Dear Prayer Warriors,
A couple of weeks ago I caught up with a dear brother that
helped me out so much the day Anna was born and thereafter. We talked about how
God’s love and presence must reach Anna in such a different way because of her silence,
childlikeness, and disability. I told him that she gets attentive and lights up
with joy when we sing to the Lord. This brother told me that he has no doubt
that the famous hymn lyric applies to Anna: “In my heart there rings a melody
of heaven’s harmony.” He suggested that God is pitch perfect with her because
her soul is not seduced by worldly things, rather the gracious call of her Maker
fills her days. It brought me such joy at imagining how unique that must be.
Anna is no angel but certainly she’s angelic in attentiveness to the Almighty.
How many families have a four-year-old in their house that has
never spoken folly, no selfishness, no sin? No breaking things, no running off,
no obsession over one movie? I just read James 3 to Anna and found a radical
benefit to her witness to me. She has a tongue of purity saved for the day the Healer
would loosen it for His praise. What a glorious reservation.
Anna was named after the prophet briefly mentioned in the
birth narrative of Jesus (in Luke 2). Anna the prophet is remarked as worshipping
night and day, being constantly in the temple praying and fasting. She was a
widow for a very long time, spending her time undivided in praise of God. She
saw Jesus as a baby and thanked God. My sweet daughter Anna echoes her namesake
incidentally, perhaps she is constantly in the presence of God, undivided never
once cursing His name. Anna’s tube feeds may not give her the pangs of hunger
but she is cut off almost entirely of the joy of taste. Anna is daily in prayer
with us.
This perspective of Anna communing with God is so gracious to
me, God is equipping my heart as I serve her. Sometimes I peer in and wonder what
our God is making through Anna -I still ask for the miracle of full healing
because God is able. One thing I tell most everybody about raising Anna is that
“you always (and even daily sometimes) have to reconcile the hardships of your
daughter with the goodness of God.”
Praise the Lord for:
-the month of May marking one year since Anna has been hospitalized
as an inpatient, we’re celebrating!
-after writing to our Governor regarding our Medicaid insurance
request for a ramp van conversion, action has been taken, the conversion has
been preapproved.
-Anna doing so great falling asleep with the CPAP mask and
forced air. This coming Wednesday, we will have a sleep study to determine the strength
of forced air needed.
Pray for:
-Anna to hold up her head completely and consistently.
-her to stop chewing her hands constantly and that her wrists
sores would heal.
-increased ability to track objects with her eyes, that she
would persist in engaging the world around her with whatever vision she has.
-physical therapy milestones to arrive like sitting independently,
crawling, walking, and balancing.
-her hip joint to form well so “the ball doesn’t leave the
socket”.
-guidance regarding a surgery to install a Jejunum tube (a
feeding tube to the intestine) reducing exposure to radiation.
-greater success in communication through assistive devices.
-wisdom in selecting a van, the conversion company, and the
dealer through whom this long process must continue through, that we would be
patient.
-another year of no illness related hospitalization.
-Thanksgiving to God for our night nurses ensuring we all get
rest.
We’re honored by your service of prayer,
Nic, Lindsey, Anna, and Simon
