"Father... We Are in Your Hands"
On Tuesday evening our son, Andrew, had emergency surgery for a problem with his colon. The name of the condition is intussusception and it involves the telescoping of one portion of his colon into an adjacent portion. In essence this condition causes the bowel to be squeezed closed and blood flow to be cut off to the effected portion, causing that part to die.
Andrew had to have that dead section removed. All went well, but now he faces a pretty tough recovery. He must wear a colostomy bag for around six weeks (a difficult thing for a 21 year old guy) and learn to take care of it himself. Right now, he is also feeling nauseous and everything he eats tastes like "metal" (his surgeon said that possibly both of these experiences are from the antibiotics). And... because his condition will require a pretty extensive recuperation time, he will probably not be able to continue his college classes this term... setting him back... just as he was beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel acedemically.
It's not coincidental (but truly Providential, I think) that I picked up a certain C.S. Lewis book to read while sitting by Andrew's bedside in the hospital. The book is, "Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer", and in one of these letters Lewis addresses the problem of unanswered prayer. Paraphrasing he says that we should not find it scandalous that our prayers are not always answered in the affirmative. If the Son of Man heard the Father say, "No", to his prayer in Gethsemane ("Father... if it is possible that this cup pass from me...") then why do we think that He will always say, Yes", to us?
Does the Father love us more than He loved Him? Do we love the Father more than Jesus did? Is our walk with the Father closer than Jesus' walk with Him? Are we holier than the Holy Son of God? Truly "the servant is not greater than the Master".
And yet... God does sometimes answer with a, "Yes". Isn't that amazing? In all this the most wonderful, "Yes", came to these requests... "Father, please help the doctors determine the cause and treatment for Andrew's condition, please keep him safe during this process and make him well, again." We are incredibly thankful for the Father's love and care for our son... and for the love and care that He will continue to show him throughout this recuperative process (even during those instances when He answers, "No").
And, we will continue to pray because while we may not know how the Lord will answer every time, we do know Him. We know that He is loving and He is good... and all his ways flow from who He is. We will pray for Andrew's continued physical recuperation (that it will continue to progress uneventfully... without infection, etal), we will pray that he will be able to learn all the new skills that he must learn (like dealing with his colostomy), we will pray for his emotional response to all this trauma (for quiet and peace in the midst of a slow process), we will pray for his spirit, that he will one day see that the Father's, "No", was the best answer that he could have received. But mostly, because in the end He is in fact good and loving, our prayer will continue to be, "Father, we are all in your hands...".
On Tuesday evening our son, Andrew, had emergency surgery for a problem with his colon. The name of the condition is intussusception and it involves the telescoping of one portion of his colon into an adjacent portion. In essence this condition causes the bowel to be squeezed closed and blood flow to be cut off to the effected portion, causing that part to die.
Andrew had to have that dead section removed. All went well, but now he faces a pretty tough recovery. He must wear a colostomy bag for around six weeks (a difficult thing for a 21 year old guy) and learn to take care of it himself. Right now, he is also feeling nauseous and everything he eats tastes like "metal" (his surgeon said that possibly both of these experiences are from the antibiotics). And... because his condition will require a pretty extensive recuperation time, he will probably not be able to continue his college classes this term... setting him back... just as he was beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel acedemically.
It's not coincidental (but truly Providential, I think) that I picked up a certain C.S. Lewis book to read while sitting by Andrew's bedside in the hospital. The book is, "Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer", and in one of these letters Lewis addresses the problem of unanswered prayer. Paraphrasing he says that we should not find it scandalous that our prayers are not always answered in the affirmative. If the Son of Man heard the Father say, "No", to his prayer in Gethsemane ("Father... if it is possible that this cup pass from me...") then why do we think that He will always say, Yes", to us?
Does the Father love us more than He loved Him? Do we love the Father more than Jesus did? Is our walk with the Father closer than Jesus' walk with Him? Are we holier than the Holy Son of God? Truly "the servant is not greater than the Master".
And yet... God does sometimes answer with a, "Yes". Isn't that amazing? In all this the most wonderful, "Yes", came to these requests... "Father, please help the doctors determine the cause and treatment for Andrew's condition, please keep him safe during this process and make him well, again." We are incredibly thankful for the Father's love and care for our son... and for the love and care that He will continue to show him throughout this recuperative process (even during those instances when He answers, "No").
And, we will continue to pray because while we may not know how the Lord will answer every time, we do know Him. We know that He is loving and He is good... and all his ways flow from who He is. We will pray for Andrew's continued physical recuperation (that it will continue to progress uneventfully... without infection, etal), we will pray that he will be able to learn all the new skills that he must learn (like dealing with his colostomy), we will pray for his emotional response to all this trauma (for quiet and peace in the midst of a slow process), we will pray for his spirit, that he will one day see that the Father's, "No", was the best answer that he could have received. But mostly, because in the end He is in fact good and loving, our prayer will continue to be, "Father, we are all in your hands...".
posted by Barnabas | 7:24 PM
1 Comments:
yes, we'll pray for Drew, but also for you & Cheryl , it will take a great deal of support for you 2 to have him home, going through what he's going through. being his support will be a physical & mental burden for you as well. Prayers for the whole family.
we love you all
Jeff
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