Here is a portion of my email that I sent to the church on January 20th…

Now what is going on with my family. On Jan. 7th we discovered that my mother has terminal Colon/Rectal Cancer. It has already spread to her lungs. Our family prayerfully and painfully made the decision by choosing to honor my mother’s wishes not to pursue treatment cancer treatment. In consultation with her Doctors we felt that an ostomony bag will help her quality of life. This will only be temporary as eventually the cancer will cause her to pass away.

My father was her primary caregiver when all we knew she had was alzheimer’s and dementia. Since the kind of care she will need from here on out is more than he can handle we have opted for her to be placed in a Skilled Nursing Facility in Baxter Springs, Ks. While in the facility it was discovered that her ostomony bag wound was not looking too good and she was sent back to Joplin to figure out what to do.

On Sunday she had surgery to have a 2nd bag put in. It was a success. She is in a lot of pain. And that is hard for to articulate because of thealzheimer’s and dementia. She has been in the hospital in Joplin and looks to go back to Baxter Springs sometime Thursday. Weather permitting.

Most of you know I am a planner and at least like to know what the plan is. But the plan is always flexible. My plan is right now is to be at the church as much as I can for already scheduled activities. however there will be times where i will need to be with her.

If I am out of the office please feel free to call or text me and I will get back to you as soon as I can. If you are having a pastoral emergency please call me. I have a plan of action just in case I am out of physical reach. That is one thing I love about being United Methodist my fellow pastors in the area have said they would help anytime they are needed.

Several of you have asked what can you do. You can pray for us. If you see a need help and not just my family needs but help support this Church by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service and your witness. This has not been easy. I promise to give you the best I can. On Sunday I shared with you that it is well with my soul and despite all of this my soul magnifies the Lord. Thank you for all that you have already done, the prayers have been felt, the messages have been so heart warming, the snacks have been great for the long road trips, Keep them coming (not just the snacks but the prayers too) they help make this time easier.

Peace be with you,
Pastor Matt