A Bright Future

Brannon went home yesterday! He is eating, pooping, and recovering. He still has a long road with challenges ahead, but God has heard our cries for this sweet boy.

His condition is no longer urgent but please continue to pray for his health and restoration when the Lord brings him to your mind.

We are so very grateful for the way we have seen God so real to us. He is amazing!

Please, also, remember my sister as she faces a new trial this coming week (as I previously mentioned in post)

Thanks again friends!

Today is a great day.....He shall be praised!

Brannon is on a full diet. We are about to head up to hospital to eat lunch with him. Not sit outside his room secretly eating. No. We will sit at his bedside and eat together. Praise the Lord!! He has nothing hooked up to him except when he needs a scheduled iv med. He spent 3 hours on the rooftop playing Nerf wars with friends who visited him yesterday. God is restoring him and I could not be more grateful than I am right now.

To the glory of the God, the One who is worthy of our praise!!

Praises!

Brannon has turned the corner! Yesterday he had 5 bowel movements. Yes, I said 5!! The bowels are working and the stomach is improving. As of yesterday evening the plan was to turn off the tube draining his stomach and keep it off through the night. If he tolerated that ok, this morning he would get the tube out and start receiving clear liquids. Praise the Lord, The Great Physician!

I haven't spoken with my sis this morning so I don't know how the night went. I'm just so pleased about his progress that I had to share it.

Please continue to pray for his healing. He hasn't eaten in like 12 days I think. It will be a slow process and his stomach may not be ready to handle much. Pray that if the NG tube gets pulled it, it stays out. It would be horrible to have to put it back in.

On another note:

My sister is facing a new challenge, personal. It is an extremely heavy burden, and in my opinion a very unjust situation. She has been through so much caring for Brannon and all the other loads she bears. I'm praying that God would be her advocate and "help in time of trouble".

Thanks for all your prayers for my family.

Set Backs

Well yesterday started out a glorious day. Brannon's bowels worked a bit. We were on such a high from such a clearly answered prayer. But the rest of the day was downhill from that. He started having severe cramping and vomiting. He was sick all night.



His bowels are showing progress. His stomach is not. It's not working at all really. It doesn't contract the way it should so nothing moves through. This is why he STILL has a tube in his nose to his tummy removing all liquids naturally made by the body (stomach). The drainage is a lot. He hasn't eaten in 9 days.



Today he had a PICC line placed to start receiving nutrition through it. They also took out NG tube and replaced it with a new one that will hopefully be more comfortable. The old one has caused sores in his nasal passages. The tape holding the tube to his cheek caused blisters on his face.



Please pray for a big turn around for him. He is suffering and it is very hard to accept especially when no one seems to have answers. This is very frustrating. It is quite a spiritual journey for me as I seek the Lord's intervention and wait. I find myself before the throne with such frustration in my heart. Yet, I know it is God Almighty who controls all things and is sovereign over all and we are desperate for Him.



I can't say my faith isn't shaken as I look upon my sweet nephew in a hospital bed suffering with no answers knowing I have spent days begging God to change this situation. It isn't a matter of unbelief. I believe He can do anything He desires and that He is as real as ever and that He hears every cry. I'm shaken over not getting my way. I'm frustrated b/c I can't change it myself and because so far God has not answered my demands.



Now, why I thought I could demand anything from God is beside me. He owes me nothing. I owe Him everything. But, how I long to see Him move in such a mighty way that no one in my family can deny its Him. I want His glory to be revealed through the healing miracle of His touch. Please continue to pray along with me.

Spent the day with Brannon

We have been with Brannon the whole day and it was a great day. He played Battleship with Cody, put Lego's together, walked the hall and even laughed with us some. His spirits were good which they almost always are when he is with Cody. And here comes the "but".

But, he really needs prayer because he really needs healing. Only God can cause his body to do what it was originally created to do. Only God knows what the problem is and so only He can fix it. So please go to the throne on Brannon's behalf. Brannon's stomach is not contracting the way it should and his bowels are not moving any yet. To put it bluntly we need him to pass some serious gas. And we need the yucky stomach juices to stop filling up the canister on the wall. These things have to happen before the tube can come out of his nose and before he can have anything at all to eat or drink.

Those things also have to happen before we can really consider the surgery a success. If the bowel doesn't kick in, he is back to square one. That's a hard pill to swallow. So, please don't stop praying. Thank you so much.

More prayer needed

Brannon has made some progress in terms of recovering from surgery. He walked this morning and is up in the chair.

However, his stomach is not moving fluids through as it should. He as a tube in his nose that goes down to stomach and withdraws fluid from it. It should be decreasing in amount from the very start of post surgery. Instead it is increasing. This is not a good sign.

Please pray for God to do what only he can. Specifically the stomach needs to kick into gear and start moving fluids downward into the intestines. This would be a huge success. When the stomach works the tube can come out and he can start to eat again. Without ingesting food the colon doesn't have a chance to learn how to work again. And in case you are wondering, he hasn't eaten since the weekend.

Thanks for your prayers.

Update on Brannon

The surgery went well. He has a large incision vertical on his abdomen and a small area where the stoma was. He is in a lot of pain and sheer exhausted. We spent about 3 hours with him today and he never spoke a word. However, it was obvious that he was happy to have Cody sitting right beside him.

Please continue to pray for his healing, no infection and for a fully restored digestive system.

Thank you!

Prayer Request

My nephew Brannon is in surgery right now having the ostomy reversed.

Please pray for several things: that the surgery is free of complications, that the colon responds well, and that the digestive system is restored completely.

If the colon is unable to work effectively, he will be facing serious complications. Only time will tell.

On another note: my stepdad Ron starts radiation tomorrow for prostate cancer. The prostate has already been removed but there is residual cancer in the same area and it is highly aggressive. He will have treatments every day through the end of July.

This is a heavy time for my extended family. Please specifically pray for my mom, the wife and grandmother to these two as she carries these burdens.

Thanks!!

2 lunches, only one home

Have you seen those men, and sometimes women, who stand on a street corner with a sign declaring homelessness? I passed one yesterday.

Let me back up a bit.

Ever since Jeff and I were married the idea of people living on the streets with no shelter to call their own has been a burden to me. Many nights in the winter I fall asleep thinking of all those who are sleeping in bitter cold weather as I lay under my heating blanket on a soft mattress in my safe bedroom. And it has always unsettled me. I've wondered why God has allowed me to have my needs met in abundance while others are suffering greatly in ways I've never known or come close to knowing. I've thought about how so many Americans have all they need plus more than they need while other Americans have nothing but a sign declaring so. How can this be?

As my regular readers know, God has been teaching me much on the topic of those in need. He has been teaching me so much that I'm overwhelmed not knowing what to do with the information. My heart is changing, being changed by Him almost constantly, but I feel lost in the translation.

We have started to make practical changes in our finances so that we can do for others. This has not been easy since we do not have a surplus of finances. And it is very small steps as we ourselves work towards a debt free life. But so much is going on in my heart that a few financial changes only taps the surface of burdens I am feeling over those in need. So I'm asking God to open doors and to show me how to put into action the convictions He has given me.

Yesterday was one such opportunity.

It has been a rough week in the context of parenting. Our family has struggled for some months now with disobedience and anger. We have been in quite a slump. God has been working overtime in the Hudler home :). So yesterday as some things sorta came to a head my amazing husband decided it was time for me to have a small break.

I needed a journal type of book to help organize my prayer life and to be more diligent with memorizing scripture. This is one thing God has been showing me concerning the way things are done in my home. So off to Lifeway I went. Now, truly I could have made one myself, or just jumped over to Walmart which would have knocked an hour off the time. But, no, I had to go to Lifeway. Well guess who was on the corner at the light leading to Lifeway? Mr. Homeless.

I didn't see him at first. I was hungry for lunch but not ready to eat yet so I decided to go into store and get lunch afterwards. I didn't find what I was looking for except a basic journaling book (one which I could have gotten at Walmart). So, with plans to head to office store I decided to grab lunch first. And there he was at the light. NO doubt in my mind I was to buy two lunches that day.

I rolled down the window, and said a few things. "I got you something to eat and I want you to know that God loves you and He has not forgotten about you", I said. The man's face lit with joy. I drove off so broken I had to stop because I couldn't see to drive. Why was I broken? I mean I was able to feed the man. God had given me an opportunity to put into action what has been on my heart begging to come out as reality. I was broken because I couldn't do more. He may have had a full belly for lunch but he still had nowhere to lay his hand. He would still spend the day under a tree at a stoplight with a sign while I shopped, headed home to ac, a well cut yard, kids playing in the water with friends, and food for dinner. I would sit at the table and play rummikub with my family. I would take pics of my growing garden to send to my grandparents in pride. I would rock on my back porch, Bible in hand, and the peace of God in my heart. And he still stood on the corner.

Something has got to change. I can't force others to have the same convictions as I. I can't make you turn off your tvs and send that money overseas so nationals can buy themselves a bike to travel miles into villages to proclaim Christ. I can't force you to shop at Aldi's to practically cut your grocery bill in half so you can send that extra money to organizations attempting to purify water so people can drink without fear of dying.

I can't persuade you to live any differently than you do now. But I can change. And I plan to.

Radical-Self Abandonment

I have been reading Radical by David Platt (thanks to my friend Wendi and the Lord for blessing me). Before this I was reading Revolution in Missions by KP Yohanan. Before this my heart was stirring for missions related ideas. Actually God has been working on my heart in terms of missions for about 4 years now. It started in Spartanburg and was fueled intensely once arriving to Thomasville. Our church is heavily involved in mission work around the world. We have friends that are missionaries in Kenya and I went on my first overseas mission trip last summer to Romania. These are very minor details compared to all that God is doing in my heart. He has worked more there than I have even been able to notice. However, I'm seeing more and more what He has been up to. I feel a radical change happening in me.

There have been many ways that I have felt like a radical person, one who does things different than the world would expect or accept. But, as God has been slowly revealing to me (thank goodness for His patience) the truths of His word I am now realizing that there's not much radical living in our lives afterall. Sure, I homeschool, which automatically labels me as odd, abnormal, and cultish (not sure that's a word). I do not work though I have a degree as an RN.
I actually enjoy my kids and my husband more than anyone else on the earth and I rarely want to be away from any of them. And I have a group of middle school students that I have been with for 3 years, plan to be with for 4 more, and I couldn't be happier about that. And now my family is waiting for our fostering license.

We have made choices based on what we think pleases God and we have felt radical at times. Now I know we have missed the mark. Scripture describes an abandoned life. A follower of Christ is one who "denies himself, picks up his cross, and follows Christ". "Follows Christ" doesn't mean you go where He went or serve like He served. It means you experience what He experienced: self abandonment for the sake of others, to save them.

One of the things that I have been trying to teach my students is that there are great needs out there and they are capable of meeting some of those needs. I want them to want to serve others. We have talked a lot about the injustices of the world and how they can make a difference if they follow Christ's example. Then I had quite a revelation from all that God has been showing me. My lack of self abandonment causes others to suffer and that is truly injustice. There is so much more that I could do if I abandoned my own self sufficiency. It's not about what we can do with what we have. It's about what we can do when we don't have. The less I have the more I can give.

If I don't pay $30/month for cable than I can give $30/month for people to have clean water. Clean water friends.....is that too much for a person to ask?

If I don't spend money on extra clothes to increase my wardrobe, I can send that money to national missionaries who are desperately trying to reach their own people for Christ.

If I choose to have beans and rice as a meal (which happens to be delicious with some cheese and sour cream) instead of eating out, than that extra $15-$25 can help support our friends serving in Kenya as they teach the locals how to prosper for themselves with their chicken farm. Or maybe that $20 or so will help the street boys who are in bondage to addictions and homeless at 9 years old (younger than my son Cody) to find food and a home, and to find a Savior who will free them in every way.

The less I have, the more I can give. Americans are surrounded with abundance. Compared to what is happening in 3rd world countries I am more and more saddened by our own state of well being. It is not that I wish to suffer or that I think Americans should suffer the way others do. However, I do believe that we are blessed for a reason and we are missing the point. We have so that we can give. It's called stewardship and we are called to be great stewards. We are failing. God has given to us so that we can give to them. Yet, as a nation, and typically as individuals we are in debt. We are hurting ourselves in our over-sufficiency, and we are hurting others who have no other way. That is the injustice that I'm so unsettled about.

And it's not just 3rd world countries who are hurting, it's our neighbor. When our church held an event called "Hope Lives" we saw how many people in our own area were in great need. When God talks about helping and reaching the nations He isn't speaking about geographical boundaries that man, and government, has set. He is speaking about people groups. He is saying that we need to reach anyone who has a need. What I'm realizing is that I'm too busy meeting my own needs to meet others. God is showing me that I'm missing the point. Self abandonment. That's what He is calling me to. Sounds radical huh?

Was Christ anything but radical? No. Have you ever heard of anything more radical than the cross? And scripture tells me that if I am to call myself a follower I must deny myself and take up my cross and follow Him. Radical.

I pray that He shows this to us all. And I pray that I obey.