Thursday, June 4th

Wow! Another amazing thing has happened, and I am baffled, once again, by God’s goodness, His faithfulness, His watchful eye upon me, His grace, His protection, His unconditional love and His mercy!! Thank You Jesus for being so incredibly awesome!

The surgery that was supposed to happen last February finally took place this past Thursday, June 4th. Ever since our kids were little, I have complained through the years of feeling that something wasn’t right on the right side of my ovaries. I have had lots of examinations, several exploratory surgeries, and ultrasounds, and the Doctors were never able to find anything wrong. My surgery that was scheduled was for a total hysterectomy and a bladder reconstruction. During the past 2 months, I have experienced so much pain and I thought that the majority of the pain was probably due to my bladder condition.

After waiting for 2 hours, Roland and Rachel were met by the surgeon and told that once the surgery began and they started working on me, that he was surprised to find a fibroid tumor (the size of a man’s fist) sitting right next to my uterus. He worked and worked at getting it out, but wasn’t able to dig it out or pull it out, and ran out of options. So he ended up performing an abdominal hysterectomy rather than a vaginal hysterectomy, and instead of taking 1¾ hours, the surgery took 2½ hours! But, I am alive and I am still here!

Now it’s just a matter of ‘putting on the brakes’ and making myself not do anything, and that will be the hardest part! I have a hard time obeying those kind of orders, but it's pretty obvious that this recovery will take quite a while!

Sunday Mornings

The 4 year olds through 3rd grade enjoy their own Worship Hour at 11:00 AM called "Worship KidStyle."

This is my partner and helper, Cameron Griffith.

ZOEY --- Jonathan's Dog

Zoey joined our family in February of 2009. She is a pitt bull/red heeler mix and is a very sweet delightful dog and brings much joy to Jonathan and to all who meeet her!

God is in control!

I am feeling overwhelmed by God's protection, His mercy, and His grace! I am basking in knowing that He truly does care about me, and that He plans to keep me around a little longer!
I was scheduled to have major surgery yesterday, and right at the last second - those plans were changed!
The Anesthesiologist found out what the kind of stents were that I had implanted into my arteries last April when I had my heart attack, and basically REFUSED to assist in the surgery because it would be too much of a risk in losing me on the operating table! That specific kind of stent and the medication that I'm taking has to be ongoing, in the patient, for at least one year before they can do a big surgery of any kind. The interesting thing is that my Cardiologist gave the OK to do the surgery, but my Primary Physician was against it, and my Surgeon wasn’t aware of the high risk until the Anesthesiologist pointed it out to him! The Anesthesiologist had a HUGE article (about 5 or 6 pages long) on this subject and showed it to my Surgeon; and after looking at it – the Surgeon very much agreed. Apparently, the percentage of people who die on the table because of not waiting until the first year is passed – is VERY high! This article had come out in August of 2008. Thank God for Dr.s who are “on top” of things! So, things have been put on hold until at least May.
God’s protective hand was truly upon me! I was prepped for surgery, the IV was in place, and I was lying on a gurney in the hallway – just waiting to be wheeled into the OR room when they came to me and said “No deal!”
I have had other surgeries and have gone with a positive attitude about what was going to happen, but this was very different. Perhaps because my Primary Physician didn’t think it was a good idea, or God’s prodding – I don’t know; but I was very apprehensive about this whole thing. I have had a nagging feeling, for the past 2 weeks, that I was going to die on the operating table. So, when the Anesthesiologist was talking to me, I couldn’t help but feel that that was a confirmation straight from God Almighty!
I am excited to be alive, and I am excited to be in love with a living God!

Surprise visit!

We were blessed with a surprise visit from Liz and baby Rachel and spent 10 wonderful days together! Rachel is 2 months old now, and we were all so delighted to be able to have some time with her and with her mommy!

Autumn

It was a beautiful fall day, so Roland and I took one of our favorite drives up in the mountains so we could enjoy the gorgeous colors! Wow! It was absolutely breath-taking!

Something to think about

So often, only in weakness do we reach out to God, and only as we reach out to God do we find the strength He always intended for us, the strength for whatever comes next.