A Sluggishly, Lightning-Fast Pace

Hello faithful friends and family, I don’t know how your August has been but ours is flying by. Somehow we have managed to arrange time in such a way that the weeks, composed of 7 exhaustingly loOoOOoonG days, go zooming by at lightning speed. It’s a mystery but true. We are living day by day, moment by moment at a sluggishly, lightning-fast pace. I assume most of you can relate since life is rarely evenly paced. We pray that whatever season of life you are in where you find yourself traveling through time at a sluggishly, lightning-fast pace because of some hardship you are facing that you are able to find peace and rest. We are finding our peace and rest in God. He is sustaining us with His grace and mercy, and we are able lean on each other for support (which is a gift from God in and of itself). I can truly say from this experience that it is taking a village to get through a trial like this. Thankfully for Mom and Dad God gifted them a village of 4 girls...ta-da! Some days it has literally taken all four of us to have Dad at work, be there for mom and keep our own 4 little villages functioning, fed and well cared for. But we wouldn’t want it any other way, and it is only possible with God. We give Him the glory. He is a good God who is here to give us peace in times of trouble.

(Two out of three documented UPenn Appointment days...)

These weeks in August have been especially trying. To cut to the chase, the cancer in mom’s brain is continuing to grow and grow fast. The wonderful doctors at UPenn presented three different treatment options, all of which were dismissed for various reasons.

Simply put, they just wouldn’t be effective at fighting the cancer at this point of it’s progression. Although Mom will not be receiving any new treatments, she will continue the infusions she receives every other week just as she has.

Here is a little glimpse into what Mom is enduring. She is not in pain, but rather is battling a mind that is rapidly declining. The tumor growth brought about yet another seizure since the last update. She bounced back from this only slightly. It stole from her again her speech and the use of her right side. But she is a strong woman, always has been, and she is up and walking again. Ever so slowly and with her trusty walker, but she is on her feet all the same. Her ability to communicate is limited. She rarely can finish a thought but very much knows what she wants to say. The thoughts get trapped somewhere between where they surfaced in her mind and speaking them out loud. Unfortunately she can’t write either. Therefore we are left to play charades and 20 questions...a lot! She has never played so many games of charades in her life. And even this “fun” pastime fails us time after time. She is left defeated and we are left wondering what it was she wanted to say. But, in the times where she isn’t overcome with frustration, her sense of humor remains. We aren’t seeing it quite as much as we were but it’s there. There are times where she has beaten the game of charades to a pulp only to ironically lose to the game herself. Then she looks at you and says with a smirk and raises that infamous middle finger of hers in the air (since she is missing the pointer...that’s a story for another time) and with that witty sarcasm of hers she says, “I’ll tell ya' later.” And proceeds to laugh at herself, knowing full well she won’t because she can’t. It’s one of those moments where you might as well laugh or you’re gonna cry. And mom can still find it in herself to choose to laugh. But, yes, other moments are flooded by tears. Tears from Mom and tears from all of us. Please continue to pray for mom and all of us. Processing the slew of difficult emotions that have become so raw over the past few weeks have only made us realize even more what a sovereign and mighty God we serve. He is giving mom and all of us grace and mercies that we don’t deserve. I know there are ways where we don’t even realize the grace He bestows on us, but I’ll share a few ways we do... ~God orchestrated important UPenn appointments into a timeline that made it possible for Dad to be off work and with ease. That was big! ~And Dads work has been such a blessing. His bosses have not had to be so gracious and accommodating. But they have. They are truly a blessing that we don’t take for granted! ~God has allowed us girl's schedules to work in such a way that it has been possible to make sure that Mom has someone with her around the clock. This is to be noted because those 16 grandchildren of their's keep us on our toes each bringing their own set of business. But with all of us and the help of our aunt we can be with mom whenever needed. ~God is blessing Mom with unexplained health. This is not a typo. It’s all in perspective, I guess. The surgeon from UPenn was beyond baffled that this woman sitting in his office was indeed Robin Groff. The Robin Groff of the MRI scans he was reviewing. These MRI scans had just been taken an hour before she was seen by him. His confusion was simply that someone with tumor growth the size of Mom’s should not have just walked into his office. And most certainly should not be sitting there talking to him. He even questioned her more than once asking if she was was indeed Robin Groff. From this we can take that her condition should be worse...but that’s God's protection over her...and us. We can’t help but thank God for this gift of health He is giving Mom. Things may seem bad but could and should be worse. So much so that doctors are baffled and stammering at the wonder of it all. She’s continuing to beat the odds. ~Another sign of God’s grace is how He has allowed us to see how He is being glorified through this. This has been our prayer! Mom’s oncologist just shared with us how mom’s faith in God has impacted her. She didn’t have to share that, but did. It was a sweet thing to hear. God has revealed other ways that He has used Mom's testimony to impact others. And again, He did not have to make these things evident to us but the fact that He has is more than we could ask or deserve. We serve a mighty God who is to be praised. "I will praise you, LORD my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead." Psalm 86:12-13

Please continue to pray for Mom and Dad along with all of us. But also continue to praise God with us as we journey on in this trial at a sluggishly, lightning-fast pace. Thank you for your continued support and care. YOU ARE A PART OF THE VILLAGE. Thank you for being with us through this journey!

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our LORD Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:1-5

Blessings to you all!

-Jenna

We celebrated Dad's birthday this past weekend. It was a nice time together spent with family!

Dad was blessed with many cards for his Birthday; thank you!!! When we were gathered, he opened the ones from his grandchildren which brought smiles to us all!

Mom's gift to Dad; her handprints in stepping stones for their flower gardens. Take note of the left hand print featuring Mom's fingers...all 4 of them...one of her claims of fame. This also brought smiles (and chuckles) to us all!