four years

Feb 27, 2024

I know to the rest of the world, this is just an ordinary day near the end of February.

But to me, it is THE DAY.

The day of miracles.

The day of kissing my husband goodbye and giving him over to a huge neurosurgery team having no idea how he would be when they gave him back to me.

The day of being held in the arms of family and friends.

The day of thousands of people praying for Richard and his surgical team and our family.

The day of sitting in the waiting lounge in Surgical Suite 3 for hours and hours and hours.

The day of me holding it together.

The day of me falling apart when the surgeons told me it went as well as possible and Carl the Schwannoma was evicted.

The day of the thumbs-up as he was wheeled out of surgery and into Neuro ICU.The day God showed His mighty hand. (Though He shows it over and over again.)

The day of rejoicing and loving and kissing and exhaustion and gratitude.

And now it’s been four years of God carrying us and with all of your help, we have made it through. It’s absolutely awe-inspiring and humbling at the same time. I’m so grateful my husband is here.

Yesterday I saw the words to “The Blessing” and fell head over heels in love with them. Today I found out that they were written while Richard was in brain surgery – can you believe that?????????? Written in one day on February 27, 2020 between about 4:00 p.m. and midnight North Carolina time, which means it was between 2:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. in Utah…the exact hours he was in surgery! I can’t stop crying about it. While the scariest moments of our lives were happening and doctors were drilling through his skull and ever so carefully scraping a giant tumor off of his brain stem, cerebellum, and cranial nerves, God was inspiring these words in the hearts of two Christian songwriters so they could spread around the globe.

It is now at the top of my playlist and I’ll be listening to it everyday. And I’m going to get a sign with these words to imprint them on my heart and our children’s hearts. May each of us always know He is with us, He is for us, His face is shining upon us, He is blessing us and keeping us for a thousand generations, our family, our children, and their children, and their children. I keep singing it over and over again with tears streaming down my cheeks. It’s just so beautiful and powerful.

Here are the words to “The Blessing” by Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes…give it a listen…I think you’ll love it.

The Lord bless you, and keep you. Make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord turn His face toward you, and give you peace.

May His favor be upon you, and a thousand generations, and your family and your children, and their children, and their children.

May His presence go before you, and behind you, and beside you. All around you, and within you. He is with you, He is with you.

In the morning, in the evening. In your coming, and your going. In your weeping, and rejoicing. He is for you, He is for you.

Amen.