My father in law, Johnny Haddon, had a long awaited back surgery on November 3rd in hopes to the chronic pain that has affected him for a long time now! Anyone who knows him, knows he has always worked hard full time, as well as done side jobs. He’s loved to wood work, paint, all the things. He hasn’t been able to do that as much as he’d like in recent years because of his back pain and was very much looking forward to some relief. With this surgery, he had planned to return to work in 1-2 weeks tops, which he had enough vacation time/pay planned for. However, the Lord had other plans. His pain had begun to get worse, which sometimes can be normal before things get better post surgery, so it was not super alarming to them at the time. But on November 22nd, things took a turn for the worst. To make an even longer story short, he developed post-op bacterial meningitis, which is not very common. He was told by one of the providers he saw while in the hospital, that it was only the 2nd case they had seen in their 15 years of practice. It was pretty scary there for a bit, as he was not able to receive surgery as needed right away. He finally did have another surgery on November 26th, his 5th day of hospitalization, in which they removed a very bad infection. They said he was a very very sick man. He had to stay for an additional 4 days post surgery, and finally returned home on Monday, December 1st. It has not been and will not be an easy road to recovery. Between home health nursing, PT, and OT, and doctors appointments, he is slowly getting there. His wife, my mother in law, returned to work last week, after being off for 12 days without pay. Johnny has been off since November 3rd, his initial surgery date, with only 1 week of pay as he had planned. While we know our good Lord has a plan, and we trust and lean on Him, we also know that times are hard financially for the typical family as it is. Financial burdens can put some pretty dark clouds over people’s lives, especially this time of year. As Christians, we are called to practice hospitality and share with God’s people those who are in need. While Johnny and Marie would never ask the community or anyone for help financially, I know that it would lighten their hearts & bring them joy if this financial burden could be lifted even just a little. So, I’m asking that if you find it in your hearts and are able to give even a little, you will be helping the sweetest people have a little more joy in this hard season of their lives! But most of all, I ask that you continue to pray for them, as even though he is healing physically, this hardship has affected them in more ways than that. And we know that our God can make a way when we don’t see a way. This amount would hopefully cover a couple of months bills, as only Marie is able to work (and hasn’t been able to as much as planned either due to being by Johnny’s side). I hope we can ease some of the overwhelm as the monthly bills do not stop and the medical bills start rolling in. Thank you for reading, God bless, and feel free to share! ❤️