Bedrock

"God is the bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight." Psalm 18:2 The Message

In Geological terms, bedrock is the unbroken, solid layer at the foundation. Over the last two weeks, our family has continued to trust the Bedrock God that is leading us in more waiting.

We have met with a nutritionist, diabetic training nurse, as well as my mom's general practioner. We are focused on nutrition changes, exercise changes, and testing blood sugar twice each day. Mom has lost weight and as of yesterday had her first under 100 blood sugar reading. We will continue for the next several months to focus on this major lifestyle change and regulating her body's overall health.

Thank you for your prayers as we wait. God is showing us in fresh ways, in the midst of waiting, that He alone is the castle we can live life in.

pressing on.

Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Romans 12:11-13 the message

Today we thought that we would be at the hospital for mom to have shunt surgery. But God knew differently. The nurses at Dr. Williams office were surprised to see the 3 of us come in early this morning all bundled up! Dr. Williams took the time to walk through what the next weeks and months will hold as mom moves to regulate her diabetes type 2 through medication and diet and daily monitoring of her blood sugar levels. Much of this will be new for her - so please pray now that God will give her, as well as those of us caring for her, faithfulness.

Would you ask God to give our family cheerful expectancy and inventive hospitality toward one another? For those of you praying for us this morning, we had some real groaning and some real laughter together! Thank you - "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones"

waiting

Three years ago when I began memorizing Psalm 40, I didn't know just how deeply the first three words would impact my life. "I waited patiently."

Today Dr. Killeffer canceled the shunt surgery for tomorrow (Friday) until my mom's blood sugar can be regulated. We don't know how many days or weeks or months that will take. Tomorrow (Friday) morning at 8:45am we will meet with her primary physician Dr. Williams and go from there.

We are all very sad about another postponement, but trust God's timing to be perfect for His plans for mom.

We are thankful that my sister, Nikki, has gotten to be with us and tonight we toasted one another and the Lord as Damon read the words, "He gives and takes away."

Thank you for your continued kindness and intercession.

prayer in the preparation

This morning we are aware of the faithfulness of God as we trust Him more and more. Yesterday (wed.) afternoon we got a call from UT hospital saying my mom's blood sugar is too high and we have to get her in to her primary care physician before we can proceed with Friday's surgery. Since it was after hours when we found out - this morning we have called and her Dr. and/or a nurse practitioner are not in today (thurs.) - so...at 1:45pm we will be meeting with Dr. Emmitt (another dr. in the group).
Please pray for discernment on what is to be done and whether we are to proceed with the surgery or not.
Thank you!

He is in control!

Last night Damon, Anne and I, had a wonderful time of prayer and reaffirming that we know that God is in control of my mom. This Friday, January 9, 2009, she will be having a shunt put into her brain because of having Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. We know that God already knows the results of this surgery. The three of us have watched God make every tiny step clear. We are filled with THANKFULNESS that we don't have the pressure of figuring out what is going to happen - or of worrying - or of pretending things are better than they really are.

GOD IS IN CONTROL!

This morning I read in John 2 about Jesus changing the water into wine. I love verse 9 and the secret it tells me that only the servants who poured the water into the huge jars knew about the miracle. They were the ones given the treasure of seeing Jesus' first miracle. I notice that Jesus is crazy in love with the radical life of serving. I notice how He models that for me. I notice that he is delighted in behind the scene things that "big dogs" (like the master of the banquet) don't always know about. I am looking around my life for some big jars and filling them with water to be ready for whatever He wants to do with them. I love Mary's words to the servants: 5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." As you pray for our family, would you pray that:
1) we will have hearts brimming with a sacrifice of thanksgiving for all circumstances and outcomes
2) we will have servant hearts, unified in ruthlessly trusting God's control
3) we will "do whatever he tells us"


My mother will be at UT hospital and her neurosurgeon is Dr. James Killifer. Thank you for praying for him as well. She will be in the hospital for 4 or 5 days. She will not be receiving visitors at the hospital so that she can fully rest and do rehab. Thank you for your support and prayers!

All updates on how surgery goes will be posted to this blog.

If you want to send her a word of encouragement or prayer you can mail it to
1412 Farrington Drive Knoxville, TN 37923

We REJOICE that Jesus is our primary intercessor and are so thankful as He prompts you to pray for us as well!

2009

Happy 2009! Our family is so full of thanksgiving for all that God has done in 2008 and as we move into this new calendar year we are expectant about His power & presence in our lives!
We were so thankful to have mom (Anne) in her new home during Christmas and she enjoyed having her own Christmas tree too! We have named her home "Grannie Annie's Nook & Cranny"!! Thanks to all of you who have prayed for her and rejoiced with her about this place God has provided for her to live!