Jack's Prayer Requests

My Little Girl

2011-01-15T15:12:00.002-06:00

Wow. It's been nearly 18 months since I have posted anything on this blog. Many things have happened in that time. For those that know me personally, you know many of the things that have happened. One of those is that my wife and I are expecting our first child this year. My wife just entered her 3rd trimester, and until recently the pregnancy has been very smooth. That was until about 11:00 PM this past Thursday night. At that time my wife had an episode that caused her to be air-lifted to the nearest NICU unit. This unit is about 2 hrs away from where we lived. I was not allowed to go with her in the helicopter. Needless to say I was very nervous about this situation. It's now about 36 hours removed from that incident and we are still in the hospital. Things are much better, but for those that may come across this blog I pray that you will pray for my wife and our unborn child. Even if it is a long time from now....please pray for my family. Pray that we will be blessed with health. Thank you so much. God is a wonderful Lord and I am so thankful for the blessing that He has given us.

Update on Dad

2009-08-17T00:19:00.001-05:00

In an effort to reduce your reading, please check out my other blog for the update on dad. Again, thank everyone for their prayers, support, calls, questions, comments, etc made during this time.

Tomorrow is the day....

2009-08-06T15:12:00.002-05:00

Well dad goes in for surgery tomorrow. To say that everyone is nervous would be a gross understatement. However we are all staying positive and hoping and praying for the best. God truely knows what we need and He will take care of us. Surgery tomorrow is at 1:30 our time, so please say a small prayer for him around that time (or before so that you don't forget). Fran, my sister, and I will be traveling down to the surgery location tomorrow morning. If you want updates please call or text either Fran, my sister, or myself. Slower updates, I'll try to post here so that everyone who reads this (even you, Mr. or Mrs. Stranger), will know how things went.

Thanks again for the prayers.

Where have you been?

2009-07-26T21:46:00.005-05:00

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

Guidance from Friends and Family.

2009-02-23T14:41:00.002-06:00

I just posted something to the blog that I share with Francie. Check it out and please respond with guidance and thoughts as to what we should do.

Time heals all wounds....????

2009-02-17T15:21:00.003-06:00

Well it's been a little while since we found out about the event that has caused our family so much grief and anguish. And while they say time heals all wounds, the short amount of time that has transpired hasn't been long enough. We still hurt, ache, and grief over the event and the cause of the event. While I don't know many details, I have a feeling that this is the start of a very long hard road.

Even though we are no where near to being over this event, it is amazing to me just how God has a way of making things work for His Glory. While we haven't seen exactly how He is working in this situation, I know that God is in control and His Will will be done in ALL things. In knowing this, there are a few things that I have seen, witnessed, heard of, or been a part of that I see God's Will working in. In this post I would like to share just a few of those things.

One thing that has come of this is that the family so far has grown closer together. Francie has talked to various family members on a nearly daily basis. We also have been in contact with other family members much more frequently than we have in the past.

Another factor that has been a positive from this event is that we have seen the love from the congregation that we attend. This event has the potential to tear apart the church we attend, however I have been glad to see the support (both publicly and privately) that has come from the congregation. If any of you happen to read this blog I want to again publicly thank you for everything and ask you to please keep up what you are doing.

While I will never post on here the situation that has arisen, it is public knowledge. For those that I personally know that are dying inside to know what is going on you may contact me or my parents. If you just happen upon this blog and would like to know, I'm sorry but this is a private matter and one that I wish not to let you know about. However I do ask for everyone who reads this to please continue to pray for the family. Pray that healing will occur, pray that patience will abound, pray that those affected will turn to God for guidance and strength, pray that the community is understanding, and finally (as Francie pointed out in our other blog), pray that the Spirit helps us in our weakness, that the Spirit will intercede our groans of anguish to our Lord for us since we do not have the words to express just how we feel (Romans 8:26).

Like I said before, it's probably going to be a long process, however with God's help we will be able to pull through this. Again…..thank you SO much for everything that you are doing. Words will never express how truly gracious we are for your support.

Prayer Request

2009-02-11T22:03:00.003-06:00

Other than SafetyDude, I don't know of anyone who checks this blog. However for SafetyDude and anyone else who stumbles upon this blog I wanted to let you know about a couple of things....

1. I am sorry for not blogging much lately. I have been so busy at work that I never seem to have time.

2. We have had a family member do something very bad recently. Bad enough that this person was arrested for these bad things that he did. This was a very large shock to us and we are having a very hard time dealing with the whole situation. Please pray for us, our realitive, and the whole family. It's just the beginning of a very, very long road and something that has the potential to rip the family apart. Please pray that this does not happen.

I hope that each of you are having a good week and that it's much better than ours has been.

Finally, if you do come across this blog please let me know. Selfishly, it would be nice to have to know someone is out there reading this blog.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T11:24:00.003-06:00

Well 2009 is nearly here. To say that my posting has slacked off is an understatement. I hope to do better next year in my prayer requests. However I will give a quick prayer request here on this blog....

As my last (Lord willing) prayer request for 2008 is that may God continue to bless us as He so richly has this past year. Even though parts of 2008 has been very hard, there have been other parts that have been filled with joyful events. The fact that we have our health, jobs, a roof over heads, family, and other blessings - we are so blessed to have what we do and I'm very thankful to our Heavenly Father for those blessings.

Love to all.....

Jack

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T23:59:00.000-06:00

I'm going to try to get this in before midnight my time....

Merry Christmas!!

Jack

Update on my grandmother

2008-12-03T09:52:00.003-06:00

Sorry that this has taken so long for me to update everyone on the status of my grandmother. To say that it's been a busy week with my grandmother being in the hospital, Thanksgiving, catching up at work, and taking care of other personal things would be an understatement.

The long and the short of it is that my grandmother does NOT have cancer. She instead has pneumonia.

To help explain this drastic change of events below is a timeline of last week, I've included a description of each day and the events that transpired. Please note that this is from my perspective and does not include things said both verbally and non-verbally to others in the family.

Sunday - Granny falls (again) and burst open a cut on her knee (for the 3rd time). While there and getting everything figured out, the medical staff learns her white blood cell count is over 33,000. Normal is 4,500-10,000 (according to www.nlm.nih.gov). Word is that they think that she has pneumonia.

Monday - An x-ray of her chest shows a "spot" the size of a baseball on her lungs. If memory serves me correct, the doctor said "I've never seen a spot this big that wasn't cancer" and "you need to be looking for a nursing home with hospice and she will never leave the state of ". Mom & dad leave to go where my grandmother is. A CT scan is done to get a better look at the spot on the lung.

Tuesday - Things are a little clearer, and I find out that she might not have cancer. A biopsy is taken to see if the spot is cancer. Doctor (not same one as on Monday) who took the biopsy says that symptoms of pneumonia are not present (green junk in lungs, fever, cough, etc); however the x-ray report says it is a mass and the CT radiologist calls the place an infusion. So, we are told she either has pneumonia or cancer. We are also told the results of biopsy will not be back until Friday (normally would be Thursday but since Thursday is Thanksgiving it will be Friday).

Wednesday - First doctor tells us that the white blood count has gone down to 8,000 (within the normal range). Because of this the doctor is now thinking that she has pneumonia instead of cancer. However won’t say for sure until the results come back from the biopsy.

Thursday – Thanksgiving …….no news.

Friday – We leave home to travel to where Granny D is. Results come back from the biopsy and my grandmother does NOT have cancer! A BIG sigh of relief is experienced throughout the family.

So that’s the timeline of events. Writing it down makes it not seem as big of a deal, but when you are dealing with the “c” word, in real time people get worried really fast. Since Friday she has been dismissed from the hospital, staying at my cousin's house for the time being, and hopes to come back home next weekend.

I apologize for the last post and making the outlook look so bleak, however hopefully by reading this post you will understand why the post was worded the way it was. I also hope that this helps clear up some of your confusion. My family and I really do appreciate all of the prayers, comments, and concerns expressed by several of you throughout the past week. I can’t explain how much they touched all of us.

Pray

2008-11-24T12:28:00.003-06:00

Please pray for my Grandmother. Dad's mom. We just found out that she likely has advanced lung cancer that is very advanced. Tests are still being ran to confirm the diagnosis and more details to come later, however please pray for me and my family. What would I like for you to pray for? I don't know. I really don't know. But please just pray for God to work His Will in this matter.

November 16 - 22, 2008

2008-11-18T13:10:00.004-06:00

Special thanks to those of you who sent comments last week letting me know you appreciated this work. I hope that it uplifts you and helps you as much as it has been helping me. I really don't have any additional prayer requests this week, save one, so I decided not to include the long list in this post. If I get a couple of more prayer requests / praises then I probalby will include the list but for now here is the one request.

* Fran & I - as we travel to her national conference in CA. Pray for safe travels and a enjoyable time with old friends. Also pray that the conference goes smoothly. Their organization has had some turmoil lately as the owner provided funding for Proposition 8 in CA and that made several people within the national organization very upset.

November 9 - 15, 2008 - 11/11/08 UPDATE #3

2008-11-10T09:32:00.008-06:00

Another week another week of Prayer requests. I truely hope that people are reading this and it's not a waste of my time.

I am looking for some input, but have yet to receive anything from anyone. I'm also having some problems with my posting. I would REALLY like to just copy paste, but when I do that it doesn't bring the formatting over to the new post.

Finally please note the first prayer request. This is a couple that we were really close to in a town that we use to live in. Please pray that God works in that situation.

Prayer Requests:
* Friends from another town - separated and getting a divorce. Couple is wonderful people with two great children. Pray that they are able to find the love that they have for each other. Pray that they can put aside their issues and work together toward reconciliation. Pray that God will help remove their hatred for each other right now. Pray for the extended family that this is affecting. Pray for those working with this couple (both together and individually) for the words to help them through this difficult time and to help bring back the family together. Pray that both of them will not lose their faith over this issue. However above all pray that God's Will will be done.
* Cousin - had facial procedure to remove some skin ailments. Laid up for a couple of weeks. Pray for healing.
* Cousin's Husband - laid off last week. My late uncle's son-in-law. Pray that he finds a job soon.
* Distant Cousin - married on 11/9/08. Pray that she and her new husband always put God first in their lives and may they have a richly blessed life from Him.
* Friend from another town - married on 11/9/08 as well. Pray that they may live a lifetime together and that both of them will grow close to God and turn to Him.
Newly Elected President Obama – that he might lead the country in the direction that GOD wants it to go, and that he will turn to God for guidance and wisdom.
Cousin – traveling a lot with her job
Aunt - recovering from surgery after breaking her ankle. Can't put weight on it for several weeks.
UCSC Football team - Positive attitudes and displaying a Christ like personality while playing
Sister - Tooth, recovering from shoulder surgery, being off of work
Matt's father - recovering from foot surgery and being off of work
Sunday School Young Pro class - grow closer together and closer to God through our studies
Tommy (friend of a friend) - dealing with mental illness
Unknown (friend of a friend) - dying of kidney failure
Grandmother #1 - recovering from fall on knee, mental healing, physical healing, that she might be able go home by herself.
Grandmother #2 - mental healing, physical healing
Campus ministry where we came from - that they might grow, and others might realize their importance in God's kingdom
My Aunt & my entire family - grieving the passing of my uncle.
Abby's dad - health issues
Cousin - pregnancy difficulties
Tiffany, Lee, Mindy, Mandy, Janeen, Miriam, Leslie, & Star - pregnant
Wife - headaches and tiredness; stress of first semester after PhD
Trey - health issues with being able to speak
Myself - patience, understanding, & growth; less stress at work; things to slow down in my life

Prayer Praises:
* Cousin’s son – Star student at his elementary schools WAY TO GO!!
College Student we know #1 - feeling better from episodes that were very concerning.
College Student we know #2 - successful surgery (let’s not ask the area! :S)
College Student we know #3 - successful surgery (knee)
Celebration (Religious Youth Rally) – I was told that it was a wonderful weekend of youth groups lifting up their hearts, hands, and minds to God. Several teens turned over their lives to God through baptism. Praise be to God for His blessings.
Tiffany (same Tiffany as mentioned above) – that she does not have gestational diabetes. YAY!!! WONDERFUL NEWS! PRAISE GOD!

Thoughts about the election

2008-11-06T14:52:00.002-06:00

While I have my person thoughts, and comments about the recent election of a new president this blog isn't for that purpose. What I did want to do here was post some scriptures from a lesson that the campus minister at our church pointed out last night in Wednesday night Bible class.

The minister pointed out that regardless of who we were for, what our postion politically speaking was (and still is), and how we might feel about the outcome of the election, we as Christians now have a specific role to play. This role is outline by God in His word.

I encourage you to take a second and look at these scriptures that he pointed out. See if you agree with his thoughts and lesson. I've given a short reason as to why he included the scripture in his lesson. After studying God's word, let me know what you think.

1 Timothy 2:1-2 -- Pray for those in authority (including the president)
Romans 13:1-7 -- Be in subjection to government, pay your taxes as your are suppose to, however do all of this only to the point where it doesn't break a commandment by God (where's that line at? Good question, your thoughts are welcome)
1 Thess 4:11-12 -- live a quite life
Philippians 3:17-20 -- our citizenship is ultimately in heaven with God. Our US citizenship is secondary to the citizenship in Heaven.

November 2 – 8, 2008 – UPDATE #1 (11/05/08)

2008-11-05T13:36:00.006-06:00

I’m trying to get this blog better organized, and in doing so I’m trying some things out so please be patient with me as I try to figure all of this out. If anyone reading this blog has any suggestions PLEASE let me know. I’m all ears! (well maybe not all ears, but I am willing to listen.)

For now, I’m going to include all previous prayer requests. I thought about just adding new requests, however wanted to make sure that everyone who reads this (including myself) remembers ALL of the prayer requests and not just the new ones. Except for a few additions to those that I failed to mention who are pregnant; I’ve added the new prayer requests to the top and emphasized them with an asterisk (*). I’m also trying to keep the posts down so if I come across other prayer requests this week I’ll add them to this blog and note the date that it was updated.

Prayer Requests:
* Newly Elected President Obama – that he might lead the country in the direction that GOD wants it to go, and that he will turn to God for guidance and wisdom.
* Our country – as we select new leaders both local and national
* Celebration (Religious Youth Rally) – God works in everyone there, that lives may be transformed to be better servants of God and His Kingdom, safety for those traveling, and wisdom for those speaking, strength for those serving.
* Cousin – traveling a lot with her job
* Tiffany (same Tiffany as mentioned below) – that she does not have gestational diabetes
* Aunt - recovering from surgery after breaking her ankle. Can't put weight on it for several weeks.
UCSC Football team - Positive attitudes and displaying a Christ like personality while playing
Sister - Tooth, recovering from shoulder surgery, being off of work
Matt's father - recovering from foot surgery and being off of work
Sunday School Young Pro class - grow closer together and closer to God through our studies
Tommy (friend of a friend) - dealing with mental illness
Unknown (friend of a friend) - dying of kidney failure
Grandmother #1 - recovering from fall on knee, mental healing, physical healing, that she might be able go home by herself.
Grandmother #2 - mental healing, physical healing
Campus ministry where we came from - that they might grow, and others might realize their importance in God's kingdom
My Aunt & my entire family - grieving the passing of my uncle.
Abby's dad - health issues
Cousin - pregnancy difficulties
Tiffany, Lee, Mindy, Mandy, Janeen, Miriam, Leslie - pregnant
Wife - headaches and tiredness; stress of first semester after PhD
Trey - health issues with being able to speak
Myself - patience, understanding, & growth; less stress at work; things to slow down in my life

Prayer Praises:
* College Student we know #3 - successful surgery (knee)
College Student we know #1 - feeling better from episodes that were very concerning.
College Student we know #2 - successful surgery (let’s not ask the area! :S)

Prayer Requests - October

2008-10-30T16:15:00.006-05:00

Since I'm starting out and the month of October is nearly over I thought that I would just do a few prayer requests. I hope to break these down more often than just a month, however here's where we are going to start.

Prayer Requests:
UCSC Football team - Positive attitudes and displaying a Christ like personality while playing
Sister - Tooth, recovering from shoulder surgery, being off of work
Matt's father - recovering from foot surgery and being off of work
Sunday School Young Pro class - grow closer together and closer to God through our studies
Tommy (friend of a friend) - dealing with mental illness
Unknown (friend of a friend) - dying of kidney failure
Grandmother #1 - recovering from fall on knee, mental healing, physical healing, that she might be able go home by herself.
Grandmother #2 - mental healing, physical healing
Campus ministry where we came from - that they might grow, and others might realize their importance in God's kingdom
My Aunt & my entire family - grieving the passing of my uncle.
Myself - patience, understanding, & growth; less stress at work; things to slow down in my life
Abby's dad - health issues
Cousin - pregnancy difficulties
Tiffany, Lee, Mindy, Mandy, Janeen - pregnant
Wife - headaches and tiredness; stress of first semester after PhD
Trey - health issues with being able to speak

Prayer Praises:
College Student we know #1 - feeling better from episodes that were very concerning.
College Student we know #2 - successful surgery

I think that it for now. I hope over time that the second list grows longer than the first, however for now it's not that way.

What is this blog?

2008-10-30T15:57:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone. Well I have officially bit the bullet. Even though I'm a tech guy and been in the industry for over 10 years I have put off blogging thinking that I didn't have anything to talk about. Well lately I feel like God's been putting something on my heart to do and I kept denying that I should do it. But lately it's been on my mind a lot so I figured why not!

This blog is the first in a series of blogs that I hope to do. However this blog I feel is probably the most important. I don't promise to update it often, however I promise to try.

So what is this blog about?

This blog is an attempt to help each other remember prayer requests that we have, specifically I have. The prayer requests will probably be very vague in nature to try to protect people privacy. If you find a prayer request that is about you and you would prefer it not be on here, feel free to let me know and I'll be glad to remove it. If you have a prayer request and you would like for me to include it, let me know and I'll try to put it up. No promises on that though. This blog is also an attempt to help myself have a better prayer life. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV) says..."Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." So that's what I'm trying to do. Pray continually, and rejoice in everything.

Not all of the prayer requests are going to be negative in nature. Thanksgiving prayer requests will appear (and hopefully often).

So that's what I'm trying to do. Hope you enjoy it and I hope that this blog leads you also to a stronger prayer life.