Saturday, May 5, 2012

The Last Month

Well, here we are. End of Peter's spring semester...that is so exciting! He has had three great classes, profs and a great load of homework this semester :) He is finishing his last paper which is due on Monday (he is in good shape for that). Tonight he is working (catering) and I am at home resting and doing some dishes ...etc.
The last month has been good and challenging. The Lord continually sustains us, and the last month has been a time to highlight His strength in our weaknesses!
My body...oh my body. Well, let's just say I haven't been feeling too great. My lung function had dropped (due to a mucus plug in my left lung which caused pain and made it very hard  to breathe)about a month ago, so I started on 2 oral antibiotics (Cipro and Minocycline). Then a week later I still didn't feel well, so they started me on a continuous infusion IV pump-Cephepime (I will post pictures soon). Then a week later (been feeling pretty bad for a few weeks now) my lung function still hadn't changed, so they switched me to a different IV antibiotic (Zosyn). Then like four days later...added another IV antibiotic (Tobramycin) on top of that. Also...I was on a nebulized antibiotic called Merrem.
So, to say the least, My body hasn't been lacking exposure to proper drugs to treat my infections...it's just, those drugs haven't been able to kick the bugs. So, now it's been probably about 5 or 6 weeks of feeling below base line and I kind of forget what "well" felt like. hmmm. Well, I know the Lord knows just what is perfect for my body and my bugs, so we are trusting that He will sustain me each day and help us figure all of this out. Two weeks ago I was taken off all of the antibiotics (except the one that I'm on all of the time- zithromax). They put me on a new nebulized antibiotic (colisitne) and started me on steroids. I'm done the steroids, and feel no different.
       The way it feels is like I have a bad flue probably... I don't know. I need lots of sleep, and when I'm awake, I do a lot of sitting. Breathing is harder. The way I can gauge how I'm breathing some days is noticing how much I think about going up the flight of stairs to get to our apartment. Some days, I approach the stairs and zoom right up, other days, I choose not to go out because I just don't feel well, and I really don't want to face the stair case. Peter always helps me and helps push my bottom up the stairs so that it makes it a little easier for me.

Well, that is me...
Peter, on the other hand, has been pushing pushing pushing so hard! I  am so thankful for the strength the Lord gives him! God is so faithful to His children. He gives us strength in the morning and rest at night! Peter works about 20 hours at the preaching center here on campus (planning conferences, doing audio recordings for a radio program as well as a quarterly audio journal...etc). He is a full time student, with a bit of homework (hehe...a bit?). And on the weekends he does catering (sometimes Fri and Sat night, sometimes just one of those). The place he works catering is a wedding venue so he arrives in the afternoon at around 2 or 3 for set up, and then stays until it's all cleaned up and get home around midnight or 1am. It's a hard job, but Peter is superb! I think he is a favorite ;)

 Please join in praising the Lord for His great provision this semester! It is so neat to look back and see the Lord's great hand working! He is so faithful!

 Join us in thanking the Lord for His grace as Peter balances all of these things.

Please pray for continued perseverance especially for Peter as he finishes his paper amidst a lot of hard work! Also, that he will have the energy he needs to help me throughout my days too.

Please pray for me to have strength each day for all that the Lord has for me (work, sleep, doctors, staying home...etc)

Thank you for reading this long post :)

You are loved!
In Christ's strength and joy,
MF

Thursday, April 5, 2012

We are alive!

I know it has been many months since I last posted on our blog...but we are still alive. Really we are!
It has been a busy few months, and very exciting too!
We moved...again! hehe! our third move in our first year of marriage. I had kidney stones. Peter started a new job with the Preaching center on campus. What else? I am still babysitting, and enjoying each minute with my babies!

Peter and I have been on many adventures since I last posted. Thank you all for your continued support and love. Our first year of marriage was amazing. We love being married. And we love being goofy. We always say "we are goofy...because it's 2012!" I suppose that is the theme for the year.

Peter will be turning 24 next month! Woohoo!
We are getting very excited to celebrate Easter, which marks our first year at the church we go to here in MA. We are thankful for a church to call home. We are eagerly anticipating the start of the church plant (from the church we go to now). The church plant will be in Salem MA, which is just 15 minutes away. That will be an easier drive than the 45 min drive we have now. Thankful for a church that loves and serves the Lord.

Well, I will update more soon.

Thanks again for being our friends!
With love,
Mary for the Freys

Monday, October 24, 2011

Great weekend!

Rachel and Jonathan came to visit this weekend! We picked them up on Saturday morning, and away they went this morning. We had a great time in historic Boston, seeing the Old North Church...you know, the one where Paul Revere put the candle in the window. "One if by land, two if by sea". Yep, that one! It was cool, and Rachel loved seeing it! We took a few pictures outside of that church (maybe Rachel will post them on her blog :)
We are so thankful that Rachel and Jonathan flew all the way out here to MA to be with us! That was such a great gift! We got to go to church together yesterday (which we haven't gotten to do in a very long time), and we enjoyed eating together! Mmmmm, lobster!

We love them more than they can know! We praise the Lord with them for Rachel's new lungs and am so thankful to see her feeling so well! Just for the record, she ran up the stairs to the kitchen with no problem and at the top, she was the one who commented about how out of breath I was...that makes me smile!
I love you both!
MF

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

He is our Provider!

The Lord is so faithful!

I have been taught this from God's Word, I've heard it from my family and I've witnessed God's faithfulness in the lives of others.

I love also being able to testify to His faithfulness! God has shown me that He is in control... with everything! With my salvation, He is sufficient. With my health, He my joy. With our finances, He is in control.

Because of having CF I am not able to hold a full time job. There is a risk that I will get sick and be unable to work, as well as the risk of being put in the hospital with little or no notice. My health has been really good recently. I haven't been on IVs since March! Can you believe it!?!? I went from needing IVs every ten weeks (for the past couple of years) to not needing them for 6 months!
The Lord has given me a lifestyle that enables me to take care of my health and my body properly. I love every minute I had at Moody, but let's face it, college is less than advantageous for anybody's health, especially someone with extensive health problems.

So... The Lord helped me through my time at Moody, and now I'm married and He has provided all that we need and so much more!

I have a few babysitting jobs right now. Each family has one child (all boys :), and I am working part time. There has been such a neat opportunity that I got connected with a couple of years ago. I started helping out with Research Surveys related to the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis. I get to talk with someone about how well the medicines are working and how I like the treatments, and that sort of thing. In exchange for my time and opinions (expensive opinions of course...hehe) they send me a check! It is so neat to see the Lord providing jobs that I can do...and jobs that only I can do!

Yesterday and today I got signed up for two new phone interviews that will pay very well! Lord, You know our needs...you know us!

In the next few weeks I am anticipating the opportunity to enroll in a three month clinical research trial that involves testing a new drug that could help CF patients in an amazing way! this new drug is unprecedented in its amazing results!
I may or may not be chosen to be involved with this study, either way we will continue to learn to trust in God for each breath, each day and each dollar!

Thank you Lord, for knowing our needs and knowing us! We want to trust you more each day!


Our prayer is that we will trust God with every detail of our lives together and we have confidence that He will provide as He does all of the time! And when I say He provides, I mean more than just money. "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." 2 Peter 1:3

I pray that you find your sufficiency in Christ alone today!
To God be the glory, Great things He has done!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Brookstone, back ache, and back to school

Today was a fun day for Peter and I!
First... we went to a farmers market right here in Marblehead... we got a Tomato :)

Later this afternoon we had a free dinner at Peter's school. Since we are in New England we didn't find this to be the kind of large group meal where they have everyone bring a salad and main dish, or where they order fried chicken or subs... nope, this was an all out CLAM BAKE! Yummy! We had clams (precisely 5 each), clam chowder, corn on the cob, chicken, cole slaw, pasta salad and napkins ( I guess that is a given).
What a blessing! A yummy, free dinner- and a great time to meet other people!

Then... we went over to the mall to walk around and just be together (we love doing that)!
We walked into Brookstone (It's a store full of fun stuff that they try to convince you that you can't live without- needless to say, we walked out empty handed). Let's just say they had the most amazing massage therapy chair. Well, that was fun, and I'm sure I looked ridiculous reclining in "anti gravity" mode and having my back, neck and feet messaged all at the same time.

Back to school...
Monday marks the first day of this semester-and we are very excited! Peter is in a class called "The Theology of the Pentateuch", so we are reading the Pentateuch together out loud...and we are about to catch up on some of that reading, so I gotta go!
Thanks for reading...and thank you for your support and love!

MF

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Almost 8 Months!





Can you believe it????
Peter and I will celebrate our 8 month anniversary in two days! in July we celebrated our anniversary of 6 years of dating too! Wow. Time flies when you're having fun!

Here are some pictures to document our first few months of adventures...food, fun, moving, trips, and anything else :)

These pictures are...
  • Our kitchen table all decorated for valentines day
  • Me trying to cook a chicken
  • Peter and I when we were engaged (last August)
  • Peter talking to me on Skype when he was in Boston and I was in Chicago during our engagement

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Hello All!


We are still alive out here is Boston! We have disappeared for a while because we have been in the process of moving, and adjusting to our new life in Marblehead, Ma.
Here is a bit of an update that Peter wrote about a week ago...

http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=08abc59dd10e1a2beab6c49fc&id=8cb83d5423

We love you all!

The Boston Freys
Mary