I had visions of various different blog posts that I wanted to write over the past week. Ben and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary downtown Chicago. We said good-bye to my (Kristy’s) family on 1/2 and then to Ben’s family on 1/6. Dylan and Marissa turned 2 mo. and 17 mo. On 1/7, we flew to NJ for our 2-week supporter/church visit there, which we were really excited about. But all those events are in the past and I’m distracted.

We’ve been in South Jersey for a little over 2 days, and as always it is wonderful to be back there. But the trip has been marred by the fact that, on the night before we flew to Philly, my dad was hospitalized in the ICU with a case of pneumonia that he has still not shaken. He’s only 54, but he has had some serious migraine issues over the past few years that the doctors have not gotten to the bottom of. The pneumonia is an additional scary stress.

• Pray for Dad’s body, that it would grow strong so that he can fight off this pneumonia.
• Pray that after the pneumonia cloud lifts, the neurologists will be able to gain new insight into his headaches, their cause, and how to prevent them without being overly medicated.
• Pray that my family will grow closer to the Lord because of this really hard time.

Dad, here’s a pic we took of you and Dylan on the day we said good-bye. Look how he is looking up to you! We all love you so much. It is hard to know the pain you are in and the trials you are having, especially as we are far away. We are praying like crazy, and we have called on many others to pray, too. We believe in the power of prayer, and that you are God’s beloved son and under His care.
Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
James 5:16 The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.