On Monday evening what we thought was an emergency appendectomy turned into something so much bigger. When I woke up from my surgery. The first thing I saw was my nurse. The second thing I saw was a huge clock in the room. When I saw the time on the clock I knew something had not gone according to plans. I knew my surgery was only supposed to be a 30 -50 minute procedure, and that even with a 1 – 2 hour wake up window, that I was well past that time frame. It was no surprise when I saw my sweet husband in the room, that he turned to me with tears in his eyes and said that I had not had an appendectomy. The doctor had found a healthy appendix, but that he had taken biopsies from 3 different areas in my body one of which was a mass.
The very first words I spoke to my husband were these, “This does not change our calling to Honduras.” And it will not. We have a mission to fulfill in Gracias. It is just having a slight delay.
So what happens your world gets turned upside down?
I’ll tell you what I did. I cried, and spoke the truth of the moment–we are still called to Honduras. But in the stillness of the night in the dark hospital room, I did let fear creep in–I started wrestling with Satan mentally. I started going through the what ifs. Questioning things. I had to wake up my husband so we could sit there together and speak the truth about the situation.
Since then I have had so many friends and family call, email, and text with words of encouragement, daily devotions, and scriptures. What a testimony to friendship and family–so very grateful.
So here is what you need to know. After much prayer and discussion with our doctors here and other medical professionals in the states, we have decided to take a leave of absence from Honduras to get treatment in the states. Ben and myself plan to fly back this next weekend if our doctor gives us medical clearance to fly. We plan to seek medical care in Jacksonville, FL.
Let me tell you what amazing details God has worked out over the last 6 days.
1- I was supposed to fly back home for a weekend with my WooHoo girls for our annual beach trip, and now that ticket is being used to help fly me home for treatment. Some other donations are coming in for our tickets to fly home!
2- My bloodwork back in February when we were getting certified to be a foster family was normal, so the doctor thinks that we are catching it early.
3- Some of our board of directors were here in Gracias with us when this happened. They just jumped right in and ministered to our littles and continued to fix many issues for us. We now have a cistern and a dryer that works. Huge differences!
4- Our partners, Legacy of Hope, have a couple of options for our sweeties–Maria and Josue. Please pray that they will transition easily through this loss of our home.
5- We have been blessed with a place to stay at my cousin’s house.
6- We have been blessed with a vehicle to use for as long as we need.
7- Another missionary family has agreed to house sit for us while we are gone and will also continue to run the bookstore here in Gracias.
8- A “GoFund Me” page is being created for us to help meet the medical expenses.
This morning as Ben and I were praying in bed before we got up, we prayed that this situation would bring Glory to the Lord! We prayed for lives to be changed in salvation, we prayed for our lives to be transformed by God, and we prayed that God will show us the “Joy” in this journey.
Here are some of our prayer needs:
1- Pray as we seek out medical care, and doctors in the states.
2- Pray for our doctor visit on Wednesday when we get our diagnosis. (Another huge praise–when Dr. Maria visited with us on Thursday, she volunteered to go with us to translate to make sure we understand the diagnosis.)
3- Pray for us as we seek a few venues to help figure out medical costs. We do not have insurance in the states.
4- Pray for Austin and Taylor as they stay with our girls and get things ready for change when we leave for the states. They are planning to bring them to the states in August.
5- Pray that God will provide opportunities for us to share about New Beginnings ministry while we are in the states.
Again, we love you all! Thank you for your prayers, words of encouragement and phone calls.
And to my family who is here with us in Honduras, I can’t think you enough for stepping up and meeting the needs of our little ones. AND for helping me. I’ve been told my job is to heal–and they are doing everything to make that possible.
In HIM who IS ABLE,
Julie