A lot seems to have happened this week. Each therapist that has come in has seen improvement and is encouraged. Here’s just a sampling:
– Taking an object from someone’s hand now seems to be an old skill.
– He’s learning to help us as we care for him by moving forward or backward or moving limbs, etc. He seems to work well with the therapists who ask him to cooperate.
– He takes small portions of food (e.g. pudding, Brenda’s applesauce, baby food fruit, etc.) by a spoon.
– He visited an eye doctor who told us there is nothing wrong with his eyes at all. In fact, his prescription for glasses is about the same as it was before the accident, and there’s no evidence of any problems. How many times did we ask for prayer for his troubled eyes?!?
– He blinks ‘yes’ with regularity now. He often nods his affirmation and shakes his head ‘no’.
– He doesn’t seem to be complaining about his throat being sore anymore. I’m not sure if that means it’s gone or if it means he’s not telling us.
Please continue to pray that he would talk to us….
Whatever my God ordains is right In His love I am abiding I will be still in all He does And follow where He is guiding He is my God, though dark my road He holds me that I shall not fall And so to Him I leave it all
Whatever my God ordains is right He never will deceive me He leads me by the proper path I know He will not leave me I take content, what He has sent His hand can turn my griefs away And patiently I wait His day
Whatever my God ordains is right Here shall my stand be taken Though sorrow, or need, or death be mine Yet I am not forsaken My Father’s care circles me there He holds me that I shall not fall And so to Him I leave it all
Whatever my God ordains is right Though now this cup in drinking Bitter it seems to my faint heart I take it all unshrinking My God is true, each morn anew Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart And pain and sorrow shall depart
Original words by Samuel Rodigast, 1676 Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1863 Alternate words by Mark Altrogge
“…For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11)
In Revelation 13, sandwiched in between the images of two beasts who were “allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them” is a passage that caught my attention:
“If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.”
I forget there’s a spiritual war going on. I forget that there are spiritual beasts (e.g. our culture’s very unspiritual perspective on life, the enticements of things and pleasures, the pursuit of happiness in anything but God, etc.) who try to subdue and remove altogether my confidence in God and his promise of heaven. I forget that in this war some are taken captive by those beasts, and some even die.
Until Ian’s car accident, I “forgot” that Christians suffer loss and heartache, too, and that Jesus told us we would have trouble in this life. Loss and heartache, like the captivity and death from the spiritual conflict, also “call for the endurance and faith of the saints.” Thank God for His gracious power to endure and to trust Him. I couldn’t do this on my own. Lord, help Ian to hear the call for endurance and faith and to trust your gracious work in his life.
Ian continues to take very small steps. He’s been re-learning how to reach away from his body, and he does well at it. He’s also doing well sitting up on his own (still with help from us).
1 Corinthians 13, verses four through eight are highlighted in Ian’s Bible. “Love is patient and kind, love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not made irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”
I sometimes wonder what Ian and I look like from the outside. What do people think when we are out on dates? Do they know that we’re dating or do they just think that I’m a sister or a friend? For people that do know us, does it seem strange to them that I’m pushing my boyfriend in a wheelchair and talking to him even though he can’t talk back to me? People often tell me that any other girl would leave in a situation like this. From the outside, it probably looks as though this relationship is all one-sided right now. Our relationship doesn’t look or seem normal because we can’t do things that “normal” couples do. I would’ve thought the same thing before the accident and still do in times of doubt.
But so far I haven’t found anything in the Bible that says that our relationship is abnormal or that tells me that I should’ve walked away. What the Bible does say is that love bears and endures all things. God has given Ian and I love and I am so thankful for it. This is what a relationship looks like to Ian and to me- we are simply God’s instruments and He chose to use us in each other’s lives in this way. This is the story that God has given us, complete with wheelchairs and therapists. If His will includes it, Ian and I will continue to endure all things together with the love that God has given us. Maybe someday Ian can plan special dates again but either way, I’m just happy to have him in my life.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Last night, Bill, one of Ian’s attendant care workers, held his cell phone in his open hand and invited Ian to take it. He did. Ian reached up and took the cell phone. Then, Bill asked him to put it back into his open hand. He did. Pray for Ian’s continued healing.
“In your times of severe distress, which are you more aware of- your suffering or your salvation?”
What a convicting but great thing for me to have read recently. For the past few days, I have been so busy looking at myself and this situation that, though I don’t want to admit it, I have quite forgotten all that was accomplished for me at the cross. And it is a path of thoughts that leads to nothing, is not satisfying at all, and only leads to more discouragement. I want to fix my eyes on the cross and all that was accomplished for me there. That is where my hope and joy are found, in the eternal, not the temporary.
Ian needs to fix his eyes on the cross as well and he needs grace to do that. He recently told me that he is weary- whether he meant physically or spiritually I don’t know. He has had some very challengings days, fighting a sore throat and lots of stomach aches and headaches. If his gaze is not fixed on the cross, there is much to be discouraged about.
Only the Lord can encourage Ian to keep fighting through this. Please pray that Ian would be strengthened to keep wanting to work to come back to us. Pray that God would take away all of his discomforts. Pray that we would talk to him soon.
“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy…” (Col 1:11).
Strengthened for endurance and patience with joy. If there’s anyone I know who would need a prayer for endurance and joyful patience, it’s my brother. I was reading this scripture for the two of us, and he indicated that he wanted me to pray this scripture for him. Ian’s situation seems harder than any of ours. He has some of the most difficult challenges facing him. It’s hard to see a brother (or boyfriend or son or friend) in his situation, but it must be harder to be the one in his position.
Recently, a friend of ours strongly encouraged Ian never to give up. Lets never give up praying for his strength – physical or spiritual strength.
We had a private screening last night of the latest unedited movie created by Ian and David. The filming for the movie was completed about two years ago; Ian was the main character. Ian was in front of the TV while we played it, and I had a perfect view of his face the whole time. His eyes were wide open, and he was riveted. He even made some noise with his voice. That experience with Ian is very unique, and it was encouraging to see it. I have no idea what to conclude about it, but we were encouraged.
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