At 2:11 am this morning Pop was reunited with Granny and Momma in heaven. In the months since Pops cancer diagnosis we as well as countless others have prayed for healing. God in his infinite wisdom answered our prayers in His time and in His way. A good friend told us at the beginning of this journey that it was a beautiful thing. We didn't understand at the time but now we do. God has poured the blessing out amongst the pain. He allowed Pop to see the beginning of heaven and Pop's whole perspective changed. He no longer battled cancer, he was headed home. He let us know he was OK and it was important to him that we be OK with it too. All the things we wanted to say were said and in the last few days we were able to watch Pop love on so many people; doctors, nurses, friends, and family. He just couldn't help himself. They couldn't help loving him back .... you know ..... no one could. What an incredible example of loving God and loving people.
The man you all knew as Pop, Poppa Sam, Uncle Sam, Mr. Weaver, or Poppy, we knew as dad. God was so gracious to allow me and my sisters the opportunity to call him daddy. We had the bestest daddy in the whole wide world. We will miss him. What a legacy he has left. It's a beautiful thing.
TW
Friday, May 14, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Waiting on the Lord
Its 11:30 pm on May 12th and here we sit at Pops house visiting, sharing but mostly being near an incredible man of God. You know my dad never spoke much about his faith or his Jesus to me but he certainly demonstrated it. I learned more about him the last couple weeks than I had the previous 43 years of my life. He always had the answer be it electrical, be it plumbing, be it mechanical, be it life. We will miss him very deeply ...... I know lots of people will.
The past three weeks he has been in the hospital and the doctors, his amazing doctors, tried desperately to keep the fluid from building in his lungs. They had to have drained more than 5 liters of fluid off total and had moved his chest tubes to keep chasing the fluid pockets. His battle was ferocious, painful, and tiring. Some amazing things happened during these three weeks and the battle took a twisted turn.
The 2nd floor staff at HRMC worked valiantly and put up with a whole lot of Weavers for three weeks. Hats off to them. We laughed with them, cried with them, prayed with them, waited with them but mostly became family with them. It was so beautiful to watch them high five and hug Pop as he was being transported out of the unit. Pop joked with them until the elevator doors shut. We had seen folks come and go for three weeks and this was no normal dismissal. A regular processional. When he got home his face lit up and he chatted with folks and was feelinig great. We even began doubting he was as ill as we thought. When the morning came we began to see what Pop had returned home for. As the day today passed he became more and more unresponsive. The hospice nurses take such great care of him it is incredible. Nurses certainly gifted and ordained by God to take care of the ones He is calling home. As his condition declined they mentioned it may not be 24 hrs. The process was rapidly speeding up. Friends and family continued to drop by to see Pop and to tell him they loved him and I could see the pain on some folks face. The praise team stopped by and began praying with Pop and his whole breathing and all changed. He could hear I know as he was squeezing my hand and in the middle of the prayer a song broke out and I swear I heard angels praising God. "Peace like a river" flowed into "It is well with my soul". Incredibly beautiful and conveyed exactly what Pop told my sisters and I when he had his talk with us about what was going to happen. Kinda reminded me when Jesus told his disciples what was happening to Him and they thought....nahhh. He told us he was good where he was ... that it was Ok. He wanted us to be good with it too. Its kinda cool when the one laying in the hospital bed is teaching the ones doing the caregiving how to give care, how to love, how to accept a change in the battle plan. That he did. The battle plan changed. A new strategy was put into play ... one that couldn't fail.
So here we sit trying to get some sleep, Waiting on the Lord. He is good and Pop told us it's going to turn out better than we ever imagined. As far as I can remember he has never lied to us so I don't expect him to start now.
Thank you Pop for teaching us to love God and to love people. We love you and we are going to miss you.
TW
The past three weeks he has been in the hospital and the doctors, his amazing doctors, tried desperately to keep the fluid from building in his lungs. They had to have drained more than 5 liters of fluid off total and had moved his chest tubes to keep chasing the fluid pockets. His battle was ferocious, painful, and tiring. Some amazing things happened during these three weeks and the battle took a twisted turn.
The 2nd floor staff at HRMC worked valiantly and put up with a whole lot of Weavers for three weeks. Hats off to them. We laughed with them, cried with them, prayed with them, waited with them but mostly became family with them. It was so beautiful to watch them high five and hug Pop as he was being transported out of the unit. Pop joked with them until the elevator doors shut. We had seen folks come and go for three weeks and this was no normal dismissal. A regular processional. When he got home his face lit up and he chatted with folks and was feelinig great. We even began doubting he was as ill as we thought. When the morning came we began to see what Pop had returned home for. As the day today passed he became more and more unresponsive. The hospice nurses take such great care of him it is incredible. Nurses certainly gifted and ordained by God to take care of the ones He is calling home. As his condition declined they mentioned it may not be 24 hrs. The process was rapidly speeding up. Friends and family continued to drop by to see Pop and to tell him they loved him and I could see the pain on some folks face. The praise team stopped by and began praying with Pop and his whole breathing and all changed. He could hear I know as he was squeezing my hand and in the middle of the prayer a song broke out and I swear I heard angels praising God. "Peace like a river" flowed into "It is well with my soul". Incredibly beautiful and conveyed exactly what Pop told my sisters and I when he had his talk with us about what was going to happen. Kinda reminded me when Jesus told his disciples what was happening to Him and they thought....nahhh. He told us he was good where he was ... that it was Ok. He wanted us to be good with it too. Its kinda cool when the one laying in the hospital bed is teaching the ones doing the caregiving how to give care, how to love, how to accept a change in the battle plan. That he did. The battle plan changed. A new strategy was put into play ... one that couldn't fail.
So here we sit trying to get some sleep, Waiting on the Lord. He is good and Pop told us it's going to turn out better than we ever imagined. As far as I can remember he has never lied to us so I don't expect him to start now.
Thank you Pop for teaching us to love God and to love people. We love you and we are going to miss you.
TW
Welcome Home
Just to let you know Sam came home yesterday with hospice care. He had a big smile on his face when he arrived! His old bedroom is set up with all the things he needs at this time.
"It only takes a minute" is something Pop has said over the last few days. If you are not sure what that means just ask one of the family members. They will be glad to tell you.
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
"It only takes a minute" is something Pop has said over the last few days. If you are not sure what that means just ask one of the family members. They will be glad to tell you.
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Brief Update
Our intentions were to have Terry write on the blog and mention his talks about the Hope Lodge at the Survivor Reception (Relay for Life) and another event he was able to speak at. Then we were going to post some of the Relay for Life ~ Loads of Hope team pictures. We will do that at another time since too many other things have come up. Also we wanted to let those of you who only get info from the blog be updated.
Shannon last posted on April 20th. Well, that afternoon Sam was admitted into Highlands Regional Medical Center with pneumonia. Since that time he is still in the hospital and they have had to take fluids off his lung 3 times and have had two surgical procedures to insert a drain that is hooked to a tank to remove the fluids. The fluids continue to build even with the drain. Sonya and Shannon have taken turns at work and staying with Pop during the day and Terry has been doing the night shift so someone is there at all times. He has a fentanyl pain patch on and he also can get some other pain meds (dilaudid) when he needs it. When the fluid starts building it causes the pain to increase.
He has been able to tolerate some solid foods (no steak at this time) which has been a blessing.
We will write more when we get a chance. Remember God is good and He has the perfect plan.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10
Toni
Shannon last posted on April 20th. Well, that afternoon Sam was admitted into Highlands Regional Medical Center with pneumonia. Since that time he is still in the hospital and they have had to take fluids off his lung 3 times and have had two surgical procedures to insert a drain that is hooked to a tank to remove the fluids. The fluids continue to build even with the drain. Sonya and Shannon have taken turns at work and staying with Pop during the day and Terry has been doing the night shift so someone is there at all times. He has a fentanyl pain patch on and he also can get some other pain meds (dilaudid) when he needs it. When the fluid starts building it causes the pain to increase.
He has been able to tolerate some solid foods (no steak at this time) which has been a blessing.
We will write more when we get a chance. Remember God is good and He has the perfect plan.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10
Toni
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