PSALM 118 - BETTER THAN HOT COCOA ;-)

I was settling in for the night when it was impressed upon my spirit to reach for my Bible and open it to the Psalms. The Psalms, like the Book of Job have gotten me through past tough patches – my Bible fell open to Psalm 118; a very good reminder to TRUST IN ADONAI YESHUA. For His mercies endure forever.

And I heard in the cafeteria earlier this evening that the demoncrats/libtards/socialists/communists/muslims/athiests/satanists/witches/other subterranean plebs are determined to take President Trump down now that they have the House in their pocket. Of course that is CNNs reporting with plenty of their pet biased senators, brainwashed political counselors, and just plain snarky Trump-hater-gossip-monger pals (which the TV is constantly broadcasting day and night here at OHSU) so I pretty much just let the {news; aka twisted gossip passing for news/fake news} go in 1 ear and out the other while I eat.

This passage in the Old Covenant Scriptures pretty much covers everything brought to us or that concerns us … from August forward (the verses that really spoke to me and our situation tonight are dark tinted:

Psalm 118 – “O give thanks unto Adonai; for He is good: because His mercy endures forever.

² Let Israel now say, that His mercy endures forever.

³ Let the house of Aaron now say, that His mercy endures forever.

⁴ Let them now that fear Adonai say, that His mercy endures forever.

⁵ I called upon Adonai in distress: Adonai answered me, and set me in a large place.

⁶ Adonai is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

⁷ Adonai takes my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.

⁸ It is better to trust in Adonai than to put confidence in man.

⁹ It is better to trust in Adonai than to put confidence in princes.

¹⁰ All nations compassed me about: but in the name of Adonai will I destroy them.

¹¹ They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of Adonai I will destroy them.

¹² They compassed me about like bees: they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of Adonai I will destroy them.

¹³ Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but Adonai helped me.

¹⁴ Adonai is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

¹⁵ The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of Adonai does valiantly.

¹⁶ The right hand of Elohim is exalted: the right hand of Elohim does valiantly.

¹⁷ I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.

¹⁸ Elohim hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.

¹⁹ Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise Elohei:

²⁰ This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter.

²¹ I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.

²² The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

²³ This is Elohim’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

²⁴ This is the day which Adonai hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

²⁵ Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Yeshua, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.

²⁶ Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed You out of the house of Elohim.

²⁷ God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

²⁸ Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee: thou art my God, I will exalt Thee.

²⁹ O give thanks unto Adonai Yeshua; for He is good: for His mercy endures forever.”

The promises and encouragements in Scripture will do more to help me sleep tonight than a cup of hot cocoa ;-)

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ACTS ~ Chapter 25

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ACTS ~ Chapter 25

Three days after Festus had come into his province, he went from Caesarea to Jerusalem. The chief priests and chief men of the Jews brought charges against Paul with petitions. They asked as a special favor that he would summon Paul to Jerusalem, with the intention of lying in wait for him and killing him on the way. But Festus replied that Paul should be kept at Caesarea and that he himself was soon to go there. ‘But, he said, ‘if there is anything wicked about the man, let the men of authority among you go with me to bring a charge against him.’

When he had spent not more than 8 or 10 days there, he went back to Caesarea. The next day he sat on the judgment seat and gave orders that Paul should be brought in. When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about him, charging him with many and serious offences, none of which they could prove.

In his defense, Paul said, “I have not sinned against any Law of the Jews, nor against the Temple, nor against the emperor.” Then Festus, in hope of winning the favor of the Jews, asked Paul, ‘Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and to stand trial before me there in regard to these things?’ Paul answered, “I am now being tried in the emperor’s court, the very place where I ought to be tried. I never did the Jews any wrong, as you know very well. Indeed, if I am guilty of wrongdoing and have done something deserving of death, I do not refuse to die; but if what they say against me is not true, I will let no man turn me over to them. I appeal to the emperor.” Then Festus, after having conferred with his council, answered, ‘You have appealed to the emperor – to the emperor you shall go.’

Some days later, king Agrippa and Bernice came down to Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus.

As they stayed there for several days, Festus related to the king the story of Paul. ‘There is a man here,’ he said, ‘who was left in prison by Felix. When I was at Jerusalem, the chief priest and elders of the Jews presented their case against him and demanded a judgment against him. I replied that it was not the Raman custom to give any man up to destruction before he had a chance to defend himself against their charges. So they came here with me, and without delay I took my seat in the courtroom and ordered the man to be brought in. But when his accusers took their stand, they brought forward no charge whatever of crimes such as I had in mind. Rather, their dispute with him was in regard to their system of religion and someone named Yeshua, Who was dead but Who was declared by Paul to be alive again. I was perplexed as to how to deal with these issues, so I asked him if he was willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried on these charges there. At this, Paul appealed to have his case reserved for the emperor’s decision, and so I gave orders that he should be kept in prison until I could send him to the emperor.’

Then Agrippa said to Festus, ‘I, too, would like to hear this man myself.’ He answered, ‘Tomorrow you will hear him.’

The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the courtroom, together with the army heads and principal men of the city. Festus then gave orders that Paul be brought in.

Then Festus said, ‘King Agrippa, and all the rest of you who are here with us, you see this man against whom all the Jews, both here and at Jerusalem, have been clamoring that he does not deserve to live any longer. As for myself, I have not noted anything in his record deserving of death; but since he, himself, has asked for a hearing before the emperor, I have decided to send him on to him. Yet when I write to the sovereign, I have nothing definite to say against him. It is for that reason that have brought him before you all, and before you especially, king Agrippa, in order that the examination may give me something definite to write about. To me it seems absurd to send a prisoner up for trial without stating what charges are made against him.’

**ACTS 24: https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-gospel-according-to-acts-chapter-24.html

**********

==Porcius Festus was procurator of Judea from about AD 58 to 62, succeeding Antonius Felix. His exact time in office is not known. He inherited all of the problems of his predecessor in regard to the Roman practice of creating civic privileges for Jews. Only one other issue bedeviled his administration, the controversy between Agrippa II and the priests in Jerusalem regarding the wall erected at the temple to break the view of the new wing of Agrippa's palace.

During his administration, Jewish hostility to Rome was greatly inflamed by the civic privileges issue. Feelings were aroused which played an important part in the closely following Jewish War of AD 66.

In the New Covenant (New Testament), the Apostle Paul (Saul) had his final hearing before Festus. In Acts 25:12, Festus sought to induce Paul to go to Jerusalem for trial; Paul appealed to the Emperor. The appeal resulted in Paul being deported to Rome in the autumn of AD 58. Acts 25-26 http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=934

==King Agrippa, who comes to pay his respects to Festus was Marcus Julius Agrippa II (A.D. 27-100), son of Agrippa I (Acts 12:1-25) and great-grandson of Herod the Great (Mt 2:1-23). Brought up in Rome in the court of Claudius, he was a favorite of the emperor, though too young to immediately succeed his father at his death in A.D. 44. In A.D. 50, following the death of his uncle (Herod of Chalcis, A.D. 48) he was granted the petty kingdom of Chalcis, northeast of Judea. He later exchanged it for the tetrarchy of Philip, Abilene (or Abila), Trachonitis and Acra (the tetrarchy of Varus) in A.D. 53. In A.D. 56 Nero added to his kingdom the Galilean cities of Tarichea and Tiberias with their surrounding lands and the Perean city of Julias (or Betharamphta) with fourteen villages belonging to it (compare Josephus Jewish Wars 2.220-23, 247, 252; Jewish Antiquities 20.104, 138, 159; Longenecker 1981:547). He had supreme power in Jewish religious life, for the Romans gave him the right to appoint the high priest and custodianship of the temple treasure and the high priest's vestments (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 20.213, 222). He was the last of the Herodian line.

Accompanying him was his sister Bernice, a year younger than he. She had been engaged to Marcus, a nephew of the philosopher Philo of Alexandria. Then she married her uncle Herod, king of Chalcis. At his death she returned to live with her brother Agrippa II and engaged in an incestuous relationship with him. This gained her notoriety both in Palestine and in Rome (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 20.145-46; Juvenal Satires 6.156-60). http://www.livius.org/articles/person/herod-agrippa-ii/

==Bernice was a law unto herself. Totally wicked and unrepentant. http://www.womeninthebible.net/women-bible-old-new-testaments/bernice-berenice/

Where Are You Christmas?

Streets are hung with holly and lights.

People are rushing to and fro, packing Malls and constantly on the go.

But for us, here at OHSU, it does not feel much like Christmas this year ...

MAKING A TURN

Lots of things happening.

Yesterday afternoon the ICU Ward was serenaded by the Oregon Symphony – such beautiful music! What a privilege :-) They played 3 sets before moving onto other hospital floors:

video of the Oregon Symphony

Late afternoon the surgeon team made it in to talk to us and I didn’t let them go before drilling them for straight answers. They took my 3^rd degree pretty well and answered me directly. So what I heard was … Drs. Gilbert & Morgan say that for the moment they have done all they can do for Hubs until the cysts ‘rind’ over enough to safely be drained. Right now the imaging shows that the cysts are located “in a bad place” (we have seen the imaging taken after the canceled procedure and agree) and that will make working on them very difficult at any time, so they want to be sure that the procedure proceeds as safely as possible when it can finally get under way: Wednesday was hard on all of us, and we want to make the next attempt successful.

So.

New plan is that Hubs will be released from OHSU Monday – or Tuesday – to be transported back to Longview to a Nursing Home Facility for a temporary rooming solution where he will undergo intensive physical therapy and continue tube feeding. Since the goal is to get him home as soon as possible, he will still be on the tube at home for a period of time; so I will be instructed on how to administer him his feedings using the tube. That’s a little scary because his nose is so tender already and I don’t want to hurt him any further. Plus the tube will need occasional deep cleaning, so I will be shown how to do that too. The tube will stay in until he can drink and keep down a 2000 calorie liquid drink without getting nauseous and vomiting it back up. At the rate things are moving forward (a snail’s pace) that will take some time.

In the meantime, cyst imaging will be revisited in 3 weeks’ time, and since Hubs will be an outpatient this coming week, he will need to be making frequent trips back and forth to OHSU from Longview; probably by OHSU Shuttle if his feet and legs are still swollen like the Michelin Tire Man …

MICHELIN TIRE MAN

… or if his feet and legs seriously counter back the serious edema caused by excess water in his body and get back to walking order, I will be driving him back and forth via Hyw. #30, switching to the 405 overpass and on to the Terwilliger/OHSU junction. I loathe Portland traffic but I WILL learn to do this drive because Hubs is depending on me to ‘man up’ and get him from A to B without hysterical road drama.

This little jaunt from our home in Washington State over the Rainier Bridge and down the Oregon side to OHSU will be a precursor of things to come because I made an executive decision earlier this afternoon and decided to move us to Oregon sometime in 2019; not sure when as that will depend on what we can find affordable and how soon we can find it/secure it. But all indicators are that Hubs will be a long-term outpatient of OHSU and OHSU is in Oregon … driving 1-1/2 hours several times a week or even several times a months does not make financial sense when living on a limited income. Selling the house and moving closer within a short driving range makes more sense. Our lives took a drastic turn in August and it will never be the same again: we simply cannot make where we currently live work for our new reality – for lots of reasons, and it is time now to rationally look forward and make adjustments. Hence the “executive decision”, and this time the contemplation of moving to Portland will be going through because it really is the only thing that makes sense financially; plus Hubs will be extremely tired being shifted back and forth on 1-1/2 hour drives: his health is not what it was before all hell broke loose in August. Things have changed, and we must change to keep pace with harmony and balance to walk in beauty. So while getting a crash course in city driving was not something I ever wanted to do, circumstances have thrust me into the thick of it and I need to buckle up and just DO it. I did half the shift driving to get us across the USA a year ago, for Pete’s sake! I should be able to get us across Portland, right? We’ll see. Portland, OR drivers are the worst road rage drivers on the West Coast – just thinking about joining their ranks makes me jumpy already.

ROAD RAGE – Goofy in Disney’s 1950 ‘Freeway Phobia’

I started this striped garter stitch Baby Blanket in ICU last week, and have turned a corner this afternoon, working now on the downturn diagonal and hoping to complete it before this time next week:

MOD Striped Baby Blanket. Pattern will be posted when completed.

There have been many corners turned the past few days. I am optimistic that they will all lead to a happy ending. While Hub’s current situation is not a joyous one, we do believe that it CAN BRING joy into our lives if we allow Elohei a free hand in our lives to bring about His Will in our lives.

PANCREATIC NIGHTMARE

‘Hurry up and wait’ has never been our forte … and it is getting old real fast.

We arrived at OHSU November 24^th around 2 p.m. … Hubs by ambulance and Hub’s son, Alex, drove me from home to OHSU … and it has been a whirlwind ever since. I am glad Hubs is finally here. For the first time since being thrust into this medical hell we are beginning to feel hopeful. St. John’s Peace Health was really in over their heads trying to help Hubs - they really set his recovery backwards and that was why the situation there was so up-down-scarily dire. Here the docs and surgeons are the best of the best in their field of expertise and the outlook we were given was very positive; with proper nutritional needs specific to his needs, removal of the gall bladder ... even though at this point it is nothing more than a precautionary move ... and people who actually KNOW how to deal with the complications of this type of situation, docs say that Hubs should be back to his old self within a 6 mo/1 year timeframe. THAT optimistic and positive diagnosis was worth coming here. All we ever heard at SJPH was doom and gloom that had us hanging by our fingernails trying to sort through all the conflicting drama. Here at OHSU there is talk of a real turn around and NO need to shop for a coffin any time soon. The docs also concur and agree that while they can help pain management, only Elohei can heal the body. Medications and surgeries cannot heal. If docs can - and DO - agree with us on that point, then we feel confident in their helpful support in getting Hubs back on the road to a recovery.

SUNDAY afternoon. Finally made OHSU ... aka ‘Hospital Hilton’. LOL

View outside 14A - enough of a drop to cause vertigo. Fancy deco design.

RS view from our perch

LS view - eye-catching window design and a kinda L-shape building design.

Fancy etched window glass

OHSU hole-in-the-wall. Mysterious {why ???} factor has me curious.

November 25^th Dr. Yip stopped in to Hub’s room and the news was not encouraging – Hubs will have to undergo a procedure to remove most of his pancreas due to dead tissue; that is why he is in so much pain and has so much trouble keeping anything down.

It is assumed that this is a hereditary issue since there are no other indicators as to why Hubs was suddenly struck with this in August. Apparently where there is familial history of gall stones and diabetes, pancreatitis will also raise its ugly head. Hub’s siblings have all suffered with gall stones, and his dad was a diabetic.

Hubs was shell shocked to say the least, and I can’t stop crying. This news is not at all what we were anticipating or hoping for.

But we will continue to lean on Elohei, trust in Yeshua, and rely on the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. We know the Word of God is true, Yeshua’s healing is always on time, and the Ruach’s peace that passes all understanding never fails. In this we are unshakable though all other ground is sinking sand.

THURSDAY afternoon. View of Mt. Hood from OHSU "penthouse room" - we were there all of 3 hours before being shifted to ICU. Very roomy. Very nice.

OHSU Air Trams. Always reminds me of the cartoon, “The Jetsons”. LOL. Penthouse view

The Tram Garage-Elevator Block. Penthouse view. ALL of this is OHSU Campus

Our 3 hours of luxury ... cut short too soon. Darn it.

THURSDAY evening. ICU Room. OHSU

Countdown to procedure day ... between 140 to 117 heart beats per minute have to be in the lower 90's to move forward.

FRIDAY. Skywalk view from ICU. Leads to the Veteran's Hospital.

View of upper floor Penthouse Room from ICU window.

Skywalk and OHSU Parking Garage outside ICU window. Vet Hospital in background across the way

SATURDAY. Hubs being lifted with the sling to sit up a while in the recliner. Will help his lungs.

Hubs … sucking on ice chips … sat up for 2 hours. Helped his lung capacity a lot.

MONDAY. Hubs spending a leisurely day doing a Word Search page. Heart beats per minute vacillate between 105 to lower 90’s.

TUESDAY - 87 beats. EUREKA! Procedure day happens tomorrow ... Wednesday

Tuesday morning frost, and I am headed home in LV for a couple hours to take care of business on the home front.

My white Christmas Cactus is in bloom. A nice welcome home. The pink has not bloomed yet; maybe when I go back home 2 weeks from now it will be in full bloom.

The scheduled procedure was called off last night ... WHILE IN PROCESS! ... because it was too risky to go forward – I couldn’t believe it when I was told. Poor Hubs! After all the waiting and anxious anticipation, it was a no-go because the cysts did not “rind” :-( The surgeons had planned another procedure today, but that fell through also after imaging came back earlier this afternoon – we saw the imaging results and agree with the professionals: TOO RISKY. The cysts are indeed “in a bad place”, so now we have to wait another 3 weeks and hope they harden enough to actually go inside and drain them safely, as was planned last night.

I don’t know if we can handle 6 months to 1 year of constant yo-yo uncertainty, anticipation, stress, and frustration. This is extremely HARD to go through.

Hubs on breathing tube. HORRIBLE to watch him come off it and start breathing in his own! Never want to go through that again >:-P

THURSDAY/TODAY. Hubs playing Solitaire on his laptop that I brought back with me from home on Tuesday. We are disappointed that yesterday’s procedure was halted and today’s procedure was canceled due to the riskiness of going forward with it. Word is another 3 week wait. We NEED a miracle at this point.

My home away from home in Hub's ICU room ... in my own little corner in my own little space. At least Hubs and I are together at OHSU and everyone is going out of their way to make me comfortable during this trying time.

We have only been here at OHSU for 13 days but it seems longer. We’re tired; between the stint at St. John’s Peace Health and our stay here at OHSU Hubs has been hospitalized since November 5^th – a full month, and STILL no relief in sight due to the nature of this fickle disease.

We want this nightmare over.

We need a miracle.