An Invitation

What a crazy life we have.  Today I've found myself operating in "shock" mode and trying to snap out of it.  I don't feel crushed by the weight of my worries... God is with us and I have peace in my heart, but I'm a little bit on emotion overload.  Caleb is totally unaffected by what's going on around him... he is a cheerful little boy today and if you peeked in our windows and saw my boys running around in their p.j.'s and playing with their tractors, you would never guess that any kind of crisis exists.  

As you know, Caleb went to see his cardiologist last week and there was huge concern from his doctors about how his heart has gotten weaker.  That led them to schedule a heart catheterization on Thursday and an overnight stay at the hospital that night for him to recover.  A heart cath on a little guy is a big deal. The results from the heart cath will determine the next steps.  We are praying for a miracle.

What you probably don't know, and what I think I need to share so that you truly know how to pray for us right now, is that I have been experiencing health problems myself in the last month.  Four years ago I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that is almost identical to rheumatoid arthritis.  When I got pregnant with Caleb, the disease went into remission and has never returned.  I believed that God chose to heal me of this, in light of the fact that only a few short weeks later, we found out about Caleb's heart defect.  Unfortunately, the arthritis returned last month and it is worse than ever.  Yesterday I sat at an appointment with my rheumatologist and she just looked at me with a face of almost disbelief and said, "I don't understand why all this would happen to one family."  I told her that I never ask the question of "why" because it doesn't lead to anything fruitful.  All I know is that life can be painful and disappointing and the only way we deal with it all is by believing in a God who loves us and who ultimately knows what is best for us.

I'm telling you this, not because I'm trying to steal Caleb's thunder, but because I want people to know just how big a mountain of struggle we are facing right now.  Daniel and I have come to the point where we not only have no reservations asking for prayer, we are actually begging you to remember to pray for us right now.  I want to see God display His power in a way that I've never witnessed with my own eyes, even though I read about His power and His miracles when I read my Bible.  We are praying without ceasing, not just because we want Him to spare our family from all this pain, but because we believe with all our hearts that this is no coincidence.  God wants to do something here.  He wants to get our attention, and others' attention, and He wants to show up in a way that no one can know our story and deny that God is real.  

Tonight Daniel and I and some friends are going to gather and pray and we want to invite you to join us. At 8:00 tonight at First Baptist, in the chapel, we are going to worship and pray and cry out to God to show up in power.  If you feel led to come and join us, we'd love to have you.  If you can't come in person but you want to join us in spirit, set an alarm on your phone and make a point to stop and pray at 8:00 tonight.  We welcome anyone to come and join us tonight who believes we still worship a God of miracles and a God who listens to the cries of His people.  Hopefully we'll see some of you tonight at First Baptist at 8:00!  Park on the north side of the building and we'll be in the chapel.  Let us know if you're coming... we can't wait to worship and pray with our brothers and sisters!