Thank You from the Hirtzel Bunch

Hey friends, 

This is Marisa, Julie’s oldest daughter. I’ll be joining Michelle to help post updates for prayer and just general FAQs that we get. 

We have been blessed by all of the caring notes and gifts and food and calls to doctors and visits and tears and hugs over the last six days. We are so encouraged by our friends and family who pray so diligently for us. It’s incredible to think how many prayers are going to God on our behalf. 

Disclaimer: I can’t speak for everyone in my family in these messages (if you know some of us, you probably know we have strong opinions that can be very independent of each other, to say the least!), but I’ll do my best. And one thing we always agree on is how much we love and look up to our mom. It’s been a very hard few days and I think it’s safe to say that we are all pretty exhausted. Each of us deals with it in our own odd way. Please pray for strength and peace from the Lord for all of us.

My mom is the strongest of all of us. She is able to go on short walks and do many “normal” things and often seems fine from the outside, but she is in a lot of pain at different times and says that it worsens each day. She is such a strong person and is very used to constant pain, so you know that if she says isn’t feeling well that means it really, really sucks. We are bossing her around a lot so that she eats and rests and is on a special diet. We are probably more annoying than anything else, but she humors us kindly. She honestly has just been thinking of everyone but herself so far and we tell her not to worry about any of us. 

The next two weeks will be where we learn about what the future might look like. Right now is a lot of waiting for doctor’s appointments and test results. The medical system can be so amazing and also so frustrating. Please pray for patience as we wait. 

I know this would be a completely different experience without our church family and all the friends and relatives that love us and my mom so much, even the people who don’t know her are praying and helping support us. Thank you all so much. 

Marisa Jane and the rest of the Hirtzel bunch

Photo by Julie