When it rains, it doesn't pour in the Ross Family, it is an all out hurricane!
I intended for tonight's post to be one of just THANKS!!! However, this Divinely designed roller coaster has taken some unexpected turns today that I have to share with you. I learned this morning that my grandmother unexpectedly passed away from post surgical complications. Grandma Vee Bee was special for so many reasons, but the thing that I will always remember about her is her status as the worlds best prayer warrior. Anytime something big happens in our life, I want to make sure that Grandma Vee Bee knows about it so that she can be praying and recruiting her angel army of prayer warriors (that include missionaries all over the world, etc). As I was thinking about how much I am going to miss Grandma and her faithful prayers, I was reminded that she no longer needs to recruit other prayer warriors because she gets to take ours and everyone else's prayer requests straight to the throne. She can speak with Jesus face to face!
One of my favorite pictures of Grandma Vee Bee and Abigail!
About 20 minutes after hearing about my grandmother, I got a call from my dad that he was having chest pain and needing to go to the ER. He has had two quadruple bypasses to date, each 10 years apart and we are now 10 years out from his last one. Fortunately, it doesn't appear that he has had a heart attack; however, he has two areas of blockage and the same exact symptoms that led to his last bypass surgery. At this point he is still in the ER waiting for a bed to open up on one of the floors, so we don't have any further information. We are praying that if an intervention is necessary that it's something that they can do via heart catheter versus another bypass surgery.
Lastly, Grace had a better day today than yesterday, but after David posted the last blog post, Grace did more of the same shenanigans that won her the Oscar to begin with, so we are hoping she has a restful night and morning. As you know Grace is scheduled for surgery first thing tomorrow morning (we don't know what time exactly), but will you please cover her surgery and recovery in prayer? Please also pray for all of the details as it relates to the grieving of my Grandma's passing (she was truly loved by so many) and for wisdom, comfort, and healing for my Dad. Thank you sweet Village!
Second to God, there is nothing more important to us than family time and over the past couple of months our family time has been ripped to shreds and we have the scars to show for it. I never dreamed that being apart for Halloween, Andrew's birthday, Thanksgiving, and through the excitement of anticipating Christmas would be so hard, but it has proven to be a time when we have felt the effects of missing each other in every fiber of our being. Abby sheds tears every morning, every night, and sometimes even throughout the day because she misses her Gracie and daddy so much...
Today was one of those days that Abby cried at school during music because they were singing a slow sentimental song called "Things Change" and Abby said that it reminded her about the "change" that happened when Grace came home from the hospital and we were so excited and then she had to go back to the hospital for a long time. She also had tears in her classroom and her teacher talked through her feelings with her, gave her lots of hugs and asked Abby if she wanted to make a card for her daddy and Gracie (that was a perfect solution because making cards brings her all kinds of joy). Here is the card that she made…
Another one of God's richest blessings are Abby's teachers (and Andrew's too)! Both her homeroom and music teacher in particular are precious treasures to our family (so are the rest of her teachers, but I have the most interaction with these two). We always pray that God would hand pick our kids teachers each year, perfectly matching their needs for the year with their teachers gifting. God has showed off BIG time with her teachers this year (last year too :-) and there is no greater gift than to know that there are loving arms to hold my baby when she's sad and I can't be there. I have such a heart for teachers in general because they have one of the most important and profound jobs on the planet!
… therefore, the hope that you have given Abigail and Andrew, and the peace that you have given David and I that we can afford to make this trip a reality without fear of the financial strain is both priceless and perfect! The fact that y'all have sacrificially given to reunite our family in Boston for Christmas, second to healing Grace's heart (which we know is out of your league because that is God's business if it's His will :-), is our greatest need and is a mind blowing, heart warming, and tear-filled blessing for which we can't thank you enough! I wish that I had the time to send each of you a personal thank you card or even visit your house to hug you in person, but since that isn't an option under our current circumstances, Abigail, Andrew, and I are praying over each person/family that has contributed to this priceless blessing, including those that bought my sweet friend Summer's nail decals. We are praying Numbers 6:24-26 over each of you… "May The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace”’ and I would add "and make known to you the love and gratitude that The Ross' have toward you."
Please accept our deepest love and thanks! We will be sure to post pictures of our time together in Boston (Lord willing), to show you just how well your prayers and money were spent :-).
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