Prayer need for baby Stellan again

This poor little guy -- he's back in the hospital AGAIN, and he's really not doing very well right now. He's in the children's hospital in Boston having a heart ablation -- which is happening right now as I type. Please be praying for him, his surgeons, his mom in the waiting room, his father (on a plane trying to get there from Minnesota), and his siblings back home styaing with various friends. Most of all, pray for healing for this little guy. He's been through so much in just one year of life.

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Praying for Stellan again

Do you all remember this little fellow? I posted about him quite a while back, when he was going through serious heart problems. After treatment in Boston, tweaking of his meds, and other procedures, he went home to Minnesota and had been doing much better until recently. Now, he's back in the hospital in Minnesota and is in "bad shape", according to his doctor there. Please be praying for this little fellow and his family. This has been a very long, hard road that they've been travelling.

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The purpose of going through the rough times??

This is another question I've thought about many times over the last few years. I can come up with pat little answers: "Suffering teaches you lessons"; "It makes you stronger"; "It brings you closer to God"; etc. And while these are probably true, at least in part, those answers never seem like enough to satisfy.

Almost as soon as I hit the "send" button after the last posting, a Bible verse came to mind -- one that I have not thought of in years. I remember I HATED trying to memorize this verse as a child, because it seemed like so much of a tongue-twister to me. And yet, in this time of unsettledness in my life and the lives of so many around me, God brought THIS particular verse to mind.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NKJV)-- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

As I was typing this verse, I decided to do an internet search on it, and turned up this wonderful paraphrase:

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 -- What a wonderful God we have - He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does He do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.

I don't know if this is an official "version" of the Bible, but that paraphrase makes it so clear to me. By going through those difficult times, whatever they might be, I become more compassionate to those around me who are going through suffering. It makes me able to cry with my client going through labor to deliver a baby who is already gone; it makes me WILLING to pray for MckMama and Stellan and family, a family I've never even met; it urges and compels me to go seek out our pastor whose mother died and give him a hug after church yesterday. I can FEEL their pain, because I've been in their place, walked that same path, felt the same grief and anguish myself.

Do I WANT to suffer? Oh, NO -- not for a moment!! But I pray that when those times come -- and I KNOW they WILL come again -- I pray that I can thank God for the opportunity to learn more about trusting Him and that I can use those times to learn how to share even more compassionately with those around me who are suffering. Oh God, make me willing to learn.......

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Miscellaneous thoughts on life and God

A week like the one past causes me to reflect on life, how quickly it passes, how swiftly things change, and how we need to be dependent on God, who is faithful through all of life's craziness.

The death of baby Logan, not even ready to be born yet, struck me profoundly. Why him? Why not me or you? Why not somebody else's child? And yet God, in His infinite and great plan, has a reason for his all-too-brief existence. What is the reason? I don't know -- maybe I never will know in this lifetime. But his short life has me reflecting again on God's closeness in my life during times of need, and I pray that this experience will impact Logan's family in the same way.

Then I read this entry, posted here on McKMama's blog. I feel like I could've written it myself, especially four years ago when we were going through my husband's cancer treatment; I could identify with every word she wrote.

This paragraph, especially, reached out and grabbed my attention:

When I feel helpless, what other choice do I have than to cry out "Lord, help me! Lord, help me! Lord, help me!" And as I frantically grasp for Jesus' hand with my own, clawing to get a grip as I'm gasping for breath in the darkness of the valley I find myself plummeting into, God meets me. As I grope about in my darkest hours, God lights a lamp of hope. And only then is there light enough for me to see that, although I am searching with my hands to find God's so that I won't fall any further, He already has me. His powerful, righteous hand is always holding me, and not just by the hand, either. He has such a tight grip on me that there is no way I'll fall where He can't reach me.

At church yesterday, I learned that the mother of one of our pastors unexpectedly died from a stroke on Saturday, and is now in the presence of God Himself! While a shock to his family, and while they are no doubt grieving tremendously, what a comfort to know that this life is NOT the end -- that there is so much more, so much that is BETTER, than what we experience here.

Why am I posting this? I don't know -- God has put it on my heart, and it just feels good to put these thoughts down in writing. So I'll end by quoting the end of McKMama's post:

As we watch Stellan walk this road, and our family walks it along with him, I am trying to remember that "our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2 Corinthians 4:17. A closer, more personal, deeper walk with the Lord is an amazing relationship that, at times, seems to grown and thrive best in seasons of deep pain and hurt.

I choose to praise God in this storm. In fact, I will praise Him for this storm.

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Keep on praying for baby Stellan!

Baby Stellan had his much-needed heart ablation done today at Boston Children's Hospital. While it was only partially successful, hopefully it will buy him the needed time to grow a bit older and larger before any more, potentially major surgery will be needed. Keep praying for him and his family, especially with his mom being there in Boston with him, while her husband is home in Minnesota with the other young children. It must be very difficult for all of them. Please be praying!

Pray for this little guy and his family.....

I've been following this family's blog for quite a while. He was diagnosed with a serious heart ailment before birth, but miraculously born healthy and with no sign of problems. Unfortunately, in the last few days, the heart condition has returned with a vengeance, and little Stellan needs a lot of prayer for his healing. You can click on the link above and see his story on the family's blog.