Weeping with the Jon Stauffer family

I have a wonderful weekend of pictures to share here, and I already started that post last evening.  But I'm going to post this first, because I know that some of you readers and church friends were concerned and praying for our nephew Jonathan Stauffer's wife in northwest Minnesota.   In the middle of January it was discovered Jenny had stage four pancreatic cancer.  Monday afternoon she passed away.  

This beautiful picture has been the header of her CaringBridge page. 

Since January she had been home and receiving chemo treatments weekly and doing quite well.  This past weekend was going to be a week off from chemo and they were looking forward to doing some fun things as a family.  They were also looking forward to CT scans later this week to find out how the cancer has been responding to the chemo treatments.

But this past Thursday she started running a high fever, so they went to the ER.  She was admitted.  Her oxygen levels were very low, and they found blood clots in her lungs, and by Saturday a big blood clot in her leg, as well as an infection in her lungs.  She was taken to a hospital in Fargo.  On Sunday afternoon things took a serious turn for the worse.   Jon's dad and mother (Dick's brother Bob and wife Doris) took Jon and Jenny's four children to Fargo to see their mamma and to say their goodbyes.  Later this heartbreaking picture was posted on the CaringBridge page.   She passed away the next afternoon.

Jon has shared regularly on the CaringBridge page with transparency and profound trust in God throughout this journey.  I wish I could give him and those precious children a big hug, but I know others will do that.   

In his own words: "I know you all will, but I'm going to ask anyway to please pray for the children and I as we take our first steps as a family without mama present.  I know God will give us the grace to do so, but it looks very daunting.  We have faith, but that mustard seed is tiny."