Dear Prayer Warriors,
About two weeks ago, we celebrated Anna’s 7th
birthday. What a joyous occasion both grandmas’ were partying with us, uncle
Joe came with his signature cooking skills and of course we celebrated Anna pie
with exactly that, pie! The weather was so nice Anna spent the afternoon in her
swing in our backyard with sunglasses on, a gentle breeze blowing, and lovely
music playing softly. My how far she has come from the cold and snowy day of
her traumatic birth so many years ago. God has turned our tears of sorrow into tears
of joy.
As if our hearts weren’t full enough, we received heaps of presents for Anna again because Beyond the Walls church remembered Anna’s special day. Imagine an entire congregation writing cards and bringing gifts in Jesus’ name (phew a bit overwhelming). We thanked God for the gift of Anna, on loan from Him! It was all wonderful and filled our hearts with joy.
God has been answering your prayers for us regarding this upcoming surgery. I can tell because I have already shifted out of/surrendered my brokenhearted emotional turmoil of “Why God must Anna go through this.” Into some words of faith a dear friend offered us: "God’s got Anna, and we are believing Him for her care. He can do the miraculous with a Word or He can carry her through the surgery. Either way it’s His choice!” That is quite a picture of dependance, and my aim as we go forward. We let Jesus know our hearts’ cry, ask for His resources, remind Him of His past victories over diseases and trust in Him for His purposed outcome. We will have God’s presence, and that is greater than any healing.
As the days go on, we are noticing more and more that Anna needs this surgery. It has become very difficult to change her diapers. During the night she will wake up crying, whimpering until I reposition her bending her legs in another direction. We increased her muscle relaxer, and arranged some botox injections to help paralyze the tone until then. The surgery is set for May 12th, We are preparing in faith. Lindsey has read up on the condition and the approaches to surgery, we have visited another doctor and have been prayerfully considering our steps. Join us in praying.
"Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge." Psalm 62:5-8
Please pray for:
-A wheel chair that allows for legs to be straight outward. Preferable something to borrow, I am going to post on the parent groups we are a part of on Facebook to see if we can borrow one. Or perhaps contact Anna’s equipment supplier. (Or for creative wisdom for daddy to rig the one we got).
-all the preparatory health things. For the appointments with Anna’s specialists to sign off on this surgery, insurance preapproval, pre surgery appointments with Dr. De (pronounced Day). He and his fellow will be doing the surgery.
-wisdom for the family logistics. Praise God my work has a paid family medical leave program for 3 weeks and I have some vacation saved up too. Lindsey and I would both like to be there the day of the surgery, with the COVID restrictions siblings are not allowed. If all goes well Anna will be 4 days inpatient, It will be about 2 hours away from home so we are wondering if we should apply to the Ronald McDonald house for those nights and remain together as a family, stay home and commute switching parent coverage, get a hotel room nearby. Or split town with Simon and Renee and not see Anna and mom for the duration.
-night nurses. I don’t know if I mentioned it in the last email but we are without night nurses again. The excellent, dependable one that was tailored just right to love on Anna found an irresistible chance to work at a pediatric clinic during the day. I cannot imagine going through this anticipated 6 week recovery time without someone watching and caring for Anna during the night. I have two companies looking right now and we are waiting. Its been 6 weeks. Again not someone looking for a paycheck, but blessed and picked by God to serve and love Anna.
-full healing of all of Anna’s disability to the glory of God.
