Prayers Answered

Thanks to all of you who prayed for my mother and sent me emails of encouragement. Last Friday, my mother had a heart catheter done. She had not experienced any of the typical heart attack symptoms, but her cholesterol was high. Her doctor suggested the heart cath to see if she had any blockage in her heart and to be sure she would not face the same possible heart attack like my brother did in July. We had prayed for the doctor to see whatever he needed to see last Friday and he did. The cardiologist found my mother had one vein that was 75% blocked. It seems the blocked vein was the same one as my brother had AND in the same location! The cardiologist said in his 30 years of medicine, he had never seen a mother and son have the same heart blockage. Early yesterday morning, the doctor put a stint in the vein and my mother came out of it with flying colors. She will be released from the hospital today and now she faces some of the same rehab my brother has already mastered, including losing 40 pounds.

Many of you have emailed asking for an update on my brother Doug. He is doing fabulous. He has lost 40 pounds, exercises everyday and is even farming about 8 hours a day (something the doctor told us he would never do again). Not only has God answered prayers concerning his recovery, but he is a daily witness to people in our community on the power of prayer and more importantly, someone seeking God's will in his life when given a second chance--which many of us don't get a second chance to do.

God woke me up at 4:30am Friday morning urging me to pray for my mother and God did the same thing yesterday morning (talk about missing my beauty sleep!). For some reason, God would not let me go back to sleep. I was reminded of Luke 18:1, "I always pray, I don't faint, quit or give up." Has God told you not to give up on asking for something and seeking His will? There is a reason and He promises He will make our "joy complete" when He answers (John 16:24).