 Divorce is a word no Christian ever anticipates when they get married. I was married for nearly 15 years when I went through my divorce.
Prior to the divorce, I kept more to myself outside of the church. I definitely felt going through a divorce would strain many relationships with others, but it ultimately had the opposite effect. I knew I needed to reach out to others for support. Through that, I grew closer to several men in my current Connect Group. What I anticipated to be an issue in relationships with others turned out to be a blessing to me to have these men to lean on. Our 5-month-old granddaughter was diagnosed with a large growth on one of her kidneys. The pediatrician said she needed immediate surgery and sent her to Kansas City Children's Hospital. He was very concerned the growth would rupture before it could be removed. Thanks to God, it did not.
Our chaos started on January 8, 2008, when a tornado hit our farm in Conway MO. We were in Springfield and couldn’t get home. The next morning, we came home to total devastation. We lost nine buildings and multiple machines. Other vehicles were damaged. Our home, milk barn, and another barn were all we had left. What a mess. What a loss. Where did we start?
Initially, we were in shock. Buildings were destroyed. Building parts lay on top of our machinery. Some had been blown into the fields. The neighbors soon learned of our loss. Many came to see what was destroyed. On Monday, we read Gage’s thoughts about the chaos in his and Ashlee’s lives. Today, Ashlee shares her chaos experience.
In April of 2022, we found out I was pregnant with our baby boy, Parker, after struggling with infertility and loss for two years and through two previous miscarriages. In May, we went in for our second ultrasound and heard the words, “The baby no longer has a heartbeat.” At ten weeks, we had to say goodbye to our baby. A young couple in our church, Gage and Ashlee, tell their stories in the next two readings.
True chaos was introduced into my life when my wife and I began trying to get pregnant. We were presented with many obstacles regarding infertility and were given different avenues to get pregnant. This began the string of miscarriages that were unexplained up to that point. While we were enduring these miscarriages, my wife's grandfather passed away in a horrific accident. My wife found her grandfather after the accident happened, and we have been dealing with that trauma ever since. On November 15, 2021, my son’s school called and said Hudson wouldn't wake up. After a long day in the ER, we were admitted to the hospital. A CT scan of his head showed a grapefruit-sized mass on the right side of his brain. He was quickly life-flighted to St. Louis Children’s Hospital, and we followed by car.
A couple of days later, Hudson underwent an 8-9 hour surgery to remove the tumor. Two hours into the surgery they called us to say they could not continue without him losing too much blood. He was on a ventilator for the next four days. On November 30, the pathology results came back. It was choroid plexus carcinoma, a rare brain cancer that affects about 75 people per year with only a 20% survival rate. Hudson was discharged, and we went home to say goodbye to family and friends. On December 14, we left for St. Jude with no idea when or if Hudson would come home. |
He is our PEACE. {Stephanie Forbes' Story} He is our REFUGE. {Jan Owen's Story} He is our PROVIDER {Darrell Bryant Story} He is our COMPASSION {Carol Bryant's Story} He is ABLE. {Sandee DePriest's Story} He is GOOD {Ashton Rost's Story} He is PRESENT while we wait. {Anonymous} He is our SOURCE OF STRENGTH. {Bruce Helsley's Story} He is our STRONG TOWER. {Adisyn Gray's Story} He is our LIGHT. {Gage Miers' Story} He is our WAYMAKER {Ashlee Miers' Story} He is our ALPAH and OMEGA. {Don & Barb Calton's Story} He is CARING. {Anonymous} He is WITH ME. {Robbie Tackett's Story} He is my DELIVER. {Julie Long's Story} He is TRUSTWORTHY. {Rob Schad} He is My REDEEMER. {Chris Wilson} He is My HELP. (Angela Maddox} He is SOVEREIGN {Anonymous} He is our SHEPHERD Jerry & Pat Capps He is our SALVATION Carol Kolander He is our SUFFERING SERVANT Nolan Snider He is my ALL IN ALL Toni Lorenz He is our REST. Anonymous He is Our Mediator. {Anonymous} 
|