Together—Saturday, 9:30 am

Robert experienced no significant changes overnight, so we're using this post to share a little family information.

Immediate family members have spent a considerable amount of time at the hospital. We've had our own space in a conference room, where we can pull together and meet with visitors. Robert's wife, Tracy, and her three children - Brooke (15), Jedd (13), and Grace (10) - have been in a good share of the time. She has had to deal with a multitude of things, including insurance, business issues, and on and on. We are relieved to know that Robert's business, Morgantown Masonry, is in very capable hands and hasn't missed a beat.

Robert's mother, Verna (Vernie), has been a rock through this. It's cut deeply for her, as her first husband, Tom, was killed in a car accident at the same age that Robert is now (42), but God has been faithful. In fact, she spends about as much time encouraging distraught visitors as others invest in lifting her up! Her husband, Kenny, often comes in the evening.

Robert's oldest sister, Cindy, has been a regular at the hospital, along with her husband, Lanny (a school teacher), and son, David. Her daughters, Emily and Katie, are currently away. Between Cindy and Robert in age is his sister, Connie. She works out of her home as a medical transcriptionist, and has been in as much as possible, along with her daughters, Rachel and Rebekah. Robert's younger sister, Karen, has also been in much of the time, joined evenings by her husband, Joe, a dairy farmer.

Vernie, Cindy, and Karen are all RNs, so they get the medical updates from doctors or nurses. We (whoever is at the hospital at the time), go over the report, decide what is most important or relevant to include in the blog, come up with a theme and Bible verse, then post the blog. Vernie calls in for the early morning report and relays it before we put out the blog.

A big thank you to the many people who have visited, called, sent notes, prayed, spread the word, prepared meals, organized blood drives, etc! We are truly in this together. As we daily see graphic evidence of how intricately the body parts and systems must work together to be whole, we realize anew how fitting the analogy is of the church as the body of Christ.


From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 4:16