Sometimes I wonder...

Sometimes I wonder what God is trying to teach me...and will I ever learn?! My heart ached this week at the shooting in Illinois...the psychologist who was attacked with knives and a meat cleaver...and by these dear friends who need so much prayer...please pray with me for these friends...

My dear friend and fellow K teacher has been sick on and off since May. Lots of ear stuff and sinus stuff and her lymph nodes have just remained so swollen. This week she went back to the ear, nose, and throat guru who said she needed to have her lymph nodes biopsied to rule out lymphoma. She had 5 lymph nodes removed from the right side of her neck on Thursday. She is very sore. She will have the results on Tuesday or Wednesday. The doctor's think it could also be scar tissue that has accumulated due to the number of infections. Please pray for her healing and comfort while she waits. Believe with me that the nodes in her neck are not cancerous and that she will find relief from the pains and illnesses that have plagued her for almost a year.

Another K teacher called today. Her daughter was sick this week...at first it was strep...then walking pnuemonia...then double pnuemonia and the flu. Now she is in ICU under sedation because her body has gone into shock from the immense amount of infection. Doctors say the next 24 hours are critical. Tonight her fever continues to spike...it's at 104. Doctors are trying to cool her to keep it from going any higher. Pray and believe with me that Erin, 14, will fight these infections and come out stronger! Praise God with me that Erin knows Him and that she and her family are surrounded by a loving church family. Talk about being Jesus' hands and feet!

My cousin, Heather, was in a horrific car accident...she's 35. She's been on life support for a week. The doctors have done all they can do. She won't wake up. They say that if she survives, she will likely be paralyzed and have significant brain damage. She's addicted to drugs. She was incredibly drugged at the time of the accident. Praise God no one else was involved in the accident...but there were more people AFFECTED by it. She has one son, Dustin who was recently removed from her care and placed in a foster home. He has also used drugs. He is very angry. Heather and her sister Mandy haven't spoken for 2 years. Mandy has also used drugs, but says she's done with drugs now! Her mom and the rest of her family are just taking it one day...one moment at a time. Pray that Heather would have healing so that these broken relationships can be mended. Pray that she can be healed and find and feel the grace of God that is just waiting and anticipating her return.

My Dad's family took care of and essentially adopted Tanya when her mother died. Tanya is an alcoholic and has used drugs for years. It's an incredibly long, twisted story, but Tanya is staying with my parents until a bed opens for her at a treatment facility. She is so changed since she came to stay at Mom and Dad's. She's had no alcohol...no drugs. I am proud of her, but scared for her. This will be hard. When she gets out, she will have to find a job...stay clean...find a place to live...find new friends. Pray that she will remain clean...that this treatment would be more than a treatment, but a healing and the start of a new chapter in her life.

Sometimes I just wish Jesus would return and then these daily problems and stresses would be gone and I could spend eternity praising God. My heart doesn't feel much like praising tonight...it's asking lots of questions. THere are blessings among the burdens, but my heart is heavy for these tonight and I needed to get more in on the praying. It's like the poem I wrote...all these pieces...the good and the bad WILL fit, because GOD IS IN CONTROL! I am anticipating the mighty ways he will use each of these situations to teach me (and maybe you) about his great and consuming love and grace. I'm on my knees...