Friday, March 16, 2007

Friday morning

First of all, we are so grateful for your prayers, comments, and verses. Mom & I were with dad this morning and his spirits were low. As you can imagine, Dad is slowly realizing his condition and how long this recovery is going to be. The thoughts and especially verses that you sent were so encouraging to him! Thank God for the 21st century where i can fire up the laptop in his hospital room & read your encouraging emails & scripture to him. When he hears Bible verses, he just rests in knowing that God is in control. Did I say it already?....thank you!!!

Medically, dad is just feeling "blah." He has a headache worse than we can imagine & the meds he's on are just not fun. We are waiting for the neurosurgeon to come in this afternoon & interpret the doppler from this morning. He's also supposed to have his cognitive testing done, so please be praying that the results will show him at full capacity. Thus far, the therapists have said we'll see any deficiencies right now...instead of a few weeks or months down the road. Hopefully, this will be pretty conclusive.

We'll let you know what the doctor says later, but for now, thank you for praying.
Psalm 139:5
"You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me."

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the update!

Dear Heavenly Father-
I want to lift up Chris before you (again and again). Thank you merciful Savior for the healing that you have already started in Chris. Lord, I pray specifically for the headaches that Chris is suffering from- I pray Lord that you would take them away completely. Hold his hand through this journey, let him lean on you for support. And use this time to further your kingdom, through Chris, his family, and friends - to testify to your faithfulness in meeting ALL our needs.
In Christ's name, I pray.

Unknown said...

Hi Chris,

We are praying for your full and speedy recovery, and relief from pain. We also posted prayers for you on several online prayer sites, so many more are praying for you!

Thanks for all the encouragement you've given us over the years. We know it came from the Source of all Encouragement who is with you always. We'll trust God to keep you in the hollow of His hand.

Love in Christ,

Tony & Elissa Rufo
Ps 34:19

donnan said...

Dear Chris and family,

We are so glad to hear of the good progress and specifically how we can pray. We and our small group have been in prayer ever since we got the first e-mail. You're all in our prayers and Chris, try to be a good patient - emphasis on "patient". It's so hard when you have all these things you'd rather be doing! :-) Take care.

In Him,
Nancy and Don Leach

Trisha Dubey said...

Hi Chris,

I added your name to the St Ann Parish prayer chain. Lots of people will be lifting you up. Even my little Sarah (4 years old) commented this afternoon that she wants to include you in her "special prayers" (our prayers for specific people and concerns) tonight.

We pray that your pain subsides soon and that your condition continues to improve.

Thanks for keeping us posted.

God Bless all of you,
Trisha

Hope in the Hard Times said...

Thank you for letting us know about this, Nicole. Certainly, I'll continue to pray. And I'm thinking of and praying for Carla, who must be having a hard time as well.

How great that you are with him and can help.

I'm thinking of Psalm 91:15-16 "He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him, and let him behold My salvation."

Certainly, all of Chris's fitness efforts will pay off now in a speedier recovery. I have a friend who was also very fit when she had a similar condition about 10 years ago at age 51 and she has recovered perfectly with no problems.

Please tell Chris that I think his Head Case alias is quite appropriate!

Love, Barbara (Kois)

Unknown said...

Chris,
You are the last person that I expected to see flat on their back in a hospital. It's not the view I have of you. My view is one of you running past "my" boathouse along Philadelphia's boathouse row so many times. I wondered if you ever worked! Another view that I have of you is of your deliverance of the "tight pucker" speech at Intracorp's Leadership meeting at Eagle Lodge in the late-nineties. Good memories about a good man. But more than these recollections it's your faith that I recall the most and is what comes across so strongly when I read through this blog. You have clearly influenced many through your example of faith. I am not surprised to see so many friends and family reach out and offer words and prayers of encouragement. And if you are accepting prayers from a northern Irish-Catholic I'd like to share some words from a Saint that I've been reading about recently - St. Francis de Sales. Hopefully, you will find some encouragement and will not view this as being "preachy".

"If at times it seems that the Lord is not listening to us, we must be careful not to lose heart. It may be that He wants us to shout a little louder into the ears of His goodness, to prove as a result the greatness of His mercy ... When the Lord withdraws His consolations in prayer, He does not do this to discourage us or create a gulf between us, but to force us to come closer to His goodness, to practice perseverance and to give some proof of our patience". (Sermons 58; O. X, p. 229)

and:

"To take up our cross and follow Jesus Christ means nothing other than receiving and accepting all the troubles, contradictions, afflictions and mortifications that come our way in this life. We should accept them with complete submission and resignation. We ought not to select our own crosses, but we should accept and carry those that are offered to us. In this way we imitate the Savior, Who did not choose His own cross, but humbly took upon Himself the one prepared for Him". (Sermons 2; O. IX, p. 18)

My family will keep you and your family in our thoughts as we pray for your recovery.

Bill Shea