Written by Mom/Kim: I don’t even know where to begin with this thank you because honestly, “thank you” doesn’t come close. Since bringing Tom home, there have been so many moments when I look around and think, who gets loved like this? Before I can even say out loud what we need, somehow it is already being taken care of.
I wondered what we were going to do about dessert for his birthday…taken care of. I’m thinking, how in the world am I going to get the trash out? There are practically people standing in line to help. The car desperately needs vacuumed and cleaned, and suddenly someone is coming to detail it. Tom was worried about getting his hair cut and someone came to the house to fix it! Personally I LOVE his badass beekeeper look (think Jason Strahan and watch the movie if you don't get the reference )
Meals are showing up, messages are coming in, people are praying, and people we haven’t heard from in years are reaching out asking, “What can we do?” Who gets loved like this?
Last night Tom and I were up most of the night. His head was hurting a little more, and our Mr. Walkie-Talkie ( his Nickname in the ICU) decided that if we were awake, we were going to TALK.
Somewhere between 1 and 2 AM, we had one of those conversations I know I will carry in my heart forever. We talked about our girls and our family, about them holding his hands and his feet in that hospital room and praying over him. We talked about our grandchildren and that precious faith of a child that doesn’t need to understand HOW God is going to do something. They just believe He will. And let me tell you, mountains ARE being moved.
And then we talked about all of YOU. The texts, calls, acts of love and the SupportNow page that was created for us has absolutely overwhelmed us. The meals, the financial gifts helping with expenses and lost wages, the errands, the help around our home, the prayers, messages and visits, and people offering their time and talents. There are needs being met that I haven’t even had time to realize we have yet. I don’t know how to explain what that does for two people walking through something they never imagined they would be walking through. You are taking things off our shoulders at a time when some days those shoulders already feel pretty heavy.
Tom said last night that he feels a little like Job, and I told him I feel exactly the same way. It feels like the enemy has thrown everything he can at us, but here’s the thing…he’s already lost. Just look at what God is doing right in the middle of this. Look at our family, our friends, the people praying, the people serving and all of this LOVE. Heaven has opened its doors and poured blessings all over our family right in the middle of one of the biggest storms we have ever walked through.
And I want to say this because it matters to both of us: we are not angry with God. Not for one second. Do we understand why this is happening? Absolutely not. Do we wish we could change it? With everything in us. But we don’t have to understand God’s plan to trust Him. We are praising Him right here in the middle of this storm, not just when the storm passes. We are trusting Him with Tom, with our family and with whatever comes next. God has never left us, and He certainly isn’t going to start now. Our faith isn’t based on everything going the way we want it to. This is the moment when everything we have said we believe becomes what we choose to stand on.
Then Tom said something last night that just about broke me. He said, “If one person comes to Jesus because of this, then it was all worth it.” Of course that’s where his heart went. That’s Tom.
So from both of us, please know that we SEE you. We see every meal, every dollar given, every prayer, every message, every person checking in and every person who has offered to run an errand, help around the house, sit with him or simply wrap their arms around us. We see our children and grandchildren dropping everything and running toward us, loving us and taking care of every practical and emotional need. Most of all, we see God working through every single one of you.
There is absolutely no way we could ever repay what is being poured into us right now, and I know none of you expects us to. I believe with everything in me that God sees every act of kindness, every sacrifice and every prayer, and He will pour those blessings right back over your lives. We are overwhelmed, humbled and grateful beyond anything I can put into words. We feel so incredibly, unbelievably loved.
From the deepest part of both of our hearts, thank you for loving us, praying for us and carrying us. We will keep praising Him through this storm and trusting Him every step of the way.
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