In process

When Holly and I sat in the neurosurgeon's office exactly one week ago and he told me we need to do surgery and that would happen on Monday, I think my initial response was to get myself psyched up for the actual surgery. Over the weekend, I think I was able to get myself prepared for the actual surgery. What I don't think I was able to do was to get myself ready for recovery.

Surgery is over in a few hours, but recovery is a pretty grueling mental & physical process.

My trust and my hope are in Jesus, that somehow through this process, people would see His sufficiency and power displayed even when I am at my weakest.

My plan of attack (and how you can support me in prayer) is this ...

- spiritual rehab.

I've got to keep Jesus center-stage in my head and my heart right now. I'm still having some vision/focus problems so reading isn't really an option right now, but man am I thankful for the infusion of God's Word preached through godly guys that I can pickup on itunes for free! Pray that God talks to me, literally!

I've got to keep our church body updated and around me in prayer. This has been difficult thus far, as it is difficult for me to speak right now and I've had focus problems which make looking at a computer screen tough at times. And, well ... I'm not really up to seeing a bunch of people face to face right now. Either through my own efforts, or through Holly, we will keep you guys up to date on how you can pray for us!

- physical rehab.

I think I've found that I fear being lazy. Resting is different than being lazy, but sometimes your mind can get confused and they feel like the same thing. That makes me antsy, to get out and want to do something that I probably shouldn't ... so please pray for peace and wisdom and rest.

I do want to actively engage in recovery. I got the approval of my doctor to walk around the block (did it twice yesterday). That seems like a pretty small goal, but it felt pretty significant! I think I work well when I have tangible goals set out in front of me ... helps me feel like I'm accomplishing something. Pray that I could accomplish goals without setbacks.

My family and our church family has been great!

Holly is an absolute all-star of a wife. We all already knew that, but she is the bomb.com. My kids are so cool. At different times last night, Kirsten and Isaac both came up to me and prayed for God to heal daddy's owie on his neck. Bella, she can't talk yet, but she did stand up for about 5 sec without holding on to anything this morning, and that was pretty cool as well. My mom had been in town and left yesterday. She was awesome to have around ... both for encouragement and an extra set of hands around the house.

Families within our church are helping out by praying for us (which helps so much!!!) and by providing meals for our family which has been great. I know it is so nice for Holly, who is busy taking care of 3 little ones and me, not to have to worry about cooking dinner all the time.

Thanks for walking beside me through this time. I am, and will always be until Jesus returns, a work in process.