UPDATE!
Sorry for the radio silence! Kara’s last surgery went according to plan, but her recovery has been much quicker and smoother than last time! I still think this surgery was more significant in many ways, but I attribute her improved recovery to the fact that this time around, she isn’t just coming off of 6 months of chemo. It has been such a blessing to see her energy levels get back closer to normal! Also, the pathology report from all the tissue they removed showed no cancer at all! This is what we expected, but it gives us great relief to know for sure! This is a huge answer to our prayers! Pray that Kara would continue to heal and retain her strength as she resumes her regular treatments, which will continue through the end of this year. Praise God for His enduring faithfulness and healing power!
If you didn’t catch Kara’s post a few weeks ago, we finally purchased a minivan! We want to reiterate our heartfelt thanks to the many of you who gave sacrificially to provide that blessing to our family. There’s a scene in “Facing the Giants” in which the main character is given a new vehicle when he needs one and is just completely overwhelmed by the generosity. I remember rolling my eyes a little and thinking, “that’s neat (and maybe a little cheesy) in a movie, but… that’s a little over the top for real life.” Yet here I sit having received from God through you that very thing! My faith is rarely commensurate with God’s ability to provide, and I’m certainly glad that His willingness to do so is not dependent on my feeble faith!
Our girls are doing well, and it’s remarkable to watch them roll with the ups and downs of life. Kids are so resilient! They are plugging away at their schoolwork, and are of course super excited about the new van. We’ve walked together through a challenging season, and they’ve gotten to witness God’s hand of comfort on our lives, often through you, His people. Thank you for how you have shown the love of Christ and the comfort of His Spirit to our children. You are having more impact than you could possibly know!
We’ve spent almost a year in survival mode, but speaking for myself, it’s time to put my shoulder to the wheel and get back to pushing! Shifting back into gear after an extended period in neutral is harder than I realized. Proverbs 29:18 says “Where there is no vision, the people perish” and I sense a languishing across many areas of my life. If you’ve ever broken a bone and had to wear a cast, you probably discovered that when they finally took it off, the muscles had grown weak and took some time to regain their strength. This is how I feel, but in almost everything.
Our fledgling church has stepped up in so many ways to fill in the gaps and pick up the slack we’ve left, and I fear we now risk burning some of them out. Please pray for me as I put my hand back to the plow, that I would be diligent and disciplined to do what God has called and enabled me to do. Pray that I would be able to clearly communicate vision again to our team. Pray that God would bring new people to provide relief to those that are tired, and pray that He would build Neighborhood Church according to His will.