I read this passage in Matthew 8:1-3 this morning:

“When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”

Picture the scene with me. Jesus is coming down from a mountain and He has massive crowds following Him. Some of the people are crying out to him, asking for healing. Others are excitedly talking about Him overthrowing Rome. Some are just along for the ride. Then something happens that stops the crowd in their tracks. There, standing in front of Jesus, is a leper.

Leprosy was (and still is) a terrible disease. It destroyed people and ate away at their body. At that time there was no cure and a leper could be assured of a slow, agonizing death. A death by inches. There was no hope for a leper. A cure? Impossible.

The crowd probably began to back up, knowing that leprosy was contagious and fearing for their safety. They knew the fate of those who ended up with the dreaded disease. But Jesus didn’t retreat from the leper. To the astonishment of the crowd, he allowed the disease ridden man to draw near.

The leper collapsed to his knees in front of Jesus and said simply, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” What a simple prayer! The leper must have been absolutely desperate. He knew that he had absolutely no hope to ever be healed apart from supernatural intervention. But he also knew that Jesus could heal people. And he knew that many times Jesus did heal people. So what did he do? He came to Jesus and offered a humble, yet faith filled prayer of desperation. He didn’t come to Jesus with demands. He came humbly and in desperation, asking Jesus to do the impossible.

How did Christ respond? With a touch. He reached out his hand and touched the infected, festering, dying flesh of the leper. What a compassionate touch! How long had it been since someone touched that leper? What a powerful touch. Instantly, the leper was healed. The power of the World Maker went from the Savior into the leper and he was healed.

Let this encourage us to pray fervently for Ian! Jesus loves to respond to humble, desperate prayers. He loves to intervene in the midst of impossible situations! Let us come to Jesus like the leper. All Ian needs is a simple touch from Jesus. Let us ask for this healing with both humility and desperation and let us believe that Christ will respond to our prayers!

Stephen A

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Hey Friends:

A quick note on why we created this blog. Two reasons: First, we want to keep you updated on Ian’s condition so that you can pray more effectively. Second, I believe that God wants to work in miraculous and astonishing ways in this situation. You will be seeing posts from myself, my dad, David, and perhaps others that will encourage us to pray fervently that God would do an absolute miracle. So check back in regularly! I believe that God is on the move and am excited to see what He does!

Stephen Altrogge

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Today was the first day the doctor used the word ‘coma’ to describe Ian’s condition. Ian continues to respond to various stimuli, though. The head of the ICUs (the one who originally told us Ian was over the hump) visited Ian today and was screaming his name and clapping, and Ian “snorted.” The doctor rubbed his forehead, and Ian lifted his leg and stretched his foot. The medical staff here did surgery to insert a breathing tube in his throat (a tracheoscopy), and they removed the stuff in his mouth. He looks more and more like Ian the more stuff they do to him and the more he heals. Sadly, he just looks like he’s comatose.

It’s been remarkable to me how much Mary and I have been at peace through this difficult experience. The Lord’s grace has been present, even while grief overcomes us at different points. I had to talk to the insurance people about the car today, and for some reason I was really emotional talking to him about taking away the car that Ian was driving. I can tell that Mary is overcome at points, too, but I can tell she’s also at peace. We really are in faith at this point for whatever God has, but like you we’re praying for an extraordinary miracle for Ian. God gives life and sustains life. God breathed new life into me when He saved me and made me a new creature. It’s nothing for Him to raise Ian up from this coma. Thank you for the faith you have exhibited for a miracle. It’s humbling, and we’re grateful for your prayers.

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Friends:

A new message from Ian’s Dad. Very encouraging. Real quick, before getting to Ian’s Dad, I had the sense tonight while praying that Jesus wanted me to “ask again”. So let me encourage you guys, “ask again”. Ask again for great, bold, exciting, impossible things! Let’s not ask small things of our great, almighty God! Even if you’ve already asked, ask again! Ask that Ian would graduate in December! Ask that Ian would be at my brother Stephen’s wedding in November! Ask again!

Here’s the update from Ian’s dad, Steve:

—

“We learned something new this morning. Ian’s right eye has been responding sluggishly to light. That’s a good thing. He’s also “coughing” which really just looks like his body jerking. He still moves & responds to pain. The cause of his fever has not been determined, yet, but Tylenol keeps it in check.

We praise God for the progress he’s making! Unless the Lord intervenes in a different way than He is now, though, it appears we’re in for a long haul. Planning for the long haul, our intention is to return home on Tuesday and try to get into some semblance of a routine. We can’t stay here at the hospital 24/7, but we’re going to set up a schedule including me, Mary, Larissa, and maybe Ben and have one of us with Ian as often as we can.

Thank you so much for all of the support and prayers! So many have been so kind and generous to us. We’ve heard story after story of people who are praying, some who don’t even know Ian. It’s hard to recount what we’ve heard of the good things God is doing. I’m glad so many are sharing their stories and rejoicing in what God is doing.

Thanks so much for your prayers and for your response of faith….”

—-

Thanks again guys! So grateful to Jesus for all of you and your prayers.

David

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Hey Guys:

The latest from Ian’s dad:

“The latest news on Ian is that the doctors do not see the need to operate on his vertebra immediately, because the pressure on his spine isn’t what they expected it to be (i.e. it’s not as dangerous a situation as they once thought). They do need to operate to stabilize it at some point, but they’re thinking now that the operation would be in six weeks.

Ian is scheduled for a tracheoscopy on Monday, an operation they originally said needed to be done following the surgery on the vertebra.

Ian has had a fever they’ve been fighting. It could be related to an infection in his knee or (worse) it could be pneumonia developing. Please pray that it would only be related to the knee and not to pneumonia. In fact, pray that the fever would go away.

The neurosurgeon on Ian’s case will be gone for a couple days, but he wanted to talk with us on Monday about Ian’s lack of progress since Wednesday. Please pray that his neurological condition would improve, i.e. that he would continue to make movements and respond to various stimuli.

Thank you for your prayers….

Steve Murphy”

Ian’s situation, as you can see is still very desperate. Thanks again friends!

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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 me, his girlfriend.

In August of 2009, Ian’s dad was diagnosed with brain cancer and was given a prognosis of 14 months to live. So now we follow the story of Ian and of his dad.

We have been blessed with sound theological teaching and we know that God is sovereign. It is His will for Ian and Steve 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.

Thank you for following our story. Please pray for Ian and Steve.

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1 Peter 1:3-7 According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, as was necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

I long for heaven. There the good that I’ll experience is not temporary or fleeting or fading or tainted by trials. Here on earth, any good is temporary. Car wrecks taint life. Things are taken away from us. We don’t always experience things we would prefer. My emotional investment and the focus of my faith can’t be the things of this life, but my hope has to be in that imperishable inheritance that’s kept in heaven for me. So many dreams and things and relationships throw me off and distract my longing for heaven. I need to hold out for what’s best; I need to hold out for heaven.

Ian had a lazy day today. He wasn’t very alert and was tired most of the day. We were told at the Children’s Institute that his recovery process would include days like this along with the active days. He slept a lot, and that’s good. He’s recovering.

Thank you for praying.

Steve

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she packed us a picnic of lemon water and milk in the glass bottles that were his birthday gift. it was a coupon to redeem for a picnic, meal of our choice, date and time of our choice. and so being date night, we stopped at our mother in law’s house for our basket filled with chicken salad sandwiches, brownies and milk – at Ian’s request.

the sky was teasing us with passing dark clouds and so we opted for the park with a nearby pavilion. we took just one out of the basket at a time, just in case we had to pack up quickly.

after an hour of watching the clouds, and eating and talking, we decided to risk it and settled on a blanket under a strong and sprawling tree.

i wanted to capture the moment and so i brushed past ian laying on the blanket, looking back at the tree as i walked.

“you look beautiful in that skirt.”

after a quiet thank you i snapped a picture, a smile behind the hands holding the phone. i walked back over to the blanket, laying next to him, smiling yet.

“i can’t believe i’m so blessed to have such a beautiful wife.”

noticing i was cold, he pulled the blanket up over my shoulder, simply loving me.

i turned onto my back, looking up at the huge tree, and smiled. i smiled because God knew exactly what my heart needed that night. and he softened my heart as he softened ian’s, and gave us a sweet and beautiful moment of feeling so deeply the joy of being loved, by each other and by our Father.

in a nagging week that had “brain injury” running through my thoughts too many times, there was peace and a moment of rest. and tonight, after work and spending time with our little man paladin, i told ian i was tired.

“you just need to sit down and rest for awhile.”

and so we will rest, as the white curtains on our patio shift in the breeze and the little birds enjoy the new food in their feeders. there’s a tea pot on the stove waiting for water and a husband ready to just sit with his wifey.

thank you, always
i&l

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