Daily Mary receives cards in the mail offering words of encouragement. Over and over again throughout the day friends offer to help in any way they can. We know that people are praying for Mary (and our family) throughout the community and (because of your connections) around the country and around the world. Just the thought of so many people praying for us, even though they don’t personally know us, is truly humbling. Your prayers and offers of kindness have given us great strength during this difficult time. The Lord has certainly blessed us with so many wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ and we thank you.

I also want to express my thanks for your patience and understanding with me as I am away from the office more than usual as I accompany Mary to her many doctors’ visits, tests, scans, etc.

By way of an update on Mary, as of the day I’m writing this note, we are still in the process of deciding on treatment. We have had a consultation with Dr. Nora, an oncologist in Rockford, who discussed several possibilities. He also referred us to a doctor in Madison to explore other treatment options. We will be meeting with him soon. We are certainly learning the gift of patience as we anxiously wait between doctor visits.

For those of you are computer savvy, we are posting regular updates on the website

www.caringbridge.org/visit/maryknowles1

You are also able to leave messages for Mary on that site. We will do our best to keep the information up to date and we do check for messages on a regular basis.

Again, thanks to all of you for your wonderful support during this difficult time.

In Christ,

Pastor Knowles