peace be the journey

Still coming at you live from room 409 aka the Hansen home 2.0!!! We were supposed to be at Disneyland today but it's fine. 🙄

Since we last updated the blog, not a lot has changed physically with Mr. Thor. The idea of surgery is still on the table, but at the moment we're mostly trying to figure out what infection he's fighting and monitor how the antibiotics are helping. The most obvious temporal effect is that they're causing dad to retain a lot of water. Stoked as he was to have gained 20 pounds in swelling in the last week, he's pretty excited about his new meds that make him pass water more quickly 😅

There are some really joyous other updates, though. Up until this weekend, our brother Taylor--who's currently serving in the Rome, Italy mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--didn't know a whole lot about my dad's situation. The heart surgeon had been saying that if dad has surgery, we should probably have Taylor come home beforehand just in case. We had avoided talking to Taylor about it all since we didn't want him to worry when things hadn't been decided yet, but after emailing his mission president Friday night we set up a skype session for Saturday afternoon.

Our family has always been close and we've had some special moments throughout the years, but that grainy Skype call between Malta and IMC was probably one of the most sacred and precious times we've ever had. It was really hard for Taylor to hear about how severe the circumstances are and his reaction was hard for us to watch, but it lead to a beautiful conversation about what happens next. We talked about our hopes for dad to recover fully and soon and found common ground in that, but we also got to talk about the fact that it might not happen. What a humbling expression of faith it was to hear all my family members assert that they want my dad to be healed and that they believe it's possible, but that even if God doesn't answer our prayers the way we want, we will all still be okay. My mom talked about how she and my dad had decided together the night before that no matter what happens, their goal is for us all to experience peace on this journey. Peace in the midst of the storm. Good feelings with and toward the people we're working with. Peace today and peace with what happens next. That's something we all feel good about.

Dad had some strong opinions to share, too. He said that he's glad we have all come to terms with the "but if not" factor, but that he thinks of this as a time for us to "call down the powers of heaven." He testified that God is a God of miracles, and that he is going to expect to see those during this time. Specifically, the miracles he's looking and praying and fasting for are these:
 - his fever to break
 - the infection to be identified so they can know how to treat it
 - a non-surgical solution
(for Disney to fund a trip to Disneyland since we were supposed to be there this week) (just kidding) (mostly)
It might seem like a lot to ask for, but we're trusting that when we give what we can to the Lord, small as it may be, He is able to multiply our efforts and show His dominance over the "impossible." Thus the specific prayers and focus on the little things...making sure he eats protein, gets his exercise, etc. We have already seen so many evidences of His hand, and how grateful we are! How excited we are! And how humbled and happy we are to be on this journey together.

Thank you all for your support and kindness and love. Sorry for texts or messages that we miss in the midst of all this, but please know we're grateful. And please know how valuable you are in making these miracles happen! We invite--and even ask--that you, regardless of your beliefs or background, join us in praying to whatever power you believe in to make these things (only the first three...those would make anywhere "the happiest place on earth") happen. We have a lot of faith and hope that by coming together for the greater good, we can see incredible things accomplished. #teamthor

Much love,

The Hansens