Saturday Morning Update: Andy Tarter on the mend

Andrew Tarter, age 27, resident of Rehoboth MA, USA is now well on his way to having logged the most time in a hospital bed of anyone in his immediate family. This is day 8 in the hospital and he probably won't be out of there till late on Monday, November 30 at the earliest.
He was transferred out of the ICU and into the Co-Op building on the other side of the hospital.  His room is smaller and visiting hours are from 1 PM to 8 PM.  If you want to see him, that would be fine.  Please keep visits short because he is still on the mend and gets very tired very quickly.  Thanks!

When he wakes up from sleep he gets very disoriented.  He doesn't know where he is, and probably gets a little freaked out.  The nurse is there to help him stay calm and not try to make a break for it.  His arm is on the mend, his shoulder will heal fine, the bruises in his upper body will subside, and I am confident he will regain his short-term memory.  You see, he doesn't capture the things that are going on in his long-term memory, so right now it's clear that he doesn't remember what happened just a couple hours previously.  I also feel bad asking too.  If someone asks him "what did you have for breakfast" he'll look, and in a split second I can tell he doesn't really remember, and he glances around in confusion.  After that split second of confusion, he makes something up.  I bet he's trying to be normal, and act cool because it must be horrible to know that you should remember something but you just don't.

Like I said, I'm confident he will recover his short-term memory but it will take a little time and patience from us all.  The pain medication and anesthesia probably doesn't help matters either.  Please pray that God would fully heal him.

Andy in the yard, Summer 2009

A Happy Thanksgiving

Cecilia and I spent the day re-arranging the house so Andy can stay on the first floor.  The living room is now Andy's room, and he's lucky because now his room has the TV and stereo system.  We went to Grandma's to make cinnamon buns, chat, and eat soup for lunch.  Then we zipped over to the hospital to spend some time with Andy, Mom, and Dad.  He was up and watching the football game when we got in, and had just been served dinner.  Steak and potatoes.  I guess the turkey was for lunch.  I think turkey is a little over-rated for thanksgiving.  I mean, who really cares about eating a big old chicken once a year anyway?  That is, unless it is deep fried outside in a big pot of oil.  Now that is delicious and greasy and really sticks to the ribs.  Andy went to sleep at around 6:30 PM and that's when we left.

I hope he comes home soon.  Cecilia and I are going back to Ithaca after the weekend and we are wondering what will happen with Andy.  Then I think of where God has taken him and how many great friends Andy has and I am at peace to know he will be alright.  This entire ordeal has been a major test of faith for all of us, and I am hoping that we will learn all that we are meant to through the storm.  Some say that's what life is like:  The test comes first, then the lessons.

Thank you all for your support of Andy in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanksgiving Eve at the Hospital

We all have a lot to be thankful for.  Andy is still a little disoriented but is doing very well.  All the nurses are taking good care of him and he even has someone stationed to sit with him to make sure he doesn't try to get out of bed on his own because he's still a little unsure of what's really going on.  He still doesn't remember what happened to him.  We're thankful that he walked around once today and he's taking nourishment.  He was complaining, saying: "It seems all I do is EAT around here.  They feed you like a hundred times in this place."  Please pray that God would grant him his memory back and that he would be able to come out of the ICU soon.

Andy has a roommate in his ICU room too.  I don't know about patient confidentiality so I won't say his name, but he got here the same night Andy arrived.  He was involved in a car accident too, but his injuries are very different.  He's having a great deal of trouble breathing and he's coughing up fluid in his lungs.  We have gotten to know his family a little bit while we've been here for the past 5 days, and they are great people.  It also turns out that he knows one of my cousins.  They're both from the same town and went to school together. What a small world!  We're praying for him and his whole family too.  He's in a really tough spot and in need of lots of surgery very soon.  Please pray with us that he and Andy would be completely healed and guarded against all infections.


We'll let you know when Andy can take visitors and maybe you could swing by.  Thanks again for your support in this trial.

Surgery went well

The surgery lasted a little over three hours. The surgeon said it went well. He is back in his room at the ICU trying to wake up (still under the effects of anesthesia). He will stay in the hospital for a least two more days.

Andy is in the OR

Andy is having surgery on his left arm as I write this. Please pray for wisdom and skill for the doctors and nurses. Our faith is in God. We are amazed at how quickly he has recovered. Yesterday he ate two good meals, got up for a little walk, and sounded much better when he spoke with us. He's short-term memory is still not recovered. Pray that he will be healed completely.

Update on Andy

I've got news about my brother.


When we walked in to see Andy this morning he had breakfast sitting before him, uneaten.  He was sitting up in an easy chair and cracking jokes with Karen, the nurse!  Andy is in alot of pain, his arm is still broken, waiting for surgery, but I can tell his spirits are high despite the pain and disorientation he is having.  He hit his head pretty hard somehow and doesn't remember that he was in an accident.  He's also lost his short-term memory too.  I pray that will go away soon, and we can have some nice long conversations.

We are starting to put together all the details of his accident, which makes the sight of Andy even sitting up in a chair all the more miraculous.  Dad went to go get the truck from the impound.  We figured we'd get it towed back to a mechanic to maybe fix it.  Those hopes were dashed when he saw the truck for the first time.  It's a big, twisted ball of metal.

Every day for the past 3 days I'm surprised by God's grace.  He's really got Andy in the palm of His hand.

Andy, Summer 2009

Please Pray for my Brother

Andy is in a tough spot.  He has suffered from a car accident and was taken to the hospital in Rhode Island tonight.  It was just a couple hours ago that he was in critical condition, and has now since stabalized. 

Please pray for him.  He is on the edge and he might not even know it yet.  He's got a long way to go before recovering from this, so we are praying that God would care divinely for him and heal him miraculously.  He might never completely heal from the wounds he sustained tonight, but I pray that it would be a catalyst for change in his life, and that God would grant him life to the fullest!

Thank you.

Quito on a shoestring

This is Quito, city in the sky.  At 9000 feet above sea level, it's a bit hard to breathe when you first step off the plane.  A little acclimatization and you're off and running.  (Just don't play too much "ecuavolley" or you'll tire yourself right out).  

Cecilia and I are gearing up for our next big excursion down south. The dates are still flexible, but we are going sometime in January. I can't wait to see all our old friends and family again as we go to be with them, pray with them, and work with them in any way we can. If you are one of those people who we have already asked to join us, these pics are meant to entice you further. You know who you are...(O'hara, Jaxon, Maya, Andy....) By the way, our budget is about zero, so we'll be working hard to stay for a few weeks on an income of little to nothing. It'll be fun, and we'll blog about all the great things you can do in a big South American metropolis for about $5/day.

The Joys of Living on the Edge

I heard once by an old cousin of mine, "If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space." I don't know exactly what he meant by saying that, but I know that we're living it, and loving it.  God has granted us a chance to work with a fabulous organization called Mercy Ships. Before we go, we have many preparations to make.  We will start learning French.  We will learn about the cultures of the peoples of West Africa where we will be going.  We will pray.  There is no greater power, no greater comfort, no greater joy than coming to the Father in prayer. Please pray with us as we go to work with an organization who's very mission is to "bring hope and healing to the world's forgotten poor"

ROAD TRIP!

Right now, everything we are doing is somehow linked with our preparation for Africa.  These next 8 months will sneak up fast, and our departure date is completely dependent on God to provide our finances.  So, in keeping with our current mission of building relationships with our good friends and acquaintances all over the country,  We are travelling through some mid-western and southern states in search of those who impacted Cecilia's life during her time at the University of Arkansas.  I am meeting many amazing people for the first time, and loving the southern culture of Oklahoma and Arkansas.  When we return, I believe I will retain a bit of the accent that I picked up here.  Y'all enjoy the road sign photos!

Here's a little montage of the states we've visited!

 That first one is Pennsylvania.  Fireworks, Karate Supplies, Swords and knives, pepper spray, and stun guns...  You'd think it was a dangerous place, but we didn't have too much trouble. Just to be safe, I picked up a little speed in PA and didn't stop for nobody.

Took a little tour of Cleveland, and somehow found ourselves in the mall in downtown.  It was closed on Saturday for some reason.  It was the first time someone approached me and shouted "May I help you?!"  in a mall.

That's missouri.  We've got a few more places to go, but not many till we head back to sunny Ithaca.  I do hope the snow isn't too heavy yet!

The Calling, Chapter II

By Nate...
Sometime in October, 2006
I'm sitting in an arm chair on Lake street. It's dark, it's late, I'm exhausted after a long day, there's nothing left to do but go to sleep, but I can't. I'm sitting there on the verge of sleep and awake, in that state where nothing is totally real, nor is anything truly dream-like. Another fellow was lying on a couch on the other side of this old living room in this old house on the hilly street which climbs towards the campus. I am awake enough to see that he is in the same state as I am, with nothing really left to do but sleep, but something kept us from it, and I can't speak for him, but for me it was that sense of being in a friend's presence, and just belonging. Being totally understood and totally accepted for who you are. That's the atmosphere into which I voiced these words,

"This time next year I could be married." To which my friend who, until that moment, was slipping off into sleep himself, declared, flabbergasted,

"What?"

"Yeah, I just have a feeling."

Well, it was more than a year.  It was 14 whirlwind months to befriend, fall in love with, pursue, court, propose to, and marry Cecilia. This is the start of our journey.  The very beginning.
December 8, 2007

The Calling, Chapter I

By Nate...
I think this is a good opportunity to write a little history.  Right now we just got back from the Mercy Ships US headquarters, and are getting ready to begin raising support to get "on board" with them, but where did that come from?  What brought that on?  Just last June Cecilia and I were successful in our careers; saving, working, spending time with our friends, and enjoying all that the summer has to offer in our little town in upstate New York.  Now we're virtually homeless, jobless, and our close friends are all hundreds of miles away.  This is all self-inflicted punishment.  We signed on for all this.
So what happened? 
Well, simply put, God called.  I trust you will stick with me on this journey, because there are a few parts that I want to write.  It won't all come at once, but in chapters.  I hope you enjoy this little story, because I have loved the living of it, and also the writing.

"Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts

as you did in the rebellion."

Hebrews 3:15

In Texas

It's Nate...
I'm here in Texas.  Everything's bigger in Texas, so they say.  I've found that all is just about normal.  The oversized people, bugs, and animals must be in a different part of the state, because here the biggest creature I've found was an orange cat that came out to cheer for us when we were playing frisbee in a field.  We fittingly named it Garfield. He was huge.

We came to check out an organization called Mercy Ships. It's home base is here in Garden Valley in the tall trees and near the deep lakes of this Eastern part of the lone star state.  We're here to pray and seek God. We're here to find our specific calling, and we're here to find out if this organization has a place for us.  If you are a praying person, please join us.  It turns out we found many answers to our questions, and other questions still remain.  All I know is that we have taken the next step of faith to seek our life in ministry.  What I know now is that we are not alone.  So many people have taken the week out of their schedule to come and find out about this ministry too.  There's about 40 of us. I'm in the presence of many who are in the same boat, paddling through an ocean, riding the waves, and wondering if the little leaks that appear are anything to worry about, or all part of the fun.  Faith has a scary way of making a reasonable man do unreasonable things in obedience to a wonderful Lord.