Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. ~ 1John 3:18 (NIV)
As Christians, I think it is extremely important that we show our best side as much as possible, so when I read this verse yesterday, I felt convicted. Reading that verse reminded me that I have great strides to make. While I try to do a good job at showing my Christian side of love to everyone, I certainly do fail at this more often than I would like. Today my goal is to remember to show my Christian side — to show love to the unloved, to show compassion to those who don’t have any, and to have everyone that encounters me know that they are meeting a Christian. As Christians, it is our task — a task that God has charged us with — to witness to others and to show them the love that Jesus has for them. In many ways, the most powerful witness isn’t by quoting scripture to them — it is by showing them your Christian Spirit in your actions and deeds.
Now, please read our prayer requests, and pray for those that need our prayers. If you have any prayer requests you want us to pray for you, please leave them as a comment and we’ll pray for you! Thank you for all that you do for those that need our prayers. It is because of you that this prayer post thrives each and every week.
Prayer Requests & Praises…
- Continued prayer requests for my friend Amanda and her husband Daniel. Here is what she wrote:
Just a quick update and prayer request! Daniel was able to start his 4th round of chemo on schedule. We have our reimaging scheduled for tomorrow morning to see if we can go forward with the surgery or if we have to go a different path. Please pray that we get a clear image and that the healthy liver has grown and the tumor has shrunk and we can move forward with surgery. I’ll send more of an update when we get the results – our appointment is schedule for late in the day next Wednesday. Thanks so much for your support and prayers!! - My friend Lin has a prayer request. Here is what she wrote:Hi Mike, I have a prayer request if you don’t mind. My Dad, who turns 56 tomorrow, found out today that he needs a quadruple bypass. He went in Monday at the request of my mom, and back today for more tests. The consensus was that he needed the surgery ASAP and was essentially a ticking time bomb waiting for a heart-attack, and with blockage that would have rendered it fatal. He is being kept at the hospital from now until his surgery on Friday afternoon and then until at least Tuesday of next week. I would very much appreciate any prayers you can offer. His name is Russ Pratt. Thank you in advance.
- My friend Peter from church is having marriage difficulties. Please pray for him and his wife Naomi that they work it out.
- Please continue to lift up my niece Stephanie in prayer. She has undergone serious surgery, and the recovery is slow, and the news out of her most recent appointment wasn’t as good as it could have been. Please pray for her continued healing, for God’s Peace to descend upon her and all her family, for Strength to continue on, and for comfort from the discomfort of the procedures. Also, please pray for her husband Shane and all of her family at this time.
- Lastly, please pray for all of the unknown prayer requests, those that we don’t know, or don’t know all the details of, that God would hear these anonymous prayers and keep them close to Him.
Now, please pray with me the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray:
Our Father, who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done,
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into Temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory,
Forever and ever. Amen.
Continued prayers for my friend Amanda and her husband Daniel. Here is what Amanda wrote:
Ok, settle in – this is going to be a long one! Daniel had his 4th round of chemo on schedule on 6/16. A CT of the liver was done this past Monday. We met with the surgeon yesterday and the oncologist today. The surgeon said the tumor had not shrunk but also did not grow or spread based on the CT – so not exactly what we wanted but not bad either. The healthy liver only grew slightly putting Daniel just over the line needed to move forward with the resection. So the liver resection will be scheduled in 3 weeks. YAY!
But, because of the healthy liver growth just taking him over the line his resection moves from risky to highly risky due to the increased risk of intraoperative hemorrhage or post operative liver failure. Based on my very, very brief research at 1 am last night, the mortality rate is 11% when only leaving 20% liver volume. So, I’m pretty much scared out of my wits! But God gave us a fighting chance by answering our prayers to move forward with surgery and we will continue to trust in Him to get us through.
We have to have a PET/CT prior to surgery to make sure the cancer hasn’t shown up any place else. Daniel does have another mass that showed up a few weeks ago on his side but both doctors think it is not a cancerous mass – but they will check to be sure. If the cancer is anywhere else, it is likely the surgery will be canceled. His healthy liver will continue to grow during these 3 weeks but it is unlikely it will grow enough to move us out of the high risk category. But every extra % we can get is a good thing. And God can do anything He wants so if He wants it to grow, it will.
The surgery will be 5-8 hours and can’t be done laparoscopically. He will spend at least the first 48 hours in ICU and we can expect a total inpatient stay of 10-12 days if there are no complications. To make it even more fun, the end of the stay will coincide with the first day of school for Cate! But God never gives you more than you can handle, right! After surgery, they will give his liver time to regenerate before we meet with the oncologist to determine next steps in treatment to work to prevent or prolong recurrence. This could mean the same chemo regimen he’s been on for a few months, a different treatment or nothing. I will tell you I’m not rooting for nothing – I want to do everything we can to keep this away. Now, the man dealing with being poisoned every 2 weeks might have a different opinion!
You all have been such awesome prayer warriors, I hate to ask you to kick it up a notch but that’s what I’m going to do! We need prayers that Daniel is healthy and has his energy back prior to surgery so he can fight with every ounce of his being. We need prayers that that healthy liver grows like crazy – maybe even 10% or more extra volume – and that the tumor doesn’t grow or the cancer doesn’t spread. We need prayers that God’s plan is for Daniel to make it through and be cured and able to live on this earth with us for many, many years to come. We need prayers for God to guide the clinicians hands, eyes and minds to a successful outcome. And, finally, we need prayers that Daniel, Cate and I have the strength to get through this and the grace and peace to handle whatever God’s plan for us may be. Feel free to put us on whatever prayer lists you have available to you. We fully believe in the power of prayer.
Thank you all so much for your love, support and prayers! Please everyone have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!