Tired!

Monday morning, Jan. 16th, we woke up exhausted from the day-before ride.  ( It seemed more like 15 hours at the end).  Not only did we still feel exhausted when we woke up, but we could see on Brad and Lynde's faces that they too were exhausted, not from a ride in a car, but a ride in life that they felt was out of control.  They had been doing the best they could to manage this September 2011 confirmed diagnosis of Lyme disease, but the food choices, the doctors, the insurance challenges, and just daily survival had worn them down.  Since April 2011, the first symptoms began to appear.  Lynde surmised the "critical tick bite" must have occurred in March when she discovered a tick on her body (although she never realized it bit her), along with a small red spot in the same area.  Little did she know this would change hers and Brad's life.  This is what brought the "sisters" to Tennessee, and here we were with a prayer and an idea of what direction we wanted to go in.  Our goal was to give the "kids" (I know, I know, they're 34 years old, but they're still kids to us) a reprieve from this menacing stress, and to devise a plan in the next two weeks, so when family left, they'd be able to survive a little easier in the midst of this horrendous trial.  Thelma and I  prayed on the way down to Tennessee several times, and when we arrived at Brad and Lynde's the four of us prayed again for God's direction.  It was the right way to begin, and has produced some amazing results.  James 5:16  "The earnest prayers of a righteous person (in Christ) has great power and produces wonderful results." Although exhausted, Monday morning, we prayed again, and began a plan of attack.  We would call churches, Brad would continue to call doctors and insurances, and we would contact the apartment complex to see if we could find help in Brad and Lynde's community.  Meanwhile, Lynde would just try and survive.  She had experienced three rough days before we arrived, and even on Sunday night, we watched her struggle through pain.