I want to take the time to thank a lot of people. This should be my last post about our daughter unless something changes dramatically. Anyone that wants details can email me. Treatment for her will be quite manageable, but will take about six months in total.

Thanks to salguod for a wonderful post and well-wishes. The song lyrics were very helpful, especially as I shared to you that my struggle has not been a lack of faith that Elani would be okay. Next time you actually speak to me on the phone, I won’t sound as distracted, I hope.

Thanks to Scott for the prayers. I’m not really sorry that we are devoid of cigars for this birth. We look pretty green in the picture I have.

Thanks to mrtool for the rambling phone call Thursday or Wednesday (I don’t remember.) and for checking on me quite a bit. I called you back and left a message earlier. Visitation will be Friday night or Saturday if all goes well.

Thanks to Rock for the thoughts and prayers and encouragement. I was honored to help read pre-release versions of your book. I really look forward to seeing you again and introducing you to my son and daughter.

Thanks to Milly for the continued prayers and support. Thoughts of chickeny goodness kept me going.

Thanks to Mark for the prayers and support. If there is a next time, I hope you win the pool. I also hope that both our churches back out of the UP before the end of the year.

Thanks to beg, the squeamish (You should have seen the eye exam, I actually wretched.) for the prayers.

Thanks to Alan for the prayers and support – not just for Elani. There is a reason you are an elder.

Thanks to TTK for the prayers and thoughts. You’re right, Elani arrived first. For the rest of you, I’ll let you know the news she preempted after someone finally decides to post it.

Thanks to my buddy Kurt, who really should move to Nebraska. It gets cold here. Seriously, though, thanks for the thoughts and prayers. I know I said that I wouldn’t ask for it anymore, but seriously, I no longer want my five percent (or six percent).

Thanks to Bobber for the prayers and blessings. I thought about you during the ordeal, especially my very warped, and unCalvinist perspectives of predestination that many would call Calvinist. Thanks for the things you have shared here.

Thanks to Daughter for the thoughts and prayers. See you at Nonny’s site – I’ll post more.

Thanks to P. Allan Fredrick for the many thoughts shared. I value what you share and appreciate hearing from you from time to time.

Thanks to my mother-in-law, our son’s first babysitter. She kept watch over him for many, many hours, especially after the loss of her own mother a few days before. I’m glad that I could create a temporary website for her.

Thanks to both families for their love and support. We long to see you, especially my family in NC. We had planned for summer, but Elani’s continued care may require a delay until September. (It won’t be October because our son won’t be free for half that month.) We appreciate the thoughts and prayers.

Thanks to the many churches that had Elani for their prayer lists. This list is not limited to and includes:
The Omaha Church of Christ, The Colington United Methodist Church, and The Jarvisburg Church of Christ

Thanks to many across the country that only knew a name mentioned by a friend. Folks in Texas, California, North Carolina, Ohio, Indianapolis, New York, Florida, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Mexico, Washington, Utah and other places have prayed for her in one form or another. Those prayers and/or thoughts have been from individuals of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, LDS and Buddhist faiths as well as individuals that find their spirituality in Native American traditions.

The internet can make the world very large and very small at the same time. I am grateful for how small it has made the world for this time of temporary grief and sadness. I talk about unity sometimes and how much it means to me. In some ways, our daughter has been a part of something larger than i have ever seen. Six degrees of separation? Maybe twenty years ago. I’d wager of no more than five.

I also want to thank the United Methodist Women of Nebraska that met together in Alma, Nebraska in June of last year. Alma has about 1200 people that live there. Our daughter has a beautiful quilt because of their simple encouragement of love. See, small churches can do a lot.

Lastly, there are many that I may never know that have offered encouragement, prayers, and other things. I am grateful, even if I am not currently aware of what you have done. I do not believe that any prayer is too small or insignificant. God hears them all.

Thank you.