The Kingdom of His Beloved Son

Blessings and Greetings in the Lord Jesus Christ, Dear Prayer Warrior,

The content of these prayer emails ought to be God-glorifying and meaty in faith. However, it seems that my emotion can often overwhelm my words and deemphasize the Truth that anchors us in exchange for feelers. So now, I want to honestly display the full spectrum of God’s works in our lives as much as grace can reveal it to me. It will always include emotion but they are not leading they are following behind our faith.

As an unbeliever, I felt so alienated, alone, and misunderstood. Art was the only way to explain my inner content outwardly, but I remained prideful in my aloneness. In truth am never alone and never unloved. Anna’s needs have humbled me time and again to more clearly latch onto God. She has helped me discover just how interventionist and interested God was/is in all our lives. Praise Him that He is. The God of the Bible’s supreme intervening love and interest with us all came in the person of Jesus Christ in life, death, and resurrection, even though many reject Him.

One of my favorite verses of assurance is Colossians 1:13 “He (God) has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,” I cling to the verb tense here! We are talking spiritual victory in Jesus no matter to situation. You see, Anna is sick again with a fever, stuffy nose, constant cough, and a thrush infection. We had to break out the suction machine, humidifiers and remember just how hard it is to see Anna go through this and how demanding it is on us. The domain of darkness still tempts me to think that life sucks, that pity parties are justified, and complaining actually gets me somewhere.  Or darker still, that Anna’s needs will tear apart my marriage, that I don’t have what it takes to father Anna, or that she might not see her next birthday. There is legitimate possibility to all of that. But I reject those paths because they are in the domain of darkness. I have faith in Jesus, He is living through me. I no longer live with current problems that give way to future fears. I have a High Priest that I look to for answers. Living in “the kingdom of His beloved Son” makes me focus on Him instead of myself for the answers and provision. I stand solution-focused on Jesus instead of problem-focused on me. It takes faith and grace to see things His way that is why clinging to the promises of the Bible is so helpful.  

God is so good because in the weeks leading up to this current sickness He has brought Lindsey and me in unified hot pursuit of Him. We are having much renewal by simply focusing on Jesus, experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit, and praying our lives out to Him in utter dependence. Our medical discussions about Anna are more supportive and open to each other. We are always encouraging one another in the faith. Lindsey has been so intentional to talk about what our day has been like abiding in Jesus. We discuss the spiritual strongholds Satan has been using to wedge into our relationship, then we go onward in prayer and in the Scriptures to find the biblical too needed to enter into battle equipped as a soldier of Light. We are finding obedience to be fruitful in things like fasting and prayer together. So this intensity of Anna’s new illness does challenge our sleep and new found gracious harmony.  

God will make a way and show up as we stand our ground and fight for the faith!

Please Pray:

-For Anna’s full recovery from this illness, ASAP. that God will keep her airway clear.

-For patience in enduring because none of this is without a purpose, may we glorify God through this.

-For more reminders in our everyday that we have been taken from the domain of darkness and placed into the kingdom of the beloved Son. May we ponder richly the implications of this as we go about living for Jesus.

-For continued unity in our marriage, household needs, and mutual diligence in seeking the Lord.  

Thank you,

Nic, Lindsey, Anna, and Simon

The Spiritual Waiting Room for Medical Decisions

What a sustaining! I want to praise God for his grace in activating our CES waiver through Medicaid. This was nothing short of 2 years in the making. I have asked you frequently to pray for this. Many new benefits come from this for Anna and us. $10,000 for a home or van ramp modification, horseback therapy, music, massage, and housecleaning! We have a cleaning crew that helps us once a week. I didn’t know how badly we needed that until after their first visit. What a humbling thing they do. I’m so impressed with Medicaid to recognize the “stress of messes” and include housekeeping in their provision for Anna.

Anna has been tremendous in showing us patience and grace. She is full of effort which is so encouraging to us “keep on keeping on Anna”. She appreciates things so obviously, Anna can’t hide it when we address her one on one. It means so much to her. Two weeks ago she underwent a different kind of intensive therapy which was very encouraging to us as well. It was a trifecta of Speech, OT and PT. There was much to be said about the team they assembled for Anna. She was working on her drumming skills, Weight bearing on all fours, trying out communication devices, and tracking objects with her eyes.

Unfortunately, all summer long Anna has had a hard time sleeping every night. She hasn’t been falling asleep easily.  She wakes up coughing and needs repositioning usually 4 times in one night. She’s coughing right now and it I just don’t know what to do because previously she only acted like this when she was sick. This has led us to inventory what decisions and medications we have done that could be causing this hardship. We have found that the Flovent medication does cause side effects like what Anna is going through. So we are going to try and do without for a while and see.  

God is in control! He opens doors and answers prayers. We are not left alone in these decisions for Anna. But also, just because the medication is prescribed and we prayed about it doesn’t automatically mean that it is the way we should go. (This applies for all treatments that anyone recommends be it eastern, experimental, old wives tale.) What God would have for Anna isn’t as simple as obeying the medicine list. It’s a question of waiting a beat, then counting on guidance from Anna’s Maker. Being in step with God, knowing Anna, and remaining unified as her parents seem to be critical non-doctor factors that help the most. The Spirit has helped us see times in our past where our obedience to God and abiding in the faith was a distant second in our medical decisions for Anna. We acted in haste because we were told to, or because the waiting room was uncomfortable. Lately we have learned to read and collect all info, place our choices before the Lord and wait. 

Please Pray:

-A clear path and the appointed God-ordained time regarding the Nissen surgery, the eye surgery, and tooth pull (all needs to happen under general anesthesia).

-Should we even get the Nissen? This surgery is currently in the waiting room of medical decision right now as we wait for a Word from God. It’s not doctor recommended but it has helped many others.

-For the Lord’s will and grace to be at work for Anna’s betterment, that she can sleep through the night again and we can find the source of struggle; that peace would be covering it all.

-For Anna to be able to communicate yes/no choices using buttons or iPad.

-For Anna’s full healing with perfect vision, intelligent arm and leg movements, etc….

-For secretion management, increased swallowing and throat clearing ability; For no more saliva pooling in her throat while she sleeps.

Many thanks,

Nic, Lindsey, Anna, and Simon