Naming Renée

If you have ten minutes, I wanted to encourage your faith today in a lighthearted way, to celebrate with you a great God who answers prayers so fantastic that my own brother was doubting me after I told him. Enjoy 

                                                  Naming Renée

We’ve had so much joy asking God to name our kids. There are many places in the Bible where people are given names whose meaning fits them all too well. Therefore, we definitely wanted a meaningful name for our third child. After about 6 months of considering dozens of names with rich meaning and digging through Bible characters, Lindsey and I did not have harmony on a name. I was excited about naming her Ruth; however, Lindsey was not. After some frustration in not having a name we stopped looking and started praying. We knew that God led us to the names of our first two children and so He could do it again if we asked.

God was busy forming her inward parts, knitting her in Lindsey’s womb, making her in secret. God already numbered my daughter’s days. Add to that, He already knew her name before me! Instead of resting and trusting on all these truths, I kept inserting my own will, “Lord, perhaps I should look up a missionary hero, or maybe God you can change Lindsey’s mind about naming her Phoebe (my number 2 pick).” I felt the Friends sitcom ended a long time ago, Lindsey didn’t agree. I found myself negotiating, leveraging and complaining in prayer rather than surrendering. By God’s grace, I reserved myself to trust, and pray daily for God to give the name to us.

About halfway through the third trimester, one morning, I was in prayer about other things and the name Renée came to mind twice, like a whisper within seconds of each other. It was too soft to be a distracting thought, too certain to ignore. I stopped praying, and realized that in French that name means “born again” or rebirth. A smile came to my face and I proclaimed “Lord that’s the name, praise you Lord. Thank you for Renée.” From that moment on I started praying for her by name and that the meaning of her name would describe her life one day! Then, I asked our gracious Lord to reveal the name to Lindsey. “Please God you tell her because she hasn’t liked my suggestions.” So I left it up to God, and prayed for Renée in faith that it was her name.

Later that day I told Lindsey, “The Lord gave me her name and I have been praying for her by that name. Oh and I asked God to reveal it to you so there would be no doubt.” Lindsey was shocked at these developments yet fully confident that I had heard from God. She said she had no worries about the name because even if she doesn’t hear it from God ahead of time, I would say the name at the delivery. It would all be good. Her trust allowed me to grow in confidence that God indeed spoke the name. I upheld the name Renée in prayer for her and was sure hopeful that God was going to reveal the name to Lindsey.

Periodically Lindsey would playfully wonder and suggest names that she liked while confessing that there wasn’t any nudge from the Spirit. After a couple conversations like that I said “if God didn’t tell you it, don’t guess it.” As the remaining weeks of the pregnancy went by, I found myself impatient for God to tell Lindsey and fearful that she would mock the name or be displeased. So, I dropped these hints “its French, not super uncommon, and has two syllables.”  

A week before Renée’s birth, during the quietness of putting Simon down to sleep for the night, a name came to her. Lindsey comes out of my son’s room after putting him down to sleep, full of excitement telling me that she is sure of the name. She looked up the meaning because I told her it had a beautiful meaning or hope for our daughter. In shock about her confidence, I told her to not tell me the name. She was sure, I was sure but nervous to see the results.

A week went by and active labor started naturally on Valentine’s Day. Amid the contractions I brought two sheets of paper and two pens to her. “let’s write the name down at the same time and on the count of three we’ll flip them around.”

We flipped over our sheets of paper simultaneously and Glory to God they both had Renée written on it (although mine had the accent on the “e”). To this day I can’t believe that the All-powerful God of creation, the One who raises the dead to new life in Jesus Christ, the One working for the good for those who love Him, would condescend to my little prayer and glorify Himself over such a small thing for Him to do. He is miraculous and the God of perfect timing. This will always remind me how much He loves me. He didn’t have to, but He did!!!

The picture attached was the two sheets we used for the grand reveal on Valentine’s day last year. Today Renée is 1!

Anna's Saving Grace

Dear Prayer Warriors,

I got some daddy daughter time in on Monday as we headed up to Denver for two appointments. Anna let me sing all the way up. It was a time of devotion and worship. I was belting out all the old campfire songs full on loving God. It’s a wonderfully unique thing to bring Anna into my quiet time with God. My other kids want to do something else. But sweet Anna will listen to Scripture without objection, agree in prayer and let me sing. There are times when I sing that she joins me with her cooing and abstract vocal styling.

We established care with an orthopedic surgeon to discuss Anna’s hip dysplasia. Her femur comes in too straight into the hip socket which prevents a normal formation of the hip socket, ultimately leading to hip dislocation. He explained that all this is caused by Anna’s cerebral palsy (cp). 

The big revelation he made was that Anna is not in the spastic quadriplegic cp grouping (as diagnosed in paper) but rather the dystonic quadriplegic cp. This means that she has periods when her muscle tone relents naturally, whereas spastic is more of a constant flexing of those muscles. The doctor informed us that 95% of non-ambulatory (cannot walk) cerebral palsy kids develop hip subluxation (pre dislocation) requiring surgery. The majority of cases (80%) occur by the time the child is 5. The doctor said “Anna’s dystonic breaks in muscle tone is her saving grace.” I interrupted him, “Anna’s saving grace is far greater than that. we have seen miracles.” Perhaps the doctor was just using a figure of speech, he is right, her cerebral palsy could be so much worse. A softer disability would be a mercy from God rather than a saving grace.

When I think of God’s actual saving grace for Anna I think of the parable of the Great Banquet where those invited chose not to come, “Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’” Luke 14:21. And more directly, how God promises that “the lame I will make my remnant.” Micah 4:7. Jesus extends salvation to Anna! Her saving grace and my saving grace are from the same source the Word. No merit of our own, just God's grace. Even before Anna and I left the appointment room I prayed for God to honor how provoked I was. I asked God to show miraculous grace in this situation. To bring healing to Anna’s hips noticeable in her next X-ray. And that she would be monitored closely for years and never be a “good candidate” for hip subluxation surgery and that the doctor would remember the greater saving grace that we brought to his attention that day. 

In faith I know that Jesus is the one taking care of Anna, He will heal, He meets her needs. Even when I haven’t read the latest medical journal on cerebral palsy and blindness I know Jesus has. Even though there is no special needs trust set up for Anna I know Jesus will meet all her needs. Even though there may be more surgeries I know Jesus will shepherd us. What a gift of faith Anna has become in the life of my wife and I.

Please Pray for:

-Numotion to call us regarding a stander, gait trainer as we are still waiting.

-my private insurance to accept my doctor and therapist forms to see if they will pay for a platform lift, they have to be submitted through a lift construction company that they approve. the company I talked to doesn’t submit to insurance.

-full healing of Anna, including from an acute respiratory illness she has been dealing with for about ten days.

-the right night nurse willing to work 4 nights a week. Right now we just have 2 days covered.

God’s got us,

The Currats

 (the Pic is of Anna's dedication) 

God's Hand on Anna. A 2019 roundup

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Happy New Year I wanted to give you a roundup of all things Anna from 2019.

Medical visits:

This year we had one surgery (the Jejunostomy, paired with pulling her two front teeth). This was to minimize her exposure to radiation and to keep food out of the stomach where reflux was so common. The surgery and the benefits were both a great success praise God. Anna had one other week long inpatient hospitalization for a kidney infection and UTI.

The pulmonologist removed two of her three lung medications and Anna has been doing great. She still wears her BiPAP mask at night to help open her lungs and prevent her propensity of atelectasis (collapsed lung). Anna continues to keep her airway and lungs clear with all her excess saliva.

Our new GI doctor encouraged us to start a supplemental blended diet on top of the formula for greater weight gain. Two years ago, we fed Anna full time with a blended diet. It was such a mess literally, it was expensive, and Anna ended refluxing most of it up and out. Now that we are feeding into the intestine, we gave it another shot. We got a different feeding pump for grainier mixes, dusted off the Vitamix and our Gerber baby jar collection. Since we started, we have seen more weight gain, better skin complexion and energy.  Anna is just over 40 pounds. Its getting the nutritionist to sign off on the recipes that has been a challenge.

The Physiatrist was pleased to see that Anna’s hip dysphasia (malformation leading to dislocation) hasn’t progressed. She still has asked us to meet with an orthopedic surgeon about this. The Doc gave us a prescription for a new stander, gait trainer, and a platform lift. Anna’s muscle relaxer was also increased. In an attempt to improve Anna’s hip joint, the doctor injected Anna’s inner hamstrings with botox. This is a three-month paralyzer that should prevent Anna from utilizing her typical extension pattern that causes malformation in her joints and bones.

The Ophthalmologist only saw Anna once this year. Her eyes seem less active and less interested in following sound. Her vision does not seem to be increasing, but only Anna really knows. We got new glasses with shorter stems and that has helped immensely to keep them on her face.

Praise God for no needed appointments with neurology and neurosurgery. Although we did meet with neurosurgery down here to establish care. Anna continues to show no signs of seizures or shunt malfunctions!

We also met with a behavioral doctor that diagnosed her cognitive ability to give her an official developmental delay diagnosis as it was a requirement for Medicaid.  

We got preapproval for genetic testing that the geneticist encouraged us to have because of Anna’s Polymicrogyria (where the folds or ridge-like shaping of the brain develops too many folds, and the folds are unusually small). We have yet to take steps to complete it. It seems like it means more to the doctors than it does to us to know the origin of this malformation.  Another pending treatment is the stem cells that we harvested and banked from Renee’s umbilical cord. We have yet to find out if they are compatible and could be administered to Anna.  

Therapies:

We had a Physical Therapist that loved working with Anna and pushed her productively with great encouragement. Then we moved, we are on our second PT in Colorado Springs and they are just not connecting with Anna or interested in pushing like we have seen. We are weighing our options to do another intensive therapy run, or switch companies again. Thankfully our PT wrote a letter of recommendation for all the home modifications she recommended: a wider driveway, paved access to the back yard, a platform lift, widen the bathroom doorway, bigger bath tub. Perhaps the insurances will find these as necessities too.

We like Anna’s Occupational Therapist down here in the Springs however she was diagnosed with cancer and is moving back to California. We are looking for another OT.

Speech is the only one going smoothly down here. Anna is tasting foods and enjoys interacting with all the lip and mouth exercises.

We had to discontinue Hippotherapy (horseback therapy) because its billed differently in this county. Anna loved this so hopefully we can find a place that can make it possible. Anna receives massage therapy which continues to help her with bowel movements. We noticed that Anna doesn’t engage like she used to with music therapy so we are going to discontinue it for a while.    

Nursing:

Praise God that Lindsey and I continue to be Anna’s Certified Nurse Assistant CNA. This enables Lindsey to stay home with all our kids. I supplement a few times when Lindsey is out with friends. Lindsey is excellent with Anna. Bathing Anna has become rather difficult, we have a smaller bath and a small bath chair for a growing girl. Lord willing, we will get a better tub and chair in the coming years. Tonight, is the last night for Anna’s main night nurse. She worked 4 nights a week for us and we currently don’t have anyone to replace her yet. We are their “top priority”. We are thankful for our other night nurse that continues to work the weekends. Since Anna is nonverbal it is really helpful to have skilled nurses that help assess when Anna is fussy and not feeling well. We will miss the extra love and care our main nurse gave Anna during her time with us.

Loose ends:

-Stemming from the last hospitalization we have found ways to keep Anna having regular bowel movements avoiding backups, frequent suppositories and further complications.

-The ramp van continues to be a tremendous aid we have had it for close to a year and a half now, praise God.

-The home is a tremendous comfort to live in, we didn’t know just how helpful more space would be.

-We have house cleaning which is a great help when they show, the person cancels often.

-We still have two insurances that continues to pay for 99% of Anna’s medical expenses.

-We were surprised to receive a $2400 check from Jefferson county to spend on Anna as we left. we were able to buy adapted toys for her to interact with and a backpacker’s backpack to carry her in on hikes. We still have a good amount of it saved for home modification although we were thinking about spending it on a week-long respite retreat that Joni and Friends do for special needs families where God is glorified and sought, and I get one on one time with Lindsey.

-Pray that we would find babysitters willing to know Anna and love our kids. I just want to treat my bride the best I can and I know that quality time has no substitute.

I love that Anna employs people, she brings financial well-being to multiple households and blesses the people that help her with money. That is a grace from God! I pray no one who serves Anna takes advantage of her, thinking she is just a means to get paid. There are two people who are full time paid and half a dozen part time, on top of all the doctors and specialists. Please join us to pray for these many things mentioned as you feel impressed upon by the Holy Spirit. Bring full healing Lord Jesus to Anna.

God has equipped us to meet Anna’s needs and He will continue to do so, blessed be the Name of the Lord.   

Love,

Nic, Lindsey, Anna, Simon, and Renee

Grace Everyday

Dear helpful prayer warriors, 

Help us fix our eyes on Jesus the perfecter of our faith, He is the One who actually knows it all.  We are in another time of not knowing what is afflicting Anna. That is why i need my Friend that knows what’s going on. What a constant companion of wisdom, encouragement, and revelation He is. Just in writing about my Jesus and knowing His perfect love, i see my fears being cast out. 

Oh but its hard to endure in the moment, not everyone is called to bring the suction machine to the dinner table. But God has equipped me for this. Anna’s coughs sound like a lawn mower that just won’t turn over. The gunk slinks up and down her throat with each cough seldom reaching her mouth where I can get it.  I want to cough for her. We perform chest percussion to compel more effective coughing. It works, and once the liquid is cleared I can feel her heart racing. We are staying the course of this uncertainty be it illness, allergy, or inabilities. May the Lord be gracious because He doesn’t ask us to turn things into a pity party or to feel sorry for ourselves. 

In Christ we are more than conquerors, in Christ we lay down our plans, trust in His plan, and we consider the needs of others more highly that our own. That is why I canceled last nights outing and stayed with my family.  Jesus has given me all I need for life and godliness and suctioning. He’s given me prayer warriors too. I cannot slump in worry or faithless impatience. Let me compel us to pray. The Almighty is laying the groundwork for His glory to shine through again this very night. May God grant me the right response to this suffering, so a pathway of His workmanship would flow forth. I am standing by, removing distractions, leading my family spiritually to face this hardship newly.

Lastly, we got Anna assessed with her developmental delay diagnosis in order to satisfy the requirements of Medicaid. it’s the testing that attempts to give her an IQ rating and see how well she follows directions. They were asking a blind person to “pick the image that is similar” or “blink for yes” and parents could not help. What a circus. The test was cut two hours short and will likely declare her as having the cognition and ability of a young infant. We were warned with bitterness from our online community of special needs families about this test. But it is God who gives wisdom and understanding. So Anna’s allotment is not measurable by these worldly measures.  We were reminded in our family devotion time last night that spiritual wisdom from God is not the world’s wisdom. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” James 3:17-18. We see these qualities of wisdom in Anna everyday. May she be a peacemaker sowing peace, reaping a harvest of righteousness to the glory of God.

Please pray:

• once again let’s ask in the name of Jesus Christ for Anna Elizabeth to be healed in both the acute and the broad forms of her infirmities and afflictions for God’s glory.
• For songs of praise and adoration to flood our household, our hearts and outlast the illness. 
• That Anna and I would understand that  “we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. So this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”2 Corinthians 4:16-18
• For increased communication, I have been trying to get her to say “daddy”. It was something I gave up on years ago but I just had the thought to try again. 
• For her hand chewing habit to stop, her right index finger is calloused to the point of mutation and her wrists have bite marks all over. 
• For greater ability to manage her saliva and mucus. 
• For family devotion times to be reestablished after dinner time

Anna's Home

 

 

Dear prayer warriors,

I ran into an overwhelming amount of things to do and a double dose of fatigue once we got home. But we are home!! Simon and I pulled out the Slip and Slide what fun we had as Anna and Renee watched on. I stepped on a wasp and got stung on the foot, it was worth it! Thank you for sharing our burdens and helping us lay them down before the Lord.

While in the hospital there were so many distractions removed, my focus was so specific: seek God and pray for Anna. Anna's long napping allowed for some prayer updates. I know I pushed the limits of our email relationship:) thank you for reading and praying. The power of prayer is awesome. Yesterday, I received a reply that struck me from one of our prayer warriors. It read:

 

 "Except for the negative of poor health for Anna, the time you spent with her consoling, encouraging, and loving her must be treasures in your heart." So true, only God can do that, He turns bad into good. Perhaps this is what that famous pastor means when he said: "don't waste your suffering".

We learned that we can walk away from a hospital stay feeling like church just got out. I spoke with Lindsey about it a little, we noted that God's grace visited us, drawing us to Him. Our hearts and mind toward our Savior. This makes me think that God answered this prayer request I asked just before the trial started:

- increased time with Jesus. Lindsey and I both feel our prayer life is estranged from more fervent times of devotion. Joining the church has helped. Thankfully we started up BSF and CBS this week. “Just a closer walk with Thee, grant it Jesus it’s my plea”

 

Please Pray For:

-Anna to strengthen and rid herself of the infection completely, that no fevers or illness would complicate her recovery

-Lindsey and I to communicate well, the fatigue has challenged my character today, we do have a date on the calendar though!!

-Renee to sleep better at night, she is getting more teeth in. up like 5 times at night

-my return to work to be met with God's grace, my company rolled out a new paid leave when immediate family is sick perhaps my absence will qualify for this new benefit. but also that a supernatural amount of freight got worked in my absence!

Humbly thankful for Jesus and His grace through this storm.

The Currats

Mercy Showcased

Prayer warriors, 

Praise the Lord who returns the joy in Anna’s personality after it was subdued by illness. Saturday night we entered this place pale and limp, disconnected from all that was going on. Her sicknesses can overwhelm her sweet personality for a while, but God’s grace is showing itself strong in the return of the kooky-coos, harmonic-hums, and squeaky squeals. Anna and I shared a sweet time of singing to the Lord together. She was singing in her language and me in English. It was a grace-filled moment last night amid the storm.  Her smiles are breaking through and even the nurses are delighted. 

Other than that moment of worship, Last evening was rough with still much excessive mucus coming up needing to be managed out. Thankfully we have all we need at home to manage that. So optimistically we seem to have one foot out the door this morning although no signal yet from the medical staff. Her bowel cleanse is almost complete.  The fever has left for more than 30 hours now. She had a good nights sleep.  We switched to an oral antibiotic. 

The only complication was that her IV got dislodged from her vein and remained under her skin. It was caught in time before lasting damage could incur. Her fingers and wrist seem to be working great.  But her left forearm arm is 3 centimeters larger than the other one. It looks like a water balloon. So we are waiting for her forearm to return to a normal size. Pray that her body would absorb the excess. We are thankful for the nurse’s vigilance to catch it as soon as possible because I was busy sleeping in. 

In other news, Lord has answered our prayers; remember the neurosurgeon’s office that we called five times to set up an appointment and they did not even return our phone calls weeks ago? Well that neurosurgeon showed up in our hospital room to adjust Anna’s shunt and assess whether or not the infection was impacting the shunt. So now we established care, have an upcoming office visit, and received an apology. 

God is working. I am encouraged by the display of Christ’s unity that my BSF men’s group is showing my family in concern and prayer. We are united in Christ! I literally met them all once for like a hour, and they are believing God for Anna’s healing with us. I told them via group text last night that  “It comforts us to see the show of mercy from saints crying out to God on Anna’s behalf.” That truth is actual for years now, true of every enlisted Anna prayer warrior! thank you!!!

Lastly we joined a large church and had yet to develop relationships therein and by God’s grace they sent a pastor/elder over to pray with us, anoint Anna with oil, and fellowship with us! 

With love, 

Nic, Lindsey, Anna, Simon, and Renee

A mighty Fortress is our God

Good Morning prayer Warriors, 

The fever persisted all day, much suctioning and repositioning. We were limited to cold compresses and Tylenol, it was a long afternoon and evening.  Lindsey, Simon, and Renee came to bring meals and keep us company. Lindsey is so good with the medical lingo, she is excellent at knowing Anna’s needs and what our options are; often the medical team needs to make second rounds on us because I didn’t ask some key questions. Thank goodness Lindsey is on the case!

 I snuck out by myself to be with the Lord for a little while; I took a slow walk around the medical campus on a beautiful Colorado night. It’s those moments that allow for my heart to come to grips and be in check with all that’s going on, there is usually some productive tears to find greater surrender to God, my dependence on Him becomes so tangible in moments like that. The Spirit always lays on me that the appropriate time to work on heart matters is now, and once I go back up stairs it’s time to lead with faith, and care for the needs of the family. That sentiment always encourages me onward in the Lord during these storms. The Lord calls me to be emotionally available to my wife and kids, for me that can be a real challenge. 

We initiated a bowel flush which is still ongoing double diapers and all. the doctors suspect that the persistent bowel backup Anna has can press against her  urine track and cause urine to build up in the bladder leading to the urinary track infection. Pray that we would find a more permanent solution to Anna’s constipation problems. 

We took labs right at bed time to see if the kidneys were still working overtime and irritated.  Praise God, the levels of inflammation have decreased and the doctors felt comfortable giving medicine that is filtered through the kidneys to take a more aggressive stand against the fever. All night Anna has been without fever. Add to that, the saliva reducer kicked in, she slept rather well. The bacteria culture that is growing in Anna's urine has been identified so the antibiotic is especially tailored for attacking it.  we are in the right direction. 

Please pray that the infection and fever would continue to be cast out of Anna. That her shunt would be protected from infection. Pray for my relationship with the day nurses as we have had some miscommunications. For wisdom in the care plan and treatment of Anna’s condition. we are hoping for a Tuesday discharge should the fever stay away. Thank you for walking with us in prayer believing that God has good in store for Anna. 

God is so very good and we are in the refuge of His wing.

the Currats