I had a lot of cute/fun things to share today, but recent events have taken this post another direction. A lot will come out of my mind in today's visit, so get comfy.
Andrew and I have this week learned the difficulty of being away from family, but not the difficulty like, "we wanna hang out". More so the difficulty of "we need to be there to help". Our prayer life has increased a lot due to situations where we can't be there. We're not able to be close, give hugs, hold hands, but we are able to lift our requests to the Lord, who can be in Florida with family, and in Ohio with us.
Last week Andrew's mother was admitted to the hospital. She has liver issues, and is need of a transplant. She wasn't feeling well, and when she went to the doctor, he told her to go straight to the hospital to be admitted. Lots of thought and emotions on our part, but trying to stay hopeful. Yesterday she came home (yay!) but is still not able to function at a "normal" level. Maybe never again, which make my stomach twist. So, we've been praying, and will continue to pray for Andrew's mom.
Last night as we were laying in bed, drifting off to sleep, we get a call that Andrew's brother-in-law was being rushed to the hospital. They weren't sure what happened, but it was bad. He fell on his face, on the ground, turned purple, and didn't have a pulse. At the time they were thinking a massive heart attack. So, after we got off the phone, and came to grips with the fact that we couldn't rush over, we prayed. Then we got another call saying that he didn't have a pulse and they were working on him. So, we prayed again. HARD. The thought of this man dying is not an option in our minds. It scares me to think that God might have something else to say about that. It took Andrew and I a long time to fall asleep, with thoughts of how life might be different from this point on. Thought about the kids. Thoughts about his sister. Thoughts that hopefully people close to them would step up and help out. Eventually we did fall asleep. This morning we read an update that stated he is in a medically induced coma. His blood work looks OK, so they don't think it was a heart attack. They are currently running tests to figure out what happened. Friends and family are staying with the kids, and at the hospital.
So, if you were here with me, I would ask you to get on your knees and lift up Andrew's family in prayer. And we'd pray together.
Then we'd probably talk about how precious life is. How God can take any one of us at any moment. How it's so hard to live life like today's your last. How life changes fast. How Cooper is not going to fit in my arms forever. How he's not going to have the laughter he has now forever. How I need to tell Andrew I love him several times a day. How I need to go to bed each night knowing I did everything I could to let my family know I loved them, and that their mom/wife cherished them with every breath she took. Because one day I might be gone from their life, or they mine, and those things need to be known daily. I'd tell you about how last night Andrew and I talked about how it is so important that we are healthy for our family. Having a healthy lifestyle will benefit Cooper because he'll be healthy, but also because he might have us around a bit longer.
Then I'd probably talk about how I'm glad I have hope. How I'm glad I have a God who loves me and who uses hard times, scary times, and dare I say it, death, to bring about his goodness. God has a plan for me, and you. His plans are for good, not disaster. His plans are for a future and hope. I'm glad that even though hard times come, and people come into this life and leave it, that God's love prevails. And right now my hope is that God's love and goodness shines through, and that he comforts Andrew's family.
So, thank you for coming over today. Next week I promise to have yummy creamer on hand. I'm sure that at some point in our visit, Cooper would have tried to make us laugh and then show us a cute little squinty face and said, "Sunny"...which means funny.
As you leave, please remember to lift us, and Andrew's family in prayer.
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