Fighting for the my mum!

Well, I just had an absolutely fantastic weekend at Black Stump!! For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a big Arts, Music and Teaching Christian Festival...same kind of thing as AGMF (for those of you who know what AGMF is! :D ) only it's a bit smaller...there's not as many big bands there...but there's more teaching...which was AWESOME!! Anyway...I was really blessed to be able to go. My church paid for me to go because some of the youth were going. There were 22 of us all up (not all youth...families etc) and it was so great!! Not only was there fantastic music and challenging teaching, but the best part of the weekend was the awesome fellowship the 22 of us had! I've been here 5 months now and it was great to get away with a small group from the church and really spend some great time of fellowship with them! I was really blessed by the whole weekend!

On the way home, however, we stopped for lunch and I got an sms off my dad about my mum's surgery. Just to fill you in, if you're not aware already...my mum has been unwell for a REALLY long time! She has a bad back, bad hips, legs...you name it...she's been through it! She's been told that she will be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life very soon...it's just a waiting game now! It's been really hard on her physically and emotionally and really hard on us emotionally. About 7 years ago she had a surgical procedure done called a Laminectomy, in which an electronic device is implanted into her back to alleviate some of the pain in her back. However, within a year the wires came loose and they took it out. At the start of this year it was put back in. But in May she had a fall and she was in alot of pain...she thought that the device may have gotten damaged...after waiting a month to see a doctor, it was confirmed that the device had infact been damaged, much to her's and our dismay...this meant MORE surgery! So, about 2 months ago she had surgery to fix the device, however, the surgeon wasn't skilled enough, so he closed her up and told her she'd have to wait for a neurosurgeon to finish it. Finally, last week she saw the neurosurgeon and had surgery again...BUT...they messed up! They didn't do it properly! They had to do MORE surgery yesterday (Monday). It was alot more complicated than they expected. The doctor came out extremely exhausted and told dad that he had wanted to give up. There was scar tissue everywhere. He had to cut part of her vertabrae and placed electrodes in. She will be in pain for a while now...it will take up to 3 months or more to heal. We will find out more over the next few days as to whether the surgery worked or not. They've told her that if it doesn't work, there's nothing more they can do for her!

Mum has been through SO much it doesn't seem fair. But, she knows that God has asked her to carry this burden. He's told her to continue to rely on His strength because it's through His strength that she is where she is today. Still alive! God has shared with mum on a number of occassions the verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that says

'"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.'

And in Romans 5:3-5 it says

'...we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.'

Let me tell you...that's the hardest thing to do! To rejoice in our sufferings and in our trials. To persevere when your body is so weak and tired and you just want to give up. But mum just hangs in there and relies on the Lord's strength to pull her through...and He always does!!

In writing this blog I want to ask for your prayers! Pray for whatever you feel led to pray for...healing, peace, comfort...whatever God puts on your heart! But please...PRAY!!