a crazy day

David and I have been meeting with the minister of adults, Dr. Brian Newman, at our church since March 1. Brian took on the role as mentor and became a huge influence in our lives. He opened our eyes to so much. He changed us and helped us in ways we could never repay him for. He came to the hospital when Mark was born. He prayed for Mark's breathing and then for his heart. He cared. About us. He became our friend and a huge support system for us. No one person has ever been in my life for that short of time and had this type of influence. Last Saturday, he suffered a brain bleed and died on Monday. Yesterday was his funeral. It was evident in attendance just the kind of guy Brian was. Almost everyone there thought they were his best friend. He cared, like really and truly cared, about everyone he met. David and I have been so sad about his death even though we know he has "been healed into heaven" as his wife put it. He lived his life for God and like God. And the reason we felt so close to him was because we felt God through him. We want people to say that about us. Brian will be missed and remembered for the rest of our lives. No one has ever impacted us like him.

Yesterday, we also scheduled Mark's surgery. We have been waiting for what seems like forever for his MRI results.




We talked to Dr. Guleserian yesterday and she didn't find anything she didn't already know. The MRI gives her a good map for the surgery and she feels pretty confident that going through his ribs will work. This is great news to us because he will not have to be on a bypass machine.

We will be at children's all day August 8 for bloodwork, etc. We will also meet with Dr. Guleserian again to go over the surgery plan one more time. We will check Mark in to the hospital at 6am August 9 and his surgery is scheduled for 7:30am.

We know that God is in control and we pray that he be glorified through this and through us. We pray that he prepares our hearts for his plan.

In the midst of all that, we celebrated David's birthday.








David and I went to Nobu for dinner and talked about the whirlwind of the days events. The range of emotions yesterday was intense! To say the very least.