I'M PREDNISONE FREE!

Seattle, WA, sunny but cool, rain later.

It's not as good as calling Dave Ramsey and shouting: "We're Debt Free", which we hope to do some day. But it is a major step in my transplant process that we are "surthriving". It seems I learn something new each week about drugs and their interactions with various parts of your body, for better or worse. Prednisone is a life-saving tool in the Drs. Medical Arsenal, but its benefits come with a fairly high price tag. I developed a severe case of Graft vs Host Disease 2 days after transplant and was hospitalized for 15 days at the U of W Medical Center. It was focused on my intestinal tract and to make matters worse, I brought with me a latent intestinal disease called CMV. Many people have CMV and their immune system just keeps it in check. The combination of the two diseases was more intense than I realized at the time, but God is faithful and we weathered that storm.

Prednisone and a host of other medications turned the tide on the Graft vs Host Disease, but I am just finding out some of the costs of that battle. As I have mentioned before, water retention in my lower extremities forced us to resort to lasix, which we have now been able to stop. Elevated blood sugar meant we need insulin shots three times a day. Muscle and bone loss, and hopefully some fat, have led to weight loss now just over 40 lbs. But the latest knowledge we acquired yesterday during clinicals with our Medical Team is that Prednisone puts your adrenal glands to sleep. It essentially is powerful enough to convince your adrenal glands that there is enough adrenalin already in your system so they can take an extended vacation. I was wondering why I wasn't getting back more energy and now I know. I've got to wake up and recall those AWOL Adrenal glands to start doing their job. If they don't do it spontaneously, we have MP drugs that will roust them out of their slumber and get them back on active duty. When Kriss and I do our daily walk, it almost drives her crazy how slow I walk. She is naturally a fast walker with much longer legs than I, but she is a good sport about it. We look like an old couple holding hands just barely creeping up and down the sidewalk. That's not all necessarily bad. Maybe all of our relationships would benefit from some slow walking and hand holding from time to time. I am committed to doing more exercise, even if I don't feel like it. God will provide both the desire and the strength to break through this barrier. The preliminary report on my Bone Marrow Biopsy is very good. Hanna's stem cells have taken over 100% of my bone marrow identity. We won't find out until next week the extent of her stem cells impact on any Chromosomal abnormalities.We pray that there is no sign of Myleo-Displastic-Syndrome or any other factor which would complicate my recovery. Another week to wait and pray in faith.

There is, of course, a spiritual lesson I'm learning from my journey with Prednisone and Friends. Intentional, repeated and unrepentant sin acts like Prednisone in putting our moral conscious to sleep. Once that inner sense of right and wrong is somnolent, we are vulnerable to ever increasing depravity and indifference to truth and Godly living. It functions in our penal and criminal justice system as people systematically destroy their sense of any guilt, remorse or shame for their crimes. It also functions in the church as evidenced by the decades long clergy abuse scandals that have literally bankrupted various parishes and churches. We don't probably preach or think much about real repentance in our daily lives. We know God loves and forgives us unconditionally, but there is a critical piece of spiritual life that includes confession, repentance and restoration that keeps the biblically inspired conscious alive and well. We all know that it is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin. But we have an amazing ability to tune out those warnings and keep whistling in the dark, hoping no one will notice our hypocrisy and moral failures. What do we do?

In Romans 7:21-25, the Apostle Paul honestly acknowledged his battle with his hypocrisy: "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!....Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." In Christ alone is the power to forgive and make all things new. But the starting point is a simple word "repent", "metanoia" in the NT Greek. Stop where you are right now and do an about face. Stop going the direction that is leading your life over the cliff and turn around and go the opposite direction. You will find, by faith, Jesus waiting there with a special look and embrace, asking:" What took you so long?" We know the Way to the Father, we just need to get on board that train to heaven.

Somewhere on Tecumseh Road near White Swan, WA Summer of 1975

We returned from Canada and did what we always did, go to work. I worked on the family farm and Kriss and I restored a "house" that had deteriorated into a barn for domesticated animals. One entire side was open for cows, horses, skunks, mice and all creatures great and small to find shelter. It took most of the summer to remodel and make it habitable for us and a newborn child due to arrive in September. Over the summer we wrestled with what God had in store for us in the present and the future. My father-in-law offered me a chance to make a career of farming and ranching with him, but we both knew that that was not a viable long-term option. I was contacted by a former Professor at Yakima Valley Community College who was retiring and he wanted to know if I would be interested in applying for the French Professor Position that was coming vacant that Fall. We prayed about it and I applied and was hired to teach two sections of French each Quarter. We continued to work on the Ranch and on September 14th, 1975, Hanna Kathleen Peterson was born in Toppenish, WA. It was a hard delivery on me. Kriss had back labor pains and I almost wore myself out giving her back massages. Before all the females reading this blog rise up in united outrage at my self-centeredness, I have to confess that I had nothing of the hard work Kriss endured with amazing courage and determination. Minutes after her delivery, she was nursing like she had done it all her life. There is no greater miracle than childbirth and God's gift of instinct and bonding.

Two weeks later, I began my College Teaching Career at YVC with a special twist. Kriss enrolled in my French Class and brought Hanna to class with her. When she got fussy, I would simply take her in my arms as I lectured and strolled around the room which seemed to pacify her. I would suspect that that was the first and probably the last time a Professor had a baby in class. Maybe that is why Hanna has such a good French accent and excels in that language. Between working on the Ranch, teaching French in Yakima and learning how to be parents, our plate was full of God's blessings. The little "Blue House" was a perfect place to settle into parenthood, but we knew God would soon be knocking on the door of our hearts with a vision and vocation for our lives. We resisted the temptation to settle for a comfortable life surrounded by family and friends and knew that God would one day call us to "deny ourselves, take up his cross, and follow him." We just didn't know when or where.  Robin