Update on Our Car

Just this morning we received the call we had been waiting for. 

The call from the auto service center where our car has been since last Wednesday. It turns out that BOTH the 4-wheel drive transmission, as well as, the main transmission are in need of replacing! They were calling to ask our permission to replace them. (I must let you know that we had already wondered about the 4-wheel drive in our car since our first winter driving it but we thought it just might not be as good of a vehicle in winter as our Delica was. The main transmission has only very recently shown itself to be going out.) These repairs will cost $2,750.00. We really don't have a choice but to go ahead and have the work done since you definitely can't buy a car for that price! So, it is a bit of an "Ouch!" to our finances, okay, a big "Ouch!" But, we will trust that God will provide and make up for this money spent on car repairs. As I said, there is really no way for us to be without a car living so far out of the city. We were for over a year when we lost our first one to an accident and it was very difficult at that time, even when we didn't have to be in the city as often as we need to now. (One reason why we are going in to the city more frequently will be explained in another exciting post to come!)

We will also need to have some engine service done on the car which is what we had originally planned to do, well, right before the transmission went out! We called the service department to check about getting the car in to fix an oil leak have an oil leak. Since we also had a question about our transmission they told us to we had to take it to another garage where they can look at the transmission. That is when it all began!

Since we gave the service center permission to fix the car, they say it will be ready by this coming Tuesday, April 3rd. That's good news!

Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to pray for the work to be completed and for no further complications.

Update on Catherine Hudson - 3/29/12

I waited until today to post this update on missionary, Catherine Hudson, due to the results of blood tests that also needed to be reported. Here is the update as of March 27th from her sister-in-law:

Catherine is scheduled to go in for her 3rd chemo. treatment tomorrow, March 28th, at 11 am (CST). She has been going in every couple of days to get a potassium IV. She is not able to eat very much which is causing more weakness, in addition to how weak she is already feeling. So the IV does seem to be helping give her a little strength. They should find out tomorrow what her bilirubin level is at now. Last week it was 18.6 which is close to a danger zone. Her doctor said that if it gets above 21 it could cause brian damage. (A normal count of a healthy person is .5-1.5). But her liver can not function properly because of the cancer. Please keep that a matter of prayer! She has some good days and some bad days. We really appreciate everyone's prayers! It is a huge blessing! Also, please remember Matt in prayer, as well, for God's wisdom and strength. Will try to update before church tomorrow. For those who have put Catherine on their church's prayer list--Thank you!!!

This morning we received another update from Catherine's husband, Matt, in which he gave the results of the blood tests.

Catherine went in today for the 3rd chemotherapy treatment. Her lab work came back with a good report. Her bilirubin count was at 18.6 last week, but it was down to 10.1 today. Praise the Lord! It is still high and needs to be down around 3 or lower before the oncologist will give her the full dose of chemo. The oncologist was thrilled that her count was going down.

Thank you for praying.
Matthew Hudson

Please continue to pray for Catherine and the family. Specifically, pray for Catherine's bilirubin level to continue to drop so that she may receive her full chemo. treatments. She can not afford to not receive full treatments! Let's pray that level falls quickly down to less than three!