Good morning…
At 10:00 am at University Hospital near Cleveland, Ohio, my dad had surgery scheduled to remove a cancer spot on his leg yesterday. I stayed at their villa, caring for my mom. At 9:30 am yesterday at CHOA in Atlanta, Georgia, Audrey DeShetler was scheduled to have surgery to put in a stent to open up her bile duct that was pressed in by new tumors.
Both surgeries began late. My dad’s procedure went better than expected, he was home resting just after 1:00 pm. Audrey’s day went from bad to worse. God was palpably present in both Ohio and Georgia.
Audrey’s mom, Jennifer, began her day noticing this post on Instagram.
Then the hand of God reached out to touch Jennifer as she received this text from a praying friend.
“When I was praying this morning, I saw you, Jennifer, rejoicing. Joy in the middle of hardship, the joy of the Lord being your strength, recalling the goodness of God in all your lives, recounting the hurdles crossed and healing that has happened. That aroma of joy in the middle of trial has an aroma not found in any other place. Emmanuel is WITH you. He has NEVER left nor forsaken you. You are encouraged to stop and praise God in the middle of this trial. He is working on Audrey’s behalf. Joy is not the same as happiness, as we know-we don’t FEEL happy at all-but we praise Him and ask for His joy to overwhelm and overtake us right now. 🙏🏻”
“How do these words feel to you right now?” I texted Jennifer.
“Right now I am just impatient about the waiting.”
Soon after God reached out and touched Jennifer again. “I take back all the bad things I said about the doctor running late for this procedure,” she texted. “She just came in and talked to us. She asked if we are Christians. We held hands and shared a long prayer. No doctor has ever done that.”
Still, things unraveled from there.
2:08 pm: “They told me Audrey only has a couple days left.”
3:45 pm: “They just came out and told us there are too many tumors. They are going to try a different way.”
6:16 pm: “The doctor came out and said she punctured the intestine. Audrey now moved to emergency surgery.”
“Jennifer, can I let the Northside pastors know?” I asked.
“Yes,” she responded.
8:28 pm: Audrey’s dad, Ben, shared this Facebook post.
We all continued our heartfelt prayers.
11:36 pm: “Still in surgery.”
Jennifer’s final text from the very long, painful day read: “Surgery just finished. Audrey is in the ICU now.”
Surprisingly I slept through the night. At 6:03 am, I texted Jennifer: “Sending you love. Will write our post now. Asking for prayers from the multitude who love you and your family. I will share Ben’s Facebook words to update people about the need for urgent prayer on Audrey’s behalf.”
The Lord will strengthen them when they are lying in bed, sick. You will completely transform the place where they lie ill (Psalm 41:3, CEB).
Dear Lord, please strengthen Audrey and her brother Scott, Ben and Jennifer as they wait bedside in the ICU. Reach out your healing hand, and completely transform the place where Audrey lies.
…Sue…
