Packing and Departing Day... God is carrying us!

Well.... even though I avoided it until this morning, this day has arrived.  Yesterday I kept going in and out of denial... SURELY we are not packing up to do this again...  But sure enough... the day has come!

I do have to say that our prayer time with friends on Sunday was PRECIOUS!  God surrounded us with dear friends who spoke life into us from our Lord Jesus.  Jacob's school nurse and counselor even came! :)  We know that our arms are being held up in special ways as we face what is impossible to face alone.  I remember clearly back in 1996 that someone prayed with Tom and me and reminded us that Jesus is the lifter of our heads.  (Thanks, Becky Whited!)  We desperately needed that reminder!

But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

from the Bible in Psalm 3:3

This time the theme we are hearing from many is from the Bible in Exodus 17:12 and 15

When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—

so that his hands remained steady till sunset....

Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. 

I have a favorite song Carry You by a group called Watermark. Part of the lyrics speak sweetly to this theme... 

"He goes before you with a big, bright banner across this town saying, "Here comes My child.  Here comes My child."  You will never walk alone now
'cause He loves to surround you.

So... here we go... Being strengthened by friends and family so that our arms don't get weary as we reach up to grab all the resources that God wants to give us!  Healing, hope, courage, strength, grace, wisdom, love, and more and more!

Jacob is feeling relatively good and INCREDIBLY GOOD compared to last week.  Yesterday he was ready to drive again after feeling too weak to drive for four days last week and then we watched him closely over the weekend.  Thanks so much for your prayers!

Tom is working a half day today.  Jacob slept in; he deserves it with all that is coming this week!  Jocie gets to go visit Grandma & Grandpa South.  I started packing... I guess it's about time! 

• We will leave this afternoon for PawPaw & NaNa's house. 
• Tomorrow we will all go to Riley.  Pre-op stuff starts at 11am.  They say to plan for 5-7 hours by the time we talk to everyone we need to talk to and have all of the tests done that need done. 
• Tomorrow afternoon the surgery schedule comes out and then we will know what time to be back at the hospital for surgery on Thursday. 
• Tomorrow night we will connect with PawPaw & NaNa so they can keep Jocelyn for a few days.
• Tomorrow night, Tom and Jacob and I will stay in downtown Indy so we are close to Riley.

I will plan to write more tomorrow night to give you more details.  Hopefully we will even have a few pictures for  you!

I have to say that at this point, I am thankful we have done this before and can lean on the many ways God has been faithful through the years.  I mentioned before that all of the memories are intense, but so many are also sweet.  Much will be different this time because Jacob is older.  He understands more.  He is learning about his heart and the hospital experience rather than just letting us guide him throuhg.  He has memories of his last surgery when that wasn't the case when his first pacemaker was put in.  But the whole, huge, intense experience is not brand new and that is comforting.

Also tomorrow we hope to see friends.  Dr. Mark Rodefeld hopes to come by.  I'm sure I'll tell you more about him soon. He is doing incredibly exciting and encouraging research that could radically change how people with single ventricles are approached surgically.  He has been an important person in Jacob's life over the last year and a half.  And Cassie from the Riley Children's Foundation is hoping to come by.  Tom has worked with her the last several years in August when she is at Old National for the Riley Radiothon.  And then, of course, Dr. John Brown... since we are on Jacob's fifth surgery in 17 years, it's comforting to know we will see his smiling face again, too.

Brett Millikan, Dr. Rodefeld, and Jacob in April 2011 when Brett and Jacob were doing an engineering project on fluid-power mechanics.  The human heart is one of the most phenomenal examples of a pump!

This picture is from May 1996 after Jacob's open heart surgery.  It's not as comfortable to look at, but it's an important memory for us.  God brought MUCH healing to Jacob that week! 

We are hopeful that Jacob will come out of the recovery room and not be on a ventilator. 

The blue and clear tubes that see you can see around his face helped him breathe

until he woke up enough to do it on his own.

This is Jacob and Dr. Brown in July 2011.  Jacob has changed a little bit more than Dr. Brown, huh?

And a smile to close out on... before I get back to packing.