some things I am praying for right now

There is so much!  I'll just start.  

My sister Lisa had surgery two weeks ago today, and has never really ever started to feel any better.  As far as I know, she was in pain pretty much non stop, but this week she started running fever.  She went back to the hospital and they determined that she had some infection and that they would need to take her back into surgery.  She had that surgery yesterday and was sent back home to recover.  Just last night she sent a text saying that she could already tell such a big difference in the level of pain she had then versus what she felt after that first surgery.  It was already much better.  Praise God!  She lives in Colorado, so it feels pretty helpless to be so far away when she's there.  I'm so glad my sister Debi is there nearby, though, and Lisa's oldest two kids, Jaret and Erika, are also there close.  I know she is being well taken care of between the three of them.  

I know Lisa would appreciate it if you would consider keeping her in your prayers as well.  I'm praying for an easier time of recovery this go-round, and for her to be able to get back up on her feet soon.  She is not one who enjoys being idle, but because she has been so sick, I don't think she ever even uttered a complaint.

Thank you for helping me pray for her. 

 

I have some friends who are very dear to us, the Lands, who are missionaries in Cameroon, Africa.  They've been there in training and actually in Cameroon for about a year now, and their visa expires this month, on the fourteenth.  They started the paperwork to achieve residency there a couple of weeks ago, but it was completely revoked.  If they do not receive an answer by the end of the day on  Friday (I have no idea what the time difference is between us and them), they'll have to purchase tickets to fly back to the U.S.  And they don't want to do that, not even their girls, Whitney and Kaitlin.  Our friends are Tim and Jenny.  Will you help me pray for them too, for God to move mountains for them to be able to remain there?  I know He can do that, and I am believing and trusting in Him for a miracle on their behalf.  They have had one setback after another since being there, so I know that the enemy is not happy with that, and is trying everything in his power to render them ineffective.  #nottodaySatan

(These are the friends who gave us their cat, Twinkles, many years ago when they were moving from Memphis to Arizona, and they are still some of our very best friends.)

Thank you for helping me pray with them.

Just today alone, I received emails for two dear girls who will be on mission all summer.  Anna is in Peru and Abigail will be in Thailand.  Will you help me pray for them, too?  I am praying for God to work in their hearts first, then in the hearts of others they will be ministering to over the course of the next few weeks.  Some are already there and one just left this morning for orientation and training.  I am praying for safety in traveling, wellness, open hearts and minds, unity, focus on God first, and for relationships with one another and with those they'll meet while they're there.  

Thank you for helping me pray for these two, as well.  

There are lots of other students traveling over the summer that I'm praying for, but I don't have the list near me.  I do know that one boy who is a friend of Graham's named Alex that also left for training today while he is gone all summer.  I know he could use your prayer, too.  

My last one is the nearest and dearest to my heart, and that is this boy of mine.

Drew is leaving in the morning for a nine day trip to the Navajo reservation in Arizona for the third summer in a row.  He absolutely loves this trip and these kids and I know he is looking forward to it once again.  He will be helping teach elementary age students and also in the picking them up and delivering them back home each day.  There are two that he is particularly fond of: the girl that he has his arm around, and the boy on the other side of him.  (He loves them all, but these two won his heart three summers ago, for the first time.)  I am so excited for him, but man, I will miss him while he's gone.  He has such a huge personality in our house that he is always missed when he's gone.  They're driving there and back, a two day trip each way.  Tomorrow night they will arrive in Amarillo, Texas and eat dinner at a Mexican restaurant, then will reach the reservation by about dinner time the next night.  It is a very long, very tiring drive and trip.  

We are spending all day today getting ready for him to go.  Everything has been bought that he needs, we just need to pack it all now.  

Will you help me in praying for Drew while he's gone?  He will leave tomorrow morning and will return on Sunday, June 17th.  

Thank you!  And thanks for helping me pray for all the other ones I mentioned above.  I know there is power in prayer, and when two or more are gathered to pray in His name, He is there with them.  He hears every prayer we utter.  

Love to all.