Praise God! I've found you!

Hi, everyone! I'm so excited that I found the Christian board! I feel like I'm finally home! I'm scheduled for surgery on June 24th. Extremely excited! I prayed for a year that God would just open the doors that He would allow me to walk through. In January, I started the process and now 6 months later, I will be having lap RNY. God is SO good. I have many supportive people in my life. If you could pray for my relationships with my dad and my sister. They are both very skeptical about the surgery. I know they are concerned and scared. But it's hard to not feel their support. My sister said that she didn't believe that God would want me to do this to my body. That really hurt and I can't help be replay it in my mind. But I know how I've prayed. And I told God that I would walk through any open door He put before me. If He chose to shut a door, I would stop. But I haven't experienced that yet. Thank you in advance for your prayers. I can't wait to get to know you all! In Christ, Andrea Clark Grand Rapids, MI

I prayed exactly the same prayer and every door opened faster than I expected and the insurance paid far more than I could ever have hoped for. I believe beyond any doubt that this was God's will for my life and I feel like I've been reborn. By regaining my strength, health and energy, I am more capable of serving in those areas of ministry that God has called me to and it's wonderful! I also had some family members who were reluctant to support surgery, from fear more than anything else, I think, but by the time surgery actually rolled around, they were all there for me and have been my biggest supporters. I will pray that God grant them peace as well about your decision. Trust God and remember "...the steps of a righteous man (or woman) are ordered of the Lord." Julie Fort Wayne, IN Lap Rny 2/12/04 -61 pounds

Hi Andrea, I did the same thing. I prayed and asked the Lord to guide me and if it was out of His plan for my life to just let it stop. So far everything has gone wonderful, right down to selling a car I needed to sell to finance this ride. I just didn't want to be doing this out of any vanity that may lead me to sin. I was really worried about that. I so pray that when the weight is off and I feel better physically that it will give me the energy to carry out the work He has laid on my heart to do. I feel Him calling me to minister in the preschool department at church and you gotta be in pretty good shape to chase those little munchkins around. I am so excited to see how my witness will change when I am not afraid people will be so busy judging me by my exterior that it will mute the message the Lord would have them hear. Bless you and I am looking forward to seeing your posts on here. In His love, Sherri

Andrea, That sounds so much like me. I started researching the surgery about 6 months before I ended up having it. When I started to get serious about getting it done, the one thing I prayed was for God to block my way if it was not meant to be. I had some issues about altering my body. I mean, God designed us and we're changing it. But I prayed and I knew God was okay with what I was doing. This is such a personal choice that people on the outside don't understand. I pray that you have a good a turnout as mine. It took 2 months from first visit to surgery. My surgery took 45 minutes (Open RNY) and within hours I was awake, alert and walking. I had no pain. I stopped using my pain killer the day after surgery. I have had no complications and no problems. I know God walked me through this one and He will be with you too. Diana