Future and Film

This is a difficult post to write.  

Not because of Katie’s status - she’s recovering well, as I’ll explain a bit later (trust me, it’ll be worth the wait).  Not because there’s hard news that I need to tell.  Because I don’t want this to be misconstrued.  

Let me explain.

I’ve realized that this is just the beginning.  The real trick of this illness is the next 6-9 months of recovery and chemotherapy that will require Kate’s focus.  We have to throw away all the plans we had made for the year because this is more important.  I won’t have the time to do all the projects I had planned to do myself to keep our home in good working order.  So along with realizing these things, I’ve realized something else - 

I need help.  

That thought has been on my mind, and those words stare back at me as I type this.  I want to soften them: 

“If there’s anyone who might…”

“It’s not a big deal, but…”

“Perhaps…”

But I think they’re true.  I hope they are, because I don’t want to ask anything more from people who have not just stormed heaven, but have laid siege to it with their prayers.  From people who have stood in a multitude at heaven’s gate and pleaded on behalf of my wife and my family with daily prayers, fasting and sacrifices.  And that doesn’t count the people who have donated financially.  All of these are debts I can never repay.  

So it’s not something I take lightly when I share these needs, and I would not be doing this if virtually every person with whom I’ve spoken, texted, messaged, or emailed had not asked me what they could do to help, and said to call them if there was anything at all we needed.  

It’s not something I do with any expectations, either - except perhaps for your prayers.  As Mary at the wedding of Cana, who simply made Jesus aware of the couple’s need when she said, “Jesus, they have no wine,” my hope is to simply make our needs known and so to put them in God’s hands.  After all, as Rodeo season approaches here in Houston, I think it’s important to remember the words of the great Garth Brooks - “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”

So with that, I offer a short list of the things that weigh on my mind, and that I would be tackling myself if not for this illness.  My guiding principles here are to share things that:

a) We had already planned to do and had set aside some money for materials

b) I had planned to perform the labor myself and will not have the time to anymore

c) Cannot wait because waiting could result in more damage

1.  Re-plumbing our home’s supply lines.  A few weeks back, we found a small leak in a hot water pipe in the attic.  It caused some very minor damage to Kate’s closet (a small leak stain), and I had the pipe section removed and replaced inside of a couple hours with the help and guidance of Justin, who is an amazing friend. Our home is 50 years old, and we’ve known that the galvanized supply pipes in the attic would need fixing for some time now.  This recent leak reminded us that we cannot afford to wait.  While we’re were at it, we had planned to replace and relocate the water heater because it’s at least 5, if not 10 years past it’s expected useful life, and we are running on borrowed time before the thing spills boiling water all over our home.  I had planned to do all of this myself over a number of weekends, but I seriously doubt that I’ll be able to find the time now, meaning that we’re just waiting for a pipe to burst or the water heater to give out or rust out - neither of which are pretty pictures given our situation.  

2.  The fence - the fence between our yard and the neighbor’s is literally falling down.  I had to put up a 2x4 to brace it against our house just to make sure it wouldn’t fall on the kids as they play in the backyard.  It’s about 50 feet of fencing. 

3. The gutters - You may know that we had some water damage in the house last year on Sept 11.  The floors were ruined, the roof needed repairing, and insurance didn’t cover any of it.  The root cause was the gutters, so we removed the offending section, with plans to remove the rest “when things settle down.”  In our case, removing the gutters also involves removing the vinyl siding underneath and redoing the facia boards and soffits with hardy-plank.  

I think that’s the big stuff - the stuff that we knew we had to do this year.  If there’s something you feel called to help with, I guess reach out to me directly, or I’ll find someone to play the role of project manager.  Mostly, as usual, I just ask for your prayers.  

Alright - a quick update on Kate:

We’ve essentially started the clock over on her gastro recovery.  Get walking, get tooting, and everything else that follows.  The incision was bigger than we expected, so recovery from that is going to be booger.  Kate went walking three times yesterday, and the doctor challenged her to increase that to five times today.  Doc is very pleased with all her labs and her recovery so far, so she just needs to put in the work, which she’s excited to do.  

Which leads me to this.  This is something that I couldn’t resist getting on film, and after careful review, Katie agreed that the world should see it.  Shortly after the surgery, Katie was trying really hard to wake up.  She asked me to play soundtracks from classic movies, and this is what happened.  The volume is pretty low, so you’ll probably have to turn yours all the way up. 

Thank you for your prayers, we love you, and may God abundantly bless you!

David