Jo's Surgery Update #1

Hey everyone,

Just a quick note here to catch everyone up. Joanna had some pretty severe abdominal pain after dinner last night. It kept getting worse and worse with no relief. We headed into the ER about 9PM Friday night. After running tests, they decided that it was not an obstructed bowel like before, but that she did have some foreign fluid in her abdomen. Long story short... their last resort was an exploratory surgery to find the source of the fluid and fix it up.

They operated on my hunny at around 11AM Saturday, and it took about 3 hrs total. Without getting into too much detail; they found the source and fixed it up. It was a pretty intrusive surgery, so her recovery time is going to be significant (1-2 days in ICU, 5-6 days in hospital room, then 5-6 weeks of recovery at home). Jo is resting now and has a constant supply of pain medication to help her rest.

Though it was a scary ordeal, God was faithful to love and teach us through this. We had some sweet times of praying and reading His word while we waited for the final decision to operate. We can never fully express our gratitute for all the love, hope, and prayers you all have shared with us, and we are humbled that God would have such grace on us through you!

So many of you have texted or called asking how you can help. Well, rather than just saying, ah, nothing for now... and leaving it at that, Meghan has volunteered to help organize folks dropping by at meal times to chat. Because quite honestly, if you are looking for a practical way to bless me and Joanna's mom right now, it is to feed us (so that we don't have to stop with Jo and think through how to make lunch or dinner happen.

So if you'd like to help out with this, please shoot Meghan an email at mlmucher@liberty.edu.

I can't promise you will be able to see Joanna (that will depend on her status and alertness, doc says lots of rest in the coming days for her) but I'm more than willing to chat and would love to pray together.

Besides coming here, the other most practical way you can help is simply by praying for Jo. Her body needs to heal up. And so does her heart. She's been through a lot, and it can get discouraging for her. Pray that God's peace and healing power would surround her as she rests. Please pray for endourance for Kay (Jo's mom) and I as we spend most of our days by her side. Pray that the way we (Jo, Kay, and I) handle sickness and health is a testimony to God's goodness through suffering. God is great, and Greatly to be praised!

Love you all! Can't believe we are so blessed.

Most updates from now on will be simply to say how her healing is progressing, and to share updated prayer requests.

Be strong in Christ,
Clint

Romans 8:18-39

ESVSB around the World!

If you have not yet looked into the new English Standard Version Study Bible, it really is amazing.  God has graciously brought together an amazing group of minds and hearts to better help His church, by His Holy Spirit, understand His Word.

It's pretty big though...

So massive, in fact, that it caused concern at the Frankfort Airport for Brother Campbell.  :)  They singled out his bag after the X-ray machine and had him pull out the monster resource.  My guess is one of the countries coming up may take it away.  Any bets?

Frigid in Philly...

Philly Cheese Steak!

After missing the more 'hometown favorite' we had to settle for the tourist trap version of the Philly Cheese Steak in downtown Philly.  mmmmmm.....  After the sandwiches, we got the soccer mom rental van tour of downtown Philly monuments. 

Chow Down in Obama Town

First stop on our trip around the world, Obamaville!  Had to have a Chicago SuperDog!  It was that or some Chicago style pizza that looked like it had been there a few hours too long.  Check out the frame by frame documentation of the chow down.