A Story Of Faith......

I have without permission pirated these pictures from the post written by a dear friend of 36 years.  It is about a dad, father, and grandfather and a family of great faith. The Crouchs' were our neighbors and in the short two years we lived across the street from each other we became good friends.  We moved but we stayed in touch because we shared much.  One of the things we shared was a Catholic church...St. Josephs.  We saw each other at mass frequently.  We never missed and opportunity to visit after church.

Last week I was at a weekday mass where I saw the whole family in attendance.  To make this story that has so touched me brief I will just say that they had just gotten news that Bob was diagnosed with a large and almost always fatal brain tumor....a glioblastoma.  They were in church on a Tuesday morning to pray together and to receive the anointing of the sick as Bob faced a very difficult surgery.

I spoke with them after mass.  Bob was strong and steadfast in his belief that his life was in God's hands.  While the rest of the family and myself fought back tears, Bob smiled.  As he stated..."if I do not make it through surgery I will wake up with God.  How can that be bad?"

Oh to have such faith.

 When I got home from church that morning I sat down to send my friend a personal message being unable to express to her my thoughts as we stood there with Bob in church.  My calendar that day read:

"Mary and Martha were sitting at Lazarus's death bed waiting for Jesus to arrive.  They knew Jesus loved their brother.  They knew Jesus had the power to heal.  They knew Jesus would know what to do.  Though they struggled with fear and doubt, they had the underlying assurance that Jesus would eventually make everything all right."

You can read the words but do you dare to believe there could be hope?  If you have faith you do.

 Given six days to prepare for this, the family spent every possible moment together.  Amy did an amazing job of journaling and sharing pictures throughout the week.  They are part of a very strong faith community and prayers went up from everywhere for healing and strength.  

 This morning Bob held tight to his belief in God and the plans he had for him as he went into a five hour surgery.

 At 12:30 this afternoon the surgeon came in with the news....there is no tumor.  The tumor that was
measurable on an MRI a week ago was not there.  There was pus on the brain from a fungal infection and labs were sent out but there is no tumor.  How do you explain that?  If you have faith you know it was a miracle.  You know that there is more power in prayer than there is in the hands of a skilled surgeon.  We all know that sometimes Gods answer is not what we pray for and we don't always understand why..... but today this family can celebrate the healing power of prayer.

As for Bob....I think he believed all along.