Where have you been?

Hello everyone,

If you haven't been following my life on the blog that I share with my wife then let me catch you up. If you do follow my life on the other blog, then please excuse the repetitive comments (#1 & #2), I'll try to keep it brief.

The last time I posted was Feb. 23rd. A LOT has happened since then and a lot of things I should have requested prayers for but time just did not allow for this. Here is what all has happened....

1. My grandmother has been in and out of the hospital again. The number of trips has drastically reduced, however her "rehab" period at the local nursing home ended a week ago. Unfortunately, she did not improve enough to be able to go home without 24/7/365 care. Also unfortunately the family isn't able to accommodate that so that means that she has to stay at the local nursing home. This is a very difficult decision for my father and one that I know pains him deeply. She still thinks that she will be able to go home after dad's surgery (more on that later). We will see. It isn't looking good, but who knows what the Good Lord will provide.

2. We have purchased, remodeled (to a certain degree), and moved into a house!!!!!! It's ironic that the previous post talks about the frustration that we were having with finding a house. It's also amazing just how much God will take care of you at the time you need Him the most, and when you really have just about reach the point of breaking He says..."Ok, You have been tested enough. It's time for me to take over. Come here my child and let me hold you in MY arms and take care of your problems/frustrations/worries." I, We, are so glad to be in our house. It's still not the way we want it, but it's pretty close to being the way we wanted it before we moved in. We were so blessed to renting a house that allowed us to take our time in the remodeling without the pressure of getting finished by a certain date. We also were so blessed to be living close to family and they have helped to the point that we could never repay them for what they have done. The house would not have been ready when it was if it wasn't for their help/generosity. While we are living in the house, we are still surrounded by boxes that still have our belongings in them. So the transition is still not complete, however we are totally out of the old house and totally in the new one. Now we just need to unpack everything!! :-S

3. The third things that has been going on in our lives is the one that is the most difficult to talk about. During the first part of June (and right in the middle of the major remodeling going on in the house) the doctors discovered a tumor the size of a lime on one of Dad's kidneys. The good news in this, is that it is on the kidney that is undersized and probably not functioning that well to begin with. The bad news is that we don't know anything else. We don't know if the tumor is cancerous or not. We don't know if it is cancerous, if the cancer has spread. We don't think that it has because we have been told that the first place that the cancer would go is to his lungs and they sound clear (and were clear in December when a chest x-ray was done). So as a result of this dad went to a specialist in the closest metropolitan city. The dr there thinks that there is a 60-80% chance that it is cancer. He doesn't know if it has spread and won't know until he does surgery. Surgery is scheduled for Aug. 7th and the dr will be taking the entire kidney and tumor out laparoscopically. Hopefully dad will only be in the hospital for 3 days (or so) and will be able to come home after getting out of the hospital. To say that this is stressing our family out would be an understatement, however because of God's help, we all outwardly are doing pretty good. We know that God will take care of dad and that whatever He has planned is for the best. Dad has been through a lot in the last 8 years, however looking back on all of the issues that dad has gone through we see God's fingerprints all over the place. My parents are truely blessed. Please keep my dad and my entire family in your prayers during this time. With his issues, my grandmother's health, my uncle's (his brother) passing last September, and the thing I'll talk about in #4. I'm ready for God to take the reins back and say yet again, "Ok, You have been tested enough. It's time for me to take over. Come here my child and let me hold you in MY arms and take care of your problems/frustrations/worries." However I also know that God will not give us more than we can bear. It's just a lot on the family's plate right now. However I also know that we will look back on this in the years to come and know that God is also working in this situation just has much as he did in all of the other instances we have gone through.

4. Recently my parents have had to deal with a finacial issue that is quite embarising. While I would give more details, the situation isn't life threating, between them, or as my late grandfather use to say....as bad as a wreck on a train. However because this situation has occurred it's put even more stress on an already strained situation with dad's health. Please pray that God will help my parents not to worry about the money lost and to know that everything will come about in the end. Whether they get the money back or not, it's only money and they will be just fine with or without the money.

So that's what's been going on the last several months. I'm very sorry that it's been so long since I have posted. With dad's surgery I'll try to keep the posts coming more reguarly so everyone will know how he is doing.

Thanks again so much for your prayers. We love you all.

Jack