Word of encouragement

Hello dear friends,

We had a great time away! The beach was beautiful and our dear friends, the Shamshoian's lent us their amazing beach house. It was refreshing to my soul to look out over the ocean and see the sun shinning on the water and remember how my Father loves me. Our kids had a fantastic time playing on the beach and my mom graciously kept us with our crazy life. Her visit was a joy and blessing. Kelly had a bit of a hard time dealing with his limitations physically and grieved not being able to be the husband and father he is used to being. We adore him regardless and were so thankful for the time away together.


Kelly met with our doctor and scheduled a bone marrow biopsy for the week of Thanks Giving. We are praying specifically now that God will restore Kelly's bone marrow to health since that is where abnormal white blood cells, (Leukemia) are being formed. We are also praying for direction, as to what the next step will look like for treatment.

Kelly also had an MRI this last week and we will get the results some time this week. We will learn if the lining in his brain is still swollen which the neurologist suspected was caused by the presence of the fungus. The good news is that he has not had any headaches since his lung surgery, except for the ones he says I have given him, (ha, ha, he is such a funny guy!!!)

I have had the opportunity to share with some of you what a wonderful thing God did for us on the day of Kelly's lung surgery and I want to share it with all of our family and friends who are praying for us.

While we were in pre-op, waiting for Kelly's surgery, a sweet little old lady dressed in a lavender suit with pink lipstick and her hair all done up nicely, came by Kelly's bed and asked if she could pray with us. She must have been in her 80's and as sweet as can be. We said yes then she took Kelly's hand and asked him if he knew the Lord Jesus and his personal Savior. He said,"yes Mam, I do." She then told us a bit of her story of how she began praying for people before surgery after her husband had died and how she loves doing it. So began her prayer... in the middle of praying she stopped and said, ooh, ooh. We looked up at her and she said, "I have never felt such a strong presence of the Lord before in anyone. Do you feel that?" Kelly looked at her then at me and I could tell that he really didn't feel anything different. She apologized and went on praying that his surgery would go well and that the doctors would have skill and so on..., then stopped again and said, "A word of the Lord always needs to be confirmed. I believe that the Lord is saying that you will not die from this. God will use this in many peoples lives to bring glory to Himself and you will be healed in six months time." Then she added exhortively, "God is healing you and you just need to accept it and give thanks."

Well, I grew up in a wonderful christian church that was very conservative and was kind of warned that charismatic type of things can be dangerous because they can be swayed by emotion so I haven't had much exposure to such things as a "word from the Lord" I believe that God does speak to us through His word and I know my personal time with Jesus has been very intimate as I have sensed Him impress things on my heart, but there was something different with this lady.

First, she didn't know what kind of health issues Kelly was having or that his life was even threatened. She didn't know if he was in for his appendix or brain surgery. She didn't know that the week prior to this surgery Kelly had been in a place of resignation and afraid to get his hopes up that God would heal him because he didn't want to be disappointed. She didn't know that Kelly was in a position to influence many people to bring God glory.

All these things got my attention and at the end of our prayer time she looked at me and said,"You look as if you were expecting this." And I was expecting a miracle that day.

Aside from the blessing of what she said, since that day I have been delivered from all fear and anxiety. If you know me, you know how huge this is. All my life I've lived like the character, Much Afraid, from Hinds Feet on High Places with fear and anxiety as my constant companions. I felt, for as long as I can remember, a dark cloud linger just around the corner of my heart stealing my peace and joy and I have prayed constantly that the Lord would help me to walk in His truth. It has been over a month and I have not had a moment of fear or anxiety. I used to hope that Kelly would be healed and believed God can do anything but now I have assurance that God will heal him.

About 4 weeks later, a friend from church told me that on that same day and at the same time of day, (between 2 and 3 in the afternoon) she had been walking and praying out on the beach for Kelly the day of his surgery. She began with this statement, "A word of the Lord always needs to be confirmed." Then she said that the Lord told her that Kelly's illness was not unto death but for the glory of God and that God will also use this trial to heal me of trust issues that I've had.

I praise God for these women and the freedom and encouragement I have received. Kelly and I believe what they have told us but are still humbly seeking God's direction. Our dependency on Him is sure and He is showing Himself to be steadfast on a daily basis for us and our kids. Thank you again for all your prayers and for taking the time to read my extra long blog today. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you my favorite part.

The little old lady's name is Violet Huckelberry. (She gave me her business card.) How sweet is that!!!