Hello Grace Family! This past week has been a difficult one for both my husband and me. It has been a roller coaster ride to be sure. It has also been a lesson in just how good God is. We all say, sometimes very cavalierly, that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him. While we say that, I have a feeling there are times when maybe we really don’t believe it, at least not completely and especially when life is difficult. I know I sometime wonder when the bad things feel like they are piling up if God really does work out things to the good. I am human after all and there are times when I am overwhelmed.
So, these past few weeks, have seen me being very overwhelmed and God showing just how he works.
It has been an incredible journey. It all began with Gary’s knee hurting more than he could stand and he can tolerate a lot. So he went to see his knee doctor who said yes you need surgery. So Gary went to his GP who put him through blood work and other tests to make sure he was healthy for surgery. He failed his EKG. Then he failed his second EKG. So they ordered more tests and he failed his ECHO and Nuclear Stress test…so he was scheduled for a heart cath…at this point I will tell you we expected he would need a stent…one. So we were shocked to discover he needed bypass surgery. And then as circumstances played out, the surgery was scheduled and rescheduled and finally scheduled a third time and he is currently recovering. (BTW…the reasons for re-scheduling were good ones.) The doctors also let us know that had Gary’s knee not begun to hurt so badly, and he not gone in to get it checked out, we would have not known about the blockages because he had no symptoms and he would have eventually had a heart attack and probably not survived. I can’t begin to tell you how incredibly grateful I am for his knee pain.
The doctors also let us know that had Gary’s knee not begun to hurt so badly, and he not gone in to get it checked out, we would have not known about the blockages because he had no symptoms and he would have eventually had a heart attack and probably not survived. I can’t begin to tell you how incredibly grateful I am for his knee pain.
I have left out a lot of details for space consideration but everything happened when it needed to happen. All the tests were done within a two week time span and the heart cath that was originally scheduled for June 18th within an hour after it was scheduled they called saying we had a cancellation and can you come in tomorrow. As to the surgery itself while having it rescheduled twice was really hard on us both, if the surgery had happened when originally scheduled I would have been allowed to drop him off and not see him…but because it was this week, I was able to be with him up to the time they took him into the operating area and then wait for him and get updates from the nurse and I am able to visit with him each day. So God is good and God’s timing is perfect and I don’t’ think I will ever doubt it again no matter how overwhelmed I am!
This week I hope you join us Sunday at 11am for worship. I will be talking about Genesis 1 – 2:4 so please take the time to read about “The Beginning…” and what it means for us to be created in God’s image. What if we channeled the creative side of ourselves embedded in who we are. What if we chose to believe the proclamation God made when God said that all creation was supremely good. What if we truly chose to embrace the fact that God is good all the time…and God’s timing is perfect.
Please continue to be in prayer for both Gary and me as he recovers and I prepare to preach. I thank you so much for all the prayers you have made on our behalf so far. They have meant a lot to us both.In the meanwhile, I am excited to share that we will close this Sunday’s service with virtual communion, so please remember to have juice, wine, or water and some form of bread present with you at home when we worship Sunday at 11 am. Peace, Pastor Beth