Rose

Sometimes you’re ready for life, sometimes you’re not…..

Today was an amazingly surreal day.  My wife Alison and I went to Houston this morning to be with her mother, Rose, for a pretty normal exploratory surgery.  She has been in the hospital the past couple of weeks.  She has had some pretty extreme weight loss recently & the doctors had her admitted to try and get her back on track.  The weight change has been so extreme, though, that they needed to find out why it was happening.  All of the usual tests (MRI, scans, etc.) didn’t give an answer.  They had a concern about cancer and decided to do a laproscopic procedure to check out what was going on inside.  Rose has been through alot and has been pretty weak so they had to wait until they thought she could do it.

This morning we told Rose that we would see her in about an hour and 1/2.  We never did.  Rose passed away during the surgery. 

I’ve found myself in the most unusual situation.  Usually you are ministering to other families.  It’s easier to be there for them.  To comfort them.  Even to go through the pain with them.  Now I’m having to do it for myself and my family.  Suddenly I find myself asking the same question that everyone else always asks:  WHY?  Why did today have to be the day?  Why did we not get more time with her?  Why is this the best moment for God to take her?  Why didn’t we know what to do?  Why?

It’s only been a few hours and I miss her.  I didn’t even get to see her as much as I should have, but I miss her.   She was the parent that accepted me when I wanted to marry her daughter.  She was the mom, other than my own, that wanted me to be a part of her family.  She’s the step-grandma who took in my daughter like her own kids.  Even though I know all the biblical answers to the questions I still find myself asking "why??".

Because…..

Because God is so much bigger than me.  Because He knows things I can never fathom.  Because there is a time and place for everything and I don’t decide them.  Because without pain there would not be a reason to truly celebrate in this world.

Because……

Rose, we love you.  We miss you.  I hope that I made sure to tell you how much you have meant to me.   Thank you for being so much without even knowing it.

Belated Update!

I’m SOOOOOO behind on the blogging!!!  Forgive me for my tardiness, it’s been a bit of a hectic 2 weeks.  Here’s the update on where we are as of today:

1. 1.  Baby Drew is home!  (Well, he has been for about a week, but that’s ok.)  He’s doing very well and the parental guidance states that he should be just fine as long as he doesn’t beat up on his two older brothers.  Lots of thanks for all the prayers and help from everyone during this whole ordeal.  It was great to see everyone come together.
2. Our Worship Gathering at Expresso.Com is going strong.  There were 60 people in all this past weekend.  It’s amazing to see what God can do when we decide to follow and get out of the way of His leadership.  We’ve already seen so many people show up that wouldn’t walk into a church for any reason.  Too cool!!!
3. Wednesday Mid Weeks for 7-12th grade students are in high gear.  School just started back for most of us today.  Thanks to Mike Martin for taking over last week while Stephen was out and I was in Houston. Everyone really got alot out of the Q&A time.  I’m looking forward to more of that with our youth and adults.
4. We’re going to stay at Expresso.Com for a while.  Why, you ask??  Because it’s the thing that we need to do right now.  As we continue this ministry we have to always be open to asking the big question "Where does God need us?".  That overrides "Where do we want to be?" in a big way.  We need to be at Expresso.  There’s such a great ministry there and we’re seeing so many great things happening.  This is home for now.  Thanks to Robert and Katrina for opening their doors to us and being so gracious.  I pray that we are able to return some small amount of the gift that you have given us.

That’s pretty much where we are right now.  The world of NETChurch is a fluid existence.  It will be changing all the time.

Hang on tight.  This is a really cool ride!!!

Andy

Baby Drew

For those of you that don’t know Stephen and Amy Smotherman (our media & youth pastor) had their new baby boy Drew on Monday.  The baby looks great (8lbs 10oz: A big boy!).  The only problem is that Drew is in the hospital on a ventilator right now because of some breathing problems.  The doctor’s are checking him for bacteria and trying to figure out what the problem is as quickly as possible.  Though Amy and Stephen know that everyone is doing what they can I know that they are also scared.  I would be if it were any of my girls.  I hope that you will pray for Stephen, Amy, & Drew that God will help them through this and take care of this situation as quickly as possible.

It’s funny how our plans take turns we don’t expect.  That’s why it’s important to remember that we’re not in control of this whole drama we call life.  What we want and how we plan on getting to our destinations is not necessarily what God has in mind for us.  Sometimes it’s the experiences that hurt and scare us the most that cause us to grow.  That’s what God wants us to do.

For Stephen and Amy I pray for peace right now.  Peace that they are doing the right things for themselves and their children.  God is with all of you as you go through this and I know that you will see the beauty on the other side of it.

Andy