| October 28,
2002
Dear Friends, We trust you are doing well. It's hard to believe that it's almost November. The holidays will be here before we know it. This month we thought we would take the time to share a little of what God has been doing in our lives personally. Back in July, we both went to the doctor for a complete physical. All appeared to be fine for both of us, but the doctor did have some concern because Dave's white blood cell count was down a little so he took more blood. Several days later, the results came back that his count was still down, and the doctor advised us to wait a month and come back for another test. We were a little concerned, but didn't think too much of it. After all, Dave felt great. A couple weeks later, Dave had a gland in his mouth swell up. It became quite bothersome, so he went to the doctor again. The doctor felt it would go away, but said if it didn't to see a specialist in a couple of weeks. He also took more blood. When the nurse called with the results, she said that Dave's blood count was still going down. This was news to us because we just thought it was low. She also said that they were going to refer us to a hematologist. We were now growing more concerned. What if this was something serious? Unfortunately, we would have to wait a month to see the hematologist. During our month long wait, we were forced to trust God in new ways. Lynn does not like waiting and can tend to get anxious about the unknown. She learned a lot about casting her anxieties upon the Lord during our waiting game. Both of us were reminded of God's sovereignty and the fact that there are no guarantees about when our lives might end. We were reminded not to take each other for granted. We have to appreciate the time the Lord has given us. Dave also realized the importance of being open with people. All too often we say, "How are you?" without really knowing what is going on in someone's life. By sharing that he was facing a health concern, Dave was able to have some great conversations with several people. He realized that people really are concerned and want to pray for our needs. Relationships and friendships are so important. In late September, Dave saw the hematologist. Our major concern was that Dave's counts were dropping and we felt that something must be seriously wrong. We were concerned that his body was not producing cells properly. If his counts had continued to go down, he would have faced the risk of serious infection and illness. As Dave headed for the doctor, the best that we were hoping and praying for was that Dave's white cell count would have stabilized or maybe risen a little. We were blown away when the doctor said his levels were back to normal. He told Dave to "Go, enjoy life. You are fine." He said that Dave's counts were never at critical levels. Through this process, Lynn also came to a new realization about faith. Before this happened, she always thought that she had to have faith to believe that something might happen. In this case, she prayed that everything would be fine with Dave, but in her heart she really felt it might not be. God took her "mustard seed" of faith - in this case, only enough faith to pray and not believe that her prayer would be answered - and did more than we could have ever imagined by healing Dave. Finally, we were reminded that God loves us. Even though we face different trials, he knows exactly what we can handle and will give us no more. We know that he could have chosen another path - like He did when He took Dave's mom last year. In this case He chose to bless us, knowing our family really needs him, as do the thousands of young people whose lives he is impacting through all the work he does on the Web. There is no one else within Student Venture who could do his job. God knew it and so He protected Dave's health. We really appreciate your prayers and support. We
hope you are encouraged by hearing a little of what the Lord has been
teaching us. Dave & Lynn Meritt
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