As I breathe I hope - Latin Proverb

It has been a good day for my dad. Very simply (because, frankly, very simply is how I understand it)

Areas of praise:

His lungs are improving

His heart is strong

The artery where he was bleeding has been clamped during the procedure and if the ulcer continues to bleed it will not be as great of a bleed. They are hopeful that this will not happen at all and it will be healed through medication and time.

The doctors will soon begin the dance of taking him in and out of sedation to see if he is ready to wake up

His cat scan showed no sign of issues

His color is looking better and even though he is still very bloated from the fluids, he looks more like himself to the family

Areas of concern:

We are waiting for the results of his EEG which will give the doctors a more detailed look at his brain function. We are told we will hear this tomorrow. Please pray for mental and physical rest for the family as we wait to know what is totally out of our control. I'll speak for myself when I say that's not an easy place to be.

We will not know the extent of his brain function until he wakes up and of course, this is a huge, huge weight for us right now.

Please continue to pray for my dad's incredible strength he has shown to us.

God is very present to us and while we have a hard time truly saying "thy will be done" we know in our hearts that God's provision is here.

I can't help but think of this Lenten season as we walk through these trials. It is a true test to the discipline of casting our burdens and giving up control that was never ours to begin with. Anne Lammot talks about the image of a child sitting in the back seat of a car with a plastic wheel . . . moving that wheel around as if he is in control of the car. And the child's mother looks in the rear view mirror and smiles. God is our driver and I am reminded that as much as I want to choose my dad's destiny, I am in the back with the plastic wheel. In some strange way, there is comfort in that.

-Barbara