Good morning…
In yesterday’s post Little Eliza’s Cancer, I explained how our Wednesday group has formed a web of prayer around our classmate Cathy, her granddaughter Eliza, and Eliza’s young family, as she continues to journey with cancer as a four year old. One pastel streaked morning last week, I sent our group the Rally Foundation video of this family’s touching story. Then by dusk the following day, with the sky oozing pinks and purples, another grandma from our group sent out an urgent plea for prayers.
“Hi, it’s Jennifer,” she wrote. “Per Sue’s recommendation, I am sending this email to all of you to ask for your prayers. Our daughter Kelly’s 6 month old son Jackson was admitted to Children’s today with a severe case of RSV and Covid… both very serious in a 6 month old… He is on O2, which they keep raising. If they have to raise it much more, he will be transferred to ICU.”
For me, Jennifer’s plea struck close to home. One year ago this week my 86 year old mom, Marie, was struggling for life in the ICU, diagnosed with RSV. I stayed after last year’s Valentine’s Day visit with my parents in Ohio to be bedside in the hospital with my extended family. From states away, I reached out to our strong web of prayer warriors with an urgent request for God’s healing power to course through the veins of my mom, just like Jennifer reached out to us this weekend on behalf of her grandson Jackson.
I must tell you, I don’t know exactly how prayer works, but time and time again I have felt held fast in its calming embrace. Both asking for prayers and responding to an urgent plea, we form a silent, sacred bond. Somehow God’s powerful presence gets caught in the web we weave.
And when they suffered, God suffered too;
And the messenger of His presence acted to save them.
Out of enduring love, compassion, and concern,
God Himself rescued them…
God picked them up and carried them through (Isaiah 63:9, VOICE).
After three days unresponsive in the ICU, my mom miraculously opened her eyes and returned to life with us. Carried on our continued prayers, she has spent this year slowly regaining her strength. Bit by bit. Day by day.
Our class diligently prayed for Jackson. Friday. Saturday. Sunday. Then by Sunday night, I received these photos and this message to pass along from Jennifer.
“This is a baby OFF oxygen!” she texted. “God creates miracles every day! Can you send this to our group? We are all thankful for their continued prayers. Please say prayers that Jackson stays stable through the night so that he can be discharged in the morning.”
Our prayers are not always answered in the time and the way we had hoped. Yet every day, it’s a privilege to pray. Life teaches us the art of gracious acceptance of whatever the LORD allows. Deeper and deeper, we learn to trust God with the things we will never understand on earth.
Denying our specific request, Jackson’s oxygen level did drop again that night. Yet he was in the exact right place, receiving incredible medical care. We all hope that it’s only a matter of time until Jackson is carried home healthy, held in the sturdy web of our ongoing prayers.
…Sue…
