A Community in Action...

So, these are my friends Nathan and Adrianne.  They are wonderfully amazing people who have the largest hearts of nearly anyone i've met and have been an integral part of my community out here in CA.  I introduce them to you because the events of my past and next week greatly involve them.  

Last wednesday they found out that Adrianne has a small tumor in the part of her brain that controls her vision.  She had been having headaches and vision problems for several months and after an MRI last week, they were hit with the diagnosis.  They do not know if the tumor is benign or malignant and won't know until the surgery but it must come out either way.  Nathan and Adrianne are engaged and have the wedding planned for January 2nd in Iowa but with this news, the wedding is now going to take place here in Pasadena on Saturday... in 5 days.  

I would like to share how incredibly good God has been to these two in the midst of this very difficult time.  They were somehow about to have appointments to have an MRI, follow up with the neuro nurse practitioner and a neurosurgeon all in the same day.  Some of these appointments should have taken months to get.  They were initially told that the surgeon was booked until the end of January, but within a day, his schedule had changed and the surgery is now scheduled for December 10th... 5 days after their new wedding date.  Because of the pending surgery, Adrianne may not take any pain medication for her headaches but she hasn't had a single headache since last wednesday, the day of the diagnosis.  And, finally, after sending out a call for help to their community, 40 people arrived at his place last night for a "how to pull off a wedding in 5 days with no money" meeting.  To quote Nathan, "There's no budget... and by that we mean, There's no money".  Already, a church and honeymoon location have been donated and I'm excited to see how the community has come together and I think this wedding will truly embody their community better than anything that took months to plan.  

Nathan and Adrianne shared with us that when they were first engaged they wanted their wedding to truly involve their community but their words of caution are that you should be careful what you pray for... because God takes it seriously. 

Please keep them in your prayers over the next few weeks.  Pray that this wedding is everything they could have dreamed this day to be like (minus the brain tumor).  That she continues to have relief from the pain of the headaches and that the surgery would be successful. (With the surgery, aside from the risks of brain surgery, there is a chance her vision would be affected and a tiny chance she would lose all of the vision in her left eye). And for strength as Nathan is by her side as they spend the first few weeks of their marriage recovering from the surgery.  Thanks so much!