Papa Dan's Email to Lily and Zoe on Saint Caedmon's Day

It has been quite a week for Adeline, and many people have been labouring in prayer for her. We have carried on our "night shift" work here interceding during our days while she sleeps through her nights.

Papa Dan sent Lily and Zoe an email this morning, and as we read it together, with the girls sitting on my lap at the computer, I had a sense of great and abiding joy intermixed with sorrow. Life is so full of tragedy, and it is never more bittersweet than when you hold a child on your lap and talk about suffering and death.

Picture this: Dustin and Lily and Zoe grab hands after reading Papa Dan's email, and dance a "ring around the rosie" all the while singing the words to Danase, our favourite family praise song from Ghana:

Danase, Dana-ase. Da Onyamee Nasie.
Danase, Dana-ase. Da Onyamee Nasie.

Efriseh. O-yay!
Nana Doh, Doh So-oh-oh!

Danase, Dana-se. Da Onyame Nasie!

Thank You God, O Thank You God!
You are a wonderful God.
Thank You God, O Thank You God!
You are a wonderful God.

Because You're good,
Your love is FOREVER!

Thank You God, O Thank You God!
You are a wonderful God!

A good friend of mine here who knows the ancient Celtic Church reminded me that today is Saint Caedmon's day. For those who don't know, Caedmon was a quiet cowherd at the monastery who was so afraid of being with people or singing that he would often run and hide in the cowshed. One night, God gave him a song to sing, and when he woke up in the morning, he was singing it. The people were astounded at the song of praise coming from his mouth. And Caedmon was raised up by God to lead His people in praise and thanks--from him came a whole school of Celtic artists and singers who helped build the Church!

Happy Saint Caedmon's Day! May our Lord give us all a song to sing!

Da Onyamee Nasie!

The following is Papa Dan's email to Lily and Zoe. Its a little long, but I left it all in there for those of you who don't know all the details of what Addie's going through:

Dear Lily and Zoe,

This is Papa Dan coming to you with some more words about your cousin Addie after we saw her in the hospital again the past two days.

Now to follow what I’m going to say better, it would help if you take a look again at that second picture of Addie’s transplant day at the FLICKER picture place. That’s the picture where we see Aunt Sara holding Addie in front of a machine with some boxes and tubes and buttons and some tiny sacks hanging all over it. This is what I want to explain a little more to you about.

That machine, or actually it’s a group of machines on two shiny steel poles, has six feet and each foot has a little wheel on it. That’s so that whole thing can move around wherever Addie needs it to go, carrying her food and medicine with her. It can also be plugged into the wall to get more electricity or use its batteries like a battery toy. Isn’t that neat!

Now on those two steel poles you can see some square boxes with buttons and colors and above them some sack-looking things with different colored stuff in them. Those sacks hold food for Addie and also medicine. In fact, do you remember those two tubes that go right into Addie’s chest under her shirt? All those little sacks and all those boxes are working together like a team or like a choir to send every food she needs and every medicine she needs through little tubes (about 5 or 6 or 7) into those two special tubes that go right into the middle of her chest. It’s kind of like little roads going into bigger roads and all heading in one direction.

And guess what, because of that every day Addie gets a new t-shirt! That’s because Uncle Kris and Aunt Sara clean all around where those two tubes go into her chest so she won’t get more bad things attacking her body. And also, because the doctors and nurses and all of us want everything that’s supposed to go into those two special tubes in Addie’s chest to go into her really well and just at the right speed. So they put special tape around the longer tubes that connect to the special machines and boxes to hold them all together so they don’t get tangled up. And guess what else, when they put that new t-shirt on Addie everyday, it’s made of white rubber-band netting like stuff to hold everything tighter to her chest and to help keep her from pulling out those very very special tubes. Because right now, almost everything she needs goes into Addie through them. That’s why Uncle Kris and Aunt Sara keep hugging and holding and kissing her to let her know everything is still okay even though it so strange to be hooked up to all those tubes and boxes and machines all the time. How would you like to drag part of your bed around with you all day long?

Now maybe you’re wondering why they give food from those sacks to Addie through those tubes and not through her mouth? Well, it’s a long story but the shorter story is that she can’t eat because of all the sores in her mouth and throat. In fact the sores go all the way down inside her body into her stomach and even farther (This is not nice at all and we don’t like to talk about this too much!) Those sores come from some of the medicine she was given to kill off the bad army in her old blood so the new army (remember Zoe this was your BIG idea) could start growing inside her and keep those bad army guys from ever coming back again.

Then this week some of that medicine also made Addie’s insides behind her belly-button get bigger and more sore and made Addie feel really yucky. So the doctors and the nurses started using more machines to take pictures inside her body to try and see how yucky the yucky really was. Well, now they tell us that it has started not being so yucky and that’s really good news for Addie and for all of us. And today Addie was finally beginning to look like it was true—just like she looks in that picture. (You can jump up and down and dance and clap your hands and say a thank-you prayer to Jesus right here!)

Oh my, are you wondering where this story is going next? And where everybody is going while they’re in the story? Well, don’t worry because the next part of the story is going to tell us the next good news!

It’s going to tell us that those guys Zoe calls the “good army” inside Addie’s blood have finally unpacked all their stuff and finally moved into their new homes. And that they’ve also set up their offices and workplaces and where they send their kids to school and where they go to church and where they buy groceries and all that. And FINALLY, they are ready to get to work doing what they do!

Now when we all hear that GOOD NEWS it will be another time for all of us to jump up and down and sing and dance and clap and cry and thank Jesus for helping and healing and saving Addie for us!

So Lily and Zoe, we’re so thankful that cousin Addie is still here with us. We so thankful to God she’s in that big hospital with all those special machines and tubes and sacks and very helpful doctors and very nice nurses, because Jesus loves her and all the children of the world, including each and every one of you! And we thank Jesus for watching over both of you every day and night, even when sometimes you’ve been sick and feeling so yucky too!

Finally, when I was in Addie’s hospital room this morning I found a special place where we can put up a picture of you two. It’s right under the white board where they’re counting the days after giving Addie that “new army” for her blood. So please have your dad and mom send a special picture of you both for cousin Addie’s hospital room wall. Maybe they can put all our pictures up there and call that place GOD’S FAMILY OF HOPE AND HEALING. Or, maybe you can think of a better name and let us know!

So let’s all promise to keep our prayers for Addie and Uncle Kris and Aunt Sara going and growing.

Until next time, this is Papa Dan wishing you both the very best and the very most of God’s blessings and care every day in every way!

(P.S.—Your special car’s still on our back porch and waiting for your next ride whenever you come this way!)