I just wanted to send a quick update about Paula.  Thank you so much for all your prayers.  They have been so welcome and needed.  Many of you have commented on how much better Paula is looking.  It really makes her feel good to have people notice the weight she is losing.  Thank you for your encouraging words. 

The good news is that Paula is OFF the chemo-therapy!  They have switched her to a safer drug, methotrexate (for you medical people), which is suppose to have similar results as the chemo, only not as deadly and dangerous to her body.  The doctors are still predicting about 2 more years before she will be completely off the medication, assuming all goes well, but they are in the process of lowering some of the dosages. 

The bad news is that her kidneys are not responding like they should be.  There is a protein-creatin (sp?) ratio they are looking for and hers is very high.  Other people with this high ratio end up losing their kidneys.  If this were to happen, it wouldn't happen until much later in her adult life, but they would rather protect the kidneys now.  Another possibility is that she may need to be on medication to regulate this ratio for the rest of her life.  Although this is not really a bad option, I am still praying for complete healing. 

This month Paula started middle school and celebrated her 11th birthday.  School seems to be going well so far.  She seems to have adjusted just fine to changing classrooms every hour, she is making new friends, and she is really enjoying band (she plays clarinet).  Something very cool happened today at school.  During their weekly chapel service, an 8th grade boy, the older brother of a friend of Paula's, who knows of Paula but hadn't met her yet, felt very impressed to lay hands on Paula and pray for her.  Several other students also laid hands on Paula and prayed for her.  Paula said that was the first time she started crying in church and didn't know why.  Her friends were also crying as well as the 8th grader.  Paula is still unsure of what had happened, but she said it was really cool, not embarrassing, to have so many people praying for her.  We have been praying for God's glory to be revealed through this illness.  Still not sure how that will happen, but I can't imagine the courage it must have taken for this boy to pray for Paula.  I asked Paula if God had told her to pray for someone she didn't know, would she do what this boy had done.  She said, "No Way!" and then I think appreciated even more what this boy had done. 

Thank you again for your prayers.  "Thank you" is such a small word to express what I feel, but my wordsmith abilities are so lacking.  So, thank you, with a ton more meaning then those little words look like. 

Pamela