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Talking about this term in Church yesterday… Here’s the original.

At Church, Buddy has started preaching a series on Hope. The conclusion of this Sunday’s service consisted of “Cardboard Testimonies.” If you haven’t seen those before, it’s basically a procession of individuals who proclaim what God has done, and is doing, in their lives. It was incredibly challenging, seeing the people you know and love, and the situations that they’ve been born into or placed into, declaring that no matter the circumstance, their Hope is in God.

The video has just been placed online.

“Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground and worshiped. And he said, Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.

The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.”

Job 1:20-22

Diane passed away early this morning, at 2:15am.

We spent the remainder of the day finalizing arrangements, and letting others know. The toughest part, for me, was having to tell the boys. It was very difficult for them to hear.

Everyone seems to be holding up well, so far. I believe that everyone realized that Diane fought a mighty struggle, and is now in a better place, where pain and suffering are no more. My first mental image of Diane crossing over was of her being greeted by Jim, with his standard, “Hey, baby!” greeting.

As far as arrangements go, Visitation will be at the Sunset Funeral Home in Northport, Alabama, on 8/17, from 6-8pm. A service will be held at Northridge Baptist Church on Tuesday, 8/18 at 10am. Burial will occur at Elmwood Cemetery at 2pm on Tuesday.

Thanks to all of you for your messages, calls and emails. They’ve meant more than you could understand. I’d ask that you continue to lift up our family in Prayer.

Late Thursday evening, Diane’s heart went into an irregular heartbeat. Her blood pressure dropped dangerously low again. After some medication to regulate her BP, it bottomed out again. She was given a last ditch drug to raise it, but we were told she probably wouldn’t survive the night.

It’s 07:40 as I write this, and Diane’s BP is still holding steady. The drugs are causing that, but one of the side effects could be reduced blood flow to her extremities. This could further complicate her problems her leg.

The Dr. that stopped by earlier put her chances of surviving everything that has occurred at less than 10%. I ask that you remember us all in your prayers at this tough, tough time.

Diane’s in the ICU right now, for around-the-clock dialysis. Please pray that it will do what the Doctors are hoping, and not cause any further complications.

Wish I had better news to share.

Diane’s been following a treatment for her leg and foot which has consisted of IV and topical antibiotics. Some days have yielded better results than others. Today, the Dr. was not pleased at all with what he saw. There are some places where they are dangerously close to coming in contact with bones when they have to remove the dead / infected areas. If they do get down to the bone, there will be no choice except to amputate. The Dr. is not sure that Diane will survive the surgery.

To complicate matters even further, the dialysis graft which they’ve been using may have been damaged in yesterday’s dialysis session. They have also been having difficulty removing enough fluid from her body. One Dr. wants her to undergo a 24-hour dialysis process in ICU, but no one is sure that the graft which they are using will hold up to that level of stress. There’s a lot of discussion going on between the Emory doctors and Diane’s dctors about that issue.

Bottom line: At this point, Amanda believes that Diane’s recovery would be a miracle. Please pray with us.