Zoe/Thanksgiving
Dear Friends and Family,
Let the
peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were
called to peace. And be thankful.
I wanted to start off this update with news on Zoe
because it will help make sense of our life and ministry right now. We got the
all clear from the hospital and she will be admitted on Monday morning November
28th. Normally they will take a day or two for tests and consultations, so our
guess would be she will be having the operation on the 30th or December 1st. We
won’t know for sure until we are in the hospital; and still we will not know if
they will be able to fix the problem with a balloon procedure or if they will
need to open her up again, until she is on the operating table. As many of you
know, Zoe was scheduled to have the operation on her heart at the beginning of
October but was not able to go because she got the flu. Pretty much from then
until about a week ago she has been sick with tonsillitis and bronchitis. As this
is high season for sickness here, we are in full quarantine mode; no one is
coming into our house and if Chello or I leave, we basically take a
disinfecting bath when we get home. On one hand it is good to finally have a
date, but on the other hand having a date makes this all very real. For the 4th
time in her short life, we will have to hand our little girl over to surgeons
and believe that God is completely in control.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love
him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew
he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined,
he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also
glorified.
Romans
8:28-30
Because of the kids being sick and the quarantine, we
have temporarily had to adjust ministry.
The life group we have in our house on Thursday nights has been put on
hiatus until Zoe is home and recovered. But as a life group we have adopted a
new ministry. We are working with the local homeless shelter to try and meet
some practical needs. Last month instead of having dinner together we fasted
and used the money we would have spent on food to buy socks and 40 packages of
ramen noodles. This Thanksgiving we have collected clothes and shoes from our
neighbors and friends to donate. Though it is a shame we are not able to meet
regularly we are blessed to have the opportunity to serve VK as a group in this
way.
And he
said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you
will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
While we are in Bratislava, Rocky will be staying with
Uncle Noah and Aunt Lucy in Lučenec. They are well aware of what they are
getting into after we stayed with them while our bathroom was being redone. I’m
sure Rocky is going to love being there playing with his cousin and getting
into all kinds of new things. It is a huge blessing to us that the other
Johnsons were willing to take him in.
We are going to be leaving for Bratislava a day early so
that we can give Zoe a fun day before going to the hospital. The poor girl has
been cooped up for more than a month only going outside a couple of times to go
to the doctor. We plan to take her to the Christmas markets to walk around and
see the lights and drink hot chocolate. Hopefully that will be the part of the
trip she remembers the most.
Rooted
and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and
overflowing with thankfulness.
Give
thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Prayers
requests
That the Lord will lead our steps and we will let him
For Zoe’s upcoming operation, wisdom for doctors and a
quick recovery for Zoe with no complications
God will continue to show Chello and I all the reasons we
have to be thankful and we will praise Him in all circumstances
Enter
his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and
praise his name.
I hope that you all have a blessed and wonderful
Thanksgiving. Know that you have given us so much to be thankful for over the
years and blessed us greatly.
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