Update on Paul's Surgery

Abundant thanks to all who have prayed us through this day.  The Lord heaped grace upon grace as the day unfolded, and I find myself overwhelmed at God's goodness to us tonight.  I just got home a few minutes ago, so I thought I would post a quick update.

Paul's surgery took a little more than three hours, but the surgeon seemed pleased with how it went.  A section of Paul's colon was very bad, but it was a smaller section than they originally anticipated.  The surgeon was also happy with the way he was able to join the remaining sections, so Paul does not have a temporary colostomy or any other complication of that nature.  That is a tremendous answer to prayer.  He has received excellent care all day, and when I left a few minutes ago, they were doing what they could to manage his pain level.

He will probably be in the hospital for about a week. (He bleeds maize and blue, so he's pretty bummed that he won't be home with our boys to watch Michigan play in the Sugar Bowl.)  I am blessed that his mom is here to care for our children, so I am free to minister to him and help him.  I'm sure the next few days will be rough, so we appreciate the continued prayers.

As I drove home tonight, I was thinking about all the tiny ways God showed his care for us today-- a lady at the hospital coffee bar early this morning who gave me coffee 35 minutes before she was supposed to open, the volunteer in the surgery waiting room who smiled and updated me regularly, our pastor who came so early to be with us and pray with us, a dear friend who came to sit with me and brought a little needlepoint to give me an outlet for my nervous energy, all of the e-mails and texts, and some other friends who came to the hospital or came to watch the kids so Paul's mom could spend a bit of time with him too.  It has been truly overwhelming, and I praise the Lord tonight.

As the surgeon finished giving me the update after the surgery, I thanked him and said, "I just want you to know that there are people all over the world that have been praying for you today."

He looked startled, and then said, "Thank you.  I probably needed it."

Don't we all.

My heart is absolutely overwhelmed by the love and care shown to us today by Christ and His children.  Thank you all for praying.

I will continue to post updates as Paul recovers.

Back to the Hospital Again

God's plan for today was different than ours...

Paul got really sick again this morning.  After several calls to the nurse at the surgeon's office, I drove Paul to the hospital.  It was the sickest I've seen him yet.

After fluids, pain medication, and nausea medication, they decided to keep him overnight to complete the surgery prep.  His surgery is still scheduled for 7:30 am tomorrow.

We are doing our best to rest in the sovereignty of God, but I think we are both exhausted.  The prayers of our friends and family are a great gift to us.

Please pray for a smooth surgery, no complications following the surgery, and a complete recovery for Paul.  Pray also for the children and for God's grace to be poured out on  our whole family.

We are now off to the airport to pick up Paul's mom.

May the Lord make His name very great both today and in the days ahead.

Three Answers to Prayer

I woke up extremely anxious yesterday morning and went racing (and I mean racing) to God with my worries.  By the end of the day, He had spoken four times to me-- once by directing my flustered heart to Matthew 6, and three times with specific answers to specific prayers.

1.  He sent an unexpected financial gift to help pay some bills, and He gave us the gift of the humbling and awe that comes from being helped and loved so much.

2. We only have one vehicle, and Paul's mom is coming Thursday night to stay with the kids while Paul is in the hospital.  Some friends called and offered us the use of their truck while they are out of town, so now I can leave my van for Paul's mom to use, and she won't be stranded at home while I'm at the hospital with Paul.  (New prayer request: Parking the big truck!)

3.  I did not yet have anyone coming to sit with me during the surgery.  My dear friend and mentor, Jane, called last night and offered to come to the hospital to be with me while I sit and wait.

Bless the Lord, O my soul...

Another Trip to the Hospital

It's already been an eventful week, but not in the "Christmas-tacular" way we had planned.  Paul woke up Monday morning with another intestinal attack that culminated in uncontrollable nausea and vomiting by late afternoon.  I called our doctor at about 4:30pm to see what I should do.  He called the surgeon, and we were told to go immediately to the ER.  They did a lot of blood work, put him on an IV, kept him overnight, and then released him to come home yesterday.  They don't know why he got so sick, but the doctors decided not to move his surgery up.  He's still scheduled to have his surgery on December 30.

I have to admit that despite the stress, there is a grace in all of this.  He has been feeling so much better in the last few weeks that both of us had small lingering doubts about whether he should even have the surgery.  The Lord used this most recent attack to show us both that the surgery is indeed necessary.  I am firmly convinced that this is the route the Lord would have us take to try to find an end to the problems that Paul has suffered with for so many months now.

So now we are moving on toward Christmas, trying to keep our focus on Christ and the celebration of His birth, and praying hard that Paul won't have any more trouble before the 30th.  The prayers of our family and friends are a great gift, and we are so appreciative of the love and encouragement that has been poured out on our family.

This morning I find myself even more thankful for Emmanuel-- God with us.  It is a great comfort that we do not travel this road alone.

Update on Paul's health

Paul has been dealing with some relatively severe intestinal issues since coming home from Iraq in 2009, and it was determined this week that he will need to have a portion of his colon removed. We are anticipating his surgery to be on December 30, and the surgeon told us to expect a week-long hospital stay plus several weeks of recovery. This is major, but we are hopeful that he will have a full recovery with no further symptoms after that.

Due to the large number of out-of state family and friends that we are updating about this latest development, I am going to use the blog to post updates when the surgery happens. We are grateful for the prayers of our family and friends. Please pray for the children as well. They have expressed some fear regarding the surgery.

For now, we are thankful to be looking forward to Christmas together. Our prayer is that the Lord would be magnified as we walk this next path that He has chosen for us. We know that all that comes into our lives is filtered through the sovereign, loving hands of God.

Math "Little Boy Style"

Today's math lesson with my six-year old went something like this:

Math Book: "Tell a subtraction story from this picture." (The picture had 3 pineapples and 6 papayas.)

Isaac: "Once there were 9 fruits. The papayas wanted to wrestle with the pineapples, but then they got scared because the pineapples could knock them over, so they ran away. 9-6=3!"

Math "little-boy-style" is too funny! Where does he get these things?