The Uncommon

Common: Headaches, migraines, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, moodiness (I might get in trouble for this one), aggressive behavior (and this one), physician appointments, MRI, CT scans, emergency room visits, diagnosis, prognosis, and even tumors.

The Uncommon:

A Divine Appointment. We've been praying for an answer to migraines that Sarah has battled for the last couple of months. After a visit to a neurologist and a little vision trouble, Sarah decided to schedule an appointment with our optometrist. Not an optometrist who we bat our eyes at every six months, snag a box of contacts from, and never see again. An optometrist who God put in our life years ago, even before we ever visited her for an eye exam. Who knew that Dr. R. would be the first to discover abnormal pressure on Sarah's optic nerve. That was Friday.

Answered Prayer. With Dr. R.'s help, we scheduled a MRI on Monday morning at 11:15 to figure out exactly what was going on. We were operating under the old adage that "no news is good news", so we felt pretty good when 5:00 rolled around without any communication back from the neurologist. Five minutes later I learned that Sarah had a "mass" on her right frontal lobe. After weeks of prayer, though, we had an answer.

Crazy Peace. Sarah is a champ. My sister-in-law, Ang, describes Sarah's current state much better than I can. Please read. Granted, we have had our moments (and will have more), Sarah has been incredible. I called her at 5:15 on Monday to let her know about her mass. When I arrived at Lynlee's gymnastics practice at 5:45, I found Sarah giggling with another mom (who we love very much). Truth be told, I heard her before I saw her! Those who know Sarah know how that works. We followed doctors' orders, and headed to the ER.

Amazing Friends. We were greeted at the ER by three great friends (and pastors of Crosschurch Fayetteville). They were there before us... waiting on our arrival... ready to give us hugs, laughs, and smiles... ready to love us. More friends and family arrived. Before we were admitted, we had an entourage.

Diagnosis. After a couple of hours in the E.R. waiting room we got to hear Sarah's (tentative) diagnosis. Chances are, Sarah has a low grade astrocytoma. These are, typically, benign. This could all change, but that's what we know now. Very soon, we will take a trip to MD Anderson to have the "racquetball-size" tumor removed.

Here is what we know the future holds: an ordained day, followed by an ordained day, followed by an ordained day. In the backs of our minds, we definitely have expectations. Like many of you reading this, we have prayers that we lift up throughout the day. It's easy to get wrapped up in all the medical stuff. All the facts. We believe the power of prayer, faith, and trust are just as real.

Lift up the prayers of your heart. We definitely pray for the wisdom of medical staff, peace, comfort, healing... you name it.

If you can't think of anything else to pray, pray that we have MANY more opportunities to experience the uncommon as I have described above. That's when we feel the presence of God. Our prayer is that many of you experience it too.

Pat & Sarah