Saturday Night - 2.5.2011

Just a quick evening update...

The doctors are very happy with Garren's condition at this time. His vital signs are great. They have started to warm his body, bringing him back to a normal body temp. They keep the body cooler for about 24 hours to help the brain heal.

Tomorrow they will begin backing off of the sedatives, and we will get our first indication of how he is going to respond. Until then we will continue to pray for healing.

Thank you for all your continued support.

We love you all!

Garren - Day 2

Thank you for the amazing outpouring of love and support, both for Garren and for the rest of us. Facebook, Twitter, email, texts, phone calls, visits, it's been amazing to see God's family coming together over us in this way. Thank you.

Just to catch you up - Garren had what is called an AVM. This mass of "tangle blood vessels" at the base of his brain, which is something that he was probably born with, ruptured in PE class yesterday.

The surgeons at CMC Main in Charlotte removed the AVM and now Garren is in PICU, recovering. We have not been able to speak to Garren. He is still unconscious, and they have him on medications to keep him sedated. These next few days will be all about allowing the brain to recover from the trauma that occurred.

At this point we know nothing about what will happen next. The doctors will watch him, they are doing and have done everything they can.

I would ask you to pray for Garren's recovery. Pray that he will heal, and that he will get back to normal.

If you want to visit, we welcome that. I or Nancy will gladly meet with you in the waiting area. Many have asked what you can do to help. Right now, we just need to get through the next couple of days. Then we will have a better idea of what's next. We will get a game plan together, and we will welcome your many offers to help.

Thank you again for your love and support.

Geoffrey, Nancy, Kara and Kelsey

Day of Soli-two-d

From Bartram Trail 2010

I had set aside this past Thursday as a Day of Solitude. I try to get away every now and then, alone with God. My plan was to head up to the mountains and spend some time in the woods, backpacking, camping, and listening to God. My day of "solitude" turned into a day of "soli-two-d" when Kara ended up going with me, which was great. We had an awesome time!

We left Thursday morning and drove about 3 1/2 hours to Highlands, NC, where we filled up on an excellent lunch in town. Then we drove another 4 miles down dirt roads until we finally ended up at the trailhead. The plan was to hike about 5 or 6 miles down Bartram Trail, setup camp, then hike back the next day.

It was beautiful. The weather was perfect. The skies were clear and blue. The scenery was absolutely amazing. There were hundreds of different types of plants. It was a perfect day for hiking.

We setup camp around 5pm, got a fire going, and began cooking our meal. I had wrapped chunks of steak, potatoes and onion in aluminum foil. When the coals were just right I placed the two packs of food in the fire to cook. We waited patiently for the amazing meal to be finished. I pulled them out, unwrapped the foil, only to find that I had completely burned our dinner. Fail! So we had trail mix...thankful that we had eaten such a big lunch!

By 8:30 we were both ready for bed, so we climbed into the tent, read for about 30 minutes, then went to sleep. We both slept long and hard. I haven't slept that long in years!

We got up around 7:30, heated up water for coffee and hot chocolate, packed up camp and hit the trail by 9am. Another beautiful day for hiking. All kinds of birds everywhere. It was a great time.

From Bartram Trail 2010

From Bartram Trail 2010

From Bartram Trail 2010