Monday, September 3, 2012

Much needed prayer!

Hello, dear friends! I am somewhat overwhelmed today by the needs for prayer that I’ve been faced with in the past few days. I hate to burden you all, but for those of you who are prayer warriors I just thought I’d share some special needs:

First, two former students of mine, both high school freshman now, have serious health issues. Gavyn, whom I’ve mentioned before, continues to be plagued with kidney problems. He as been in and out of the hospital and a few weeks ago was back in because his transplanted kidney is not working well. Please pray that he will be completely healed! And I just received an email last night from Jacob’s mom telling me that Jacob was just diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s! He is currently in CHOC in Orange, receiving massive chemo. Again, Jacob needs a miracle, so pray that Almighty God will touch Jacob’s body and completely restore his health. Pray for the families of these two boys (especially the moms), as the stress and worry naturally overwhelm them. Pray for peace and rest as they look to God to provide all they need.

A sweet teacher friend, Celeste, who joins us for Bible study here, was treated a couple of years ago for breast cancer and is in remission. However, she just went into the hospital a few days ago in great pain because she has scar tissue from the surgery that is actually invading her intestines. Please pray for wisdom for her doctors and for relief from pain for Celeste.

Speaking of kidneys: Karen, one of my favorite former parents (I had her older daughter, Kristen, in first and fifth grades – now 25) learned last year that her kidneys are only working at 10%. She has been on the transplant list at UCLA, and just learned that Kristen is a match and will donate a kidney to her mom at the end of this year. Please pray for them both as they prepare, and pray that Karen’s kidneys will remain stable while they wait. Karen, too, is a reader with us here.

Please pray for the husband of my dear friend, Marie. Greg had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus last week and was doing really well, until he started feeling “cramps.” Luckily he thought to take himself to the emergency room Thursday, while Marie was in her classroom preparing for school in a room that had no cell coverage! Turns out he has some deep vein blood clots! So now Marie is the “nurse” giving him heparin shots twice a day to break up the clots! Greg will be taking coumadin for the next six months. I told Marie that I’m sure he feels like he’s sitting on a ticking time bomb, but my husband assures me that the heparin therapy will do its job. Please pray that the clots completely dissolve QUICKLY and that Greg and Marie will have total peace!

Another sweet friend (remaining nameless to all but God), just found out she has cancer in the uterine wall. She will be seeing an oncologist this week for further testing and to plan for her surgery and treatment. Pray for wisdom for her doctors and for peace for my friend.

Baby Royce continues to need our prayers although he is growing well and is a very happy baby. He has a long road ahead, but God has been so faithful.  I will get an update on Valen for you this week.

Finally, I have asked for prayers for my sister, Jodi, for a year and a half now. You may remember that last year, within 24 hours, she learned she had multiple myeloma (a form of bone cancer) and that her 35 year old son, Justin, had died of sudden cardiac arrest. She spent all last summer in isolation in the hospital as she went through a stem cell transplant and chemo, while trying to somehow come to grips with the tragic loss of Justin (he left a beautiful wife, Stephanie, three precious young boys and had a daughter on the way – who was later born last August). She was back in the hospital this summer for a second batch of stem cells and more chemo, and recently returned home extremely exhausted. In the meantime, she has lost two very close friends – one just last week. It’s all just so much! Please pray that this last treatment will complete the job of healing. Pray that God will continue to lift her up and be her strength, hope, and joy. And because her immune system is so compromised right now, please pray that the LORD will protect her from any bugs! So many needs, but one HUGE God!  

1 comment:

  1. Wow! There are a lot of prayer needs! Thanks for sharing these so we can pray and be a part of God's answer!

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