Will I believe You when You say
Your hand will guide my every way?
“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. …” (Psalm 32:8)
Will I receive the words You say
“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (Deut. 31:6)
Every moment of every day?
…when those days are overwhelming and I cannot make it another moment without You.

I will walk by faith
…when my mom was in the hospital for unknown chest pain, abdominal pain, and heavy bleeding.
Even when I cannot see
…which step to take next–where to go next–which family members needed us most.
Because this broken road
…when both of my living grandparents were very, very ill the same week that my mother is hospitalized.
Prepares Your will for me
…to take a deep breath and fly to Alabama with Mom (two days out of the hospital, still very sick and incredibly, terribly weak) to be with my Gram.

Help me to rid my endless fears
…how on earth are we going to do this? What about my dad, who flew up to my grandpa when we went to Alabama? Why has my mom been so sick herself?
You’ve been so faithful for all my years
…through oh, so much. Times like these are certainly nothing new…
With one breath You make me new
…Your grace is sufficient for the moment I’m in. Your mercies new every morning.
Your grace covers all I do
…helping my mom care for my Grammie, who came home, but is slowly regaining strength, then trying to help Mom–when she allowed it–because she herself was so weak it sometimes took all her effort just to walk across the house, and caring for my little boy, who is cutting three teeth, was running a fever, suffered from a very strange rash off and on during the whole trip and was also quickly learning to take advantage of his mama’s harried mind.

I will walk by faith
…when I took my mom back to the hospital (in Alabama) the day after my Gram came home.
Even when I cannot see
…when we went to a doctor she doesn’t know, in a town and state she doesn’t live in, to try to get some help.
Because this broken road
…waiting in an unfamiliar waiting room while my mom is in surgery.
Prepares Your will for me
…to finally end up back at home after a canceled flight, a night spent unexpectedly in an airport hotel room, an hour spent on the tarmac due to weather and rumors of more canceled flights, and dealing with a wild one year old.

Well I’m broken,
…when, the day after we arrive home (Thursday, April 26), my grandpa leaves this earth and his pain-filled body behind.
But I still see Your face
…and as I think of my dear grandpa standing in awe of the visual reality of that precious Face at this very moment.
Well You’ve spoken
“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” (Ps. 121:1-2)
Pouring Your words of grace
…through precious and dear friends and family. Their prayers, love and help have shown us, truly, what the love of Jesus is. From providing meals, kind notes, watching Troy three days in a row in Alabama, lending us baby things, flying out to California to help, dropping off and picking us up from airports, and numerous encouraging phone calls and emails… God has shown us Himself through you. We love you all.

I will walk by faith
Even when I cannot see
Because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me

Hallejuah…

Words in bold: lyrics from “Walk by Faith”, by Jeremy Camp

There are some seasons in this life when it feels like the rain just won’t stop, the dark clouds are rolling in one after the other, the ground is getting more and more muddy. You can begin to wonder if the soggy ground will swallow you up completely.

This week has been one of those seasons.

Some of you may have read my mom’s post from last night regarding my Grammie. This morning, we learned that she ended up being taken to the hospital via ambulance and is now there… with pneumonia. Things are not looking good. She is so tiny (just over five feet tall, and maybe 90 pounds dripping wet), so sick, and so weak.

Shortly after finding this out, my aunt from Northern California called and said that my grandpa is doing worse. His kidneys are shutting down, and he’s not getting the nutrients he needs due to watering down his “food” so the feeding tube doesn’t stop working. Things are looking much worse there also.

My mom went to see her gynecologist yesterday, and found out that she needs surgery. He wanted her to do it right away. But due to everything else that’s going on, she knew she couldn’t just have surgery right then, and was thinking possibly on Monday. He gave her some medication to try to stop the bleeding, but it actually made it worse. She’s weak, and she’s tired. And I’m worried about her.

When the first phone call came today, I was talking to my mom about my cousin’s baby shower we were planning to attend this afternoon. We were determining what time to leave (and whether or not Mom was strong enough to go… the rest of us really didn’t think she should be traveling two hours each way, but she wanted to try…). Now, a few hours later, we are looking at plane tickets to leave right away for Alabama. My mom, Troy and I will be heading out there for my Grammie early, early tomorrow morning, while my Dad, Zach, and John are here, ready to head up to my grandpa’s. My aunt (or, mom’s best friend, if you want to be technical) isn’t supposed to leave until Wednesday, so she might take a side trip to visit family in Arizona before she leaves. Things are a bit crazy.

A few months ago, Sarah from In the Midst of It, did an interview at Faith Lifts. She said something that has stuck with me.

Don’t let anybody make you feel guilty for what you’re feeling. And don’t let anybody tell you that God will never give you more than you can bear, or that you’re strong and can handle it, because neither of those are Scriptural or true. God will sometimes allow us more than we, on our own, can bear. (That verse is referring to temptation, not to burdens.) We are not always strong enough to handle bitter disappointment—I wanted to die after [my daughter's] diagnosis, when I had to lay down my dreams for my daughter and the disappointment was absolutely crushing—but He is bigger than the worst thing that can happen to us. I still can’t explain the theology of suffering or tests or the like, but I do know that my loneliness when I pulled away from Him was worse than the grief I felt after Addie’s diagnosis. So hang on, and don’t give up.

There are so many people hurting right now… dear, precious Heather, and sweet Kelli are both going through more than I can even imagine. I’m seeing more and more each day that sometimes the Lord does give us more than we can handle… because it causes us to depend completely on Him. I don’t have anything super-spiritual to say in response to any of what is going on right now. It’s a bit overwhelming. But I do know, in the little part of my mind that can think at the moment (between laundry, packing, figuring details, a clingy little man, and feeling quite, quite sick today), that God always, always shows Himself faithful in these moments when the rain is pouring down. I know that He is and will be holding us up. We do covet your prayers (especially for my mama… I’m really worried about her in all of this. She is not well herself.) and yet, it is so very, very humbling to know that you dear ones are taking time from your own lives, your own hardships and struggles to lift us up to the throne of Grace. It has brought tears to my eyes numerous times this week, knowing that there are people we may never even meet this side of heaven who are praying for us at that very moment. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you all so much for your prayers over the past few days. My mom was just discharged from the hospital, after three nights. The doctors discovered that she is experiencing Premature Ventricular Contractions, which, in most people, won’t cause problems (and aren’t even usually felt), but in some, like Mom, they can. Since the tests they did at the hospital were too inconclusive, the doctors sent her home after careful monitoring, telling her to see a cardiologist to further investigate her chest pain and possible heart issues. She’s also supposed to see a gastroenterologist to determine the cause of the abdominal pain, which they weren’t able to figure out, either.

I didn’t mention it in my first post, but one of the more serious issues here is that Mom has been having some “female problems” (she requested I say it “nicely” ), with heavy bleeding for over three weeks. This isn’t the first time she’s dealt with this issue, and the doctors aren’t sure if all of it is related or not. She has an appointment tomorrow morning with her gynecologist to try to take care of this, because it is definitely one of the most concerning, pressing issues at the moment. This loss of blood is taking it’s toll on her… she’s very weak.

And on a good note, my mom’s very best and dearest friend is on her way out from Virginia this morning, which will be absolutely wonderful. Mom will be taking a little bit of a bloggie break while we sort through all of this, but she said to tell everyone thank you for your prayers… you’ve all been such a blessing to her.

Real quick… just asking you to please pray for my Mama tonight, as she’s been admitted to the hospital. She was taken to the emergency room this afternoon with unexplained severe pain, and has been undergoing various tests since then to determine the cause of it, as well as some other troubling issues that may or may not be related. When I left the hospital room she’s been admitted to, just a little bit ago, she had a terrible headache and seemed rather weak, but was still smiling her pretty smile. Please pray that the doctors will be thorough this time, and that the Lord will give them wisdom to determine what is really going on here. When I asked her if I could ask for prayer on her blog (because I know she greatly values the friendship of her bloggie girlfriends!), she told me, in her usual style, that if I did, not to make too big a deal out of it, because, you know, she’s just fine. :ahem: I don’t agree. :little smile: We’d appreciate your prayers, for both her and my Daddy, who is going to attempt sleep in an upright chair beside her bed tonight. Thanks a bunch…

And then, at dawn on Resurrection Morning, we would trimphantly sing together:

May you have a blessed Easter Sunday!