Flying to Michigan in a Few Hours

If you are a friend of mine on FaceBook, then you already know the news that my mother is hospitalized in Michigan today and facing heart surgeries/procedures this afternoon. Here is the update I gave yesterday:

Thank you SO very much for the prayers for my mom. She is scheduled for a transesophageal echocardiogram to check for blood clots on her heart and if the risks are OK, she will have an electrical cardioversion to disrupt the abnormal electrical circuits in her heart and (hopefully) restore a normal heart beat. My sister and I offered to fly out to be with her, but she asked us to wait. I am praying for her physical health, of course, but even more so for her spiritual health. There is really nothing like medical crises to focus our hearts on the things that matter most. Thanks again! — Tara B.

Since that update, my sister and I heard a deep tiredness in our stepfather’s voice and we decided it is best to head that direction to try to provide some in-person care. Both my mom and stepdad are grateful—and I’m so grateful for my sister’s financial assistance with the travel expenses.

Please do pray for us all if we come to mind. My mother has had serious health problems for decades (including a prior heart attack and stenting procedures) and my stepfather is elderly (81 years old), so this is all very hard on them both. And my dear husband is now having to rearrange work schedules to care for our children (which means Sophia will need to be helping a lot with Ella to allow Fred time to work) … so our last two quiet, home-based, family-time weeks before school and travel start up for the fall are now gone. It’s the right thing to do, of course, and even Sophia readily agreed that we could never lie around this weekend enjoying rest and relaxation, knowing that our family had needs that we weren’t doing everything in power to help with. But it’s still hard.

And most of all, of course, I pray for the salvation of my family. This has been my fervent prayer since the night I was saved as a teenager back in Morris, Illinois, and it is my prayer today.

 Thanks, friends! I hope your day is a blessed one—

Your sister in Christ,
Tara B.