My Mom

I'm writing quickly tonight to ask for prayer for my Mom.  It's been a rough six months or so for my parents, with my dad's serious heart attack in December and very slow recovery.  He expected to feel better more quickly, but it has been difficult for him to regain his strength and energy.  And just last weekend, I got an email from my mom, saying that she had had a CT scan on Friday.  For the last year, Mom had been experiencing some growth in her abdomen area, but assumed she was just putting on some weight and needed to be more careful about what she was eating.  But with her diabetes, she often ends up eating when she isn't hungry (often in the middle of the night!), and so that can be hard to control.  But as time rolled around to January or so, she began to feel some hardness to her abdomen area, and in the past few weeks has also experienced pain in that area.

So, she finally went to the doctor and they immediately ordered a CT scan.  The scan was done on Friday and she received the results on Monday.  The news was not good.  There is a huge mass in her abdomen that has grown and spread around some of her internal organs, and it will need to be operated on very soon to get it out.  They will not take time to do a biopsy first, but rather just try to remove it, if they can.  The doctor has warned her that the surgery will be a major one...a large incision, a lot of cutting, and most likely a difficult recovery.  They cannot say for sure what the mass is until the surgery is done.

With all of this information in hand, and after having talked to my mom on Monday morning, John and I decided that it would be best for me to be there for my parents at this time.  I was able to purchase a ticket that leaves on Sunday and arrives Sunday night (23 hours of travel but arriving the same day thanks to a 13 hour time difference!) and will stay for about 10 days.  I hope to be a blessing to my parents, to encourage them in the Lord, and to accomplish a lot of practical things to help them.  My brother Mark and perhaps his whole family will also be there, and we are thankful for my parent's home church which has also been very supportive.

Please pray for my parents, for the surgery which will likely be sometime early next week, and for the results of the surgery to be better than anyone expects.  Pray for me to arrive safely and to be able to be a true help to my mom and dad.  Pray for us all to be encouraged in the Lord, in His steadfast love and promises which do not fail, do not change, and are always for our good.  May we rest in Him and trust Him for all that we need.

And, since I'm still in the midst of my study/meditation on thankfulness, here are some things I'm thankful for in this situation:
*That I could so easily find a ticket that was reasonably priced and be there so quickly.  PTL for the technology to buy online and even be able to do something crazy like fly on a plane!
*That my mom's spirits are good.  She is ready for whatever comes and is not afraid.  Her faith is encouraging me!
*My wonderful husband's support in saying "you need to do this.  I will be fine with the girls."
*A house helper and dear friends in this city who said things like "Let me take your girls so you can make plans." and "I'll help you find a ticket." and "What can we do for you?"
*My trustworthy Father in heaven who has a good plan.
*The fact that we got a lot of our packing done (for our upcoming move) this week already! 
*****A huge praise is that we have secured a place to live in Louisville--already!!!  It's been in the works for a couple of weeks, but we just received confirmation this morning that it's ours and will sign the contract and send in the deposit early next week!*****

I hope to make my time on the plane a mini-retreat and plan to spend a lot of time in the Word and prayer.  Honestly I haven't gone anywhere without a child for so long that I am not sure how I will fill all the hours!  So my plan is to spend them with the Lord.  "If you seek Me, you will find Me, if you seek Me with all your heart."  I'm praying that He meets me in a special way during that time!  I surely feel the need for refreshment, strengthening, filling, and resting in Him.

Thanks so much for your prayers.  It is such a comfort to know that people all over are praying for my parents and our family, and to know that the Lord is honored by those prayers.  Thank you again.  I'll do my best to keep posting as things develop.