So let me start by saying that dealing with post death paperwork and dealing with cancellations and changes of accounts is EXHAUSTING. I wish we had been more organized with paperwork, because with the military, even for veterans… it’s a lot!!!
I have been trying to find and gather all the information I need for insurance and VA claims and it has about made me sick, the stress is ridiculous y’all. Because you know… life isn’t hectic enough with adjusting to new routines & then throw in 2 months later, summer rolls around so it’s time for different routines! I’m tired just thinking about it!! The other week, after failing to find everything I needed to take care of loose ends, I finally got a huge storage box and went through every nook and cranny of the apartment & putting anything that was paper with print on it in this box.
Yesterday I started to sort through & file every stinkin receipt, piece of paper, random ad, ect. in that box & praise God found several pieces of paperwork I needed. As I was doing my searching, I was continually in prayer, when I can’t find something I’m looking for the prayer usually sounds like this:
“Lord, I know you know all and see all, you know right where [insert item] is. I’m sure you’re looking at it right now. Please reveal to me where it is.”
And y’all…. this usually works! So the other day it was an award letter of Jeff’s & the Lord revealed to me (after speaking to Katrina who told me to look in everything that I wouldn’t think to look in) to open a totally random manila folder that only had my name on it (I still don’t know what my logic was on that one), yesterday it was the life insurance policy for Jeff, and I kid you not, I found it 10 minutes later! This morning it was birth certificates and marriage license. I had 10 minutes left before I absolutely had to be out the door for work, I found it in 3 minutes! This is a very tangible way I see on a regular basis the Lord answering prayers (I lose things a lot, so I see this a lot).
One thing I realized I left out from the Month of April post (and I can’t believe I forgot to mention it!!) was the story of the tube! So when we were in the hospital just a couple days, the doctors told us that Jeff had so much blockage from the tumors that his fluids were backing up and were septic. If we didn’t get drainage done, eventually the build up would go into his lungs and he would die (I’m trying to spare you as much of the gross detail as possible, but this is key y’all!)!!! Jeff at the time was going through some major PTSD and anger moments, a lot of questioning why this was happening to him (and rightfully so!), and so when he was told that the doctors needed to insert a tube in his nose and down into his stomach to drain the bile (again, sorry, I know it’s gross… hang in there with me! I’m coming to the good part!), Jeff went full on anger refusal mode! This was one of the hardest things I have had to go through in our marriage, to try to talk him down (with the help of our moms, doctors, nurses.. even the ones he loved, ministers, etc) and convince him that this needed to happen or he would die within days. One side note I need to mention is that at this point, Jacob’s birth mom still had parental rights, if Jeff had died at that time, I would have a very hard time fighting her for Jacob! That is a story you will see in the future… and it’s a good one y’all!!
So If I remember correctly, I believe I stepped out of the hospital and took a breather, I think I ran an errand, because I was about to explode over the fact that he was refusing what would be painful no doubt, but would save his life! So finally, while I was gone, after being talked down and presented the options, he finally agreed to have it put in. Once they got it in, everyone started praying that it would drain quickly (I don’t remember how long it was in in total). We also asked about speaking to a chaplain in the hospital as well as called the church and asked Rex (one of our church’s ministers & a dear friend of ours) to come anoint Jeff with oil.
“Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;” James 5:14
We did just what the Bible instructed us! So because the chaplain of the hospital was already on campus, he came first and anointed Jeff. Let me note, Jeff did not need to be anointed twice, this was simply a case of wanting to make sure someone could come quickly, and they both happened to come very quickly! Not long after the hospital chaplain left, our sweet Rex came. He too anointed Jeff with oil, sang and prayed over him, loved on us, and y’all… here’s the cool part… you ready?! It was about 20 minutes later that the pump and tube started draining the junk out of Jeff’s body! And it was a lot (sorry, gross again I know), it was about a gallon of septic fluid coming out of him (no wonder he was so sick!!! And sorry, that is my last mention of it!)!!!!
I tell you all the details of these 2 stories to say this…. THE POWER OF PRAYER IS REAL!!! MIRACLES HAPPEN IN OUR LIVES JUST AS THEY DID IN THE BIBLE! I have my own miracle stories, and maybe one day I will share those. I hope that through this journey of this blog that you will see clearly, just how AWESOME God is. The God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, the God that is the Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit, 3 yet also 1!), the God of the founders of the United States of America (oh how we have fallen away from our roots… this is a result of free will and choice given to us by God), the God of my family, my church & many of my friends. He is more than can ever be fully explained here on earth!
I haven’t posted this picture to facebook in a while, and will go do that when I am done here.
If you need prayer, please reach out to me, I would love to pray for you in whatever way you need! God hears our prayers! Sometimes the answer is immediately yes, sometimes it’s no, sometime it’s wait, but He always hears our prayers!
God Bless,
-A
The Beauty in Sorrows & Joys 