Thursday, July 8, 2010

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Companions: Let us pray for our neighbors, the people we encounter in our travels: our friends and relatives and all who cross our path.  So I'm thinking now of the husband of my niece, Dan; the bikers of Cycling for Change; and everyone who touches my life.  Lord, help us to care for those we encounter and apply the serenity prayer to: accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Birthdays: Fr. Ed Poehlmann (7/4), Danielle Lay (7/7), Dave Larson (7/9), Kathleen Angel (7/10), Katie (Norton) Frodl (7/10), Ryan Beck (7/11),  Anniversary: John & Maggie Lay (7/11 -- 1st Anniversary)

Keeping-in-touch: While friends and family bake in the eastern part of the country, we have enjoyed rainy days and wonderful 9th innings of baseball!!  Our participation in the Cycling for Change Events in Denver provided experiences we will remember for many days.  We're celebrating Matthew's opportunity to teach and coach at the high school he attended, Broomfield High School.  And we're bemoaning the quick passing of summer: it's already All Star Week so the summer's half over.

The Readings: Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Comments on the readings: Fr. Foley: "This is not too mysterious or remote. Start now. Become what you were made to be. It is written within you."
My Comments: I have no great insights other than "the law is written on our hearts" and "our neighbor is the person we encounter."

May the peace of Christ be with each of you.

John

4 comments:

  1. Congratulations Matt! That is great news, We are so excited for you!

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  2. John W Lay for KarenJuly 9, 2010 at 6:38 AM

    A Note from Karen (Norton) Gravelyn:
    Hi All,

    Tomorrow (Friday) is the big day we have neen waiting for! Please send your prayers throughout the day. Dan has an early start to the morning for his total body irradiation. After he has that he is free until tomorrow afternoon when the transplant occurs. His brother arrives here at 7:30 tomorrow morning and they start to harvest his cells. This will take anywhere from 4-6 hours. Not long after that Dan will receive the cells and then we will wait. Hopefully in the next 10-20 days the cells will make their way into Dan's bone marrow where they will start producing healthy blood cells in Dan for the first time in over a year. Not only do we need to pray for the transplant to work, we need to pray for no infections throughout the next few months which would complicate things. Also, we need to pray that the chemo and the radiation were able to kill ALL of the leukemia cells in Dan's body so that a relapse does not occur.

    This week went by quicky and actually turned out to be much better than I though. Dan tolerated the chemo pretty well. He has been tired and has had some nausea. Although he has been tired he has managed to do his required 10 laps around the hospital floor each day. After the radiation he is told that he will be extremely fatigued and it is not uncommong to want to sleep for a few days. I will have to keep him moving and working on his breathing toy so that pneumonia does not set in. His x-rays of his chest are still showing some infection; although none of his 3 bronchoscopies have had any positive results. They thought he had a specific bug in his chest but after more tests they have decided that was negative as well. So, for now they'll just monitor him by x-rays and checking for fevers and signs of progression. So, that is why we need prayers.

    Thank you all for your support and prayers and love the past 6 months. We have FINALLY made it to the day we have been praying for. It took a lot longer to get her but there must be a reason for that. I just know that he is going to beat this thing and it will be all because of your prayers. Thanks so much and I'll send an update after the procedure in the next day or so.

    Love you all.

    Karen

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  3. In an email from Uncle Pat, we received some good news, see below... but keep prayin'
    John

    "Everything seems to have gone well. Dan is a big MSU fan and his brother (Tom who donated the cells) is a Michigan fan and graduate so now that Dan has all his brothers cells in him we are telling him he will become a Michigan fan cause he wont be able to control himself."

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  4. From my Father,

    Hi John, That prayer list is gettinglonger all the time. Yesterday I got an e-mail with the news that an old friend from Sears had a heart attack an isn't expected to live. Lou Hall from Mississippi and Mom & I stopped to see he and his wife when we were on vacation In Gulf Shores, Alabama. He is also one of my e-mail correspondents. Please pray for him. Love Dad

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