Surgery; a disruption

Staci's surgery was Monday morning.  Two people were allowed at the hospital and since Al speaks "medical-ese" (being a hospital pharmacist), Josh asked his dad to stay with him.  And because, well, it's his dad.  If the news was bad, he'd want him there.  BUT!!! the surgery was successful and we were thrilled to learn that she did NOT have cancer!!

Allen left after the surgery to go back to Kansas.  He hasn't retired just yet so work still calls.  One day, he will hopefully retire and stay with me when I travel!

I stayed in Arkansas to help out.  Ran errands for Staci.  Helped with other things around the house.  I took kids to school and picked them up afterwards.  

Emeri finished her school days at tennis practice.

Then we'd go to Eli's school to get him.

I'd take them out for a treat, then, instead of going home on the 6-lane highway with all those crazy Arkansas people driving 80mph, we took back roads; some roads the kids had not been on before!  We were adventuring Nana-style!  As long as I had their home address in my GPS, we weren't going to get lost!

We passed a place that had bird houses out on a table.  We turned around to get a look-see!

Emeri thought the place looked shady and she stayed in the car.  There were 2 guard dogs, but they were fenced in by the house.  I honked the horn and an elderly man came out to confirm that he did have these bird houses for sale.

He also had some more in his shed.  Eli picked out a bird feeder and a squirrel feeder to take home with us.

Here was Emeri's take on this adventure:  "Papa...nana almost got kidnapped.  Basically after school nana and me and eli went back roads and one of the roads was pretty out in the country and nana saw this house that had bird feeders out front that might have been for sale so we circled back around and honked until this old guy came out of the sketchy house with a beware of dogs sign with two massive dogs and a creepy old shed and some older vehicles and he said they were for sale and then he led nana and eli into a shed and nana left her wallet and phone in the car and they didn't come out for awhile so I took pictures of the place for the police and it was sketchy."  Eli was sure that this guy was an ax murderer with a chain saw in the shed.  Good grief.  I'm sure he was a very kind old man.  I shouldn't say "old".  He was probably around my age!!

I took Eli to the store to get bird and squirrel food.  We took another unknown road home.  There were cyclists on this dirt road.

I asked the kids if they were too old for an Easter egg hunt.  They said "No!"  Josh and I hid eggs around the main living area.  The kids found all but one.  

We also did the story of Easter by opening up plastic eggs with items inside to represent the story. 

During this time, I had been reading Divine Disruption by Dr. Tony Evans and his kids.  They went through lots of trauma, including the death of his wife and their mother.  

I want to share what Jonathan Evans said at his mother's funeral:

"We are suffering, but not crushed.  I am perplexed, but I will not be driven to despair.  I am strengthened by His loving hand.  All things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose, because we have victory in Jesus Christ.  The only reason I can get up here and have the strength to speak God's Word is because God's Word is speaking to me.  Even in distress, we still have victory in Jesus.

That does not mean that I do not wrestle with God.  If we have victory in Your name, didn't You hear us when we were praying?  Didn't You see the people walking around my parents' house?  Did You hear the prayers of Bishop T.D. Jakes and Bryan Carter, Jim Cymbala, Antioch and Friendship-West, Gateway and The Village, churches around the world both big and small?   (we here in Kansas also prayed)

Where were You, Lord?  Didn't You hear us calling?  Why didn't You do what we asked?  Your Word says that if we abide in You and Your Word abides in us, then we can ask whatever we desire, and it will be given to us.  Your Word tells us that if we ask according to Your will, that You hear us.  Mark 11 says, if we pray believing, we will receive.  Philippians 4 says be anxious for nothing, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, to make our requests known.

So my question, God, is, Where are You?  This was an opportunity for us to see Your glory!

And as I was wrestling with the Lord, He answered me.

'You don't understand the nature of My victory,' God said.  'Just because I didn't answer your prayer in your way doesn't mean that I haven't already answered your prayer anyway.  Victory already belonged to your mother.  There were always only two answers to your prayers.  Either she was going to be healed or she was going to be HEALED.  Either she was going to live or she was going to LIVE.  She was either going to be with family or she was GOING TO BE WITH FAMILY.  Victory was assured regardless.  The two answers to your prayer were always yes and YES.  Because victory belongs to Christ Jesus.

I am the sovereign God, and My game plan is far bigger than any one player on the field.  So, trust in Me with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  Lean on Me because only I have the ability to make a crooked situation straight.  As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are My ways higher than yours, and My thoughts above than your thoughts.  I appreciate your prayers and trust, but I am God.  Don't tell Me how to get My glory.  Don't come to Me with entitlement.  Without My victory, all of you would be on the doorsteps of hell.

I know it was hard for you to watch your mother die.  But I watched My Son die so that your mother could live.  My grace is sufficient for you.'

What could I say?  The Lord gives.  The Lord takes.  Thanks be to God."

We bow at Your feet, Lord.  You are in charge.  We were grateful that Staci did not have cancer, however, either way we knew God was "writing her story" and we weren't going to take the "pen" out of His hands.  

His will.  His way.  His glory.