I feel I need to confess that this is a very hard post for me to write. I can barely write without crying. I have started and deleted it several times in the last couple of weeks. And then picked right back up on that process today.
So I'm just gonna dive in.
When couples stand before family, friends and our heavenly Father, they often will vow to love one another in plenty and in want, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad. Most of the time, the sickness and health part seems pretty distant. Like sickness is something that will happen but it will be later in life.
Maybe.
Because really, at 24 or even 34, do most people have a firm understanding of the power of "sickness"?
For me, I often think of the bride or the groom going through the sickness. They're vowing to be together no matter what but I seriously doubt many of them (including me) thought about what sickness would look like if it weren't their personal sickness.
But that of their child.
We have a couple in our SS class, the Tettletons, who are experiencing just that. Their first child, Abigail, was born in February. She's so precious! Her parents dress her in the cutest little sleepers and almost always add a matching bow. I do love a bow.
And she has yet to leave the hospital.
Abby has Cat Eye Syndrome. Read more about it here. There's not much out there really. It seems so rare. In her short little life, she has already had liver surgery and on Monday, will undergo heart surgery.
Stephanie and Jody do a great job keeping us all updated through their blog.
Tettletime
Yeah, totally smitten with that title.
Our SS class is having a yard sale and working on pulling together a soft ball tournament to help them with expenses. Gas ain't cheap. Neither is eating out between visits in the NICU. And can you just imagine the cost of what insurance doesn't cover?
So not to sound all Margo Thomas, but today I am grateful for a healthy baby. I am grateful we can put her down in her own crib at night. Grateful that when she wakes up needing to be comforted, we are only across the house instead of across the city. Grateful she sees a doctor every couple of months for check-ups but not every couple of hours for monitoring.
The flipside of that is how very grateful I am for the doctors helping Abby. Grateful she is getting the best care from nurses who adore her. Grateful she's snug as a bug in the blankets and sleepers her parents wrap her up in every day.
I am also grateful for her parents and family. They have shown nothing but strength and Godly devotion during this time. Grateful for a class who loves them. Grateful to our Savior who provides each of us the ability to love, be strong and give generously. Without His love and strength, no one could endure the sickness of their child.
I feel as if I've been reaching out to you so much in the past month. The tradgey at our mission church, Northpoint. Our sweet missonary friends in Japan (now South Korea). And today precious Abby. But I know there are prayer warriors reading this. And I know the Lord hears our prayers. So once again, I am humbly asking you to lift up this sweet family to Christ. We know He can do immeasurably more.
If you want to help out, let me know. Email me at the.evans.life@gmail.com. We are working on a possible silent auction/craft fair/bake sale and I know there are some awfully crafty people out there who might be willing to make something for us to auction off. I've got a stash of onesies I can't wait to dive into making!
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." ~ Epesians 3:20
So I'm just gonna dive in.
When couples stand before family, friends and our heavenly Father, they often will vow to love one another in plenty and in want, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad. Most of the time, the sickness and health part seems pretty distant. Like sickness is something that will happen but it will be later in life.
Maybe.
Because really, at 24 or even 34, do most people have a firm understanding of the power of "sickness"?
For me, I often think of the bride or the groom going through the sickness. They're vowing to be together no matter what but I seriously doubt many of them (including me) thought about what sickness would look like if it weren't their personal sickness.
But that of their child.
We have a couple in our SS class, the Tettletons, who are experiencing just that. Their first child, Abigail, was born in February. She's so precious! Her parents dress her in the cutest little sleepers and almost always add a matching bow. I do love a bow.
And she has yet to leave the hospital.
Abby has Cat Eye Syndrome. Read more about it here. There's not much out there really. It seems so rare. In her short little life, she has already had liver surgery and on Monday, will undergo heart surgery.
Stephanie and Jody do a great job keeping us all updated through their blog.
Tettletime
Yeah, totally smitten with that title.
Our SS class is having a yard sale and working on pulling together a soft ball tournament to help them with expenses. Gas ain't cheap. Neither is eating out between visits in the NICU. And can you just imagine the cost of what insurance doesn't cover?
So not to sound all Margo Thomas, but today I am grateful for a healthy baby. I am grateful we can put her down in her own crib at night. Grateful that when she wakes up needing to be comforted, we are only across the house instead of across the city. Grateful she sees a doctor every couple of months for check-ups but not every couple of hours for monitoring.
The flipside of that is how very grateful I am for the doctors helping Abby. Grateful she is getting the best care from nurses who adore her. Grateful she's snug as a bug in the blankets and sleepers her parents wrap her up in every day.
I am also grateful for her parents and family. They have shown nothing but strength and Godly devotion during this time. Grateful for a class who loves them. Grateful to our Savior who provides each of us the ability to love, be strong and give generously. Without His love and strength, no one could endure the sickness of their child.
I feel as if I've been reaching out to you so much in the past month. The tradgey at our mission church, Northpoint. Our sweet missonary friends in Japan (now South Korea). And today precious Abby. But I know there are prayer warriors reading this. And I know the Lord hears our prayers. So once again, I am humbly asking you to lift up this sweet family to Christ. We know He can do immeasurably more.
If you want to help out, let me know. Email me at the.evans.life@gmail.com. We are working on a possible silent auction/craft fair/bake sale and I know there are some awfully crafty people out there who might be willing to make something for us to auction off. I've got a stash of onesies I can't wait to dive into making!
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." ~ Epesians 3:20
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