Surgery Scheduled for Tuesday

Well, the day is finally approaching.  Nicole's kidney transplant is scheduled for Tuesday in the morning.  Both Wendy and Nicole need to be at Rainbow Babies and Children hospital at 6am.  We have all known that this is coming since the very early stages of Nicole's life.  Someone, it still all seems surreal.

The outpouring of love from friends and community has been extremely overwhelming.  Yesterday morning Mansfield Christian School (MCS) had a school wide prayer rally to pray for the surgery and to let the students know what was going on.  It was very encouraging and much appreciated.  Last night MCS also hosted a fund-raiser to help cover expenses for both the Killian's and us.  Volunteers served pasta, bread, salad, desserts, drinks, and so on.  It was incredibly well attended and we were just blown away.  Thank-you!!  There were so many people working behind the scenes that it would be impossible to remember and name them all.  However, I would be remiss in not giving a big shout out to all of them and thanking them for their genorosity and love to our family.  You know who you are!!  There has also been a benefit fund set up at Richland Bank for both families as well.  Titia and I have had nothing to do with any of these activities and it has all been done by individuals that feel motivated to serve because of the love of God in their hearts.  What a contrast this is to the events experienced this week in Boston!!  At least in our lives we can see the profound difference between the actions of individuals motivated by the love, mercy, and grace of God compared to actions motivated by hate.  I hope that is obvious to everyone.

With the surgery coming Tuesday we are asking individuals to begin to pray for the surgery and the recovery of both Nicole and Wendy.  I have been asked on multiple occasions for specific prayer requests so here they are....

*  Wendy will undergo surgery first to remove her kidney.  Please pray that this process is free of complications.
*  Pray that the placement of the kidney in Nicole is complication free and that the kidney starts functioning right away.  There is a non-trivial percentage of kidneys that just refuse to function once transplanted.
*  Once the kidney is placed in Nicole all of the viruses that Wendy has been exposed to but Nicole has not will immediately infect Nicole.  These include EBV, CMV, and so on.  There are many complications that can result from these viruses.  Pray that is not the case and that Nicole's body can fight them off without issue despite being on a ton of immuno-suppressants to help the kidney not be rejected.
*  Pray for the quick recovery of Wendy.  She has been such a blessing to our family!!
*  Pray for Wendy's classroom and her students and for all of the individuals stepping in to fill the void at the school.
*  Pray for the quick recovery of Nicole.  It's going to be hard to keep her down once she starts to feel great from having a fully functioning kidney!! :)
*  Pray for God's blessing on Mansfield Christian School and all the individuals that have stepped up to support our families.  We are blessed by God to bless others and this has been fully experienced by both of our families at this time.  Thank God.
*  Pray for peace for the families standing by during the surgery.
*  Pray for the safe travel of family members to and from the hospital.

Your prayers are coveted at this time.  We know this entire process is in the Lord's hands.  I was asked by a reporter yesterday how I was doing and if I was nervous.  I am not nervous.  I know that since the day our gift Nicole was born that her life has been in the Lord's hands.  She was an answer to 10 years of prayer and none of this is an accident.  Have you ever been to a water park with a "lazy river"?  A lazy river is where slackers sit on an inner-tube and just float down a concrete stream and do absolutely nothing but rest and soak up the sun as the current pushes the inner-tube to it's final destination.  That's me.  Hebrews 4 states that there remains a rest for the people of God.  Hebrews 4 also states that in order to enter into God's rest we must cease from our own labors.  Well, there is absolutely nothing I can do about this situation.  It is in God's hands.  So, as a child of God, I am entering into His promised rest available in Jesus.  I am on my inner-tube and ceasing from my own labors, which are in vain any way.  The same Jesus that has saved me has this entire situation in His hands.  Regardless of how things turn out, I know it is in God's hands...so why worry.  Rest or worry....rest or worry... rest or worry....I think I will choose rest!!  I would ask you to pray, but not worry!!

My intent is to update my blog the day of the surgery in order to keep everyone up to speed as to what is going on.  Once again, thanks to all of you that have prayed with us and shared in our journey.  Many of you have been praying for Nicole even before she was born.  I cannot tell you all how comforting that is for us at this time.

For His Glory,
Brian