Kairos: God's Special Time AND upcoming surgery

Wow! What can I say? The word "Kairos" is greek and means God's special time. And once again, our Kairos weekend at the prison was exactly that. It was an amazing weekend that can't quite be put into words. Thank you for your prayers, and cookies, and donations, and letters. The response I received was incredible. I even had people I didn't know even read the blog coming up to me with checks and cookies! Please know that your gifts and prayers truly made a difference. I know they made a difference for the 36 women God sent us for the retreat. My prayer and hope is that long term it makes a difference for the other hundreds of women there who didn't have the opportunity to participate. It's kind of cool that on Thursday afternoon we ask the women why they wanted to come to Kairos. We got some of the standard answers "I heard about the food", "People said I had to experience it" and the one they thought we wanted to hear "I want to be closer to God". But my favorite answer was the people who said things like "My friend came to Kairos last time and I wanted the change of heart she got". That's one of our goals, that the women we meet with with become positive leaders in the prison. Another goal of our ministry is that the women will form Christian community inside the prison. It was neat to watch the dynamics unfol where on Thursday and Friday, they looked to us, the team from outside the prison, for everything. And then by Saturday, they started looking towards one another, comforting one another when someone cried, encouraging one another, etc. I'd appreciate your prayers for the women still. They returned yesterday to their regular environment of life in classes, work, on the yard, in the dining hall, etc. And while I don't know exactly what they face and can't completely understand, I've been in there long enough to know it's a harsh environment they return to. Trust is someting not given easily by any of us, but it's almost unheard of in that type of enviornment. We spent all weekend encouraging them to trust God, but also to be vulnerable enough to trust one another and form community. They left with the resolve to try..but I know it's being put to the test BIG TIME this week. But I also know it's not an impossible task...with God's grace, Christian community inside the prison can happen. I've seen it happen.

As far as Hannah, she did great with my parents this weekend. She had a great time playing, shopping, building a bird house, flying a kite, and more. She slept well and only cried when she woke up from her nap in the car as my mom was bringing her home. She was happy to go to grandma's house and happy to come home. What more can I ask?

So, now we switch gears and prepare for surgery Wed. We appreciate your prayers. Hannah has a cold now, so I'm praying that does not affect the surgery. I'm going to have to call her surgeon tomorrow and update him on her. We will be in the hospital 1 night.