Prayers

For those of you reading this who are of the praying type, prayers would be appreciated for my friend, Amber. After living and serving here for two years, she left this week on Wednesday to move back to America to get married. She was met at the airport in her home state yesterday by her boyfriend, parents, and sister. While they were still on their way home from the airport, her mother passed out and was rushed to the hospital.

She had a similar attack three years ago when it was discovered that her heart was very weak. Doctors recommended putting in a pacemaker at that time, but the family chose instead to let God be God. They have known about her weakened heart for the past three years and have known that an attack like this was probable, but in day to day life, their mom has always appeared healthy, making this attack seem very sudden and unexpected.

When she arrived at the hospital yesterday, she was put on a ventilator. The family made the decision to wait for Amber's brother in law to arrive at the hospital (he was in another part of the state at that time) and then to remove the ventilator. Doctors warned them against this, saying that she was not breathing on her own and that her heart was extremely weakened. The family chose once again to let God be God.

If I have my time zones correct, they should have taken her off the ventilator nearly two hours ago. I haven't yet heard any information at this time as to her mother's condition.

After three days of travel, Amber hasn't even made it home yet and is now in the hospital with her family. Needless to say, this is a hugely emotional time for all of them, but especially for Amber as she is jet lagged, tired, and dealing with the emotions of all the goodbyes she has said over the past week.

I know that Amber and her family are firm believers and that all their hope and trust is in Christ, even through this time. But even so, please lift them up in prayer. We are all part of the Body, and when one part hurts, we all hurt.

** Update **
Directly from Amber.

Hello friends, thanks so much for all your prayers, love and support. Mom's levels have stayed pretty stable for the last day or so, not a whole lot changing. The doctors say that she has some sort of brain function because she is breathing on her own, but other than that we don't really know or have proof of any other brain function. We know this is the end and are just waiting on the Jesus to take her home.
We are still in Wichita this morning and are hoping that mom can be moved to hospice care in Salina so that we are all a little closer to home. We were hoping that this could have happened yesterday and then at the last minute the plan changed and it didn't work out, still not really sure why. The doctors say that it could be anywhere from hours to days and for this reason we decided it would be best for the whole family if we could get her moved to Salina and only be 30 min from home as opposed to 1.5 hrs from home.
Everyone was able to shower and at least get a little sleep yesterday afternoon and evening, which we are praising the Lord for!! So thankful for friends that live close and have opened up their houses for us to come over and use. It's amazing how much difference a shower can make. =)
Anyways, I think we are all hanging in there. This has been really hard on dad as he was the one who made the call into 911 when everything happened and now he feels like the condition that mom is in is his fault, and he feels bad because he knows this is not what mom would want. Pray for him that he will be relieved of this guilt that he is carrying and know that God has a plan in all of this even.
Thanks again so much for the outpouring of love and support!!
-Amber

** The latest update **

We got mom moved to Salina around 1, and the doctor this morning said we were probably looking at another 24 hours. The nurse said earlier that they are starting to see more signs of death (there is a special term, but I can't think of it), so we are thinking that maybe tonight mom will finally get to see Jesus.

** The final update - Thanks to everyone for continued prayers!! **

From Amber this morning:

Heaven is a wonderful place...
And that is just where my mom is, in heaven worshiping her Lord and Savior. She is healed and worshiping Jesus, and I'm kind of jealous that she gets to see Him first. She was a great mom, wife, friend and she will be missed, but we know that God is, has been and will continue to be glorified through my mom's life.

We made funeral arrangements this morning and picked out cemetery plots this afternoon. Because of Thanksgiving the funeral won't be held until Saturday morning.

I think we are all holding up alright, I am quite tired and looking forward to hopefully getting a good nights rest tonight, my first real nights sleep since last Thursday night when I was in Jakarta before heading out. There is a lot to figure out in the weeks to come, finances, life, budgets and all that, but with the help of my sister, we should be able to get that all figured out for Dad. I am so thankful that I'm here to help Dad during this time . . . guess I'm going to have to teach him how to cook.

Thanks again for all your love and prayers, we are such a blessed family!

-Amber