Hello all,
Well, today is Easter. Resurrection Sunday. Today is the day our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, rose from the dead so that we who believe in Him can have everlasting life. What a gift! I hope you all enjoyed your Easter celebrations!
Pastor Frank’s message this morning really hit close to home for our family. It’s a good thing I was working the video camera today because if I was sitting next to Kristi I probably would have started sobbing. The tears were on edge, but the job of running the camera and Jim Geertsma yelling in my headphones was a good distraction. The word picture Pastor Frank used today describing family members sitting around a bed watching a loved one suffer is not just a word picture in this house. I lay in bed every night and watch Kristi suffer. The pain. The nausea. The constant fatigue. "The bag". I save my tears for bed time so Kristi doesn’t have to see them…she has enough to deal with she doesn’t need to see that. We had a tough weekend. Kristi was very fatigued and sore all weekend. It was a miracle in itself that Kristi made it to church this morning. Yesterday she had to miss an Easter celebration and Emily’s birthday party with my family. Imagine as a mother not being able to celebrate your daughter’s 3rd birthday. It hurts. It sucks. Cancer sucks (sorry to be blunt). But rest assured, the tears aren’t tears of surrender. We’re not angry at God, and we’re certainly not giving up. We know that God is using us to spread a message…and we know it’s working. We know God is using Kristi to bring people either closer to God, or in some cases back to God. We know this first hand. We’ve received several e-mails from people from around the world that begin something like this: "You don’t know me, but…". It’s amazing. Incredible. And for that we are excited. But it’s tough. I cry because it’s tough to watch someone I’ve loved for 15+ years suffer from a cruel sickness. It’s easy to get down emotionally when you get fatigued. So I thank Pastor Frank for the reminder this morning…the reminder that Jesus Christ is alive!! Amen.
For those that didn’t know, Kristi’s last CT scan showed an "irregularity" in her right breast. They think the scan just picked up part of her chemo port, but she has to go in to Zeeland Hospital tomorrow for a mammogram to rule any more cancer out. With her already having cancer, of course we’re a little anxious about this. So…
Some specific prayer requests (772-0110):
· Monday’s mammogram is at 12:30. For those women who have had one you know what she is in for. Please pray that the discomfort is minimal and that the "irregularity" is just that, the chemo port, and nothing else. Nada. Zero. Zilch. She won’t get results until mid-end of the week (we think).
· Pray that we will be lifted back up emotionally.
· Kristi’s stomach has been hurting a lot lately. Not sure if it’s just the scar tissue or what. But Kristi is in a lot of discomfort. Pray that the pain gets better in the coming days.
· Kristi continues to struggle with her colostomy bag. It’s a huge hassle. Pray that the bag starts working soon, or better yet, they can reverse it soon.
· Ashley is opening up more and asking more questions. She has been crying a lot at night because she is "scared for mommy". Please pray for comfort and understanding for Ashley.
· Pray that the coming days/weeks give us good rest. We’ve both been struggling lately at getting a good night’s sleep…and for once it hasn’t been the kids keeping us awake – just our minds.
· The support continues to come in ways of not only prayer, but people cleaning our house, our yard, meals, etc. Prayer of thanks for all of this support!
Thanks for all the prayers – we love you all!
Brian
