So in our household right now we’re preparing for surgery. I go in at 7:30am Monday, August 22nd to have a large portion of my colon removed. Because I know my propensity to become discouraged if things don’t go the way I’m hoping for them to go I purchased myself a gift. Ha! I know – but seriously I think I need this. And no it’s not a pair of black shoes contrary to what my husband would automatically think. I do occasionally gift myself with a great pair of black shoes because…..well because I’m female.
No black shoes but instead I purchased this 40 days of Prayer and Gratitude journal with my name on it. Is’t it adorable? It’s a May Book. They have all kinds of designs and inside choices of paper to choose from. I always purchase when they go 50% and offer free shipping otherwise it would be too much to pay in my opinion. But they run sales all the time. Anyways, I love this one because for 40 days you write out a scripture, a prayer and the things you’re thankful for.
I bought this journal with the intention of starting the day before my surgery. This morning Sophie and I did it together. She wrote out a prayer and I did and we talked about the things we are thankful for. A sweet couple in our church sent me flowers yesterday and they had Isaiah 41:10 written on it. So we took that verse and made it our verse for today. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed; for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
I know staying in the word will be important for me. And having this 40 day journal will help me stay intentionally thankful in the midst of hard days ahead. I also have some verse cards written out to hang onto during my recovery time. Of course I can’t prepare myself in every way but building in some tools to help stay focused is a good thing.
Oh, and may I ask you to pray for a certain little nine year old girl who is really struggling with fear right now? Her name is Sophie. She’s my baby girl and she’s really having a hard time with run away thoughts. We’ve held each other and she has cried too many times to count in the last two weeks. She’s afraid I might die. She even has a picture conjured in her head of her teacher pulling her out into the hallway to say she just got a text from Randy saying, “She didn’t make it.” (OMGosh! Really? She thinks we’d send that kind of information through a text message? She is definitely a Generation Z kid) Oh how my heart just crumbled into a million pieces when I heard her tell me that. We’ve prayed and read scripture and talked about the peace of God and taking captive our thoughts and all that. I’ve assured her I feel so confident about this surgery going smoothly and that I truly feel like I’m going to do great but only God knows the outcome. And He is so worth trusting because He is good all the time and His ways are perfect. I am asking God to stretch Sophie’s faith and to work out something beautiful inside of her through this process. We would love your prayers too.
And for the rest of my family – Randy who will be next to me through it all as he has every other time we’ve walked this surgical road. It’s not easy on the caregivers. For Mitchell who is a typical teenager doing life at his own pace and not too troubled by this surgery thankfully yet sensitive about it. Randy’s parents and my Mom who are traveling up today to be with us and to help with the kids. We have incredible prayer support through our families, church family and friends. I am so thankful.
Well, that’s the update friends. The next time you hear from me could be interesting as communicating under the influence of anesthesia is always intriguing. Don’t hold too tightly to what I say over the next few weeks. Pain meds do a number on me but who knows I just might crank out some amazing pieces of literature. Bahaha!!!
Thank you for your prayers!
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