family and friends,

first of all i want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers and encouragement for me and jenny.  once again it is a privilege to see God's people coming together for another brother or sister in need, and this time it was me.  i am humbled and deeply honored by your acts of kindness, your words of encouragement and most of all your prayers and thoughts for me and jenny.  i was concerned for my lovely wife and how she would be able to handle me and would she be able to get rest from helping me.  well the Lord answers our prayers and concerns before we even try to figure out how to take care of it ourselves.  we were so blessed to have family friends be with us at the hospital for the procedure as well as visiting me.  a more pleasant surprise for me was that my mom showed up on the day of the surgery in pre-op.  WOW!!! what a surprise as i was not expecting any of my family (aside from jenny and my sister who are already here with me) to be able to make it.  seeing her made me feel better that jenny would have someone to help with me at home.  i am so blessed and thankful for my Godly parents who support us and come through for us when we need them. God is soooooo Good.  He knows and once again i am humbled at my arrogance of thinking i know what i need when He is already graciously taking care of it.

well the surgery went well.  the doctor came and talked to jenny after and said that everything looked good and that there were no complications to report.  i went into surgery at 8 and was out by 9:30 am thursday morning.  the post-op was another story.  the doctor, probably to protect me and to keep me from being anxious really never explained what i would experience or feel in post-op and what to expect for the coming days.  needless to say when i came out, i was in a lot of pain.  it's kinda freaky when you're groggy and you're in the recovery room and then they start to wheel you to your room through the hallways.  with the anesthesia still doing its thing and being in an unknown surrounding, it is a trip.  your mind just starts to think weird things and you only get glimpses of your surroundings as you open your eyes and then close them while they run down the hallway to get you to your room.  praise God that i also had my own room so once in my room the power of morphine came through for me.  let’s just say morphine and i became very good friends.  i was sad to leave morphine at the hospital...sigh... you will be missed my friend...i was pretty much on morphine for the first 24 hours and of course the dose kept increasing as time went on.  so i don't know if this too much info but i have to be able to burp and pass gas as they fill my stomach, esophagus and diaphragm with air to be able to do the work that they did.  so i had a lot of gas in my body and it tends to go all over, like in your shoulders and back and chest.  so it was very painful and discomforting when i could not burp or pass it out.  the dr. told me i would be out of the hospital by the next day but i did not feel comfortable leaving when i was still in so much pain, so i stayed till saturday.  they discharged me saturday afternoon and i came home and slept most of saturday.  sunday, i was able to walk around and eat some yogurt and chocolate pudding.  the first 2 days, i had some chicken and beef broth and a little jello.  needless to say, not the best way but a good way to start losing weight.  i lost 6 lbs in 3 days.  that's a good start i think, only 25 more to go... kidding... God willing as i start to feel better and my stomach can handle the food, i will be able to eat very small pieces of solid food.  i feel like a baby, going from liquids to pureed food to little pieces of solid food.  i'm just getting to the pureed part now. 

so today is monday and i'm feeling better as each day progresses.  i am thanking the Lord for His goodness and control over my life.  it's one thing to see your loved ones go through a hard time and it's another when you have to go through it.  different variables play a role in how you sin when it's you or someone else.  i was still thinking of jenny and worrying about her.  i was impatient.  i was anxious about going home.  so many times i failed the Lord in my trust. wow, i'm so thankful for His grace and mercy.  i know this is already long but it helps to have perspective in all that we go through.  as i was waiting for them to discharge me at the hospital, i started to walk in the hallway as this would help with the whole gas thing.  anyway there was a single woman who i would see walking and as i stood at my room door, she came by and asked if i wanted to walk with her.  she told me that she's been in the hospital for almost a month.  she is so frustrated and tired of being there.  she has a stomach issue where she has to be on a lot of antibiotics and they have not figured out why she's bleeding and throwing up.  she told that she sees my family with me and she wished she would have more family come and visit.  i felt so ashamed that i had a complaining attitude at all.  i am so blessed to have family and support and prayers.  we talked about hope and that we have a hope.  i also let her know that i would be praying for her and i want to pass her name on to you so that maybe you guys can pray for her and her recovery.  her name is Rubina.  she's not sure how long she will have to stay in the hospital but she was struggling.  so please pray for her if you think of her. 

i want to once again thank you all for your kindness and your prayers.  you are all loved and may God bless you as you serve others through your actions and words and prayers.  i will write again soon but i fear that i have written so much this time.  hope you made it to the end... God bless...

kenny

JULY 31 is here!!!  it is by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we have arrived one year exactly to the day jenny had her stroke and life saving procedure.  WOW!!! it doesn't seem real to me.  a whole year has flown by.  so much has happened in this year.  jenny and i have grown so much in this last year.  we have tried to remember each and every day what a blessing it is for the Lord to allow us to see another day together.  i am ashamed to say that there were also times where we forgot the Lord's goodness and providence.  but through it all, my best friend, my better half, my wife is still with me and continuing to improve physically.  the apostle Peter reminds us in 1 Peter of the trials and sufferings that await all Christians in their walk with Christ.  how real it has been for jenny and i to live out those very words of Peter and to be blessed by the trials which have come our way.  it is so easy to get discouraged in a world where the "SELF" is worshipped.  it is so easy to be preoccupied with taking care of oneself, having comfort and an easy life where we are healthy and secure.  it's not fun when trials and persecutions come, when we are out of our element, when we have to go through uncomfortable situations.  i just want to encourage you guys who might be in those situations, that in those situations you are in the best place possible.  in those situations if you know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, there is no better hands that you will be in when those trials come.  the Lord is teaching jenny and i both how to worship Him and to have a heart of thankfulness regardless of the circumstances.  and trust me, a year later, we are still learning that very same lesson day in and day out.  what is the most encouraging is that He will never leave us nor forsake us.  i can testify to the Lord's faithfulness in our lives not just because He allowed jenny to be here with me but also because of the grace and peace that has been produced within us through our trials.  in the end, it's not about me or jenny, it's about Him.  so at our one year anniversary, we praise you Father for your sustaining and ever loving presence in our lives and for allowing us the privilege of being instruments for your grace and mercy. 

i just wanted to post the latest on jenny's procedure.  we are praising God for his goodness and his protection over jenny and this procedure.  we are in the observing room for about 4 hours before we can go home.  the procedure went well, the doctor was pleased with what he saw.  there does not seem to be any problems or issues with what he saw.  jenny had a hard time sleeping or falling asleep during the procedure, but now that she's out, she wants to sleep.  i'm sitting here next to her as she is comfortably resting.  they have ordered some food for her.  she will eat very shortly and then we will just wait for a few hours before she can go home.  thank you again to everyone who have been lifting us up as well as this procedure to our Lord.  we are so blessed to have so much support and love.  will post soon... also you can go to jenny's blog at www.xanga.com/jennyarose where she has been updating more frequently than i have... i'm working on it... :)