As I type this, my brother is in a hospital room down the hall in the neurology department. He spent the last several days in ICU and was just moved to a “step-down” room in Neurosciences where he will still be closely monitored. (He suffered a brain bleed last week and, while his condition is still serious, he’s doing amazingly well. I just got to visit him for a little while and it was so good to see him.)
These last few days have been filled with so many emotions… shock, fear, and sadness when I found out he was in the hospital… then hope and gratefulness as he’s improved.
And I’ve been reminded that all the little things we worry about in our day to day lives – they don’t really matter.
What matters is family. It is everything. What matters is life. It is precious. What matters is faith. It is a rock. What matters is God. He hears prayers. What matters is knowing Jesus. He is Savior.
When someone you love goes through something like this, it changes your everyday world and makes you pause.
It makes you hug your kids a little tighter and kiss your husband a little longer.
It makes you notice the sun and the grass and the hills and the fact that you are healthy and alive and able to look at how beautiful they are.
It makes you reach out to your friends and family for prayer and support. And it makes you realize just how much that prayer and support matters.
It makes you contemplate life as you drive back and forth to the hospital, and it gives you a whole new fire to live in such a way that each moment is intentional and filled with purpose and love.
And that’s where I’ve been these past few days as my family has been processing what my brother is going through and rallying around him to help. So I’m popping in to not only let you know what’s been going on (and explain why you’ve been seeing so many posts from the archives), but to ask all of you, as part of the community of friends in my life, if you could keep my brother Matthew in your prayers.
My whole family would truly appreciate it! Thank you!
(I’ll be back here in about a week and I’ll update you on how he’s doing then.)
