This has been a rough and glorious day. Chuck had a hard, hard, hard morning and noon. His pressure support had been turned off. (This has to do with his vent setting. He needs pressure support.) Of course, we did not figure this out until 3:00. In any case, he could not breathe well, and as you can well imagine, he was having fits of anxiety. Blessedly, Tod was here early in the morning. I popped in briefly, sent Tod home, and prayed over spiritual attack. Unfortunately, the pieces of the puzzle were still scrambled and all I could see was anxiety attack. Chuck calmed, went to sleep, and I left for church. Blessedly, Stacie arrived soon after. Thank God for Stacie. She is an angel sent straight from heaven. Poor thing rode out the roughest part of the day with Chuck. Midway through the shaking, puking, writhing, anxiety-ridden escapades, John Condit popped in.

Sometimes I'm very sloooooow to see a blessing staring me straight in the face. Yesterday, I prayed SPECIFICALLY for a "Godly" man to come to Chuck. If Mohamed cannot go to the mountain....John Condit, a dearly loved friend from our home church, spent the day here with me and Chuck. He told me that during prayer time at church, he does his own thing....has his own prayer agenda. Chuck kept popping into his mind...thus he said, "Alright God, I'm going!"

Okay, so I don't get it at first. I didn't get that yesterday, in despair, I cried to God..."Look, YOU have got to bring someone. YOU have got to bring just the right person." Sure enough, God called John. Can you believe that I missed that? Seriously, John told me about Chuck coming to his mind over and over again during prayer. He told me that he knew he needed to come visit. And about 10 minutes later...I got it. "Hey!!!!! John, you are the answer to prayer!"

When I was telling John about my prayer, he cringed at the "Godly" man reference. "And you got me???" was his self-deprecating answer.

For all those of you who love Chuck and are able, please come visit. Your presence will let him know that you care. I know we all want to do more; to do something to ease his suffering. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is let him know you are pulling for him; that you believe in him; that you know this is tough but he'll make it through. Knowing that you care will mean so much. Pop in for a quick hi, a hand squeeze. Stay for a chat. Put your hand on him and pray. Sometimes I pray out loud, but often I just put my hand on him and silently pray over him. Oh, now that he's returned to his former junk-food-junkie-ways, you can bring a snack! Some days are better than others, and you can let that be your guide as far as how long you stay. Some days he's feels great and enjoys talking; some days he's weak and wants to sleep; some days he's axious and wants you to get the nurse; some days he's cranky and wants you to leave him alone. But he's our Chuck, and we all love him.