Update on Lonnie and Thank You for the Prayers!

I am a believer in the power of prayer and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for every prayer prayed for our beloved brother, Lonnie. 

Photo from our last Sibling Trip in 2018

Things did not look good for Lonnie on Friday.

Michele and I talked and cried and even laughed together on the phone as we prepared ourselves for what could possibly lie ahead....

Lonnie is only 66 years old and has had severe health issues for years.

He is a Christ follower and has been since he was a child.

Life has not been easy for Lonnie but the last 15 years have been the happiest of them all.

God saved the best for last for both me and my brother.

Michele, Deanie and I all met over at Nita's house this morning.

Nita drove us all to the hospital knowing that only one person would be able to go up and see Lonnie.

Michele was so gracious to allow me to be the 'person' to visit this day.

Lonnie is allowed only one visitor per day and then just for a few minutes.

While we were parked at the entrance, and I was about to get out of the car, Michele received a call from the staff giving her an update. This happened yesterday, as well. Michele's friend had driven her to the hospital and, while still in the car on the parking lot, she received an update from the doctor.

God poured out his grace when she arrived!

The update was encouraging.

Lonnie is still in ICU and he is still on a ventilator.

However, he is breathing on his own....meaning he decides when to take a breath as opposed to the ventilator doing all the work for him.

The nurse said he is more stable today than yesterday.

He is being weaned off the sedation slowly so as to gently wake him up as opposed to him being abruptly woken as in a fire alarm.

I went up to see him and he looked good.

He was not awake but he was resting and breathing well.....not struggling at all.

His color was good and he was not swollen, as he had been before.

I held his hand and prayed over him. I stood first on one side of his bed and then the other so I could hold both of his hands. I prayed with my hand on his head.....and asked the Holy Spirit to give him peace and comfort. I watched his face and he was not agitated at all but I did see eye movements and he would lift an eyebrow from time to time.

These were the most precious minutes of my day.

I was holding my brother's hand and talking to him and praying for him.....

and I thank Michele for the gift she gave me....I had not seen Lonnie since Christmas Day nor have I even spoken to him to hear his voice.

I left the hospital with a lighter heart and was so happy to be able to give a good report of his condition.

It's one thing to hear words from a doctor or nurse but it's another to see with your own eyes.

We went back to Nita's where she had prepared a delicious meal and, all of a sudden, we were all starved!

Salad, a pot of good seasoned beans, and Mexican cornbread mini muffins!

It doesn't get any better than this!!

Next to holding Lonnie's hands - my second biggest blessing was seeing my beautiful sister!

Deanie has had more than her fair share of health issues over the last 8 years and I was thrilled to see her looking so GOOD!!!

Leah joined us for lunch.....Leah being Nita's daughter.

You can see my Visitor bracelet here in the photo.

I am clipping it to my diary.

We ate lunch and lingered long at the table telling stories and recounting memories.

Michele said she needs to remember that Lonnie has NO clothes at the hospital.

I asked how so??

Well, it was shortly after midnight on Wednesday morning when it was obvious to her that Lonnie needed to go to the hospital. He refused to get dressed and refused to get in the car. So she did the only thing she could. Called 911!

The paramedics came and asked Lonnie to get dressed. They even tried to help him. Lonnie said NO!

The paramedics said, "No problem!"

Lonnie was wearing only a pair of boxer shorts.

The two guys got a blanket and wrapped him up like a burrito and said, "We've got you!"

And one of them picked Lonnie up at the shoulders and the other one at the feet and they hauled him out of the house and into the ambulance.

I must say, Lonnie did not take this well and, Christian though he is, he was giving them what for with his words!!

We laughed together and said we woul dhave so much 'material' to share with Lonnie when he gets better! He won't remember any of this!

It was a good day to be together.

Lonnie is not out of the woods and we do not yet know what the prognosis is.

But we do know that today was better than yesterday.

And we do know that we all love and support one another and we are so grateful for Michele.