This Morning

At 4:30 am, with bleary vision, I caught a glimpse of the hospital through our windows.  Feelings of intense excitement and incredible anxiousness, collided with the calm of the Lord's presence in my heart. 
Dad's surgery is today.  So many people are praying. We all made it.  Dad is so brave.

I walked across the hall to check on Mom and Dad and found them ready to go.  Mom was smiling, and Dad was very thoughtfully packing his pockets with his necessities.  The moments flew by and  I was soon dropping them off at the entrance to the hospital.  Pulling away from the curb, watching some of Dad's last steps before he becomes straight, was indescribable.  With Mom tight by his side, they were entering to his miracle.

After parking the van back at our "home",  Kevin and I walked the short way back up the street to the hospital.  We found Dad and Mom being cheerfully escorted down the hall by a fuzzy haired, happy fellow they all call Father Richard.  Just minutes before, he had announced to a the whole reception area, "Who wants to go to surgery? Follow me!"

A really nice and thorough nurse went through all the necessary medical questions/history, and then described to us what would be happening with Dad while he was away from us. 

A quick call to Chad brought Dad's third hug walked through the door and we were all together as a family.  Dad waited up as long as he could last night, giving directions intermittently, but had to go to sleep before Chad made it. Reunited in the surgery preparation room, we were about to send Dad to a miracle that merely six weeks ago had been a thought. 

If we find the Dr. that helped this man in the newspaper, Dad, will you go see him?  It wouldn't hurt to just visit with him in his office.

They came to collect him, loaded him into the chair, let us have our last hugs, and wheeled him away.  We immediately held hands and prayed him into the hands of the Dr.

His status on the monitor in our waiting room has read  In OR/Procedure since 8:20.  Our next update will be a visit from Dr. Simmons.  We expect him around 2:00. 

I know people are praying.  I know God is watching over every step of this process.  Our hearts are encouraged, uplifted, sometimes scared, and entirely full of anticipation.