A Prayer For Jill

Lord, we come with heavy hearts, humbly asking, imploring you to intercede on Jill's behalf. We do not demand, nor do we presume, but boldly in Christ we trust that you are sovereign and you are good. We ask for mercy now, not justice, not fairness. We ask that you would glorify yourself through the healing of Jill. Be with the doctors, help us not to trust in them. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord. Prov 21:31. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127:1. Help Scott to rest in you, trust in you, hope in you.
In Christ's name

Morale

I wanted ya'll to get an update on Scott's status right now. Currently he is in good spirits. He has asked for prayer multiple times and the fellowship has been sweet. His faith during this difficult time has been encouraging.
I asked Scott what he would like to say and he said:
"Thanks for praying and continue to do so. We have seen God's hand move throughout the day, and He listens when His people pray."
I'm sure he will be able to read the comments soon, he has read some, but is busy.
He is currently talking about Marky Mark, and NKOTB.

Update 10:50 Vitals are looking great!

They gave an update, and Jill's vitals are looking great. They are working on getting the blood coagulates regulated to get her blood to clot normally before they can begin to monitor her brain which will be the main obstacle to her recovery (if there is any obstacle). Scott is in good spirits and appreciates the comments. There are a TON of people up here with him, so he has a lot of support. Be in prayer for Jill's family they are not here yet. The short 1 hour and 45 minute trip for us seemed like an eternity, I coudln't imagine what an 8 hour trip would be like, especially going to see your daughter. Jill's parents just got here, and Scott is hugging them as I type.
I'll give another update soon.

Update at 9:45

Jill is out of surgery, and the surgery went well. She did have some internal bleeding from a nick in her liver and a hematoma inside. She is in stable condition right now, but by no means out of the woods yet. Continue to pray for them. I will pass these comments along to Scott, and he is very appreciative of your prayers and comments. They should be able to begin working on her brain situation soon, which is the main concern right now. Scott is doing amazingly well, full of hope and trust in Christ.

Here is what happened with Jill for those who are asking.

They were on their way back from a family reunion to do a wedding at El Dorado, they had a wreck and Jill was thrown from the car. They had to do CPR on her on the scene and rush her to the hospital. While they were at the hospital in Pine Bluff, they put her on a ventilator even though she was breathing on her own as a precautionary measure. They did a CT scan and it showed that there were some contusions, cerebral edema (swelling of the brain) and a subdural hematoma (bleeding from the veins around the brain). They airlifted her to UAMS at about 6 pm. Upon arriving they did an initial work up on her and she does have some bleeding in her abdomen. They have given her 7 units of blood, and are doing a lengthy surgery on her abdomen to find and stop the bleeding. The main concern is her brain at this point. We don't know how severe the damage is. The good news is that she was breathing on her own, she did not have any broken bones except for a small fracture in one of her lower vertebrates, and her vital organs are not damaged.

Update on Jill

Jill is at UAMS in Little Rock and is currently being prepped for surgery. She has some bleeding in her abdomen and they don't know where it is coming from. They are going to try to stop the bleeding and work on her head trauma. She has some hematomas in her brain along with swelling and contusions. She has received 7 units of blood, which means she goes to OR automatically. It is still very much a "touch and go" situation so please be in prayer.
Scott is physically fine, but is understandably upset. He trusts in our good and sovereign God.
Thank you for your prayers.
Jonathan

Urgent Prayer Concern

For those who may not know our pastor and family was in a bad car wreck earlier today. Scott and Bryce were not injured, but Jill was seriously injured. She is in a coma and has head trauma. They are worried about her brain right now, but the rest of her organs and body is ok. Please be in prayer for them. The doctors are meeting with Scott right now.

Happy Reformation Day!!!

I wanted to take time out of my busy day to thank God for Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. It is an amazing providence of God that a monk and a mallet changed the world in such a way. 491 years ago today he nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg. May we be so bold in our own day to stand up against corruption and error, with our pens ready, our minds sharp, our hearts breaking, and our joy unspeakable.
Semper Reformanda

Why McCain Deserves to Lose

You know my opinion. I want McCain to win, but he hasn't really convinced me that he wants it. I don't think he has convinced the American people either. Here are a few reasons why McCain deserves to lose the election.

1. He has been inconsistent on his main message. Not that he has said a bunch of contradictory things, but he has failed at developing and communicating a consistent message to the people of the United States (as my good friend Chuck Flurry pointed out to me earlier today).
2. He has been unable to clearly articulate his plan to the American people. It is a good plan, a workable plan, an affordable plan, but he just can't sell it to the people.
3. His campaign has been a disaster, and he hasn't done anything about it. Look at Obama's campaign, could they have done a better job? If it were possible I don't know how.
4. He has failed to reach the people that could have elected him, the middle class. This is the bread and butter of the Republican party, and he has conceded many of them to Obama.
5. I believe that things ought to be done in an excellent way, McCain has not met the level of excellence that I and most Americans expect.
6. He says the same lines over and over in the exact same way. It's ok to say the same thing over and over, but saying it the same way comes across as canned and disingenuous.
7. He hasn't defended himself as being different from Bush, nor the Republicans from getting ALL of the blame for the economic crisis. These two issues are the main reasons he is probably going to lose.
8. He hasn't communicated his compassion. Obama has done a great job at communicating his compassion for people, McCain has failed at this.

It's times like this that make me wish even more that Mike Huckabee would have won the nomination.

How Might McCain Win?

Here is the scenario (however unlikely)...

1. The markets continue to surge for the rest of the week. People forget about how bad the market is (was).
2. They begin to pay attention to Obama's socialist connections and get scared.
3. The conservative talking heads start saying how crazy it would be for there to be a Democrat in the White House and a Democrat controlled congress. Remember, the American people like gridlock, as my favorite Democrat commentator told me once.
4. McCain does a media blitz and clearly and passionately communicates his vision for America and why it is superior to Obama's.

Here are all the factors that will cause McCain to lose.
1. The economy and how the R is getting the blame for it. If the economy was doing well, McCain would be ahead slightly.
2. His connection to Bush (which is related to reason number 1).
3. His inability to clearly communicate his vision for America.

If something could happen to affect these three things very positively in the next 7 days McCain could win.

Will it happen? Not likely.

I put the odds of McCain winning at about 20-30% at this point.