MAN DOWN....SWEET INSPIRE SOLDIERS OF HONOR TO THE RESCUE!

                                                             RONALD  UPDATE:

So Ronald on his 13th day post transplant, is a man down on all his numbers, his strength, his
calories, his ability to eat without throwing its up, his ability to walk very much with out getting pretty tired or even watching another absolutely GREAT BYU game without napping throughout it :-) BUT he is a man still up in spirit, prayers, faith, desire, hope, endurance and through the rooooooof up in friends and family willing to see this through with him/us all the way... and that is not only obvious but proving to be even more powerful that any downs he is confronting!!

Although Ronald has and is working through some real physical weakness and now a bit of a rising temperature issue (reason not identified quite yet) the medical staff here continue to be very pleasantly surprised at how well he is pushing through this and the "no show" of many multiple common complications and discomforts that often accompany this type of transplant.  We feel extraordinarily blessed to be allowed this time of sustaining (not knowing what may be in store the coming days and weeks) and truly find great sweetness and gratitude in these powerful tender mercies from the Lord. We know it is only in and through our Savior that such respite and comfort is even available and we are limitless in our gratitude for His compassion and mercy as well as all of the unmeasurable amount of love, fasting, faith filled prayers and support that is consistently expressed in a multiplicity of ways on Ronald's/our families behalf!! It is with that deep gratitude in my heart that I have drawn my thought for the day from...

                                                             DAILY DEVO:
    (taken from the talk "Man Down" by President Henry B. Erying,  A true Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ)

Almost all of us have seen a battlefield portrayed in a film or read the description in a story. Over the resonating  of explosions and the shouts of soldiers, there comes a cry, “Man down!”

When that cry sounds, faithful fellow soldiers will move toward the sound. Another soldier or a medic will ignore danger and move to the injured comrade. And the man down will know that help will come. Whatever the risk, someone will run low or crawl to get there in time to protect and give aid. That is true in every band of men joined in a difficult and dangerous mission which they are determined to fulfill at any sacrifice. The histories of such groups are full of stories of those loyal men who were determined that no man would be left behind. Out of loyalty they felt a duty to stand by their fellow soldiers, whatever the cost. The courage to act and their selfless service and sacrifice. came from feeling that they were responsible for the lives, the happiness, and the safety of comrades. Some of these such soldiers are given the "Congressional Medal of Honor"- Medal of Honor is the United States highest military's high honor , awarded for personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty whom have truly deserved such a powerful award.

Ohhhh my dear friends and family... it is exactly this level of rescue effort that we have been the the daily recipients of! Although in the context of this talk, President Eyring made great reference to our fellow SPIRITUALLY fallen soldiers during our consistent and real battle with the adversary, we have witnessed some of thee most stunning "rescue mission" responses as we have had 'our man down" battling daily a more PHYSICAL war!  We continued to have countless fellow soldiers sacrifice , in extraordinary ways, willing to run and/or crawl to get something, or someone to us to bring aid, stand by our fellow soldier, (and his grateful family) and have truly felt the love, responsibility, happiness and safety of a fellow comrade that is "down".  These past few weeks again. we have been so emotional as well as empowered by such unexpected and unbelievable sacrifice in our behalf as the Lord continues to inspire and lead such soldiers desiring to come to our aid. Some of these such fellow soldiers are literally unidentified soldiers that we may never  have the privilege in this life (with overflowing hearts and tears ) express our gratitude, but for now our truly humbled and tender hearted family wish that we could  award our own Medal of Honor to you all!  On the military service medal of honor, the citation reads that what they did was “above and beyond the call of duty.” We place that same resonating citation on our's as well as the Lord has deeply blessed us in battling  our war with some of thee most stunning, inspired and selfless soldiers, rather fellow comrades, that continue to go astoundingly ABOVE THE CALL OF DUTY!! Please know that we pray daily that the Lord will magnify the blessings of all such soldiers and their own families throughout the world who continue to serve and sacrifice for the  safety, freedom and security of others as well as those on the front lines succoring the week, lifting up the arms that hang down, strengthening the feeble knees and infusing heavy heart with genuine love and joy. You deserve something more valuable than a medal, and we pray daily that you are blessed with exactly it is that you and your family may stand in need of.

                                         Ohhhhhhhh, we deeply love and appreciate all of you!!

                                                     DAILY CHUCKLE

                        What do you call and elephant that doesn't matter?
                                                 An Irrelephant!
                       What do you call the new girl at the bank?
                                                   The Nutella!

                       HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL,SAFE AND HEALTHY WEEK!!

***For those interested I've posted the link to President Eryings origional address of "MAN DOWN" as given in the April 2009 General Conference: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/man-down?lang=eng#watch=video