We Serve an Awesome God

For I know the plans I have for you,"

declares the LORD,

"plans to prosper you and

not to harm you, plans to

give you hope

and a future.

~Jeremiah 29:11

Over the past year I've been praying for some rather ill children. You'll see their photos & links in my side bar. This week I've come across two more blogs of other very ill people - people who really can use our prayers.

But that's not why I'm writing this entry today.

I do want to help get the word out about these families & children. I do want more people to join in the battle with prayer.

But that's not why I'm writing this entry today.

I'm writing this entry today to share the faith that these families have in our great God. Our Father & Healer. The Great Physician.

I'm amazed daily - which is quite shameful really - at the deep & abiding faith that these families have for the miracles that only God can do. My faith grows stronger each time I read their blogs.

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The first child I want to talk about is Baby Noah. Now Baby Noah is now just over a year old. He's the youngest son of Kate & Jeff Estes. They run a homeschooling company called Hands & Hearts. I first "met" Kate on a Yahoo group I belong to for homeschooling. We prayed a lot for her throughout her pregnancy. I gave her advice on managing her gestational diabetes (I have type 1) & helping her figure out all the insulin pumps out there as she needed one to help her manage her severe lows. I made a scrapbook for Noah as I knew with six other children time was in short supply for hobbies such as that.

Then Noah began getting ill. At first they weren't sure what was wrong. Now they do know. He has an illness with no cure & one that will severely shorten his life span. However, the faith that shines out from their blog (Our Quiverfull) is just awe-inspiring. In fact, if you are reading this today, please keep little Noah in your prayers as he has had to head back to the ER today for a fever.

As I mentioned earlier, Noah is the youngest of seven - for a few more weeks that is. Kate is pregnant with their eighth child, a baby girl, due to arrive in the next two weeks. Please continue to pray for Baby Noah, Baby Mary Faith & all of the Estes Family.

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The next child I have been praying for is Destinee. What another story of faith. Destinee is a young girl who had liver cancer. She was in dire need of a liver transplant & received one. The amazing part here - she is adopted. Well, that's not the amazing part. What is amazing is that the family that adopted her had lost a little girl about the same age as Destinee to liver cancer. I simply cannot imagine the heart ache they felt when they learned of Destinee's diagnosis. She is doing okay but is still fighting the battle to be well. A friend of the family keeps updates on her blog (Choosing Joy) about how Destinee is doing & the most current prayer needs.

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I have to admit that I wasn't keeping up to much on this next child, simply because I wasn't sure I could handle hearing about another ill little one. Then I read their most recent post & knew that what I was feeling was just plain selfish. Little Madeline is fighting for her life & is definitely at the top of my prayer list from this point on.

I admit to not knowing her whole story, but I think it started with a congenital heart issue that has been getting worse. She currently has severe sepsis & edema & is really fighting to hang on. If you'd like to see the little one to pray over her, click on this link here to go to their website.

Update: Little Maddie went to be with the Lord today. Please continue to pray for her parents & siblings. Update is at this link.

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Lastly, I spent quite a chunk of time yesterday reading the blog of Confessions of a CF Husband. I found this blog through one of the Project 365 blogs. What caught my eye & made me want to read more was the reference to CF.

My husband & I have a friend we've known now for about 10 years or so. His name is Mark & he has CF (aka cystic fibrosis). He's a year old than I am & he's been having a hard time lately. He's spending more time in the hospital than out & could use your prayers as he is there again right now.

We have another friend who's younger sister also has CF. He even lost an older sister as a very young child to what they now feel was probably CF.

Then to cap it all off - I have a local homeschooling friend who's youngest daughter was just diagnosed with CF. She was adopted as a young child along with her three brothers. Even though she is rather old for the diagnosis (she's now 11), she has had some tests come back positive. Based on symptoms they think at least one if not two of her brothers may have it as well.

Update: My friend found out today that her daughter has just very bad asthma. Praise God!

So back to Confessions of a CF Husband. The blog is written by Nate, husband of Tricia, & new daddy to Gwyneth. Tricia has CF & just gave birth via C-section to their daughter Gwyneth earlier this month at 25 weeks gestation. Due to all the factors here, Tricia is still sedated & slowly being brought out of that so she has yet to meet her daughter. She is also on a ventilator to help with her breathing. Gwyneth is also on a vent & fighting hard to grow. Nate is holding down the fort & caring for his two girls.

Again - his faith just exudes from his blog. I found myself crying as I imagined the pain he must be feeling. My youngest spent one measly week in the NICU after he was born four years ago. In fact, today would have marked his first day there. However, he was a bruiser. He weighed in at 10lbs 3ozs. He was HUGE compared to many of the babies there. Nothing he had was life threatening. While it felt overwhelming at the time, I knew we would be going home sooner rather than later & I felt so blessed by that.

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Reading these blogs & praying for these families has been such a privilege. Our God is an awesome God.

I was listening to the radio this morning & heard a song from one of my favorite bands - Big Daddy Weave. Their song "Hold Me Jesus" came on & as I was singing along I realized how appropriate it was for this post today. (In doing a search for the lyrics I discovered that it's a remake of a Rich Mullins song.) Here's the chorus....

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf

You have been King of my glory

Won't You be my Prince of Peace