Busy day ahead. A very excited crop of small Riley’s are packed & ready. Audobon Society field guides-check, specimen collection kits-check, various bags,back packs, baskets and jars-check. We are off to Trace Lake later this morning.
This morning I was thinking of/praying for a family with a sick baby. I was remembering the times I have been where this mom is now- even the many times at that same hospital. Emily- gastrointerologist/Rheumatologist, Trey-neurologist, Ellen-Nicu,Ben-cardiologist,Sarah-endocrinologist,Abby…,Annie-neonatologist,Mercy-Nicu/failure to thrive/feeding intolerant/sleep apnea, Josiah-cardiologist.
I have been there & remember the prayers of a mothers heart for a sick child. It was a sweet time to reflect on God’s faithfulness. We have stood beside a child (Ellen)when the only thing keeping her alive were the frighteningly noise machines that were in various ways connected to her-we have been told she would not live through the night. We have been told that a daughter(Emily) would not survive without a liver transplant. We have looked on helplessly, pleading with God in anguish for our daughter(Abby Grace) when the time of death was called. From where I am now I can truly say that God has been faithful. Why is that so easy to see looking back?
Emily has a Dr. appointment at 3:30 and it is my prayer that she will be released to our family physician. It was this month 19 years ago that we arrived at Leboneur Childrens Hospital at 4 am with our firstborn daughter and a bag full of presents from various friends and relatives. I was great with child and heavy of heart.Two days before I had walked in the kitchen door after our weekly trip to Leboneur to find the phone ringing. It was Dr. Whittington- Dr. Whittington had never called before-he is famous for his terrible bedside manner. A nurse usually called with the results of Emily’s weekly liver panel. I was shocked and terrified to find Dr. Whittington on the other end of the phone. We were out of time. She was heading into full blown liver failure & we needed to report to the hospital in two days for a pre-transplant workup. If I told the whole story it would be a very long post so I’ll just say that that hospital stay was not happy and things looked very bad. But God. God had other plans for Emily and granted miraculous healing. It could never be explained and we were eventually told that she was in remission and we would now wait for it to come back as it surely would. But it didn’t. God granted complete healing. Wow. So we head out to see Dr. Asa this afternoon and we are trusting God for great things. Again.
