Blog Category: Uncategorized

another prayer request

By admin,

late last week we learned that ian has pre-osteoporisis in his lumbar spine and left femur. please pray that we’re able to do enough exercise for him that it doesn’t progress quickly.

thank you, always.

  Filed under: Uncategorized
  Comments: None

Why Did We Anoint My Husband (Again?)

By admin,

This week in church, we were reminded of our need to pray expectantly, not because of the power of the person praying, but because we are asking things of a great God. At the end of the message, Ian received prayer and was anointed by our pastor.

And this is all an appropriate response to sickness, according to the Bible, particularly James 5. It’s just that we’ve done it so many times. And Ian is still severely disabled. He has been anointed by various pastors within our family of churches but he still has not been healed as we have asked. Steve was anointed, and prayed over, and he still died. Our good friend Beth has been anointed multiple times and has still suffered migraines for ten years.
So why do we keep anointing Ian and praying for healing? Why, even when I feel completely deflated, tired of asking the same thing, sick of standing at the front of the church for prayer and all too aware that Steve is gone which means it didn’t “work,” do we keep going forward?
I don’t know. My flesh doesn’t want to. My sinful nature doesn’t believe that God can do it. Because it hasn’t happened yet. And because my flesh is not long suffering.
But if I let go entirely of even the tiny grasp that I have on the truth that God can heal Ian, then I am disregarding who God is. God is able, but not required, to heal Ian. And it scares me to think that he won’t, because I don’t know what that means. I can’t figure out a God who doesn’t heal.
But as Steve often told me, even if God doesn’t heal Ian, He is still good. He will always be good. Even if my flesh can’t understand continued disability and sickness. And we can’t let ourselves forget that He is good and He is merciful. And that is why we still pray. And anoint. Because regardless of how I feel, the Bible tells me that God is able. So when I drag my feet toward expectant prayer and wrestle to believe in its effect, I am still praying to a good God. When my faith feels like a tiny thread, God has a stronghold on my life. When I offer up the weakest prayers, because of Jesus they are still beautiful and acceptable to God.
Thank you for your expectant prayers for four years.
Larissa

  Filed under: Uncategorized
  Comments: None

The good, the bad, and the messy

By admin,

We saw some good signs when we visited Ian yesterday. He had a session with the speech therapist who taped little electrode things to his face; the electrode things were attached to wires which were attached to a little device that sends a mild current through his face. The device is designed to stimulate the muscles in his face. I guess it’s just a little uncomfortable having a device outside yourself control your muscles, so he turns away from the side that’s being stimulated. On this particular occasion, Ian had some facial expressions for the speech therapist (all expressions he did himself, not the machine) that looked like he was trying to say something like, “get this evil thing off my face!” Then, he actually reached for the wires or the electrodes on his face and was fumbling to get hold of them presumably to pull them off. He never actually succeeded, but he kept trying throughout the session. That was the first time we had seen him try anything like that.

The bad news from yesterday is that, while the sores in his mouth and nose are looking better, we think that the yeast infection has traveled to his throat. He seems to be reaching for his throat trying to scratch it. The speech therapist isn’t comfortable forging ahead with certain therapies with his mouth, nose and throat in that condition. Please continue to pray that the Lord would remove the yeast infection.

It’s going to be messy this time of year, but we continue to forge ahead with the plans to build an addition for Ian. This weekend I worked on a design for the addition and was in contact with a friend who agreed to help oversee the project. It will be about 20′ x 24′ and will include a large bedroom for all the special equipment he’ll need. It will also include a large handicap-accessible bathroom. The addition will be accessed from the ground level and will include a sidewalk from the front. We’re hoping to start next week weather permitting.

I’ve been meditating lately on the fact that God because of Christ’s death on the cross counts me worthy (though I’m not worthy in myself) to be one of his favored sons. All true Christians, those who have by faith trusted God to save them only because of what Christ did for them, are considered by God to be his favored children. I’ve found real comfort in the fact that Ian is a Christian; he trusts in God to save him only because of what Christ did for him. He’s one of God’s favored sons. That means that God’s power and God’s care and God’s compassion and mercy and kindness and provision (etc.) are directed to Ian. God cares for Ian more than I do, and God is capable of taking care of him. Ian is in the caring hands of the Almighty God. I’m so grateful.

Pray for Ian.

Steve

  Filed under: Uncategorized
  Comments: None

Uncle Dan’s Visit

By admin,

It’s good to hear again about the progress other people see in Ian. We hear about and observe the small changes happening in him, but we’re seeing him every day or two. Because we see him so frequently the progress is often not as striking to us as it is for someone who hasn’t seen him in a while.

Ian’s Uncle Dan visited him yesterday and could see the change from a couple weeks ago. He said he looks right at you, he’s gained some weight, and he really seems to try to talk to you. That is quite a change from a couple weeks ago.

Thanks for praying…

– Steve

  Filed under: Uncategorized
  Comments: None

Don’t Lose Heart

By admin,

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:1-8 (ESV)

Jesus said that we should ALWAYS pray and NOT LOSE HEART. And to encourage us, he tells us of a wicked judge who had no reason to listen to a poor defenseless widow – he didn’t care what God or anyone thought. But this persistent widow keeps coming to him and crying out for justice. “For a while” he rebuffs her. But then he sees that this woman is not going to stop and that her “continual coming” will eventually wear him out. So he grants her requests.

The point of the parable is not that God is like this judge, uncaring and must be pestered into yielding. The point is that if even a wicked judge will respond to the pleas of a powerless widow who simply will not lose heart and give up but keeps coming to him, HOW MUCH MORE will God, who is sympathetic and caring about his blood-bought children hear our prayers! And not only will he hear our prayers, but he will not delay long in answering them. What may seem like a delay to us is not a delay from God’s perspective – in reality God answers us “speedily”.

“8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:8-9 (ESV)

Just as a farmer must sow and fertilize and water then wait, then water again, then wait until eventually he reaps, so we must keep sowing prayers for Ian and not lose heart and give up.
IN DUE SEASON WE WILL REAP – IF we do not give up.

We want to see Ian healed now. But if he isn’t healed today or tomorrow or next week, let us “pray and not lose heart,” and keep sowing, certain that “in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

-Mark

  Filed under: Uncategorized
  Comments: None

dance with me

By admin,

Thank you for healing me;
I was dying beneath my shame
But You brought me to life again, and I will sing:
Thank you for freeing me
I was dead to the truth of You,
But my healing was in Your wounds, and now I sing:
Thank you for healing me.

Though outwardly I may waste away,
On the inside I´ll be more alive every day.
As I walk through times of pain and grief
There´s a deeper truth inside of me…
You have placed Your life inside of me.


both ian and i have been feeling unwell over the past few days/weeks. god has been teaching us much but at times have grown weary and discouraged. tonight was a night that i would be alone with ian, without his brother here working and helping with transfers and the like. i didn’t work all day, not feeling well enough, and i found myself feeling anxious about being alone to care for ian – evenings that i typically look forward to with much anticipation. 

but god has met us, and met this very tiny request of meeting our needs just on this night, which is a speck of our lifetime. ian has made me laugh, made our roommate jen laugh, forgotten her name which made us laugh really hard, and he has cared for me. we took a walk. we watched a movie. and just after i had hung up the phone, he told me he wanted to dance with me. and on pandora was a song that i had been searching for all week, and it was a perfect moment. a perfect moment because ian was showing god to me, loving me, asking me to dance with him, caring for me. and we were dancing to words of healing, and mercy, and life. this is my husband who, two years ago, could not sit up in bed by himself. his dad, and i, and his caregiver had to hold him for strength. and now, even though his arms and legs are tired, he’s pursuing a dance with his wife. 

i am so grateful to the lord for my husband, and for these moments of sweetness and fellowship with the lord. i’m reminded each day that we are most clearly met when we are most weak.

thank you, always
i&l
…bless the lord, oh my soul…

  Filed under: Uncategorized
  Comments: None

he loves simply

By admin,

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

  Filed under: Uncategorized
  Comments: None

Vacation

By admin,

Sunday marked the beginning of the Murphy’s two week vacation in Virginia. Life was much different this time last year.

Seeming to miss Steve more each day.

  Filed under: Uncategorized
  Comments: None