The Barrier Family

This is the Barrier family. Jonna the most determined person I’ve ever known. Mother of 6, wife of 1 and a woman of God. Friday they received some news that we didn’t expect or want. Jonna has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and we are in for the biggest fight of our life. We are waiting on the doctors to tell us the details of this fight. She was transported by ambulance to Huntsville today and is resting in the NICU. We believe in God and His plan. We believe His plan is for her to beat this and glorify Him through it! Please pray for her and us. Pray for the doctors. Put her name on your lists at your church, spread her name to anyone who prays, prayer is our best medicine right now! We will keep you all updated.

On Sunday, Jonna looks amazing for someone who just had brain surgery for 4 hours. She will not, however, allow me to post a pic, even in her altered state. She has been her joking self so far. Now for the tough part…we need you to keep praying that God will heal her. The preliminary report shows that this is an aggressive type, which is not what we wanted to hear. We won’t know for sure because the pathology report hasn’t been made, that will take a few days. As I said earlier this week a lot can change in 12 hours. So how many ever hours it is until we get this pathology report back pray that their assumptions WILL change and she WILL be healed. Please keep fighting with us, we love you!

This family has been a very important part of our community with Todd serving as our associate minister for several years and currently the minister at Falkville Church of Christ.

If you can find it in your heart to help this family to cover the medical expense they have and will continue to accumulate over the next weeks/months, I know that you will be blessed.

All prayers are also greatly appreciated!

update: Todays Update: I know long FB posts arent always everyones favorite, but please bear with me and if you've been following Jonnas story I hope it will be worth your time. Jonna, my love of the last 25 years. She is amazing. Most of you who know her know how driven she is. She has been several things (and excelled and been successful at them) in her life. An Interior Designer, a photgrapher, a nurse and a few other things smattered in there. She's always said, I cant wait to find what Im really good at. She has, she just doesnt recognize it. She is best at being a mom. She LOVES these 6 kids. About a year ago Jonna and Kenzie began planning Kenzie's senior trip. They began saving money and paying for all of their adventures across Europe, the trip of a lifetime for mother and daughter. Jonna was so happy to share this with her first girl next week. Then came Tilly. Yall know who Tilly is and the story up to this point. You could see in Jonnas post how invasive and big Tilly was. You've seen Jonna with staples across her head making jokes and wanting to get home. Today has been a day of good and bad news. The good, Jonna got her drains out and got to move to a regular room, that's my tough girl right there! The bad, we got the news we did not want today. Unless something in the final pathology changes (and they said it has before, so PRAY) Jonna has the most aggressive type of cancer in this area of the body. A glio, I wont go into details, but info is readily available. Our kids know she is sick, but if you happen to say anything to them just let them know you are praying for their mom and leave it at that please. Jonna will begin a 5 day per week for 6 weeks treatment in about a month, they let the surgery heal first. Jonna says she has at least 20 years left in her (I think more) and shes ready to "kick this cancers butt". We are very aware of how serious this is, but believe WE CAN beat it with God by our side! If anyone can, its my Jonna. You have all been so helpful and when this fight gets in the ring in a month we are going to need you more than ever. We can't express how much we love and appreciate all of this, please stick with us! Now to end this on the good. The mom who loves her kids, who has spent the last year planning the trip of a lifetime with her first baby is so tough the docotrs told her today that she NEEDED to go on their trip. You didn't't win this one Tilly and you won't beat us! Please continue to pray with us. Pray for healing, pray for strength, pray for peace, pray for comfort, pray for understanding, pray for a better diagnosis, pray for our family and especially our kids, don't stop praying, don't forget thats the best weapon we have (James 5:16), thank you we love you. Dear God, please keep our heads above water, this is tough.

update: Well, there is a little tiny light of good today! I get to go home!!!!! Bad news: the neurosurgeons overturned the oncologist’s thinking that I could go ahead to Europe. And while I am deeply saddened by this, I think he is agood doctor and is making the right decision, too much edema on my newly gapped up brain. so now tentatively one round of radiation and chemo then go the trip!!!! Praying i make it long enough to complete the awesome trip!

But first: go home!!!!

Today I ask you all to pray boldly to God. I have been approaching this all wrong. I can no longer pray that these doctors were wrong about the initial diagnosis. I can only pray boldly that our God, who IS able, who IS a miracle maker will hear our bold prayers and CHANGE it if it be His will. Dear God please change it, make it different. Make it that Jonna can treat it and beat it. Heal her. We need her. Only you God, our one and only God can do this! God please change it and it will all be to your glory! Amen.

Heb 4:16 NKJV] 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

[1Jo 5:14-15 NKJV] 14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.