Dad!!!

What a wonderful weekend we've had...Ben's dad came in town Saturday night to hug on Ben a little bit. They had a great time Saturday night going to have some Mexican food together. I stayed here and talked to Ben's Mom on the phone for a while. She stayed in Pennsylvania. She so desperately wanted to be here, yet had a peace that she was supposed to stay there. After Bill (Ben's dad) left for the airport, their dog, Molly, passed away. So, Donna was able to be there with her. This was sad for Ben, too, as she was "his" dog. He's already planning how he can help his Mom find another companion. Say a prayer for her as Molly was such a great pup and companion!

Ben has been having some pains in his neck. He's unable to move his neck much because of his surgery. He has internal sutures and then dermabond on top. His doc told him that if he moves his neck too much away from the suture then he could cause the scar to be fat & much bigger than necessary. So, he ends up keeping his neck so stiff that his shoulder is tightening up and he has massive knots. I've done my best to rub it over the last few days, but we had to pull out the percussion massager today and some muscle relaxers because the knots were so enourmous. So, we are praying that healing occurs quickly so that he can start to move more and get out of pain.

It was just awesome seeing arms wrapped around Ben today at church. We had friends stop him and pray over him at that moment...Wow!! Others shared their hearts and the prayers they were lifting up for him. The greatest part is listening to Ben talk about how encouraged he is to receive this blessing from the Lord! It just amazes me!! He is so sold out to the Lord and wants the Lord to be glorified in every aspect of this. Amazing!! I stop and want to have a pity party and he quickly reminds me that the Lord has allowed this and that he sees that as an opportunity to give Him glory!

We are trying to decide how to work our trip to MD Anderson. We don't know if we need to go the night before and/or stay in Houston the night of since he may need to come back the next day. Our understanding is that they want to start treatment within 5-7 days of our first appointment! Praise Jesus because we want to knock this out quickly!!

Finally, this is a prayer that we received from a friend. I know there are times that we struggle with how to pray for Ben and this prayer has been such an encouragement. So, we wanted to share it with you.

"Heavenly Father, You are the giver of life and the creator of our bodies.
You are to be worshipped b/c You provided life in a dead body. We were once sin
stained and now we are wiped clean through the provision of your blood. The
'cancer' in our hearts could not be removed by human hands or by our own merits.
Only by your election and by your great grace did you decide it pleasing to
remove the 'cancer' from our hearts and provide salvation to undeserving people
like us.

I pray for my brother, Ben, as he has just learned of that cancer has
entered his body. Please give him strength and provide for him as he battles
through cancer. We love you and are grateful for your protection and covering.
Be glorified in Ben and Meredith's lives as they deal with fighting through
this.

In Christ's name. Amen"