"My Heart is Full" / Another Cath this Week!

I had started this post several months ago, intending to update readers on Bradley's progress as he recovered from his open-heart surgery back in April. (If you have not read about his surgery on here, please feel free to read my previous entries in April.) It has been sitting as a draft, as I have neglected my blog very well. Here's a quick overview of the last 6 months (thanks to Twitter, and involving a lot of praise, which is always awesome):

 

 

His check-ups in June and August went very well. As you can see from the tweets, he is physically feeling better than he has in YEARS. He has also had no flutter since his surgery (at least no episodes have been recorded by his pacemaker). This alone is amazing. His flutter had gotten so bad before his surgery that his medicine was not able to control it anymore, leaving him feeling tired and sick almost all the time. Thank you Lord for this turn-around!

But what I really wanted this post to be about was the favor and goodness of God we have experienced during this time. The 2nd Saturday after Bradley's surgery, we attended the evening service at church. Afterwards we caught up with Steve Hardin, our very hyper, spunky campus pastor. He was so excited to see Bradley doing so well so soon. A sweet friend of mine, Amy, just happened to be standing nearby and she too was freaking about about how well Bradley looked. Steve prayed a passionate prayer over Bradley and he repeated this phrase several times and it just stuck with me: "My heart is full!" I believed that Steve's heart was full, as all of our hearts were, to the point of overflowing in that moment. Praise be to God from whom all blessings flow!!

We experienced an outpouring of love through this from our community. So many wonderful family members, friends, and strangers prayed for us and over us, brought us meals, mailed us checks, visited us at the hospital and at home, and saw that our needs were met. Such generosity and faithfulness has encouraged us and touched us deeply. The Lord was so gracious to us during that time, teaching me to be a better wife and mother. To be more patient and trusting. To be more gracious and serving. I look back at that season with such fondness. It is a marker stone in which I look back on and see the faithfulness of God.

I am getting around to posting this now because Bradley has another heart procedure coming up this week. On Thursday morning, October 27th, he will go in for a heart catheterization to measure the pressures in his heart to see how successful his surgery was. Oh, how we pray it shows a significant drop from his pre-surgery measurements. (He did have an echo done in June to measure the pressures, which showed good results, but it's not as accurate as a cath.) Please join us in praying for the following:

1. The pressures are down.
2. There are no complications from the procedure.
3. That he may be able to come off of several medications.
4. That the Lord's will be done and we gladly submit to that!

Thank you for your prayers and for taking an interest in our lives. We love you!

In Him,

Ashley