Luke's cleft palate, III degree(The roof of his mouth is open.)
Today I am going a little crazy so I thought I would post here. We received some very good yet unexpected news on Monday. I opened my email on Monday morning to see that we had received an email from one of Luke's orphanage directors. This is very unusual and we were very surprised. She said that Luke was currently on the list to receive cleft palate surgery through the Smile Program. She wanted to know whether we wanted him to have surgery. She said that if we agreed, the doctors wanted to schedule it within the next 2 days. I didn't have to think about this at all… I immediately knew the answer was YES.
It is very scary for us to have him go through surgery without us. I have played this back in my mind all week as we wait for word from his SWI. HOWEVER, I am comforted by these thoughts: he is familiar with the doctors, nurses and caregivers, he will be having the surgery in the same hospital he had his cleft lip surgery and the sooner he has his palate fixed the better it will be for his speech. The downside is that he will not have the total love and attention of a family there by his side every minute.
We pray for him daily and we know that the Lord is watching over him and keeping him safe. We firmly believe that it is the Lord that is providing this wonderful opportunity for him. We have been praying for his safety, comfort and healing. We have been praying that the Lord blesses the doctors and nurses and his caregivers with knowledge and expertise for a smooth, quick surgery and recovery. We had hoped to hear back immediately from the SWI director to let us know that they are proceeding and when the surgery would take place but we haven't heard back as yet. I imagine she will email once the surgery is complete and she has something to report. I am trying to fight the thought of him with his palate and mouth all bloody from surgery, crying in one of those cage cribs with no one to comfort him. When those thoughts creep in I immediately start to pray. We hope to hear something soon and we ask for everyone's prayers in the meantime.
Today is day 33 in our wait for our Travel Approval (our invitation from China to bring Luke home).
We received a wonderful piece of information on Wednesday. My mother's blood work came back clear except for her cholesterol reading which came back a little high. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!
We are still waiting for the x-ray and mammogram results so please keep her in your prayers.
We hope to post good news about Luke's surgery and the rest of my mom's test results soon!
I wanted to post an email scripture that I received some time ago. Whenever I read it I am reminded to be faithful and expectant of the Lord's presence and blessings. My mom's blood work coming back clear was a HUGE blessing. I admit, I cried huge tears the first 2 days of her feeling sick. I felt very scared. Then on the 3rd day I remembered something Joel Osteen had said a couple of weeks ago. "We must remain FAITHFUL and EXPECTANT of the Lord's blessings. Keep in an attitude of Faith while the Lord works. Thank God that the answer is on the way. Don't talk to God about how big your mountains are. Talk to your mountains about how big your GOD is. "
Faith Is Action
Christians have the capacity to believe God for far more than we are typically willing to ask Him to do. Instead of demonstrating a solid conviction of His faithfulness, we often act out of a weak, halfhearted belief. The Lord is wait-ing for uncertain believers to come to Him in complete trust. The people living the richest spiritual lives are those who anticipate the Lord doing great things, they exercise the gift of faith. Exercising faith cannot be passive. Notice that an action word follows every mention of faith in Hebrews 11 (prepared, obeyed, and lived). Instead of folding hands and waiting for God to do something, believers need to get busy. Our first responsibility is to go before the Lord with our petition, sometimes more than once. Then, we must consciously decide to trust Him for an answer and wait with assurance and anticipation that He will follow through on His promises. God did amazing feats through the lives of the men and women. As believers, we have the same potential for Him to work powerfully in and through us. Of course, the Father does not ask us to tackle more than we can handle. Start today by giving Him the small anxieties that plague you. Or ask God for one change you want Him to make in your life. Like an under-used muscle, faith might at times become flabby, but by putting it into action, believers can build a strong, tough trust. As our assurance builds, we believe the Lord for progressively greater things. In return, He will use us in ways we never imagined.
We hope to post good news about Luke's surgery and the rest of my mom's test results soon!
I wanted to post an email scripture that I received some time ago. Whenever I read it I am reminded to be faithful and expectant of the Lord's presence and blessings. My mom's blood work coming back clear was a HUGE blessing. I admit, I cried huge tears the first 2 days of her feeling sick. I felt very scared. Then on the 3rd day I remembered something Joel Osteen had said a couple of weeks ago. "We must remain FAITHFUL and EXPECTANT of the Lord's blessings. Keep in an attitude of Faith while the Lord works. Thank God that the answer is on the way. Don't talk to God about how big your mountains are. Talk to your mountains about how big your GOD is. "
Faith Is Action
Christians have the capacity to believe God for far more than we are typically willing to ask Him to do. Instead of demonstrating a solid conviction of His faithfulness, we often act out of a weak, halfhearted belief. The Lord is wait-ing for uncertain believers to come to Him in complete trust. The people living the richest spiritual lives are those who anticipate the Lord doing great things, they exercise the gift of faith. Exercising faith cannot be passive. Notice that an action word follows every mention of faith in Hebrews 11 (prepared, obeyed, and lived). Instead of folding hands and waiting for God to do something, believers need to get busy. Our first responsibility is to go before the Lord with our petition, sometimes more than once. Then, we must consciously decide to trust Him for an answer and wait with assurance and anticipation that He will follow through on His promises. God did amazing feats through the lives of the men and women. As believers, we have the same potential for Him to work powerfully in and through us. Of course, the Father does not ask us to tackle more than we can handle. Start today by giving Him the small anxieties that plague you. Or ask God for one change you want Him to make in your life. Like an under-used muscle, faith might at times become flabby, but by putting it into action, believers can build a strong, tough trust. As our assurance builds, we believe the Lord for progressively greater things. In return, He will use us in ways we never imagined.
1 comment:
This was a beautiful post, and I know that Luke is definitely in God's hands, the most capable of all. I will be praying for him and continue to pray for your mom.
Hang in there...
Kris
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