Full Draw Faith: Randy’s Heart Transplant Journey

I’m asking our Full Draw Faith family to stop what you’re doing for just a moment and pray for Randy.

Many of you know the battles he has already fought and the miracles God has already carried him through. That’s what makes this current struggle so frustrating.

For the last month, Randy has lost nearly 40 pounds. He continues to deal with severe gastrointestinal issues that are leaving him malnourished and causing what doctors call “failure to thrive.” We’ve seen specialists. We’ve done tests. We’ve chased answers. So far, nothing has stopped it.

I know this isn’t exactly the kind of thing people like to talk about on Facebook. Trust me, it’s not easy to share. But when something is threatening the strength and health of someone you love, pride takes a back seat to prayer.

We are exploring every possible option, including some treatments that may sound unusual to some people. At this point, we are simply asking God to lead us to the answer and to the right doctors, treatments, and decisions.

The enemy would love for us to become discouraged, but we refuse. We have seen God’s faithfulness too many times before.

So today, please pray specifically:

• For answers.
• For healing in Randy’s digestive system.
• For his body to absorb the nutrients it needs.
• For strength as he continues to lose weight.
• For wisdom for his medical team.
• For peace while we wait.

After everything he’s already overcome, we are believing that diarrhea will not be the thing that takes him down.

The same God who brought him through every battle before is still on the throne (not sure if that was the right choice of words 😬—but let’s move on..) today.

“Lord, heal what doctors cannot yet explain, strengthen what has become weak, and remind us that Your plans are bigger than our fears. Amen.”

Thank you for standing watch with us in prayer.

PROGRESS! 🎯🏹

Today Randy shot a 30-pound bow using an arrow spined for a 50-pound bow. Was it easy? Not even close. The setup isn’t ideal, and it took some figuring out, adjusting, and a whole lot of determination.

But guess what?

He hit the target. 🎯

That may not sound like much to some people, but when you’ve spent months fighting battles most people never see, every small victory feels huge. What used to come naturally now requires patience, perseverance, and faith. Yet here we are—still moving forward.

This journey has taught us that progress isn’t always measured in giant leaps. Sometimes it’s measured in arrows that finally find their mark after countless attempts.

God continues to remind us that strength doesn’t always look like power. Sometimes strength looks like showing up, trying again, and refusing to quit.

So today we’re celebrating a target hit, a determined heart, and another reminder that with God, progress is still progress—no matter how small it may seem.

“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” — Galatians 6:9

Standing Watch for Him:

2026 has been a doozy.

More than once, I’ve looked up toward Heaven and jokingly said, “Lord, I’d like to return this year with receipts.”

It has felt like one hit after another.

Many of you have walked alongside us through Randy’s health challenges, but there are other battles I haven’t talked much about. While Randy was in the hospital fighting for his life, my step-grandfather died by su***de. There have been struggles at work that have shaken me to my core. There have been heartbreaking situations involving people I love dearly. And when I look around at our world—what we see on social media, what we hear on the news, and what we witness in our own communities—it can leave you wondering what this life is even supposed to be about.

If I’m being honest, there have been moments when I’ve asked God, “Where are You?” Moments when I’ve felt exhausted, discouraged, and overwhelmed by the weight of it all.

But when I look back…

I can see Him.

Not always in the way I expected. Not always in the timing I wanted. But He was there.

He was in the hospital rooms.

He was in the waiting.

He was in the tears.

He was in the unanswered questions.

And somehow, even the hardest things—the things I would have never chosen—have produced tiny miracles along the way.

Today, one of those tiny miracles happened.

I had already left work after a long meeting when I realized I had forgotten my phone. Frustrated, I turned around and went back to my office. As I was walking back out, our chaplain was coming through the door.

He looked at me and said, “I’m so glad I caught you. I don’t have keys to get out the downstairs door.”

Had I remembered my phone, I would have been gone.

Such a small thing.

Or was it?

Moments like that remind me that God is in the details. He places us where we need to be, often without us even realizing it. So many times, I haven’t understood why I was in a certain place, facing a certain circumstance, or walking through a particular trial.

But later, I could see His fingerprints all over it.

I don’t believe in coincidences.

I believe in a God who is present.

A God who is working when I can’t see it.

A God who is writing a story that is bigger than my understanding.

And while I would never choose many of the things this year has brought, I can say with confidence that God has been faithful through every single moment.

Maybe that’s the lesson He keeps teaching me: not that life will make sense, but that He will be there when it doesn’t.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” — James 1:2-3

If you’re walking through a hard season, keep going. The miracle may not look like what you expected. Sometimes it’s found in the smallest moments, the quietest provisions, and the gentle reminders that God has never left your side.

Randy Update:

We wanted to give a little update on Randy and ask for continued prayers.

Over the past several weeks, he has been dealing with some ongoing gastrointestinal issues that the doctors are still trying to get to the bottom of. Because of it, he has lost quite a bit of weight. Tomorrow brings more testing, and we are praying for answers, wisdom for his medical team, and a treatment plan that will finally correct the problem.

The good news is that otherwise, he is doing very well overall, and we are incredibly grateful for that. His strength, faith, and determination continue to shine through every day.

We truly appreciate every prayer, message, and act of encouragement. We believe God is still writing this story, and we are trusting Him through every step. ❤️

Standing Watch for Him

I read a comment in one of our transplant groups today that really broke my heart. Someone asked if anyone else ever feels like they are being punished for accepting a new heart… like maybe all the hard things that happen afterward are somehow “payment” for cheating death.

And honestly? I think more transplant families feel this than they are willing to admit out loud.

Because after the miracle comes the reality. The appointments. The medications. The fear. The survivor’s guilt. The unexpected hardships that somehow still happen even after you thought the hardest battle had already been fought.

I have watched Randy fight for his life. I have watched him lay in a hospital bed with a chest full of staples and a body exhausted from simply trying to stay alive. I have watched our family walk through uncertainty that changed every single one of us forever. And yet, even after receiving the miracle of a new heart, life did not suddenly become easy.

But here is what I know with every fiber of my being: God does not rescue us just to punish us later.

A transplant is not “cheating death.” It is a gift allowed by the sovereignty of God Himself. None of us are powerful enough to add one single day to our lives outside of His will. If you are still here, there is purpose in that. There is ministry in that. There is still Kingdom work assigned to your name.

The enemy would love nothing more than to make survivors feel guilty for surviving. He would love to convince you that every hardship afterward is evidence that you somehow escaped what was “supposed” to happen to you. But that is not the voice of God.

Sometimes after trauma, every loss feels louder. Every hard season feels personal. Your heart and mind are still trying to recover while your body is healing too. And when the hits keep coming, it can begin to feel cruelly ironic. I understand that feeling more than I can even explain.

But suffering after survival does not mean God abandoned you. Sometimes it means you are human. Sometimes it means you are still walking through a broken world. And sometimes it means God is still writing a testimony so deep that one day it will help carry someone else through their darkest hour.

Randy’s transplant journey changed our lives forever, but not because we “got away” with something. It changed us because we witnessed the goodness of God in places most people will never have to walk through. We saw miracles in hospital hallways. We saw strangers become family. We saw prayers answered in real time.

And if you are struggling with these thoughts today, please hear this:
You are not being punished for living.

You were saved for a reason. 🤍

“Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.” — Psalm 139:16

One thing I am learning through this transplant journey is that the biggest changes are not always the dramatic ones people can easily see. Sometimes it is the smallest, simplest things that quietly remind you that life looks different now.

Today it was a pool float.

Something so simple. So ordinary. The kind of thing nobody thinks twice about. You take it out of the package, blow it up, toss it in the water, and move on with your day.

Except now… even blowing up a pool float has become a scheduled process in our house.

Not because we are complaining. Not because it is some huge burden. Honestly, it is just one of those things I am realizing along the way. People with asthma are often advised not to blow things up like this because it can trigger breathing issues, and after transplant there are just extra precautions and considerations attached to everyday life.

And while this may seem so small to most people, I think what weighs on my husband the most is not the float itself… it is the fact that I no longer ask him to do these things.

For a man who has spent his whole life doing everything he possibly could for his wife and family, that adjustment is hard. Probably harder than most people realize.

He is trying so hard to get back to himself. To regain strength. To regain independence. To feel useful in all the ways he always has been.

So this post is not about sadness or frustration. It is simply about awareness. About recognizing the quiet changes that happen after transplant that nobody really talks about.

The little pauses.
The small adjustments.
The moments where you realize life has changed in ways you never expected.

But even in these moments, God is teaching us something beautiful — that love is not less valuable when it looks different.

Sometimes love is protecting.
Sometimes love is waiting.
Sometimes love is letting others help carry what you once carried yourself.

And sometimes love is a husband who would still blow up every pool float for his wife if he could.

“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
Galatians 6:2

Caregiver Chronicles | Standing Watch for Him

There was a season before Randy’s heart transplant when I barely left his side. Day and night, hospital room after hospital room, monitor alarms, medication schedules, prayers whispered under my breath, and pleading with God for one more day… I stayed planted right beside him.

But there was one moment… one very important moment post heart transplant… that I came home for.

Garlan Ray’s senior recognition basketball game.
💙💛

That night someone asked Garlan how Randy was doing, and somewhere in the middle of that conversation my baby boy spoke his truth:

“As long as he makes it home for graduation.”

I don’t know if people realize the weight those words carried.

Because when you’ve stared fear in the face long enough… when you’ve watched someone fight for every heartbeat… “making it home” becomes protected from interference.

And y’all… God heard every prayer.

Not only did Randy make it home… he made it to graduation.

He stood there beside us, living proof that miracles still walk among us.

This picture is more than a graduation photo.
It is evidence of God’s mercy.

Evidence that prayers spoken through tears still reach Heaven.

Evidence that even when the road is terrifying, God is still writing the story.

There were moments we didn’t know what tomorrow would hold. Moments exhaustion and fear tried to steal our faith. But God remained faithful in every hallway, every surgery, every setback, and every victory.

And seeing Randy standing beside Garlan Ray on this milestone day felt like the Lord gently whispering: “I told you I wasn’t finished yet.”

Sometimes the miracle isn’t just survival.
Sometimes the miracle is getting to witness the moments you were afraid you’d miss.

📖 “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” — Exodus 14:14

Tonight my heart is overflowing with gratitude.
For healing.
For family.
For second chances.
And for a God who still performs miracles in the middle of impossible situations.