorrow (Friday) morning is Daddy’s first appointment with his oncologist, Dr. Shipley. From what I understand, we’ll find out his complete diagnosis at that appointment. Right now we know he has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins, B-Cell Lymphoma. Even though it is “non,” this is NOT what we had hoped for. Hodgkins Lymphoma is considered curable. Non-Hodgkins is not curable; however, they can put it into remission with treatments. Also, B-Cell is an aggressive type of Lymphoma. I don’t say this to sound like a downer or to say we have no hope; instead, I share this to say… we DO HAVE HOPE! Our HOPE is in the LORD! God can do ANYTHING!! He can heal Daddy totally & completely! We hope that you will pray for this.

The doctors thus far have also been full of hope.

I plan to send out an update tomorrow after we meet with Dr. Shipley. Not only should we find out the complete diagnosis (meaning we’ll find out the stage); we’ll also find out the suggested treatment plan. Please pray for us all to have wisdom and discernment… the doctor, Daddy, and the family. As of now, we don’t know if radiation will be involved or not.

Dr. DeMoville said even though this cancer is aggressive, often aggressive cancers respond more quickly to treatment!

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31

Father, I pray that you would heal Daddy completely and wholly. Father, I pray that you would renew his strength. Our hope is in you. Father, enable him to run and not grow weary; walk and not be faint. Give us faith to believe. You ARE God and able to do all things. Father, may your will be done, and may you receive all the glory. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen

Blessings,

Melinda for Richard & family