Not burned up

Well, it's tempting to call our "Pray for Caleb Day" a total wash. :)  That is a 100% joke, of course, because if I'm learning anything about how prayer works, I'm learning that answers don't always match requests exactly.  Yesterday there were thousands of people praying for Caleb and I woke up with a great expectancy that we would get The Call today that Caleb would be receiving a new heart.  Instead, our transplant coordinator and our social worker brought us the news that the hospital's new visitor policy would not only keep Jonah out of Riley, but also all visitors, period, even our parents.  That hit me like a tsunami wave and I literally had to sit down.  No more help.  No more company.  Our parents would not be able to see their grandson until who knows when.  That was a blow and for a few minutes I just wanted to sit on the floor and cry.  (What is it about being on the floor that makes crying so much more dramatic?)  But that only lasted a few minutes.  I gathered myself and wiped my face and went back to what I was doing, which was making rice krispy treats with Jonah at home.  Because you know what?  This is just another wave in this storm.  It's another wave that threatens to finally take me under, but it won't.  God is not watching this scene of my life and going, "Oh CRAP, I totally forgot about the flu epidemic, what am I going to do now?!"  He is still the one who sees the whole story, beginning to end, and He already knew that this particular part was coming.  He is still answering our prayers.  He is still good and He is still trustworthy.  He is with us and He hasn't let those waves take us under. 

"But now, O Israel, the LORD who created you says: 'Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.  I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown!  When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.'"
Isaiah 43: 1-2

Keep praying and believing, keep praising God with us.  And if you're worried that I am despairing, just know that I spent my morning with Jonah making a "Christmas tree" by draping a green blanket over a chair, wrapping a real strand of Christmas lights around it, and using Star Wars figurines as "ornaments".  In your face, storm and waves.

Specific prayer requests:
1- Pray for perseverance!
2- Pray for our parents' perseverance and encouragement.
3- Caleb's birthday is next Sunday, January 27- pray that Infectious Control would make an exception for our family to come so we can have a party.