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June 13, 2008
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Dear Friends,
May I start by saying a great big THANK YOU for your prayers for Christian. He did really well and is healing nicely. It’s an interesting experience to be thrust into a new situation with people you have never met but have the common thread of a child who is sick. On the morning of his surgery Christian asked me “Will this hurt, Mom?” I told him what I knew. The nurse had told me the previous evening that he would be given "happy juice" before his IV was put in so he wouldn’t feel that at all. (I tried to order some "happy juice" for Barry and me but she was very uncooperative!) I told Christian that he might feel a bit sick when he woke up and that his wounds might be tender for a few days, but we would have medication to keep any pain at bay. As we drove to the hospital he said, “I’m scared, Mom.” We held hands in the car and asked for peace and grace for Christian. He added his own PS that the surgeon would be in a good mood!
As we sat in the waiting room, I was aware of other moms and dads trying to reassure their children. One little boy couldn’t understand why he couldn’t have breakfast before his surgery. “I’m starving,” he said. “This is child abuse!” I saw a young mom hold her baby close to her chest and I prayed for this little lamb that whatever he was facing would go well. Then, the operation started, and we waited. Christian had a hard time coming out of the anesthetic and when he did, he was in pain and very disoriented. I think now of those of you who nurse chronically sick kids, and I marvel at your grace and strength. Many of you have to watch your children suffer day in and day out, and I can’t imagine what that is like. If that is who you are, I bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus and ask that your strength and healing grace would be renewed every morning. After a few days of lots of ice cream and love, Christian was doing well and ready to play basketball again!
On Thursday of next week my mom has surgery to remove the tumor on her bladder. They will keep her in for a few days and any further treatment will be determined by what they find. I would be so grateful for your prayers on her behalf.
My heart broke this week as I read about the four boy scouts who lost their lives when a tornado tore through their camp. For the families and friends left behind, this wound will take a long time to heal. I know you will join me in praying for them.
On a lighter note, I think it’s hilarious how our children’s candor keeps our feet on the ground. Christian has been in baseball camp this week and on Sunday night he presented me with his glove, wrapped around a baseball. He asked me if I would sit on it for two hours.
“What for?” I asked in all innocence.
“To soften the glove up,” he said.
“Why don’t YOU sit on it?” I asked him.
“Well...it would just be more…effective if you sat on it, Mom.”
Hmm...it’s so good to know that one can be "effective"!
This weekend we are in St. Louis, Missouri with The Women of Faith Infinite Grace conference. Steve Arterburn, our founder, will be with us again speaking from his book Healing is a Choice. I LOVE the conference this year. The messages, the music, and the drama are so fresh and powerful. I hope you will get a chance to join us somewhere down the road.
I don’t know what you might be facing today or in the next few days but it is my prayer that you will daily draw from the infinite grace of God. I love what the writer to the Hebrews says in chapter 12:
“Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.”
May his grace, mercy and peace be with you,
In Jesus name,
With Love,
Sheila
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