My Heroes Today

In the midst of the the fast-breaking swine flu and all the precautions needed for a special needs child, I was grateful to be reminded of the good news this morning.

The good news is that JB was born in America. Mr. R and I are employed. We have a roof over our heads. We have great health insurance. We have a wonderful Pediatrician. We have clean water. We have air-conditioning. God forbid the swine flu becomes pandemic, we have the possibility of anti-virals. We have access to hospitals. In fact, three to choose from. Don't get me wrong, I am praying against it, rearranging life to avoid it, reading my tweets, texts and tickers to be informed about it. It's a serious issue, no doubt about it.

But worldwide 26,000 children will die today. Otherwise healthy children that have no access to clean water, common medications, mosquito nets, life-saving vaccines. Children living in extreme poverty plain and simple. This same number will die tomorrow and Friday too.

Pete Wilson at withoutwax.tv is in India serving and blogging for Compassion International. He's not feeling well but is persevering on the journey. Please give yourself the gift of reading his accounts and pray for his wellness.
Melissa Fitzpatrick is on the trip as well, reading her post God's Shameless Love for the Poor literally brought me to my knees. One of the best blog posts I've ever read.
Angie Smith is another team member and her bravery in believing God through trials...because of trials...is as faith inspiring as it gets for me. She is one of the most authentic voices of Christianity today and her unbridled love for God is nothing short of amazing.

There are many other team members, I haven't read all the postings yet, but I am sure their accounts of the journey are just as inspiring. You can view them all by going to the Compassion Blog.

I love these people. It may help that I don't know them personally. But through their going forth...their writing...their willingness to see the truth and get busy doing something about it...I'm changed.

I will take precautions against the swine flu for JB, I will fight today and the rest of my life to protect his life...his well being. I do not control it--his life is entirely in God's hands. But I have to do my part with the knowledge, inspiration and circumstances God ordains.

Today, via the above heroes, my eyes are opened, the challenge presented..am I willing to extend my part beyond my own child...to all those I come in contact with....and to those who I may never have contact with?

Today my answer is yes, I will do more to love those in my midst. I will sponsor more children, advocate for children, and with the grace of God, open my eyes to see all of us as God's children.

Prayers for Stellan

***Update. Baby Stellan is HOME!

Precious baby Stellan is scheduled for surgery in Boston tonight or tomorrow morning. Please join me in praying for this little boy, his family and the surgeons.

Easter Rising

So many broken hearts.
The literal kind like JB's and all heart heroes.
The figurative kind like all of ours at one point or another.

Death, divorce, illness, grief, depression, sorrow....one heart break after another.

A family in California mourning their 8 year old daughter, allegedly killed by a Sunday School teacher. Heart shattering. Beyond comprehension.

Children and adults praying for new hearts, knowing their answered prayer means devastating loss to another family.
Parents preparing Easter baskets for children they pray will live to see Mother's Day.
Parents that walked the aisles of Target this year looking at all the Easter baskets they can't deliver to their child in Heaven.

Click on any of the blog links on the right and you'll read plenty of stories of heartache.
You'll read about pain, broken hearts, grief.....life. You'll also read about hope.
Hope that doesn't fail.
Hope that is so firmly rooted in Easter that it cannot be destroyed by Good Friday.
Hope that conquers illness, sorrow, grief...broken hearts.
Hope that conquers evil.
Hope that conquered death.
Still does.

Today we celebrate Easter. It's not about a bunny.

It's about Jesus rising from the tomb.
Literally. Completely.
This is what separates Jesus from every other supposed prophet.
He's not in the tomb.
All the others still are.

He was who he said he was. He did what he said he'd do.
He will do what he said he'll do.
He will mend our broken hearts, if we give him the pieces.
Through his rising, we rise.

Happy Easter.

Good Friday Prayers for Shepherd

***Update 4/15/09 Shepherd's breathing difficulties are requiring a tracheostomy. Surgery is today. Please visit their blog for the updates and to offer encouragement.

Please join me in offering prayers for baby Shepherd.
He had surgery on April 1st to repair coarctation of his aorta (same CHD as JB.) Shepherd is a newborn and he's been having some difficulty breathing on his own. They have tried to remove the ventilator on a couple of occasions and each time it's been necessary to re-intubate him. It's a very painful surgery and the level of pain medications required can suppress respiratory function. It's a fine balance...and one that's not easily acheived.
I connected with this family via their blog and encourage you to visit their site and leave a prayer or encouraging comment for them to read.
As many of you know, and thankfully some of you don't, Intensive Care Units can be very lonely and disorienting. The heartiest of prayer warriors can become discouraged with "normal" life going on around a critically ill child. Stephanie (Shepherd's Mom) has posted several specific prayer requests for tomorrow and if you're inclined, please click here to go to the page and join us in asking God for His mighty healing and comforting grace for this family. Thanks so much.

Storm

If your speakers are off or on low....turn up the volume. The first song playing says it all. And says it in a tone that I can stand.

The question I'm asked most frequently is, "How awful it must be, how could God do this?"


If I'm feeling particularly crabby I answer, "Do what?" as if I don't know that they're referring to the seeming horror of living with a child with a congenital heart defect. If I've sufficiently spent time with God, receiving the graces of silent (on my end) time...I am better able to answer gently what I know to be true.


I know that God created JB, not defective or broken, but exactly how God intended for His glory and purpose. Period.
What the world calls a problem, a defect, is just not so.... if viewed through the lens of God's purpose. The kicker is I don't get to use that lens. I have to choose to trust it, trust that it's good, right, holy and bigger than me and my discomfort even if I can't see what it is or why it is.

Some people hate this answer. Sometimes I hate it too. But I know it's true.


I hated this answer a couple weeks ago as I held JB for hours and hours in the hospital while he suffered. I hadn't slept for 72 hours. I swore at God, at Jesus specifically, out loud on more that three occasions. It was the rage of a mother holding an inconsolable child at 3am. It was the rage of a broken human unable to fit the scriptural knowlege "ask and you shall receive," into the box of NOW. It was the rage of a temper-tantrum throwing 39 year-old saying if you don't do what I ask right now I am never going to believe you again. Damn you (only I didn't use damn.)



And it was then, as I tried the rocking chair again. Then, as my tears fell on JB's belly as he lay across my lap in only his ragged diaper tangled in the EKG wires and IV lines. Then, as I looked down and God brought to mind a Michaelangelo masterpiece, the Pieta, that R and I stood in awe of in Rome several years ago.

Then, as I held the image and looked at my own son. It was then that I knew, reminded once again that my limited understanding, my limited demand for relief now, was not unheard, was not un-attended to....JB and I were not alone in that room, railing against a cruel God inflicting or allowing pain for no reason. I was just not "let-in" on the why. Nor did I need to be.

In that moment, I was reminded of an event and a suffering that occured over 2,000 years ago. An event that I may not fully, and certainly not intellectually, understand this side of heaven. I don't need to fully grasp it to receive it's grace....and know that it is true.

As the rocking chair squeaked it's rhythmic motion, my tears paused and I watched peace fall on me and my son. I began my prayer of apology for my swearing...began my prayer of praise for a God that intimately and gently reminded me of His goodness, His grace, and His presence in the midst of the storm.

A God that knew JB would be born and have a special heart. A God that placed me in front of the Pieta years before I had this child, knowing I would need the reminder of that image to help me carry the pain while holding belief.

I don't pretend to find joy in the suffering, the pain. I am not happy about JB's physical ailments. But God has given me peace in the midst of the storm. The abiding peace that I am not alone, JB is not alone, and that there is purpose in the trials of congenital heart disease.

The first song that plays on the blog is Storm by Lifehouse. It is a reminder of Peter being invited by Jesus to get out of the boat and walk on water. The deal is Peter can do it, the seemingly impossible act of walking on water, as long as he keeps his eyes on Jesus. If you know the story, then you know the minute Peter takes his eyes off Jesus, he sinks. I love the story and I love the song. It isn't a happy, happy ditty about screaming praise and feeling bouncing joy in the midst of suffering (I'm not that holy...although I've met some folks that are close.) It is about keeping my eyes on Jesus and being given the grace in that process to know that everything is alright. All right in the eyes of God.

if I could just see you, everything would be alright.

if I'd see you this darkness would turn to light.

i will walk on water. You will catch me if i fall.

i will get lost into your eyes, i know everything will be alright.

i know everything is alright.

i know you didn't bring me out here to drown

so why am i ten feet under and upside down

barely surviving has become my purpose

cause i'm so used to living underneath the surface

if i could just see you everything would be alright

if i'd see you this darkness would turn to light

and i will walk on water

and you will catch me if i fall

and i will get lost into your eyes

i know everything will be alright

and i will walk on water

and you will catch me if i fall

and i will get lost into your eyes

i know everything will be alright

i know everything is alright