Ian is being moved out of the ICU!
Praise God.

He will not longer be staying there…

More details to come very soon…

Thank you for your faithful prayers – God hears us and is evidently working.

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Be encouraged by this quote from Andrew Murray:

“O what a deep heavenly mystery this is of persevering prayer. The God who has promised, who longs, whose fixed purpose it is to give the blessing, holds it back. It is to Him a matter of such deep importance that His friends on earth should know and fully trust their rich Friend in heaven, that He trains them, in the school of answer delayed, to find out how their perseverance really does prevail, and what the mighty power is they can wield in heaven, if they do but set themselves to it.”

We have in heaven a rich Friend who longs to pour out blessing on us. Why He holds it back for a time is a deep mystery indeed. But we are told in scripture that God loves persevering prayer and loves to bless those who persevere in their prayers. Let this stir us to be persevere in fervent prayer for Ian’s healing. O what a rich friend we have in heaven. Let us seek His blessing!

-Stephen A

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The other night, Mary, Larissa, I and an occupational therapist friend, Mary Bennett went to see Ian. Now I know that it was the last time I was to see Ian in that little room where our hearts have been held for the last 3 weeks.

I can’t begin to describe our Father’s lasvish, generosity to the Murphy’s during this hard, very trying time. Not only has He showered them with material blessings of every conceivable kind, He has brought together a unique collection of friends who just happen to know a lot about traumas and hospitals and comas. He’s brought wisdom to Steve and Mary out of no where and everywhere. The church has really been the hands and feet of Jesus, rushing to their aid to provide for them while He shelters and loves them under the shadow of His wing.

The truth and reality of His presence lit up our car on the way home. Mary said, “You know, I’ve been looking at people a lot since all of this has been going on. When I’m shopping and looking at the people around me, I’ve realized that my worst day in the ICU with Jesus is better than their best day they will ever have on earth.” What mother, who watches her first born, day after day, in a coma and suffering, can say this except one who has a secret supply of Strenght, a hidden source of Light and a mysterious flow of Love running into her heart and out of her entire being. Mary knows something that we don’t; she sees something that we can’t and lays the full length and weight of her soul on the Rock that higher than she. We are seeing the things of the age to come, right here and right now. The Kingdom of God is here.

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I saw the respiratory therapist yesterday, and he said Ian has a nice strong cough now. Thank you, Lord. They’re still concerned about his level of consciousness, so to remove the trach now could be dangerous. He wouldn’t be awake enough to protect his airway.

Please just keep praying that Ian would let us know that he’s with us and that he would wake up. Ian moves for us, for familiar voices, but he won’t move for the medical staff on command. He’ll move his arm, his fingers, his toes, etc. when we ask him to, but not when they ask him to move. It’s as though he knows it’s not us.

We hear from so many of you who tell us you’re praying. Thank you…

-Steve Murphy

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And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. (Matthew 9:27-30)

Why is it that I grow so weary of praying when my prayers are not answered immediately? Why is it that it seems harder to pray as time passes and that the fire that once blazed when I prayed seems to have cooled a bit? In my laziness and unbelief, I find my prayers lagging because I am not seeing immediate and ‘miraculous’ (according to my mind) results. But in His kindness, God pointed me to this passage to freshly stir me for persistent and bold prayers for Ian.

Notice the actions of the beggars. They followed Jesus. They followed behind him and kept asking him, over and over, to have mercy on them. Jesus did not respond immediately to their cry for help. He did not restore their sight the first time or second time they asked. The Savior wanted the two blind men to follow His lead and to keep asking for mercy. It seems that Christ wanted to test their faith first. Would they continue to ask for mercy even when it did not come immediately? Would they continue to follow Jesus, even when He passed them by the first time? The blind men followed Jesus because they believed that He was able and willing to heal them. They had faith in infinite power and tender compassion. Jesus responded to their persistent faith by healing them. He loves to respond to faith.

We too must follow Jesus even when our prayers don’t bring immediate results. As Ben wrote earlier, Christ waits to answer prayers for a very specific and very good reason. Do we believe that Jesus can heal Ian? Absolutely. Then let us continue to follow Jesus and cry out for mercy. Let us be stirred by the example of the blind men. They weren’t deterred when their first request was not granted. They knew what Jesus was like, so they followed Him. Let us do the same. For His glory alone…

-Stephen A

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For new readers:

Our blog started in October of 2006 after Ian Murphy was in a very serious car accident and suffered a tramuatic brain injury. We have shared his story since then, from ICU, to a rehabilitation center, and to his home. The main authors have been Steve, his dad, and Larissa, his girlfriend.

In August of 2009, Steve was diagnosed with brain cancer and was given a prognosis of 14 months to live. He survived for seven weeks and went to be with His savior on October 8.

We, Ian and Larissa, were blessed to get married on Steve’s birthday, 8/28/10, to begin a newer life together. Our Murphy family still all lives in the same town, surrounded with beautiful friends, nieces and nephews.

We have been blessed with good biblical teaching and we know that God is sovereign. It is His will for Ian to be afflicted. We know that because Jesus died for us, God will one day receive us into glory. We are promised Christ- and so we eagerly await eternity with him.

Our church, our friends, and people who don’t even know Ian, and now Steve, have been incredibly supportive and have been praying non-stop. God has already made this a positive experience for so many people, and he will continue to teach us great things about himself through Ian and Steve’s suffering.

Thank you for reading our story. And thank you for praying.

(We can be reached at prayforian@gmail.com)

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The Lord’s prayer starts with these words: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” Have you ever considered just the first four words of this prayer? First, we see that God is our Father. Like an earthly father, God is tender. He is compassionate. He loves His children and delights to be with them. He passionately protects them and watches over them. He is extraordinarily generous and loves to pour out good gifts on His precious children. He is everything we ever wanted in an earthly Father in the infinite degree.

Second, we see that God is in heaven. He reigns over all the universe from His heavenly throne. All power is His and He does what ever pleases Him. The oceans are but a drop in His hand and the nations are as nothing. When He speaks, planets explode into existence and light shines forth. He controls life and death and all of creation does his bidding. There is no one greater or more glorious than Him. He is the King of the Universe.

God is our Infinite Father. What an encouragement for prayer. He is infinitely powerful and infinitely tender. He is fiercely strong yet he is also deeply compassionate. He deeply cares about Ian Murphy and has the power necessary to heal Him. Oh how this encourages me to pray for Ian. When you pray, remember that God is your infinite Father. He loves to hear our requests and He has the power to do all that He pleases. For His glory…

-Stephen A

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I thought I would share some excerpts from a couple other people who visited Ian.

From Jenn Grover:

I was visiting Ian last night [Tuesday night] and witnessed
a lot of activity and it was obvious that he was making attempts
to complete all of the commands the nurse and I were giving him.

When asked to move the big toe on his left foot, he complied. 
There was also a lot of blinking of his eyes.

When I said goodbye to him he moved his head.
Whether that was voluntary or involuntary, it is difficult to
know. I do strongly believe that he was aware of me and the
staff to a much greater degree than he was last Thursday.

From Randy Wolfe:

I spent nearly an hour with Ian this evening [Wednesday],
and I was surprised that he responded to me at all. I asked
him to move his hand then his foot and he did. What really
got me though was he turned his head to the right a little
when I was talking to him, then I went to his left side and
he turned it in that direction while I was talking to him.
The more I spoke the more he turned towards my voice.

Steve Murphy

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."
Lam. 3:22-23

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Classic Charles Spurgeon:

“God will answer His pleading people in their anguish. He has wonders in store for them. What they have never seen, heard of, or dreamed of, He will do for them. He will invent new blessings if needful. He will ransack sea and land to feed them: He will send every angel out of heaven to succor them, if their distress requires it. He will astound us with His grace and make us feel that it was never before done in this fashion. All He asks of us is that we will call upon Him. He cannot ask less of us. Let us cheerfully render Him our prayers at once.” Faith’s Checkbook

This is God’s posture toward us in our “anguish” and “distress” over Ian’s circumstances. He is able to comfort us, give us faith in God’s kindness and love no matter what the circumstances, and even to return Ian back to us exactly as he was. He “will send every angel out of heaven” and “astound us with His grace.” He has wonders in store for us. Thank you for call on Him on behalf of the Murphy family.

Steve Murphy

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We went to see Ian last night; Mary, Gretchen Allen, Larissa and me. We had heard from a friend that lived through a similar experience to work hard to wake Ian up. So we did. All evening Mary, in her sweet, gentle voice saying, “Hey sweetie. It’s Mommy. You’ve been in an accident. That’s why you can’t move very well….” and “Hi honey. It’s me, Mommy. You’re in the hospital. Everything is going to be ok….” It was so awesome to witness this beautiful soul, “…with a gentle and quiet spirit which is precious to God.” tending to her son with the voice that fills his oldest memories; the voice that is the most familiar to him in the world; the voice that sang to him as a baby and sings to him now.

Later in the evening, the nurse came in to re-position him. She pulled him onto his side, and as she did, his eyes opened. Mary was leaning close to him, and looking right into his eyes as he opened them. “Hi honey! Can you see me? It’s Mommy. How are you? Can you see me? I can see you!” And on she went, until he closed his eyes again. I wish I could have somehow captured that moment for others to witness. It was magical. I will never forget her face as I watched her look into Ian’s eyes. There was joy in her eyes; love and hope. Her face was bright with God and I can’t help but believe that he saw her through his unseeing eyes. I don’t think that his sleepy mind could have possible resisted her love and the coma, for a few moments, gave way.

As we asked him over and over again to squeeze Larissa’s hand, I think all of us would agree that he worked very hard at trying to do it. He moved his fingers a lot. He squeezed her hand. Sometimes he would–sometimes he wouldn’t but I’m pretty sure he was really trying. His nurse told us to come and get her if he responded to a specific sequence of commands because “I would die twice to see it.” He wasn’t able to do it, so I’m happy that she will live at least another night. But who can say about tonight????

Jesus is in that room, tenderly caring for His fallen lamb, making Ian’s sick bed for him as Charles Spurgeon says. His angels are hovering around him, ministering in ways that we can not see or imagine. Jesus is sweet beyond comprehension.

God is great,
kristi

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