Today . . .

Today would have been my parents 43rd wedding anniversary. I miss him so much.

Our Family Pictures (8/06)

Dad and Mom

(back row) Buddy, Bonnie

(front row) Billie, Dad, Mom, Brandi

The whole family (excluding my hubby John)

Grandpa and Grandma with their 10 grandkids!

All these pictures were taken this past August. What a gift from God!

We are home!

Thank you all for your prayers for travel. We made it home safe and sound. We got up Friday morning and left at 5 a.m. our time and got in last night around 6:30 p.m. We made very good time and had wonderful weather. We were shedding our coats, hats and gloves by the time we got to Tennessee. It is going to be 71 here today and sunny!
It was so hard leaving Indiana and my sweet mother. My sister Billie and her family will be there with mom until the 12th and Lynette and the girls fly back to Orlando on Monday. Of course my brother and older sister live around mom, my sister living down the street. We have so many friends and family there as well so I know mom will be taken care of. God has provided everything she has had need of and I praise and thank Him for that.
Dad's funeral was beautiful. The presence of the Lord was overwhelming. The granddaughter sang "He's Always Been Faithful To Me" by Sara Groves. This is the song we all were singing everyday while in the hospital. It brought us such comfort and reminded us that God is faithful and he will continue to be! Then, Alex, my sister Billie's son, sang 2 songs and did really good. He played his guitar for one song. He just learned how to play the guitar and is doing really well. I sang a hymn melody with, "On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand, 'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus, and Blessed Assurance". Then after John did an amazing job preaching the salvation message, we had a congregational hymn, "Amazing Grace". Dad and Mom's pastor, Rev. Brown also did a great job leading the funeral service and telling us how Dad was a servant. Dad was always helping others!
Thank you to all of you who served our family in anyway. Thank you for your continued prayers for mom and us kids and grandkids who will have sad days ahead. Just coming home to my house here in Crestview and standing in the kitchen, I was reminded of when Dad was here cooking his delicious ham for Christmas dinner and realized he would not be coming to visit us any longer and we would never watch him prepare that big 'ol pig for us. You see, we would all watch dad prepare the ham then when it was done we would all have a "sample" with him. Sometimes one of us would make it to the ham before him and when he would go have himself a little taste he would see someone had gotten into it and would say "Hey! Who's been in my ham?" We just couldn't resist it! I cherish all the memories of my dad. He loved being with his kids and grandkids and made it a point to see them when he could. I am so thankful that I got to spend November and December with my paretns. That was such a gift from God to me and my kids. Here are a few pictures of that ham I was talking about.

Obituary

Howard J. 'Bud' Smith Sr.
Aug. 21, 1946 - Feb. 23, 2007

GAS CITY - Howard J. "Bud" Smith Sr., 60, went to be with the Lord at 5:03 p.m. Friday in Lutheran Hospital, Fort Wayne. He was born in Grant County to the late Ora and Susie (Knight) Smith. He married Sandra Timmons on Dec. 6, 1965, and she survives. Mr. Smith enjoyed spending time with his family. He also enjoyed old cars, western movies, John Wayne, and Gaithers Homecoming. He loved the Lord and his Church. He was a member of the Upland Christian Center, and the Glass Bottle Blowers Association. In addition to his wife, he is survived by children, Bonnie (Greg) Watson, Gas City, Howard J. (Leanne) Smith Jr., Marion, Billie (Jerry) Thompson, Cabool, Mo., Brandi (John) Lenfestey, Crestview, Fla., and a special child, Lynette Smith, Orlando, Fla.; sisters, Anna Purvis, Ark., Rose Vogan, New Castle, Penn.; ten grandchildren, Casey, Chrissie, Cortney, Brittany, Cassie, Johnathon, Alexander, Justin, Nicholas and Kristen. He was preceded in death by brothers, Clyde Smith and Gene Smith; and sisters, Esther Gerstoff, Evelyn Williams and Carol Simpson. Services are at 10 a.m. Thursday in Healing Heart Church of God, 2701 S. Western Ave., Marion, with the Revs. John Lenfestey and Paul Brown officiating. Arrangements were handled by Owen-Weilert-Duncan Funeral Home, Gas City Chapel, 200 N. 7th St. Visitation is from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in the funeral home. Online condolences may be made to http://www.owenweilertduncan.com/. Originally published February 27, 2007

Information you might need

We have had several ask about a funeral dinner and how they can help. It is being planned by Teresa Meyer, mom's cousin and it will be at Hillside Wesleyan Church at 26th and Home Ave. in Marion immediately following the service. If you would like to help in any way please contact Teresa at: (home) 765-662-0513 or (cell) 765-661-4850.

Also we have been asked about memorials and where to send money in leiu of flowers and also where to send sympathy cards. We don't have any memorials set up but if you would like to send cards with any helps, you can send them to the following address:
Sandra Smith
412 E. North D Street
Gas City, IN 46933

Thank you all for such kindness you have shown our family. Today is mom's birthday so we plan on having cake and ice cream at 7 p.m. at mom's house if those who are local would like to come, you are welcome to come! We love you all so very much.

Arrangements

Here are the arangements for Dad.

Owen-Weilert-Duncan Funeral Home
200 N. 7th Street
Gas City, IN 46933

(765) 674-4400

Viewing will be Wednesday at the funeral home from 2-4 then 6-8 p.m.
The funeral will be at the Healing Heart Church of God, in Marion, IN. on Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m.

Thank you for your continued prayers for our family. We love you all so much.

No more sickness, no more pain . . . .2/23/07

Dad went to be with the Lord today at 5:02 p.m. He went very peacefully with all of us around his bedside singing, then telling him how much we love him.
We are all doing okay and mom's strength is amazing. God has taken such great care of our family and we thank you all for your prayers for us during this time. We ask that you continue to pray for our family. We love you all so very much. Here is the words to the song we sang to Dad around his bedside. It reminds us to rejoice, knowing that Dad is with Jesus and loved ones gone on before.

What A Day That Will Be

There is coming a day, when no heartache shall come. No more clouds in the sky and no more tears to dim the eye. All is peace forever more, on that happy golden shore. What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see. When I look upon his face, the one who saved me by his grace. When he takes me by the hand, and leds me through that promise land, what a day, glorious day that will be.

Ther'll be no sorry there, no more burdens to bear. No more sickness, no more pain, and no more parting over there. And forever I will be with the one who died for me. What a day glorious day that will be.

Lord, thank you for your grace. Thank you for allowing Dad to pass so peacefully into your arms. Thank you for giving us all strength and unity and love for each other. I ask you to guide us and lead us these next few days and provide everything mom needs. We love you and thank you that Dad is with you, in Heaven. . . . . Amen

Dear Lord,
I thank you for another day of your amazing grace to me. Lord, I fail so miserably and you so graciously forgive me. God I ask you to help my family tonight to seek you and your will for our family and for Dad. Our hearts break to see Dad like this and we know you will not give us more than we can bear and you will supply enough grace to see us through. Lord, as mom and us kids have to make tough decisions, I ask that you will give us peace in those decisions. Lord, I thank you for my family and I praise you that we are able to communicate our feelings and thoughts and actaully love each other afterwards! Thank you Lord for your kindness and mercy! Thank you for my mom and her love for us kids and our love for her. We love you and praise you in all things. . . Amen

Change of Plans

Well, we were back to Marion last night when my sister Billie called and said the nurse talked with them and was very honest with them. She was trying to prepare Mom that the doctors will be asking her hard questions in the next couple of days. They are doing some more testing today and we hope to find out more information. I will update more later today when I have more information. I just wanted everyone to know that John and I didn't leave for Florida after all and we are here with mom at the hospital. Thank you for your continued prayers. Thank you for all your comments on this blog. I read them to mom daily and they have brought so much encouragemnet to us all. And Julie, thank for what you wrote. That blessed mom so much and we all had a good laugh remembering those Sunday mornings waiting on mom in the van with Dad. That was so funny!

Lord, thank you for friends who stand in the gap with us. Thank you that you use our friends and family to bring us encouragement when we need encouragement. You are so kind to us and we do not understand why you are so good to us. But we thank you and we praise you for who you are and how you care for us. I pray that you help us through this day and give us clarity in knowing what to do and wisdom in decision making. Help mom today to continue to draw from your strength and help us bring her comfort in this difficult time. We love you so much and we know you have planned each new day for us and we give this day to you. Be with Dad and touch his body and heal him we pray. Nothing is too difficult for you . . . . your will be done. Amen.

Just wanted to request prayer for travel mercies for my family as we head back to Florida. I really am torn as to what to do, as I want to stay by mom and dad's side. We don't know how long this will last and what the future holds. I feel I need to get my kids back home and back to a schedule and John needs to return to work. So, I am going to go with them and if needed, I will fly back. My sister Billie is here with mom 24/7 as her family returned to MO. today. My sister Bonnie is here as well in the afternoons after work. My brother comes up when he can. Lynette and the girls are here and they are suppose to fly back to Orlando tomorrow, although they do not know what to do either so that is still questionable whether they will go back tomorrow or not.
I will still be updating this blog but tomorrow I will be traveling so I won't be able to update it until Friday. You can feel free to call any of us for information if you need to.
They decided to hook Dad up to the EEG machine again today and have it ready for when they start decreasing his sedation either tonight or tomorrow. It was when they would wean him off the sedation when he would have seizures so if this happens again, the EEG will track that. So please be in prayer that tomorrow Dad will wake up and have NO seizures! God is able! Thank you so much for your prayers. We love you all. We cannot thank you enough for your thoughtfulness and kindness to our family.

Lord, watch over Dad and heal him I pray. I pray that your will be done with his life and with ours. We all love him so much and it is so difficult to see him lay there. I pray if it is your will for Dad to wake up, he will do so without any difficulties and be seizure free. We know you are able to heal and we ask you to do just that. Give us all a fresh since of your presence and clarity in decision making. I ask you to wrap your loving arms around mom and that she feels your presense with every move she makes. Give her courage and strength to deal with the doctors and help her to know your will so she has peace in any hard decision she has to face. Watch over my family and bring us closer to you and to each other through this. I love you Lord and I thank you for all you have done for us. You are worthy to be praised no matter our situation. Our joy comes from you and not our circumstances! Thank you for that! . . . . . Amen

Wednesday, February 21, 2007 AM

Neurologist came in the morning and said they wanted to decrease sedation medication but Dad's blood level (for seizures) needs to be higher before they can do that. So they are increasing the seizure medication throughout today to get it up to the max amount then tomorrow if his levels are up they will start decreasing the sedation medicine 10mcg every four hours to see if he will wake up or if he will have any more seizures. His temp is down and his blood sugar is under control. He appears to be resting comfortably. I noticed he is more swollen today from all the fluids they are giving him. His hands were really swollen. They do not know what to expect from Dad when they take him off the sedation. They do not know the extent of the damage to Dad's brain. The doctor told us today that Dad's condition is grave. But we know that those are man's words, although gifted by God as a doctor, God is the only one who knows the plans he has. We ask that you continue to pray for a COMPLETE healing. We know God is able to touch Dad and heal him! We ask you, our friends, to pray for us that we will have clarity in what decisions to make. Alot of us are here from out of state and we are just in limbo. Thanks to all of you. We love you all so much.

One of my favorite pictures of my Dad

Feb. 20, 2007

Well, not much change today. They finished the EEG and took that off of him around 4 pm today. We will not know the results of that test probably until tomorrow. Dad's temp was down to 99.4 tonight and his blood sugar was really good. They didn't have him on a diabetic diet through his feeding tube until my sister in law Lynette brought it to their attention! They had been having to give him so much insulin. Now his blood sugar is back to normal and they are giving him his normal insulin again. He is very sedated. He hasn't responded to us or the nurses today. He seems to be resting comfortably.
Thank you all again for your continued prayers. We hope to know more tomorrow and we pray it is good news.

Dear Lord,
We thank you for today and that Dad is still here with us. We pray you watch over him and continue to keep him safe through the night. Thank you for your presence and for the many believers that are praying along with us. We trust in You and we know your plan is perfect. Please give us your comfort and patience and also wisdom in dealing with the doctors. We love you and praise you for all you have done. . . . . . Amen

Febuary 19, 2007

Psalm 31:24 - "Be strong and let your heart take courage all you who wait for the Lord."

Dr. Cashman came in the morning and and flushed the catheter in Dad's brain so it is now measuring brain pressure properly. It was as high as 18 and now is down to 3 so we are pleased with that. He started weaning Dad off the Diprovan and tried to wake Dad up. Dad wouldn't wake up but the doctor said it could take a couple of days but there was no neurological reason as far as his brain why he has to be in a coma.
At 11:30 this morning Dad had another seizure and it lasted for 30 minutes. They had to increase the meds again along with the vent so he is pretty sedated once again. His fever spiked to 104 as well. They gave him Tylenol and put him back on the cooling blanket.
At 5 pm, we went to see him again and his temp is down to 101.2 with the cooling blanket on him. That cooling blanket is set at 40 degrees . . .burr. They hooked up an EEG machine to him to see if he is having any seizure activity that we can't see. This will allow the doctors to get a better understanding why dad is having seizures. It seems everytime they try to wean him off the sedation medicine, he has a major seizure. He seems to be resting comfortably and his color looks good tonight.
Thank you all so much for your emails and comments here on this blog. They have brought such encouragement to us. One email from a friend in Orlando was so encouraging. God had impressed upon her heart to intercede for Dad and after reading my blog realized the same time God had impressed on her to pray, it was around the time Dad was having a seizure! Thank you for obeying the Lord and interceding! Another email was from a friend in Fort Walton Beach who's husband was deployed to Irac a few weeks ago for the 3rd time. He was reading my blog and he and other Christian soldiers begen praying for Dad. Thank you so much for your prayers! That meant so much to us knowing you men are putting your life on the line for us yet would take the time to intercede on behalf of our Dad.
We love you all and we can never thank you enough for all your prayers and care for us during this time. May God receive all the glory!

Dear Lord,
I pray you would continure to watch over my Dad tonight. I pray the seizures would not return and they can begin to wean him off the sedation meds once again and that Dad will respond well to that. I pray Dad will wake up! Watch over mom and continue to provide for her. Thank you for your presence and how you have cared for us thus far. Your love is so amazing! We trust in you and we pray your will be done. . . . Amen.

Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007

Dad made it through the night with no more seizures. The neurosurgeon came in this morning and said that they were weaning the sedation meds down again to see if Dad would wake up. His foot would respond to stimuli at times and at others times he did not. He wouldn't open his eyes or squeeze our hands at all. He spiked a temp again and his hemoglobin was down again to 7.6 so the gave him 2 more units of blood. While we went back to visit at 5 p.m. the nurse was shaving him. He began to have tremors so they gave him more seizure medication and increased the sedation medication again. He calmed down quickly this time and was resting comfortably again.

We look to scriptures daily to give us strength. God is our refuge!
Psalm 46:1 - God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:10-11 - "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Dear God,
I thank you for today and how you have brought us all back together. I thank you that you love us so much that you sent your son to die for us, taking the wrath we deserve. Your love is a mystery to me and I will never understand why you would choose to love a sinner like me. I thank you for the blood of Jesus that forgives me daily of my sin. You are my refuge and I take comfort in knowing you are my God and Savior! Lord, I thank you that you love my dad even more than I do and that his life is in your hands. Thank you for extending to him this amazing grace that I stand in awe of. You are worthy to be praised and I give you glory for all you have done and what you are going to do. I trust in you and I know you will continue to be faithful to those who love you. I pray you will touch mom tonight and encourage her. Reassure her of your love for her and bring her peace only you can give. Lord, you are an awesome God and I love you with my whole heart. I pray all of this in Jesus name . . . . Amen.

9:52 pm Sat.

Well, on the way home tonight my sister in law called and said that dad had another seizure and it lasted 35 minutes this time before the nurse got him calm. The nurse was giving him a bath and had rolled him to his side to wash his back and he started having the seizure. They gave him more of the seizure medicine that they were trying to wean him from earlier and it finally stopped. His temp. then went up to 102.7. He is on the cooling blanket again and they gave him Tylenol. John was going to turn around and take me back to just stay the night, but the visiting hours are over at 9 and we cannot see him through the night. He just thought I would want to be close. It isn't that I don't want to be there, but I have placed Dad's in Christ's hands and I have complete peace and comfort in Him! My sister in law and my sister are there with my mom along with 2 of my nieces and they all are so wonderful to mom. They have served her so graciously and with such a servant's heart. To them I say, I love you and I thank God for you!

Dear Lord, watch over my dad tonight. Wrap your loving arms around him and let him feel your presence with him. I pray you will continue to bring down the swelling on his brain and that you will protect him from more seizures. Continue to give his caregivers wisdom and a caring attitude for Dad. I pray if it is your will, that you will heal him right now where he lays. But Lord I also trust you and your plan . . . if it is your will to take him home to be with you, then I pray that you take him quickly. Whatever your will is . . . .that is what I ask of you. Bring glory to yourself through this. Lord I also pray you will open up my brother's eyes and that he will repent and call you Lord. Use us Lord . . . . "whatever it takes". Lord, that was my father's prayer a couple of weeks ago . . . . grant it Father I pray. ~Amen

Saturday evening, Feb. 17, 2007

I wanted to give an update tonight since I am about to travel south back to Marion for the night. Dad has had an okay day today. Lynette talked to his nurse tonight for an update and she said Dad still has his fever of 102. They just put the cooling blanket back on him to try and get his fever down. They did sputum cultures today to see if he has pneumonia or infection in his lungs. They also changed out the ventilator to a less pressurized one since dad was fighting the other one so much. He appears to be resting a little more comfortably with the ventilator. The nurse said she will possibly do blood and urine cultures in teh morning if his temp remains elevated. They are going to do a chest x-ray in the morning as well.
We do have a praise report of God's faithfulness! One of my brother's freinds from his teenage days and his wife came up to visit this afternoon and said my dad means more to him than we would know. He said if it wasn't for my dad, he wouldn't have had his first car! He said he saw dad at the bank a couple of weeks ago and they stood outside and talked for over an hour. He told mom if she needed anything at all to call him. He kept asking mom about the hotel she was staying in, if she needed him to pay for her hotel. Of course mom was saying, "no, I am okay", but he kept on asking and found that tonight was the last night the hotel was paid for. My brother has paid for it all week. Anyway, mom got a call from Rich's wife Missy after they left and she told her that they went by the hotel and paid her room up until March 1st! What a blesssing! God provides in ways we would never even think! He is so faithful! We have seen his hand at work in every circumstance. There is a song we keep singing (my whole family sings!) and it has brought us such comfort! Here are the words.

He's Always Been Faithful To Me ( by Sara Groves)

Morning by morning I wake up to find, the power and comfort of God's hand in mine. Season by season I watch Him amazed, in awe of the mystery of His perfect ways.

Chorus: All I have need of His hand will provide. He's always been faithful to me!

I can't remember a trial or a pain, He did not recycle to bring me gain. I can't remember one single regret in serving God fully and trusting His hand. (back to chorus)

This is my athem this is my song. The theme of the stories I've heard for so long. God has been faithful, He will be again. His loving compassion it knows no end! (back to chorus)

Lord, I thank you for your faithfulness to us. Thank you for all your blessings you have given to us. Thank you for watching over mom and caring for her and being her strength! Continue to watch over Dad tonight and keep him in your care. I pray his nurse would be caring and attentive to his needs. Give the doctors and nurses wisdom in caring for Dad. Watch over our family as we travel to different places, and bring us back safely together in the morning. I love you Lord, with all my heart and I praise you in the storm! You are faithful!!! ~Amen

It's been one week . . . .

Well I can't believe it has been one week from today that Dad had his accident. We have been camping out at the hospital and so many friends and family have came along side and comforted us. We are so thankful for your care for us. Thank you to everyone who is continueing to pray for Dad and our family.

Well yesterday we had a rough day. Dad had a major seizure that lasted 30 minutes. A typical seizure would last 30 seconds to 3 minutes. It was a horrible thing to see him go through. They got the seizure stopped but had to more than double the seizure medicine he was on. He is in a deep coma now. He is not responsive at all even when they do their "vacation" from the medicine to evaluate him. He has spiked a temp today of 101.8 so they are trying to get that down. We are not suppose to touch him or talk to him because they do not want any stimulation to his brain at all for awhile. The doctor said that if Dad doesn't have anymore seizures they may try to wake him up come the first of the week. The swelling on his brain is still a concern as well. Dad is very swollen today from all the fluids.

We thank God for his care for Dad and for us. We know that God is using this for His Glory! We may not understand it all but we trust Christ! Continue to pray with us and we love everyone of you!

Prayer for my Dad

Well the kids and I made it safe and sound to Indiana. Now we know we were here for more than painting but in God's kindness he brought us to Indiana so we could be here for our family. You see, Saturday Feb. 10th, my father was unloading some furniture into their new home off of a flat bed trailor that was backed up to the front porch, when he lost his footing and took a hard fall onto his back, hitting the back of his head on the house on his way down. He went unconsious and my brother in law called 911. I got down on the ground and began praying for him. After the ambulance got there dad came to. He answered all the questions correctly they asked him and so they thought he would be okay. Dad declined the ambulance and my brother in law took him in his truck to the ER. We all followed behind and called family on the way. We were in our ER for 3 1/2 hours before they even did a CT. Right after the CT the doctor came in and said dad had a bleed and it was pretty bad and had to rushed to Fort Wayne, IN to Luthran Hospital to have immediate brain surgery. We all took off for the hospital and on the way mom and I were in my van and caught up with the ambulance because it was sitting along side of the road. They pulled over to work on Dad. He had stopped breathing. We sat there for 15 minutes praying for God to heal him! They intabated him and got him back and then went onto the hospital. When we arrive to the hospital the surgeon took us back and told us that Dad would probably not make it through surgery that the bleed was on both sides of his brain and since Dad was on Plavix, a blood thinner for his heart, that he wasn't sure if he could even stop the bleeding. He said if he did stop the bleeding that dad would most likely start bleeding again. And he said if he made it through surgery he could be brain dead, or paralyzed. Well, Dad made it through the surgery and he is NOT brain dead and he is NOT paralyzed! God has answered our prayers! Dad had been responding to us by moving his toes and squeezing our hands but he has not opened his eyes at all. Yesterday we got report from the doctor that Dad isn't doing as well has he had hoped and that the swelling on Dad's brain wasn't getting smaller. There is a cluster of blood that shows up on the CT from his surgery. He had so much bleeding that they couldn't help but leave it in there. He said it isn't putting pressure right now on his brain but if the swelling didn't start to go down they may have to go back into surgery and take out that cluster of blood. The medicine they are giving him to take the swelling down is making his blood thicker so they also said if his blood gets too thick, they will have to go back into surgery. The lung doctor came in and said Dad's lungs are doing great and there is no sign of infection there. So that was good news. Also his kidney's are doing good and his urine output is good.
Today we sit and wait for each visitation time to go back and pray for him. We know God is able to heal him and he can walk out of this place. We trust God and we know this accident didn't take him by surprise and that it was planned since the begininng of time. We don't always understand God's plan but we trust him! We know all things happen to bring glory to our Savior so we know God's will, will be done and He will be glorified through this!
If you are reading this and you do not serve Christ, I ask you to search your heart. God loves you so much. He wants you to turn from your sin and cling to Him. We have so much comfort knowing that Dad not only believes in Christ but he has a relationship with him. You see it isn't just about saying you belief in God but it is living for him, every day with your whole heart. I thank God that my Dad knows Jesus and if it is God's will that Dad loses his life here on earth, I kow that he gains an eternity in Heaven with Christ. Do you know where you would spend eternity if you were to die today? It isn't by chance that you are reading this blog, God is calling out to you. What will your response be?
I will try to post updates as we recieve them. I love you all and thank God for you. We never know what each day will hold. We cannot take our lives for granted. Tell the people in your life how much you love them daily! I am so thankful I told my dad I loved him that morning. I thank God for that!