As I lay awake, not being able to fall asleep due to my eagerness of wanting to help my parents financially, my heart begins to ache. My mom and dad have been through so much stress throughout their marriage and have continued to work together no matter the circumstance. The latest stress over the last 12 years has been financial. After my mom took care of my maternal grandmother until the moment she was reunited with Christ, my paternal grandmother then had a stroke shortly after her passing. After the hospital stay and rehab facility my grandmother was sent home, in which the only option was for my mom and dad to care for her. Even though it might have been easier for her to be in a senior center, my dad wanted to respect my grandmother's wishes to remain at home. At home she remained for 8 years, day in and day out, with my mom and dad caring for her physically and financially. The day came when my grandmother became worse and my mom could no longer provide appropriate care for her; therefore we found a new home for my grandmother with full time care and assistance.
We thought the stress would end at that time, it didn't. Of course there is always the stress of owning your business and not always having the money you need, but about a year ago we found out my dad needs his left hip and both knees replaced. My dad has always been an active man and always the first one to help anyone move or perform physical tasks. He never sits on the sidelines and watches people do anything. Now we watch him struggle with wanting to help everyone but sadly having to step back and let others do things for him (which he hates). People often ask why he has not received his surgery as of yet...the answer is finances. My parents plan was to begin a daycare (licensed and ready for the little ones) watching 2 1/2 to 4 year old children during the day to create financial stability while my dad has surgery and recovers before getting back to work. Little did we know, God had a different plan.
Approximately 7 months ago my mother fell trying to clean up the daycare room. After multiple times of telling her to go get x-rays, my mom felt as though it was just a pulled muscle in her pelvic area. She began to get a little bit better after a few weeks when she re-injured the area. On Friday, September 25 my dad took her to get x-rays even though she didn't want to. That is when we found out she had a broken femur and was sent into emergency surgery. The ball of the femur where it fits in the hip socket had broken off. Here my siblings and I sit worried, scared, with a heavy heart continuously reminding ourselves that God is going to take care of our parents. But we also sit here worried about the finances and the additional stress that is at this moment hitting both of our parents hard.

Now that my mom has been recovering and improving day after day after receiving a partial hip replacement, the bills for her surgery continue to pile up. My father’s business has been very slow lately; therefore he has been trying to drive Uber to make up for it. This has been a true testing time for trusting in God for my family. At this time, there is no way in making the payments for her surgery bills.

Overwhelmed I sit here, knowing that this has been such a long healing process for my mother, with many twists and turns. The daycare is slowly coming along but has been difficult getting parents to commit to my mother’s daycare. Everything we thought God had planned for them over the last 7 months has been postponed and taken so much longer to take place. Now that His plan has changed or is exactly how He wanted it to be, for whatever reason, we will be obedient and listen to what Christ says. Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Between the ups and downs of the business, the monthly payment for my grandmother, my dad needing his hip and both knees replaced, and now mom recovering from a broken femur, they are extremely stressed, tired and broken. As their children, we want to fix it all for them but unfortunately we can not at this time in our lives. My parents will kill me for writing this whole thing but aren't we taught that we are a community that works together as a body of Christ in times of trouble. Coming from the Shelton family I can tell you this is very hard to ask for and definitely a last resort. We rarely ask for any assistance because we don't like to put our stresses on others. All we ask is if there is anything you can provide for my mom’s surgery bills that are now hitting hard, we would greatly appreciate your help! If you are not able to provide financially, please keep my family and parents in your prayers. We have no words to explain our gratitude and love for each and every one of you that are in our lives! Thank you!