"Prepare"

At the beginning of this year my husband and I got a very familiar message from God. We got the same message at the beginning of the year that Scott found out about his eye cancer. The message was one word long and the word is a pretty simple one..."Prepare."

Seems easy enough, right? The two times that God has given us this message, we have no idea what's coming, we have just learned that it means, "Hold on tight to Me(God) and the truths I have taught you." We found out this summer what prepare meant this time....so I'll give it to you in the shortest version I know.

It started out in the spring with my dad getting very sick. We weren't sure what it was and the dr's were baffled because they thought it was his gall bladder but found out it wasn't. My dad was convinced it was stomach cancer. We just knew he was very sick. Finally after weeks of suffering with throwing up, sleepless nights and lots of pain. He was finally diagnosed with an ulcer. He is now on meds and a special diet (I'm pretty sure he's taking the meds....can't say how the diet is going).

With that behind us we planned for our summer. It was gonna be a good one with lots of fun times. We went on vacation at the end of May/beginning of June to Minnesota and South Dakota. It was awesome.

While on our vacation we get a phone call that my dad was in an accident. I can't give details, but it was not just a fender/bender. He's ok, but very shaken up. We are ok as long as he's ok. Again, time to move on in life.

We get back from vacation and start our "real" summer vacation at home. That is until the middle of June. I'm outside practicing for an upcoming concert (without my phone). Martie runs outside yelling, "Michael and Destinee were in an accident!" Thinking it couldn't be that bad or we would have gotten an emergency phone call (hmm...phone was inside...??), I call my mom and ask what's going on.

She tells me that they've been trying to call and that yes, Michael and Destinee were in an accident. That Taydem wasn't with them and that they don't know any details except that a first-responder called them and told them to get here asap.

I go into panic mode. Then a person that knows Michael and Desi comes over and shares with me that she just found out they are life-watching my brother to Wichita, but still no details.

To make a long story short, my brother and his wife were in a very serious accident where they were both thrown out of the vehicle. Their son was not with them (and we ended up taking care of him for a short while). Both of them ended up being flown to Wichita. Many broken bones and a few surgeries for both of them. They are currently at home and as far as I know now, my brother is doing well and Desi is making progress but still not fully recovered (will take awhile).

Ok, that's enough to make you go, "wow! What a summer!" But I'm not done yet. Shortly after the accident a situation with my dads accident brings that one all back up again (sorry, can't share details). This summer has not been good on my dad's ulcer.

I did have one good hospital visit so far this summer. My sister-in-law had my nephew Chaseton. He's such a cutie and looks just like his dad. He's one of the bright and sunny moments of our summer.

Not too long after this, a member of my husbands family finds out they have cancer....not sharing any other details at this moment. And all the while Scott's dad has had hip issues from a previous hip replacement. He's planning to have a surgery at some point to fix things.

Things are going well, I'm thinking it's all looking up. I'm at work one day and since all is going well, I don't have my phone with me (it's in my purse). The store phone rings. It's my mom to tell me that my Grandma from Minnesota has passed away suddenly. So, we pack up quick and leave the next day for Minnesota where I sing at my grandma's funeral.

Did I mention that on the way up to Minnesota we visited my father-in-law in the hospital because he just (the day my grandma passed away) had his surgery on his hip. Unfortunately, when the dr does the surgery he finds that it's very infected and he has to clean it up instead of just fixing the hip. But all is well, they cleaned it out, he'll stay a few days in the hospital and then be ok till they can do another hip replacement.

Get back from Minnesota and the same day we get home I have a concert. We find out that my father-in-law is not doing well and has developed pneumonia. Within a day he's in icu and not breathing well on his own. He does eventually have a breathing tube in so he can actually breathe. My husband spends a couple days at the hospital with his family helping to get his dad better.

Well, his dad got better, got the breathing tube out, is out of icu and at another hospital in the town he lives in. He's recovering as we speak and looking better everyday.

And so far, that's our summer. I'm really looking forward to school starting. And I'll be honest, the next time I hear God say, "Prepare" you can bet I'll be preparing much better than I did the last two times.