What I've been Reading Lately

Quite frequently people ask me what books have I recently read. Usually I will rattle off whatever happens to be in my backpack or sitting on my desk at the moment. I usually have my nose in a dozen books or more but I hesitate to give a commentary on the book until I am completely finished.

Of course, shortly after that I am well on my way with another book and it is doubtful I will be willing to give a critique too long after the fact. So I have decided to give a quick review of any books I have recently read. Keep in mind a few facts as I begin this project. First, I don't intend on giving a complete overview of the book, only my impressions of the book and if I would recommend the book on a given topic. Second, I always am reading a fiction book as well as my nonfiction reading so don't be too surprised that I throw those in as well. Also, since I read those very quickly it is likely that they will have a prominent place in my reading recommendations. Along with that I will try to share related books that might also be interesting on the topic.

So here are two of the most recent books I've finished reading:


Dr. D.A. Carson once again addresses an issue that is becoming a movement within Evangelicalism. His intent in this book is to objectively evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Emergent Church Movement. You may not be familiar with the movement itself or its main authors but if you know any high school or college students it is likely that they have attended a conference or retreat which was influenced by this movement.

What impresses me most about this book and Dr. Carson himself, is his evenhanded approach to evaluating this movement. He is neither a strident critic nor a person quick to jump on a bandwagon. His entire evaluation is not based on sociological considerations nor is it a complete embrace of a new approach to reaching the postmodern generation. If you are not sure what I mean by postmodern generation, Carson gives a very good primer on some of the main sociological and philosophical considerations of this emerging worldview. Okay, that itself sounded a little deep but trust me when I say you'll be able to make sense of what's happening in our culture when reading this book.

The greatest strength of Carson's book is his insistence upon going back to Scripture to evaluate the Emergent Church. As the reformers remind us, Scripture is the Norming Norm. We submit to the magisterial role of Scripture and it guides us as followers of Jesus Christ. Neither experience nor sociological observations are the final governor of what we should do as a Church. Although it is important to both evaluate culture as well as properly interpret Scripture. Our responsibility is to bring the unchanging truth of God's Word to each new generation.

For those of you who have read Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christian, Dan Kimball's The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations, or even Don Miller's Blue Like Jazz (which I am currently reading), this book by Carson will be a welcome critique.

Now on to the fiction shelf:


This is quite a change from the last fiction book I read which was the third book in the Harry Potter series (yes, I am a sinner).

This is the follow up to several of Stephen Coonts novels based on the character Admiral Jake Grafton. If you are not familiar with this character then I highly recommend the books, Cuba, Hong Kong, America and Liberty by Coonts as well as his earlier books. In the book Cuba, Coonts introduces a character by the name of Tommy Carmellini who is a CIA operative and former cat burglar. In this latest book Carmellini becomes the lead character in what will probably be a continuing series.

This is unfortunate. For as well written as this book is and as engaging as the plot carries along the action, I cannot recommend this book. Unlike Coonts books with Grafton as the main character, Carmellini does not have a conscience nor an upright character. He is the opposite of Grafton as the lead character. One of the enjoyable features of the Grafton novels was his loyalty to his wife, his steadfast character and his unflinching willingness to do what was right regardless of the cost. All of that is thrown out with Carmellini as the main character.

Feel free to read Coonts earlier books but pass on this one. If you are looking for an intreging political thriller I would recommend Split Second by David Baldacci or for a fun action book any of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels.

All's Quiet on the Western Front

I don't know what's up with the hair. She constantly has the Don King thing going or else is trying to have a faux-hawk haircut. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, never mind.


Obviously when I suggested that to her she wasn't too pleased about it but she did take it into consideration. Nonetheless, she is continuing to grow and her hair is continuing to grow also. Pretty soon Jenn will have her in berets or braids but for now she has to be content with the flyaway hairstyle. I figure it is hip and modern. She is going for the bed-head look.

I actually picked these pictures because they are the only two outfits that are not pink. We bought the dress for Grace up in Big Bear and we received the outfit (SEE BELOW) from someone during one of the baby showers. If that is you who bought it, thank you. I don't know where any of her clothes came from so please don't be offended. I am always amazed when Jenn pulls out another outfit for her. I think we have clothes for the first six months.

She is finally out of the premie clothes (except for one outfit) and into newborn clothes. She's a petite girl (notice I didn't say small, I'm learning) but she is getting longer. What she lacks in weight she is making up in length. Of course with a dad who might reach 5'8" and a mom who is 5'4" she isn't going to play center for the WNBA.

After our recent respite we are hoping for some quiet between now and Christmas. I think the only thing that we will be doing is a little shopping and hopefully going out east to visit family and friends for Christmas.

This last photo was taking last night after we returned from Jenn's parents for Thanksgiving. Don't let Grace fool you here, shortly after this picture was taken she was up and ready to go for another few hours. They told me that babies slept all day and night other than feedings. They lied.

Baby Grace Update since Surgery

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update to how Grace is doing. As you can see from the picture I took this morning she is happy and has her full energy back after the surgery. They took out the stitches on Monday and she should be good to go. We will have a follow-up with the cardiologist next month and then they will check it every three to six months after that. Since the pacemaker is so small they will have to replace the battery in a year and a half or two years but that won't be as bad of a procedure.

On the personal front, Jenn and I are going up to Big Bear, CA for a week-long vacation then driving down to Jenn's parents' in Glendora for Thanksgiving. Big Bear is located about a 45 minutes east of where her parents live although I was told it was a two hour drive. We'll see.

Things have been pretty quiet otherwise since we got home from the hospital. It is hard to believe that it has already been a week! Some day I will write some of my observations and comments about my experiences over the last few months. One of the things that I think of is how you go through difficult times a moment at a time. If I had known everything that was going to happen over the last six months I would have thought that I could never deal with it. And if all the events and emotions had been concentrated into a moment in time, I never would have been able to endure. But all the heartache and difficulties were spread over six months and God knew how much I could handle each day and only allowed that much. In addition He gave me the grace and strength I needed to endure.

I'll comment more on this some other time. The one thought I would like to leave is that God's grace enables you to handle the difficulties that life throws at you one day at a time.

Sincerely,

David Monreal

Grace is Home!

Dear Friends,

I will write more in a little while, but I wanted to let you know that Grace came home today after a week in the hospital and is her feisty little self again.

More soon.

Dave

Significant Improvement

Dear friends,

Grace is doing much better the last day or so. They have taken her off all oxygen and she is keeping up her level on her own. They also have taken out the tube that was going to her stomach through her nose. Yesterday they reintroduced food to her and she was tolerating it well. Her digestive tract seems to be working once again.

They had to take out her IV that was in her head and they put a PICC line into her vein. A PICC line is like an IV except it goes through the vein to get close to the heart and it is more durable and long-lasting. It is much better than trying to get a new IV in her every day or two. She is back to her feisty self asserting herself and letting everyone know when she is not happy.

Surprisingly, she has lost almost no weight during this entire process. She is down a few ounces but it could have been much more seeing as she was without food for a few days and was only getting fluids on Friday and Saturday. We don't know when she will be coming home yet but it looks encouraging. She didn't show signs of a bacterial infection in her blood. Although she did have a small bacterial infection it was not as severe as it could have been.

Thank you for your prayers, phone calls and emails of encouragement. God has used you to minister to us during this trying time in our lives.

With Love and Appreciation,

David and Jennifer

Signs of Encouragement

Dear Friends,
I tried to pick one of the less shocking pictures to post of Grace because I know that it will seem much worse than it actually is.
The image that you are looking at show the IV that they had to put into a vein in Grace's head because the vein they had an IV in had closed up and they used the other good veins on her hands and feet. It looks bad but it is actually better than the one that was on her hand before. They had to tie her hand down in order for her not to pull out the IV, this way she has both hands free and she does not feel the IV in her head.

Her condition was stable all day. They still have not fed her but she needs less oxygen today than she did yesterday and is almost completely weaned off it. By tomorrow she should be off it completely. Also, if the x-ray looks good tomorrow and she doesn't have as much fluid being drawn out of her stomach they may take out the tube and slowly reintroduce food to her. The culture has not come back yet to see if she has a bacterial infection.

Before we left the hospital tonight we had a long talk with the doctor concerning her condition. He said if the tests come back negative that she has a bacterial infection, she begins to take milk and keep it down, her oxygen level stays consistently up and there are no other problems that are introduced, she could be home in three or four days. However, if she does have a bacterial infection it could be up to ten days or longer.

They have been giving her antibiotics in case it is a bacterial infection. She shows signs of improvement which means either her body is fighting off a viral infection or the antibiotics are dealing with a bacterial infection.

One of my seminary professors, Dr. Harold O.J. Brown, who was going in for cancer surgery to remove commented to me in a conversation, "Doctors can pour on chemicals or cut things out of the body, but only God can heal." Either through supernatural means or the natural mechanisms He has put in place for the body to heal, that is something that only God can do. We are grateful for doctors and medicine, but our faith is in the Great Physician!

One last picture of Jenn and Grace. She may be in the hospital but she is still surrounded by those who love her!

A Momentary Setback

Dear Friends,

Grace has had a momentary setback today so please keep praying. Last night her oxygen level, which should be at 90-100%, continued to drop below 75% throughout the night which caused the nurses to give her oxygen. Last night they just had it blowing by her face but this morning they decided to give her oxygen through her nose.

We have experienced several other problems. First, her pacemaker seems not to be picking up the atrium beat and is compensating for it by pacing another beat. This causes two upper chamber beats. It is important to address this but it is not life-threatening.

Secondly, her stomach is swollen (distended) which is causing her pain. They thought that it was because her stomach was not recovering as quickly from the anesthesia. They put a tube through her nose down into her stomach to drain her stomach and relieve the gas pains she was having. Her stomach is much less swollen this evening but they still have the tube in her nose. They also have her on a feeding tube and won't let her eat again at least until tomorrow.

Thirdly, they took an x-ray of her lungs and abdomen and saw that there was some fluid build-up around her lungs. They realized that they needed to put her on a diuretic so she can expel the excess fluid in her body. However, they also had to give her fluid because she was dehydrated (It seems counterintuitive but it is a delicate balance between the two). They are doing that now.

Also, they drew blood for labs and noticed that her red blood count was low and her white blood count was high so they had to give her blood. Before anyone freaks out, I donated blood last Friday just in case specifically to be given to Grace. They have given her my blood. They believe she has an infection around her stomach but not necessarily in her stomach but they are still doing follow-up labs and tests. They are also putting her on an antibiotic.

Finally, the issue that caused her to have the pacemaker, the long QT interval, still may be an issue. The doctor ran an EKG today and will see if she needs further medication. If so they will put her on a beta-blocker and keep her in the hospital for a short time to see if she is having any negative reactions to the medication. We won't know that for sure until the cardiologist checks on her and also addresses the other pacemaker issues.

The initial plan was for grace to be back by yesterday or at the latest today (Friday). Our hope now is that she will be released sometime this weekend after all these issues are addressed. Jenn and I are at her bedside other than shift changes (such as now). However, there are indications she could be in there for as long as a week to ten days.

As of now, none of these issues are life-threatening but they could become so if they are not addressed. Things could cascade downward if things don't improve over the next couple days. We know that she is in good hands because she is in the hands of our loving Heavenly Father. God is watching over her and has directed us to the best medical doctors and the best facilities in Southern California. The medical staff has been wonderfully attentive and concerned about these issues and have withheld nothing in caring for Grace. I am so grateful for the wonderful insurance that we have through Jenn's work that has covered all but a small fraction of the costs.

Keep on Praying.

With Love,

David and Jennifer

The Last 72 Hours

Dear Friends,

First of all, Grace is doing great at Children's Hospital and the surgery went well. She will be in the hospital until Friday and then will come home to rest and recover. Let me recount the last 72 hours for most of you.

On Tuesday Morning we were scheduled to take Grace in at 8:00 AM for a barrage of tests and a visit with the surgeon who would perform the surgery to put in Grace's pacemaker. The afternoon before we got a call telling us that we would need to go in later because the doctor had a surgery that morning. We were rescheduled for Tuesday morning at 11:00 AM but the surgery was still on for Wednesday. We arrived a few minutes early and were sent down to get blood drawn from Grace. This was the second time this was done, the first being last Friday so they could test to see if she and I were compatible. They couldn't find a vein big enough to draw blood but they tried last Friday anyway. They finally took it from her foot. We told this to the nurse on Tuesday. She took it as a personal challenge and began trying. After minutes of screaming from grace she gave up but let go of Grace before taking out the needle! Finally she drew blood from her foot like the man did on Friday.

We then waited until almost 2:00 PM to have the EKG done which was the second lab. Around 2:45 we had a chest x-ray done and back down to the doctor's office to consult with the doctor. She was called to another emergency so they had us meet with the nurse practitioner in her place. This turned out to be a mistake. The nurse told us a lot of wrong information. She said they would have to cut through the sternum and open Grace's chest cavity to put in the pacemaker. She also showed us the wrong pacemaker that was much larger than the one Grace actually got. Finally, she said it would be on the surface and would be visible for years and very delicate. All of this was inaccurate but we didn't know it.

We waited another 45 minutes before the social worker was available to give us a tour of the surgical unit and the pediatric intensive care unit. We were still shaken by the wrong information from the nurse and left the hospital shell shocked. We were pretty traumatized and fought back tears the whole evening imagining the pain and suffering Grace was going to go through the next morning. At about 12:45 in the morning we prayed and committed the surgery and Grace to the Lord.

We awoke at 4:30 to feed Grace one last time and prepare to take her to the hospital. After check-in we waited for the doctor to talk with us before we released Grace to her care. She came and explained the procedure. Grace's sternum would not be cut as they would go in underneath and reach the heart. Further, the pacemaker was much smaller than the one the nurse showed us and they put it under the stomach muscles so you will not see it or feel it on the surface.

We were blessed to have Jenn's mom, a family friend Joanne, Pastor Wayne and Lucy Atkins, and two of my friends, Patrick and Jeff there to keep us company while Grace was having surgery. She was out of surgery shortly after 11:00 AM and went to recovery before going to PICU. The pacemaker was successfully installed and she has not had any indications of bleeding or infection. She was on morphine yesterday and a bit on Thursday but has been only been given baby Tylenol with codeine on Thursday evening. She has been eating today and has had bowel movements and wet diapers which are great signs that she is recovering fully. The cardiologist was in today to adjust the settings on the pacemaker and will do so again on Friday morning at around 7:00 AM. She may need some further medication (a beta-blocker) to correct the long QT interval if it shows up on the EKG tomorrow.

Thank you all for praying and continuing to pray for us. Thank you especially for those of you who called us in the days leading up to the surgery. I have learned some things from this experience. It doesn't matter how routine a procedure may be when it is your child or you it is not routine. The support and love expressed by family and friends can make an incredible difference. This is not a lesson I will soon forget. I especially want to thank those of you who offered to be there while Grace was undergoing the surgery. Not personally having family in the area, your willingness to be there with us was a blessing that I will always remember.

With Love and Appreciation,

Dave

Soli Deo Gloria