A Jon Post
I sat on the couch this week with my wife. I sat and wept for the frustration of the shattered reality that there is no forthcoming solution to the place we find ourselves.
Last Month
Last month Layne posted that Pedro had an MRI and we were waiting for the next step to be determined based on the results of that MRI.
The results came.
Placed up against a florescent light to show the contrast between bone, tissue, cerebrum, artery, and tumor, this thin film of plastic brought with it ugly words.
Tumor, extensive re-growth, malignant, invasive, terminal.
An apologetic neurosurgeon sat in front of me and explained her inability to even close the surgical wound left behind by his first surgery.
“…only thing left to do is help him manage pain and dress the wound.”
And she left me with the honor/dread of telling Pedro his prognosis… of cutting the spidersilk thread we all had held on to that maybe surgery could help… of telling him that his seizures and loss of muscle control were only the beginning… of telling him that there is a God who loves. A God who loves. A God who loves.
Now… 1 week later, he sits in a wheelchair in my back yard.
Unable to move his right arm or leg.
Laughter
And I sat on my couch and wept. In this situation, because of his rapidly deteriorating health, we would have hoped to bring Pedro’s wife and children to him here at Casa Ahavá. But just three weeks ago Pedro’s son was born. His forth child, not even a month old, waits for his daddy to come home. A daddy who cannot hold him, cannot stand tall with him, cannot wrap him against his chest and tell him how proud he is. This 3 week old cannot make the journey to Pedro.
Pedro’s health means he cannot get on a bus or an airplane to get home. His family cannot get on one to come here.
Let’s get Pedro home.
Thursday morning at around 4 we will help Pedro into the car and I’ll drive him the (depending on road conditions) 12 hour trip to his home village. His home is in a bit of a remote area but we’ll make it.
So our hope has changed.
It’s changed from hoping for long months, even years, to hoping for enough days to get home. Just two more days. And it’s changed to hoping for more than just what this broken body can offer. Our hope has changed. Pedro’s hope has changed.
A God who loves. A God who loves. A God who loves.
Please pray for us as we drive to Muxúnguè on Thursday to get Pedro home.
The Route
Pray that our hope is not deferred but that Pedro’s longing to see his son is fulfilled.
Please pray with us for Pedro’s heart.
Dear Jon and Layne – We have and are praying fervently for all of you – for Pedro to really know how much God loves him and his journey home to his family and his Father in heaven – for a safe safe journey for all of you Jon – that the enemy be bound in heaven and on earth from any of his plans to hinder or hurt any of you – for all those sweet girls and the one safely tucked in your womb dear Layne – wow, another Heller girl-or-boy, most precious to us all – and for strength for all of you as you endure the pain of loss of Pedro from your family but rejoice in his place in our eternal family – for continued financial blessings – for rest and peace and continued joy in our Lord and His work amongst us – love you all sooo much – Grandma
Oh my! My heart grieves and hopes with you. I wanted to share a verse with you that God has generously spoken over Michael and I in the last year. It is resonating in my heart for you!!!
“And God is able to make ALL GRACE abound to you, so that in ALL THINGS, at ALL TIMES, having ALL THAT YOU NEED, you will ABOUND IN EVERY GOOD WORK.” 2 Cor. 9:8
So much of those verses from 6 on is how you live and love. Thank you so much! We love you. We stand with you!
Jon -We will put Pedro in our daily prayers, May the Lord give Pedro time to hold his son and may Pedro get to know and love the Lord, may he accept Jesus Christ as his Savior and Redeemer.May the Lord bless your way to Pedro’s home and protect you from all harm.
The Lord is Good and Merciful.
I sit here reading your story to my family and i’m weeping. So very sad but we pray pray pray and claim your safe full journey in getting Pedro home. I have never met such an amazing selfless couple in my.life. It is such an honour to know you all…..you are such an inspiration. “this is my son with who I am well pleased” is all I can hear the great Almighty God saying….. wow travel safe.
tears falling praying for a trip that loved ones wait at both ends of your trip Jon. One end has Pedro’s family and your family for your return. God take care of special people.
We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post. Hebrews 6:19-20
We pray with this hope.
What beautiful expressions of God’s heart appear as your readers, your friends, post their broken-hearted yet hope-filled replies, Jon. Our hearts are a tightly intertwined mass of sadness and hope — not too unlike the MRI which showed tentacles of cancer embedded in Pedro’s brain tissue.
May Pedro’s heart-MRI, and yours, reveal the inexorable Christ-Hope intertwining and overtaking your sadness. I pray that, regardless of the number of Pedro’s days, Hope will win the battle for his heart.
I am so thankful for your words: a God who loves, … a God who loves, … a God who loves.
May Pedro and his family know above all else that they are deeply loved by this God.
Jon,Layne & girls, this makes me cry and at the same time I know there is that strange feeling of God’s presence …. I know that I know God loves Pedro and his family and you guys SO much that His footprints will be left, people will know He was here in the midst of it all and not for naught. But for His Glory I pray. And pray we shall for God’s will for Pedro’s last days. Dear Jesus, carry your children, strengthen and encourage them please.
Praying
I will pray!!!