Some of you may probably wonder why I decided to publicly share about my mother’s condition. Well, at the beginning it was about soliciting prayers but now it’s about informing and encouraging those who are going through serious health issues to please go and seek help with or without finances available.

It is important to get our annual check-up done and it is more important to go and see a medical professional when we feel seriously ill. Yes, there are some illnesses that you don’t have to go and run to the doctor for immediately but if you experience something painful, out of the ordinary, and recurring, maybe it’s time to see a medical provider. A series of tests won’t hurt physically but may hurt financially, but what is money when life is at stake? I am a firm believer that “my God shall supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). With that being said, don’t be afraid to go and see a doctor especially someone that you can trust.

My mom has serious health issues that we didn’t know about until she was confined in the hospital last week. This new hospital she’s in has done series of lab work and what not that basically summarizes things for us in layman’s term: Her organs such as the lungs, kidney, heart, and liver are damaged among other things. What does she actually have? I don’t know other than the fact that she is diabetic (that I’ve known from years ago), plugged into the oxygen (thankfully, she’s no longer wheezing, Praise God!), but may have to do dialysis. We don’t know whether she should or should not. Our family is debating about it because once she starts it then she will have to do it forever. She can barely hold herself up with help from others. How much more when she goes for dialysis treatment?

It’s a lot for us to handle. I can’t help but ask how did she get into this situation. Here I found out that she doesn’t really go and seek medical help when she feels something serious thinking that whatever she has will just disappear on its own but when she does go and seek help it’s somewhere she doesn’t really get treated for unfortunately. Also, she doesn’t really want to incur any debt due to medical bills. She is a public school teacher. I’m not sure how PhilHealth works.

So, this is all hard for us. I really wished she had gone to a medical provider that can actually help her and taken better care of herself. But it is what it is now. Right now, she’s laying in a hospital bed in ICU plugged onto oxygen and maybe intubated for nutrition purposes since she isn’t unable to eat due to her health condition.

We, the children, are uncertain of what will happen to her but we just leave her in the hands of God who for sure is looking down upon her with love, grace, and mercy from His throne. We are sure that her guardian angel is right beside her as well.

It is our prayer that the Lord will continue to be with her in this very trying time of her life and will be with us, her family, to just be strong and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus—the Author and Finisher of our faith and the Great Provider as well. Bills have skyrocketed since Day 1 of going to this big hospital. I pray that the Lord will open the floodgates of heaven and will take care of her hospital bills. There’s not much that full-time faith-based missionaries like us can do financially but we know that our loving God is in control and He has a thousand and one ways to provide for which we know not.

To those of you who have made it this far reading this post please do me two favors:

1. Take better care of your health. Health is wealth.

2. Please continue to pray for my mom, my family, medical professionals taking care of her, and financial help to come.

Thank you so much and God bless!