A heavy-hearted request:)

One of the things about getting older is that there is more of a chance, or so it seems, that as you get older people close to you may pass away. Or at least, the possibility of this happening seems much closer than it used to be due to deteriorating health of family members, or other such factors. So is true with my Papa. My Papa has been very sick for awhile and without going into huge detail, is once again about to have a surgery that is very dangerous. It is not necessarily a dangerous surgery in the sense where many people do not make it, but rather is a surgery that is risky for him. For awhile now my Papa has been sick. He has had a plethora of things he has been sick with including infasima, heart attacks and disease, and cancer...twice. Somehow, though God's grace, he has come out of all these things. After awhile though, it is bound to wear on a person. Around Christmas time we found out that his heart was beating at a very low percentage. My Papa has been saved multiple times by his heart defibrillator. It has now been so overworked, due to his heart needing this miracle of a contraption, that he is having to have it replaced tomorrow. This surgery, from what I have been told, is done many times a day on many different people, without a problem. Papa is a high risk patient, though. He has many different issues with his health and putting him under and then stopping his heart to take the old defibrillator out, and put the new defibrillator in, will be a risk. But, it is a risk that he has chosen to take, because without it, his unit is bad and could possibly not save him once again if his heart is to go out.

What I would like to ask you for today is prayer. I don't really know what kind of prayers to ask for. Maybe some prayers of peace for my Grandma (Norma) and my Papa (people call him Kep). I can't possibly know what my Papa and Grandma are feeling, but I do know it is likely to be a hard morning tomorrow, either way. There is sure to be some heavy-heartiness on both sides and rightfully so. I have watched my grandma say bye to my Papa twice before major surgeries. This kind of broke my heart both times and so, in thinking on that today I thought the best thing I could do was ask for prayer. (They have been married for 50 years). I would like to ask that you pray for my Dad (Bob) and my Aunt Kathy and their spouses tomorrow. Aunt Kathy and Dad and my mom have been through this several times, and I don't think that necessarily makes any of this easier. As heavy-hearted as I am about this today, he is not my dad, so I am not quite sure how I would be feeling if that was the case. Please be in prayer for my cousins as well, Sam and Jen and then my bro Bj. Pretty much the whole fam.


As I was thinking this morning, I was trying to think of some sort of gift that I could get my Papa. I am one of those people that likes to give gifts. Maybe it is one of my love languages, who knows, but it is what I do when I am at a loss for words, or just feel like a person needs a pick-me-up, etc. The only thing I have come up with is scripture. That is only comforting thing. In the midst of all this, I have been thinking, what do people do without Christ? When all is falling apart, when there seems to be a fork in the road and you are unsure of the way it will go, who do they look to? I just really, really am thankful for the Lord in my life and in my families life. I am thankful that both my grandparents know the Lord and that I have gotten to watch my grandpa come sooooo much closer to the Lord than he used to be. I have really, really been encouraged by his relationship with Christ and in watching him grow through all this. I venture to say that without all this sickness that has happened, I do not know if he would be in the same place with the Lord. The Lord surely takes us through refining periods, and my Papa has been put through it. But through that refining he has come out beautiful and with scars but stories to tell and love to give and share. He has been such a HUGE part of my families life. A rock...and I really do mean that. He has been there and supported and encouraged so many members of my family. The thing about tomorrow is it could go great. It could be a 30-45 minute surgery with no complications and his ticker may start tickin' like it has never before. However, there is a chance it might go south. So, the reason for this post is just to convey to you how much I would appreciate prayer. I am not trying to be dramatic or say that something bad is going to happen to him, and I have faith that the Lord know exactly what He is doing and loves my Papa and my Grandma, and knows what is best. His plans are not mine and I am well aware of that. I would just really appreciate prayer tomorrow.

My Papa's surgery is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning at Baylor Dallas. His team of doctors are amazing and have worked with him several times. Please pray for their hands and minds tomorrow as they do this operation. My Papa has to be at the hospital tomorrow morning at around 5 or 5:30 a.m. I believe, so prayer today as well, would be great...

I will leave you with the below devotional that I did the other morning. I just found it to be encouraging/exactly what I feel like the Lord has been showing me lately. Maybe this will not be such a depressing end to a blog.

Ruth 2:17
So she gleaned in the field until even.

Let me learn from Ruth, the gleaner. As she went out to gather the ears of corn, so must I go forth into the fields of prayer, meditation, the ordinances, and hearing the word to gather spiritual food. The gleaner gathers her portion ear by ear; her gains are little by little: so must I be content to search for single truths, if there be no greater plenty of them. Every ear helps to make a bundle, and every gospel lesson assists in making us wise unto salvation. The gleaner keeps her eyes open: if she stumbled among the stubble in a dream, she would have no load to carry home rejoicingly at eventide. I must be watchful in religious exercises lest they become unprofitable to me; I fear I have lost much already-O that I may rightly estimate my opportunities, and glean with greater diligence. The gleaner stoops for all she finds, and so must I. High spirits criticize and object, but lowly minds glean and receive benefit. A humble heart is a great help towards profitably hearing the gospel. The engrafted soul-saving word is not received except with meekness. A stiff back makes a bad gleaner; down, master pride, thou art a vile robber, not to be endured for a moment. What the gleaner gathers she holds: if she dropped one ear to find another, the result of her day's work would be but scant; she is as careful to retain as to obtain, and so at last her gains are great. How often do I forget all that I hear; the second truth pushes the first out of my head, and so my reading and hearing end in much ado about nothing! Do I feel duly the importance of storing up the truth? A hungry belly makes the gleaner wise; if there be no corn in her hand, there will be no bread on her table; she labours under the sense of necessity, and hence her tread is nimble and her grasp is firm. I have even a greater necessity, Lord, help me to feel it, that it may urge me onward to glean in fields which yield so plenteous a reward to diligence.

(thank you Mr. Charles Spurgeon...)

Thank you so much and I will keep you posted.