Sorry for the lack of posts over the past few weeks. Thank you for bearing with us, those of you that still are. Lately there haven’t been words for me to write or really say. I’m still processing this all and taking it one day at a time. I still have no idea why this has happened to Ian or why he hasn’t been healed yet. I’m not sure why Ian and I must sit by and watch as everyone else’s lives move on. Someday, I trust, God will give us those answers and he will reveal his purpose to us. Until then, we’re living on blind faith and just the right amount of grace that he gives us for each day.
As always, thank you.
Larissa
Bernadine
November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am
Just wanted you to know that I still check in often and remember Ian and all of you in my prayers daily. I know this must be very difficult for you, the ups, the downs, the anticipation, hopes and disappointments. However, don’t give up. Be encouraged, God is still in control.
Still praying,
Bernadine
anonymous
November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am
Larissa-you are a wonderful person! Your love and patience and trust in the Lord to help Ian is something to behold-whether it is every day or not that you comment-my prayers are for both of you and the Murphys EVERY DAY! The lives you have touched are many are far reaching-this may be what God has intended for both of you as he slowly heals Ian and brings the two of you closer! Hang in there Girl-YOU ARE AMAZING! GOD knows this and has the two of you going thru this for a reason only known to Him at this time! Reading your postings and those of all the other people who are “with you” thru all of this in prayer and support is such a blessing greater than I have ever witnessed before! I hope to see you both again the next time we are in the area–so Hang in there! My favorite saying lately is If God Leads you to it.. He will lead you thru it! I think this also applies to you and Ian!
My Prayers as always in His name for the Healing of Ian’s body and the stregnth for Larissa to continue in her capacity of love and caring!
Wendy Anzulewicz
Grimesland, NC
Krissy
April 8, 2008 at 2:21 am
Just wanted you to know that I have never stopped checking in on you guys…and I think of you often, even though I have never met most of you. You are not alone in your prayers…
~krissy evans
Pittsburgh, PA
John and Maryann Plesnicher’s daughter
Sandy
April 8, 2008 at 2:47 am
Larissa, I have no words; thankfuly He does. Continue to hold fast to those words. “My Grace is enough”…even if its just for today.
Sandy
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 4:59 am
I don’t comment often, but I still check this blog every day. You’re in my prayers and even in my dreams at times. I know it feels like hope dying sometimes, but it’s not lost.
You are never alone.
Alicia Joy LeBlanc
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 10:14 am
Larissa,
You apologize for not writing. Well, I apologize for not commenting.
I still check Ian’s blog daily, typically several times each day. And I pray for his complete healing and strength for you and the Murphys.
I suspect that there are many like me who read the blog daily with eager anticipation of more good news. And there has been much good news, although it sometimes seems slow in coming.
But how will you know that I stand with you unless I comment? My silence does nothing to encourage you. So I apologize for not commenting. But I am praying.
And if I, being an evil man, can have compassion for you all, how much more care does you Heavenly Father have? He withholds the fulfillment of our desires only to provide greater blessing that we could imagine. That fact is often difficult to see from our vantage, but it is true.
“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you…” – 2 Peter 3:8-9a
Although this verse appears in the context our Lord’s return, it portrays the truth that sometimes He may seem to be working too slowly, or maybe not at all. But that is only the appearance. And He is working – working all things together for our good! And for His glory!
Lord, please give us all a glimpse of your active, timely, excellent work in Ian’s situation. Not that we would hope in the results, but that we would hope in You.
Desperately clinging to Jesus,
John Q
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Larissa,
You don’t know me, but I used to work at The Children’s Institute, and was there while Ian was. You amaze me – sticking by his side through this all… I check this blog often just to see how Ian is doing. I know eventually things will all make sense and work itself out. What a wonderful woman Ian chose to fall in love with. Keep your chin up!
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 1:32 pm
I would have to say the same things as the others. My children and I pray for you all daily. Even my friends know who I am talking about when I mention you all. You may not know us all, but we are all with you. As you know, and most importantly, God is with you. I remember sharing with many about the, “Let Ian know your praying” post. Go back and look it over, that is God at work. I have been so encouraged by your posts and have referred others to this blog. Through you and the Murphy family the rest of us have an opportunity to serve and have been blessed to observe God at work. I dont pretend to know what you are in the midst of, but I do know God is with you and working it out for your good. You may have a cramp in your side, but just keep running; weve got your back.
Claire
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I too, check your blog and pray for you all daily. I’ll likely never meet you on this earth but I feel a kinship to you through our bonds in Christ. I look forward to meeting you in eternity.
My sister, whose husband is disabled, finds comfort in the story of Lazarus. Just as we cannot understand why God does not immediately rush to raise up Ian (and my brother-in-law,) Mary and Martha could not understand why Christ did not rush to their side before Lazarus death. Yet, as is revealed through the words of Christ, it was to Gods glory to wait.
May God be glorified in you, and may He give you ever-increasing measures of grace in your trial.
And until Ian is whole again, we will continue praying.
Nora :)
April 8, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Larissa, I echo John Q’s comments. I too have long been praying for you and Ian and the Murphys but have been lax in posting here to let you know a stranger a continent away was doing so.
–Nora
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Thank you for posting when you can. My family and I check the blog just about every day. We have it set up as our home page. We are always praying for you and Ian and Ian’s family. May the Lord bless you and give you strength.
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Larissa–
I have never commented before, but feel I must encourage you by saying that I check this blog regularly and pray for you and Ian. I know there are many more like me.
My prayer for you today is that God would fill you with His peace and presence.
“May the God of peace…equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.” Heb.13:20-21
~Brenda Jekel
Covenant Life Church, Gaithersburg, MD
single/certain
April 8, 2008 at 3:45 pm
larissa, the faith that you and ian’s family have has amazed me and taught me. it is a real faith. where you are is hard and painful and scary, yet you still have faith. you have doubts, yet you still have faith.
like other people, i too am checking this site almost daily, and pray for ian often when i sit down with my journal and bible to spend some time with god.
last night i curled up with the cat, and you and ian popped into my head… not sure why, but i knew i had to pray for you both. i prayed for renewal and strength. i prayed that your hearts would be buoyed up by god and his love.
i don’t know if this will help, but it is one of my favorite verses. and if anyone should be added to the hebrews ‘hall of fame,’ i think it’s you and ian’s family.
god’s timing is perfect, no matter what. keep longing for His kingdom, for His healing, and for Him.
hebrews 11:13-16
13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better countrya heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Still reading….still praying for complete healing…still praying for your souls as you continue to wait on God’s perfect timing.
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 5:26 pm
we’ll never stop praying for you and ian.
love you.
-amber and matthieu
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Larissa,
I don’t even know where to begin to tell you how much I admire your strength through all of this. I check the blog as often as I can and want you to know that all of you are always in my prayers.
Kristen Pastorek
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Larissa,
Just wanted to tell you that I’ll always be praying for Ian and the rest of y’all. We understand that there’s a lot going on right now, and that updating the blog isn’t necessarily the number one on your to-do list. This is a hard time, and it is amazing all you’ve done for Ian. Standing by him, and now having hundreds of people praying for him to get better.
God is smiling at you today.
Jane Swanson
April 8, 2008 at 5:43 pm
I also pray daily for you all and understand your pain. I am encouraged by your steadfast love.
~jane swanson
Sarah Ann
April 8, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I found your site the other day, from a link on Radical Womanhood’s site. I have been praying for you and Ian. I know how hard it is to endure a trial. I was in a car accident 30 months ago, and my life has never been the same. You are in my prayers.
Sarah
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Oh, Larissa!
Your post is so poignant!
We readers appreciate every post that you write and are privledged to go to the throne of grace with you and for you!
As you say, it can be so hard to feel that you are standing still while “everyone” else is going forward. But, yours and Ian’s lives are going forward also. It’s just that your path is one that takes overflowing grace to walk; more grace than most of us will ever know.
You have made the right choice to be “living on blind faith and just the right amount of grace that he gives us for each day.” I know that pleases our Heavenly Father to see your obedience to Him! You are an amazing woman, an example for all of us!
Still Praying daily for Ian’s healing!
Mary Ann K.
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Dear Larissa, What I say is from a similar experience of my heart in hopes that it may comfort. The “why’s” of life will reveal themselves in there own time. It is said that when God told Noah that he may perish while awaiting for dry land after the flood his response was to dance one last time on earth. God was so moved by this that he spared his life. To embrace life in all its goodness is what will give the meaning to the why’s in life. Whether you know it or not you are dancing with Ian.
“Almighty father we offer you the body and blood, soul and divinity of your dearly beloved son, our lord Jesus Christ, whose atonement for our sins and those of the whole world, for the sake of his sorrowful passion have mercy on us and the whole world Prayer for Divine Mercy
Minori Family
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Hi Larissa and Murphy family:
I check this blog daily, and you are in my prayers and thoughts a lot. What a wonderful way I get to encourage you. I was reading a devotional that talks about suffering and how no prayer is not heard. God hears all the prayers, and he saves them up. They don’t go blowing in the wind. He does care, but everything is in his time. We get to come to him, sit by him, and offer up prayers. All this because of the work Jesus did on the cross.
Sarah
April 8, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Larissa,
I am still praying for you and Ian. I got a job at the end of Jan. which causes me to drive by Haverstick Films’ building in Lancaster on my way to my MU classes. I think of Ian and you all everytime, which is several times a week.
Please know not only that other people are praying for you, but that God is sovereign over this present season of your lives. I know more than once in a while you probably just want to “get on with life already,” but God wants to meet you here and now, and is doing exciting things in your lives; they are exciting things because our good and mighty God is working them in you and He is your all in all. Isn’t it so wonderful that you don’t have to wait for your circumstances to change to be complete in Him and at peace?
I am encouraged not just by how God is using you to minister to others through your trial, but how He is revealing Himself in amazing ways to you personally.
Isn’t He so faithful and kind?
~Sarah Sensenig
anonymous
April 8, 2008 at 11:25 pm
I heard of Ian, a few months back, through a friend in Saskatchewan. I too, along with many others, am praying daily for you all and checking your blog daily for news of how our Father is going to bless an encourage you with each passing day. I have found much encouragement and exortation from a prayer Elisabeth Elliot once wrote. May it encourage you in some small way this day…..
Loving Lord and Heavenly Father I offer up today all that I am, all that I have, all that I do, and all that I suffer, to be Yours today and Yours forever. Give me grace, Lord, to do all that I know of Your holy will. Purify my heart, sanctify my thinking, correct my desires. Teach me, in all of today’s work and trouble and joy, to respond with honest praise, simple trust, and instant obedience, that my life may be in truth a living sacrifice, by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, my Master and my all. Amen.
Not forgetting you or the trial He has set before you.
Wendy from Maryland
anonymous
April 9, 2008 at 1:55 am
Larissa I have never commented before but wanted to let you know that I check the blog daily and I keep Ian, his family and you in my prayers. The grace that God has given you through this trial has been a great testament to God and had brought glory to His name.
Trials can be weary and I know your words are accurate when you say you feel He is giving you just enough Grace for a day – reading that made me think of Manna from heaven – sustenance just for the day, not to be stored, and meant for His people to have daily dependance. A lesson we all so easily forget, or maybe are unaware of…your reliance on God, without answers, on a daily basis, has inspired me.
Thanks for sharing the trial with others, and your thoughts, and I will pray right now that weariness will not take root.
The Bodines
Providence Church of Pittsburgh
anonymous
April 9, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Dear Larissa,
I never cease to be amazed with our awesome God and how He has moved upon saints from all over the world to come boldly to His throne of grace on Ian, your and the Murphy family’s behalf….That one thought alone can have me reeling in the overwhelming hugeness, mercy and lovingkindness of our God and Savior. Praying for you all upon every remembrance and trusting that He works out all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.
In Christ’s Love,
Chris Pusateri
anonymous
April 9, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Still checking the blog daily so we know how to pray. We love you all.
Lotinskys
Jack and Gina Plain
April 9, 2008 at 11:51 pm
We’re still here too.
Praying for healing for Ian –
and faith and grace for all of you and Ian too.
The Plains from CCL in Lancaster
anonymous
April 10, 2008 at 2:19 am
Larissa/Murphy family – we pray for you and Ian often, and check the blog to know specifically how to pray. May God continue to uphold you and strengthen you..can’t begin to imagine what this is like for you, but grateful that God knows your every need.
With love and prayers from Beth Mellinger (Living Hope Church)
anonymous
April 10, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Can’t wait to be with Ian, you, and the Murphy’s next week.
Praying.
Adam
anonymous
April 10, 2008 at 8:01 pm
praying also..always..the lord has consistently put you,ian and the murphys’ on my heart….i wish i had words to ease your pain..you are so precious larissa.
joyce
Debbie
April 11, 2008 at 2:18 am
Larissa, Ian and family…
You are still on my mind and in my prayers. Don’t ever doubt that the army of the living God is making supplication for you!
Thank you for speaking scripture into you lives and ours. It’s a great encouragement.
Deb
anonymous
April 11, 2008 at 3:26 am
Larissa…i can’t begin to understand all that you are going through, but God is using not just Ian situation, but He is using YOU in big ways…even in my life through this blog and in the book study that you are so graciously devoting time to when i can imagine that you already have enough things to fill your days. I am behind Ian, the murphy’s and you…
~in.my.prayers.
anonymous
April 12, 2008 at 1:28 am
Ditto to everyone and everything they have said. I’m checking daily and still praying.
A little while ago, as I was thinking and praying for you, A song came to my mind; Michael W. Smith’s “Be lifted high.”
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ_fmtnOV0k&feature=related)
In the past few months I’ve had many moments where I’ve wondered what God is doing, and how he’s being glorified in my life. I try to call this song to mind and remember that when we are humbled and fall to our knees, he just gets
bigger. I’ll leave you with the lyrics. Be blessed!
–Leah P
from the Reading, PA church
Sin and its ways grow old
All of my heart turns to stone
And I’m left with no strength to arise
How You need to be lifted high
Sin and its ways lead to pain
Left here with hurt and with shame
So no longer will I leave your side
Jesus, you be lifted high
You be lifted high
You be lifted high
You be lifted high in my life
Oh God
And I fall to my knees
So it’s you that they see
Not I
Jesus, you be lifted high
And even now that I’m inside your hands
Help me not to grow prideful again
Don’t let me forsake sacrifice
Jesus you be lifted high
And if I’m blessed with the riches of kings
How could I ever think that it was me
For you brought me from darkness to light
Jesus, you be lifted high
You be lifted high
You be lifted high
You be lifted high in my life
Oh God
And I fall to my knees
So it’s you that they see
Not I
Jesus, you’ll be lifted high
Oh Jesus, you be lifted high
Oh you be lifted high
Oh you be lifted high in my life
Oh God
And I fall to my knees
So it’s you that they see
Not I
Jesus, you be lifted high
anonymous
April 12, 2008 at 4:09 am
You’re not alone. Strangers like me log on every night and have an encounter with God through this blog.