Updates and prayer requests related to Amy’s liver transplant and recovery.
Monday, September 8 Update – Amy’s Journey “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”Isaiah 26:3 (ESV) It’s been a long few days. I wanted to give you all an update on Amy’s health following the events of this past weekend. Late Friday evening, Amy experienced…
Saturday, September 6 Update When the Road Gets Bumpy Again Last night, Amy experienced a sudden spike in blood pressure, weakness on her left side, difficulty walking, and periods of confusion. As soon as these symptoms appeared, we brought her immediately to the hospital near our home. The symptoms have come and gone since her…
Posted on: August 24, 2025, 1:00 PMBy: James Long, Jr. It’s been a few weeks since our last detailed update, and we’re pleased to share an update on Amy’s progress. As of today, we’ve been home for just about a month. In that time, we’ve had to return to Philadelphia twice, one of those appointments thankfully conducted…
Posted on: July 25, 2025, 11:00 AMBy: James Long, Jr. Wednesday and Thursday were full and exhausting days for Amy. She had multiple follow-up appointments, but we’re grateful to share that everything went well. One major milestone: Amy had all of her staples (over 70 in total) and external stitches removed. Her lab work is…
Posted on: July 22, 2025, 11:30 AMBy: James Long, Jr. It’s hard to believe we’ve now been here in Philadelphia for almost a month. This season has been filled with uncertainty, challenges, small victories, and God’s sustaining grace. Yesterday marked the first Monday in three weeks that Amy had her routine bloodwork without being called back to the hospital. For…
Posted on: July 18, 2025By: James Long, Jr. Many of you have been faithfully praying for Amy, and I want to share an encouraging update with you today. Earlier this week, we were preparing for yet another procedure after her bile numbers suddenly began to rise again. The team suspected a bile duct stricture and…
Posted on: July 15, 2025, 6:00 PMBy: James Long, Jr. We received a call from the hospital this afternoon. Amy needs to be readmitted. Her latest bloodwork showed concerning elevations in her bile numbers, which likely point to the bile duct stricture the doctors had mentioned as a possible complication. After reviewing the labs and…
Posted on: July 11, 2025 5:15 PMBy: James Long, Jr. We’re thankful to share that Amy has been discharged from the hospital again and is now back at the transplant house with me here in Philadelphia. This step forward brings great relief, but we’re continuing to navigate some ongoing challenges. The increased medications she’s on…
Posted on: July 10, 2025, 7:00 AMBy: James Long, Jr. We finally received some clarity yesterday. The doctors have confirmed that what Amy is experiencing is ACR (Acute Cellular Rejection), a common issue among transplant patients in the early weeks post-surgery. This was determined after reviewing the liver biopsy results, which were completed Tuesday evening….
Posted on: July 8, 2025, 3:38 PMBy: James Long, Jr. Late last night, we received a call from the transplant team asking us to bring Amy back to the hospital. Her most recent lab results showed that some of her liver function numbers were not where they should be, and they wanted to take a closer look….
When was the last time someone said thank you to you? When was the last time you said thank you to someone else? So many people today struggle with a lack of thankfulness and ingratitude. This leads to struggles with complaining, criticizing, and comparing. Gratitude and thankfulness provide a powerful remedy for these problems. This gratitude journal helps us to identify what we should be grateful for and what we do as a result of seeing life as a gift.
Do you struggle with applying the truth that you learn during your study of God’s word? This God’s grace prayer journal will allow you to focus on gratitude and live in contentment in life. The journal pages encourage you to observe what you are learning from the Bible text, evaluate how you have failed to live according to the truths stated, seek forgiveness, and develop godly plans for change.
Do you struggle with the lack of hope? Do you find yourself struggling with doubt and insecurity during times of great challenge? During those times, you need to find your rest and assurance in pondering, personalizing, praying, and practicing what God’s Word says. In the short devotional, spend time meditating and studying each of these passages. Write down whatever comes to mind in the spaces below. And let God speak to you.
One of the keys to growing in Christlikeness in our lives is to unearth and discover, and biblically evaluate our thinking patterns, speaking, and acting. This worksheet will help you be honest and specific about areas in your life that are not meeting biblical standards in thinking, speaking, and acting.
The God who began a good work in you will continue it through your lifetime and will finish it when we meet him face-to-face. God works for us, and God works in us. He enables us to become more like Christ every single day. This work is progressive and continual in this life. This worksheet helps us review and evaluate gains made during counseling and discipleship, show gratitude to God for what he has done, and develop plans for future growth and change.
There probably is not a day that goes by that we do not have some level of conflict with others. This worksheet helps us focus on the problem and not the person. It helps us evaluate how we have handled a dispute and how we should deal with it moving forward.
Do you ever struggle with doing a Bible study or journaling the key ideas from your reading? This Bible Study Note Sheet will encourage you to ponder and meditate on Scripture. Also, God’s Word is meant for you, so this worksheet will help you personalize what you are learning. It will also guide you in learning to pray God’s Word, and finally, it will encourage you to put into practice the principles and promises you find in reading the Word of God.
Anger is a significant issue for so many people. People often stuff or spew their anger, but very few learn to study their anger. This journal assignment will help you to do just that. It will help you understand, evaluate, and respond to your anger in better ways.
Do you ever find yourself getting overwhelmed with problems? Do you find yourself struggling with thinking clearly during a challenging situation? This four-step approach to rethinking a problem will help.
Problems can seem overwhelming. When we are in the midst of a significant crisis, many of us struggle with defining the problem and implementing helpful solutions. This worksheet helps us to identify three unbiblical and unproductive ways of handling problems. It also encourages us to destroy problems, not people, as we deal with issues in a biblical and God-honoring way.
