Miss Abigail’s Due Date Has Now Passed!

Yesterday, June 25th, was Abigail’s due date :-)! She is now a healthy 8 pounds 9 ounces and 5 ½ weeks old. The other night, I heard some excitement, and I thought maybe Grandad, who had just come home from the hospital that day, was at the window on the side of our house. No, actually, it was Nathan, Melanie, and Abigail, making their first, brief neighborhood outing. Because of Abigail being a preemie, Nathan and Melanie have been keeping her in the house except for her doctor’s appointments. We all happily hurried outside and greeted them.

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Praising the Lord for Abigail,
Sarah

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Abigail loves to have her arms up next to her head :-).

 

Sunday’s Report

We were excited to set off for another evening at the little church in Gypsum, Kansas. This trip was different from the last time we were there in December for a few reasons: the weather was fifty degrees warmer, Nathan and Melanie weren’t with us because of Abigail, and neither were Grandad and Grandma because Grandad was in the hospital. Before we left town, the children played/sang several songs for our nursing-home church Sunday morning. Our dear friends were thrilled!

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The children played/sang for our dear friends Sunday morning. 

The Gypsum church provided a wonderful BBQ for everyone before the service. Several men barbecued, and some of the ladies and children worked on the rest of the preparations inside. We were blessed by the kind provisions.

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The pastor and his sons helped us carry all of the equipment inside.

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The Girls

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A Sweet Helper
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We began the service with about an hour of music, interspersed with testimonies from each of us. Our desire is not to entertain but to edify and lift up the Lord Jesus. Dad shared from God’s Word during the next portion, and he gave a very challenging message. After that, the children closed with a new “medley” on which they’ve been working.

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Joseph, Dad, and Anna
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Mary
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We were on the road a little before ten, and we had a good family time chatting about the evening for a while. Then most of the family decided to sleep, but Mom kept Dad awake talking since they had both had naps in the bus while the rest of us did the set up. We pulled into the driveway around 1:00 a.m.

Great news: Grandad was released from the hospital last night :-)!

Joyfully His,
Sarah

Time for an Update on Grandad

It’s been a few days since we’ve updated you all on Grandad. He is doing very well physically, which is a blessing. The amazing part is that he has no pain from his surgery! The plan is that he’ll move into a regular room today and out of the ICU. Another praise is that his lungs look good :-).

A few prayer requests. He is struggling with some confusion, and the prayer is that whatever is causing that (maybe the previous pain medication and sedation he was on?) would go away. Second, he was diagnosed with a very slow growing form of lymphoma. Nothing even needs to be done for the lymphoma right now.

Thank you for your prayers. We have been very blessed by them! Oh, and Grandad’s great-granddaughter, Abigail, is doing extremely well :-).

Our family will be going to Gypsum, Kansas (outside of Salina) Sunday afternoon. We are doing the Sunday evening service with music and preaching; this is the same church we did a Christmas service for December 23rd (and it was also Uriah’s maiden voyage!). We’ll come home late Sunday night.

Joyfully His,
Sarah for all the rest

Update on Grandad: Doctors Are Preparing to Take Off the Respirator

Please continue to pray for Grandad. During the surgery, Grandad was put on a respirator, and he is slowly being “weaned” off of it, so they’re keeping him sedated. Plus, there’s the complication that he has pneumonia from all the “stuff” in his lungs, so they’re working on clearing that out before they “unsedate” him.

I saw Grandad briefly yesterday, and it was sobering seeing him so still, with a tube in his mouth, and monitors all around. But, it is encouraging to know that soon he will be awake and aware of what is going on. I guess he and Melanie will be able to sympathize on the aftermath of stomach surgery :-), although Grandad definitely gets the “prize” for the worst surgery of the two. 

Yesterday I heard that Grandad quoted, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalms 118:24), and Revelation 3:20 before being taken into surgery. Truly, he and Grandma have been leaning on the Lord, and will continue to be as they journey through this. Thank you for your prayers. They are an encouragement to our family, and to my Grandma, who checks the blog :-).

Resting in Jesus,
Sarah
PS – Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there! I know this year will be an extremely happy one for my brother who is a new dad :-). Dad and John arrived home today, so we’re very grateful to have them back safe and sound (they’ll post an update on that later).

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Standing in Awe of Our Great Physician

We received word that Grandad came through surgery just fine. There was a high grade obstruction of the small intestine which was a band looped around it. Part of the intestine was taken out, but he will be fine. Grandad will be in the hospital for a bit of time while he recovers and gets back to normal.

We know the Lord Jesus doesn’t always choose to heal in the way we would wish. Yet, in this situation, He is giving our Grandad more time here on this earth. Truly, our Great Physician is amazing. All praise to Him!

Rejoicing in Jesus,
Sarah for the rest

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Grandad.

One of his favorite verses:
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20).”