Amazing Opportunity

We live just outside of New Haven, Connecticut, which is the home of Yale University.  Ever since we moved here and started our church (www.cbcbranford.org), we have always wanted to reach the Yale community.  Tim has recently been given an amazing opportunity and is so excited about the potential.  A young man in our church is a student at the Yale Law School.  He recently submitted Tim's name to be a guest lecturer there at Yale, and the request was granted.  So, starting tomorrow night (1/24) and going for the next 13 weeks until the end of the semester, Tim will be leading a one credit reading group for the law students there on the campus of Yale! He will be lecturing and leading a discussion on the Judeo-Christian heritage of our American forefathers and the influence their beliefs had on the founding of our country.  There are already about 9 students signed up and there is the potential for several more.  Please be in prayer for Tim as he leads this group.  It is a huge commitment as he has to add a lot of extra study and preparation time to his week, but he is really looking forward to it and what the Lord could do through this class. 
(Update: He just returned from his 6 week visit with the oncologist.  Things still look great - Praise the Lord!)

Chicken Pox ... Seriously?!?

Tim woke up on Monday morning with little red spots all over himself and he was itching like crazy!  At first we thought it may be hives, but called the oncologist just to be sure he was okay.  A visit to the doctor that afternoon confirmed that he definitely had chicken pox. Seriously?  Chicken pox at this age???  Apparently, stem cell transplant patients are highly susceptible to the chicken pox and shingles viruses. The doctor gave him a very strong anti-viral medication and by yesterday, the spots were fading and the itching had begun to subside. He is feeling much better, now.  And you thought chicken pox were only for kids!  We are just wondering who he unknowingly shared them with in the days leading up to the rash breaking out.  Um...sorry about that...

This is just one incident in a long line of things that have happened to us since the week of Christmas.  Remember that nice, quiet week I was hoping for in my last post?  Well, that was only a dream!  Two days before Christmas, Tim got pink eye and then gave it to two of the kids.  Then, on Christmas day, our hot water heater quit working.  Two days after Christmas, our boiler unit went out and we found black smoke billowing through the basement.  No one was injured - just the bank account.  Then, I got a bad flu bug and then the chicken pox got Tim...  and then...well, there is more, but I won't bore you.  It's just that something we affectionately call the "Zac Curse" has struck yet again.  It's our version of Murphy's law - anything that can go wrong will go wrong and it will usually happen in a cluster of several consecutive events.  We joke about the Zac Curse to keep from crying when things happen like this one after the other after the other.  We realize that our troubles could be much worse, but a string of challenges like these has the ability rob us of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual strength.  Having a sense of humor - and spending a lot of time in prayer - certainly helps get us through the tough days.