From the desk of Ginger Bell, Director of Family and Alumni Relations:

Please pray with us for our own Travis and Laura Albea.  Travis is our Director of Marketing and Laura is mom to the girls in one of our boarding houses.  We received this message from them today.

Brook Hill Family, 

Yesterday my wife, Laura and I went to the doctor for our last ultrasound when they found an abnormality. They were able to get us to a specialist in Dallas that very afternoon who confirmed that our baby boy had a heart defect called Transposition of the Great Arteries. Put simply, the two main arteries of our son’s heart are switched.  While our son is in the womb, he will continue to grow normally and happily. However, when he is born, his heart defect will not allow his body to oxygenate itself properly. Within the first week of his life, he will require open heart surgery to switch the two main arteries.  If the surgery goes according to plan, our son should live a mostly normal, active and healthy life.  Right now Laura and I are in shock and our heart breaks for our son, but we are also grateful that we found out this early and can have a plan in place for when he comes into the world in late February. It will be a difficult season in the life of our family, but we are in the hands of a loving Father and the greatest Physician the world has ever known. We are not only grateful to have a loving, all-powerful God, but also a loving community of friends and family like you. We are also thankful that in the Lord’s providence we have skilled doctors and an action plan to give our son the best chance. We would covet your prayers for our baby boy – that our Lord would heal him and give him strength. We would also covet your prayers for us, that we might draw near to Christ and to one another in this season.

In addition, last week I mentioned one of our students who they suspect has a tumor on her pituitary gland.  She is going to a specialist in Dallas this Tuesday for a procedure to get a clearer picture of what is actually going on.  The wait, though amazingly short (thank you God for your intervention), has still been a strain on her.  You wouldn’t know it to see her smiling face, but it has been a tough time.  I know she and her family would appreciate your prayers that these next few days will fly by and the procedure will reveal exactly what needs to be known to help our girl feel good again!

And another special prayer request is for a longtime Brook Hill mom of three who was highly involved with life at Brook Hill for many years.  Andi Ming-White has been dealing with a heart issue for years and it has progressed to the point she is now on the short list for a heart transplant.  We are praying her health stays strong enough to receive a new heart and we are praying for the family who will be making a very difficult decision which will allow her to receive the heart.

We also have a praise to share.  2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Kathy Johnson, had successful surgery on her back just prior to the Thanksgiving Break and we are pleased to report she is on the road to recovery!  Now hurry back, Mrs. Johnson!

Thank you for being such mighty prayer warriors.  The knowledge of that gives comfort to so many