Tonight, I was relating the story of Barabbas to Ian. Barabbas was a notorious murderer who was in jail for his crimes. When the people brought Jesus to the governor to be killed, he offered a choice to the people: he would either release Jesus or Barabbas. The people shouted for the governor, whose name was Pilate, to release Barabbas.
“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!” “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
Then I reminded him that in the story, Barabbas represents us. We who are guilty go free while Jesus gets the punishment. Ian gave me a long, deliberate “yes” blink. It’s as if he was agreeing with me that the love of Jesus is amazing.
Today, Ian did really well in responding to the therapists’ requests. Thank you for the love you’ve shown Ian.
A friend was in today to work with Ian. She’s known Ian for a long time, and when he was younger Ian noticed and commented on a pair of earrings she had. He called them eyeball earrings, because they had a large black circle in the middle of them and looked to him like eyeballs. On Sunday when she visited, in honor of Ian’s comments on that pair of earrings, she wore them when she came to visit. She took a lot of time to remind Ian of the story of when he had dubbed them “eyeball earrings”.
Today, while she was working with him, he reached up to touch a different pair of earrings she was wearing as if he had noticed that she wasn’t wearing the eyeball earrings. She asked him if he remembered her wearing them only two days ago, and he gave a long blink confirming that he remembered. That may sound insignificant, but for Ian it’s huge. He’s aware and is remembering things. Thank you, Lord.
If you pray for Ian, please make sure to pray for his spiritual health. Pray that he would find his happiness in God, and that he would keep his eyes on Jesus. Pray that he would be comforted and strengthened emotionally. He is having a more difficult time than anyone else is.
Ian is unable to walk, talk (he communicates “yes” or “no” through blinking), or perform other forms of normal daily living, so keep praying for his physical healing as well.
“Stop and think of it. Every good thing we know here on earth is a product of God’s grace. And we who know Christ are going to heaven for this express purpose: so that God can showcase the infinite riches of His grace by showering His goodness on us endlessly. Does that not make your heart prefer the riches of heaven to the meager pleasures of earth?”
– John McArthur –
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In one brief moment, Ian’s life was changed. Ours was too. The pleasures of earth seem so much more meager since that day. I long for heaven.
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I was sitting behind Ian in church today. After the meeting was almost over, I leaned forward to whisper some encouragement in his ear. He was obviously attentive. Then, he turned his eyes and his head and looked right at me. It still startles me when he looks right at me, even though he’s been doing that for a couple weeks now.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
When I pray for Ian, I try to remember to thank God that He knows the ending of this story. But I also want to be thankful that He not only knew, but He created, the beginning. Today was hard because Ian is not who he used to be. He is a constant reminder to me of how fleeting we are- and that is a great thing to be aware of. In one second, all that we have built our dreams on, all that we have boasted in, all that we have thought to define us can completely change. We can be stripped of all that we cling to.
But this is how God designed us. And He and His promised inheritance to us are everything that we are not: “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Peter 1). What an encouraging contrast to look at Ian and then to look at Christ. Fleeting versus unchanging. But Ian in his condition is no different than any of us- we’re not keeping our hearts beating on our own.
Thank you, Ian, for teaching me just how weak I am. Like always, you remind me daily of my need for a savior.
Thank you, God, that you yourself are the beginning and the end.
Please pray for Ian. His sore throat is back. He slept most of the day and we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s because his throat is hurting so much. Tonight he was groaning, and he told me it was because he was in pain. He also said that it hurts every time that he swallows. He’s been doing so well at swallowing, but his sore throat really sets him back.
He also communicated to me tonight that he is discouraged. I don’t know what specifically he is struggling with. But he has been completely stripped of the life that he knew. Who or what does he have to cling to but Christ? If he is struggling to believe true thoughts about God and to stay focused on the cross, this life has plenty for him to be discouraged about.
Ian has been responding more quickly when he needs to swallow or when he’s prompted by the therapists to swallow. That may seem trivial, but the fact that he’s doing it at all is a miracle. Swallowing consistently has been one of those goals that so many therapists have been working toward for him, and lately he’s been doing it.
We had him sitting up again tonight, and it’s amazing how much progress he’s made doing that. When we first started doing this with him, his movements were erratic and jerky, and he couldn’t consistently swallow while he was sitting – as if he couldn’t possibly do two complicated things at once. Now, he holds himself up very well (still needs help and has some way to go), his movements aren’t so exaggerated, and he consistently swallows while he’s sitting up. He wasn’t doing any of this before we brought him home.
Yesterday was a valley on the road of recovery. Today was a hill. Thank you Lord.
John 1:12-13 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
God breathed life into Ian’s body and God has spared and sustained his life and God gave him new life. God can make him well again.
Ian continues to make very slow progress, but sometimes that takes him through valleys that seem like setbacks. He’s been struggling with a sore throat which makes him not want to swallow, and he was responsive to the therapists only toward the end of their session with him.
Pray that the Lord would heal his throat. Pray that he would talk to us again. Pray for grace for all of us. I know you are. Thank you.
I love this hymn, Be Thou My Vision. I want to sing to God that whatever befall, He is my vision. Whatever befalls, He is Ian’s vision. Another verse says “Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.” It is so easy to let something overcrowd our hearts and take the place of Christ as being first in our hearts. Today on the way home from work I was brought to tears realizing what I have allowed to steal my affections from Christ. Yet I still have my promised inheritance of eternity with Him no matter how great and how frequent my sins are. Because Jesus died on the cross for my sins, I am washed as white as snow. “Because of His great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Ian is a recipient of this same grace and mercy. If he is struggling in his thoughts right now to believe true things about God or if He is praising God for all that He accomplished at the cross, the status of Ian’s, and our, salvation never changes.
Today, a new speech therapist visited Ian, and she was excited to see how much Ian responded to her requests. He’s very alert now that he’s off of an antibiotic that made him lethargic. He shook his head ‘no’. He ‘helps’ when we try to move him. He even rolled his eyes at one person sarcastically in a very Ian kind of way. He responds to most of what the therapists ask him to do, except for swallowing. His throat is pinkish according to a nurse and very sore (he’s reported that to us for that last few days), so he won’t swallow as much as he was. Something so small for us is huge for him; please pray that the Lord would heal his throat.
We’ve been sitting Ian up on a “treatment table” (sounds scary but it’s just a low table with padding and vinyl top). The purpose is to get him to develop what the therapists call trunk control. We transfer him to the table from his bed or chair onto it, so he can learn to sit up without the aid of something behind him or on either side. Imagine trying to learn something so basic all over again, but Ian works really hard – we can tell. He seems to do better each time we try it. Tonight, he was sitting for about half an hour with only a little erratic movement.
We spent the evening at Blue Spruce Park tonight with Ian. It’s so nice to do normal things with him like going to the park and going to church. It was a perfect summer night.
Ian did a great job at sitting up this morning when Heather was here. He was balancing really well- Heather told him that she could tell he’s been working on sitting a lot.
Ian has communicated to us over the past few days that he has a sore throat. Please pray that God would keep him in complete comfort and heal any pain in his body.
