I haven't posted an update on Number One's tummy troubles in a while, and thought I would let everyone know how she's doing. She had been symptom-free for several months, and then in June she suddenly started having problems again. Last month they put her on a steroid, and yesterday they added a second steroid. She sees her doctor in two weeks, and hopefully by then she'll be all cleared up, but I've been hoping that for weeks now.
Please pray that we can find ALL her trigger foods. We know that dairy hurts her, and we avoid things like broccoli and cabbage and nuts, but obviously something started this in June and we just don't know what. And please pray that we can get her off the steroid soon--we just don't want her to get all puffed up like she did last summer, and long-term steroid use isn't good for anyone.
I started thinking yesterday, spurred by a post on another blog, about how it's easy to get angry with God when your child or another loved one is suffering. But God didn't do this to Number One; it's just part of life, and bad things happen in life to EVERYONE. It would be so easy to say, well, God isn't answering our prayers to heal her, He must not care. But that would be ignoring how He has given me a job with fantastic health insurance--something we didn't have until very recently. He has also provided the money to pay for her care beyond what the insurance covers. He has provided a school for Number One where they care about her, where the teachers and students look out for her. We live in a place with one of the best pediatric GI specialists in the country, and he knows Number One by name and responds to each and every one of my phone calls. We are blessed, is what I'm saying, even in this.
Shortly after Batman and I lost our jobs in Florida, I read a quote by Dana Reeve, wife of Christopher Reeve, who at that time had just been diagnosed with lung cancer. She said (and I've lost the quote, so I'm paraphrasing): "You can't stop bad things from happening. But what matters in life is how you respond to those things." I found that immensely encouraging; that is how Batman and I tried to live after being so shattered by our own situation, and that is how we try to live now. We want people to see how we respond to our circumstances--good and bad--and be encouraged. We're not perfect, and we never will be, but God's grace will fill in all our gaps, and hopefully others will see Him reflected, however imperfectly, in us.
And now we return to our regularly scheduled programming: Anyone watch Project Runway last night? Did you hate the winning dress as much as I did?
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4 comments:
I am so proud of you, Batman, #1 and Special. Mom and I share your frustration and even anger at the disease perplexing #1. We also share your anger and frustration at the horrible way God's people can treat other people of God. We know God is still on His Throne, but imagine the Holy Spirit brooding and pacing along with us waiting for Him to finally ACT. We KNOW He will in good time - restoring all to what it should be. In the meantime, we'll just keep trusting and hug and kiss those we love without limit. We love you.
Dad
Thanks for the update -- prayers will continue with these specifics. And thanks for sharing the feelings you struggle with -- and the uplifting spiritual conclusion you have come to. We only see the back ugly side of the woven rug of life with strings tied in knots and such, and not the pretty side -- but knowing God is in control certainly helps when things in life are not pretty. God's ways are above ours, and we can't understand why sometimes He says "no" -- or "wait". We know He said "no" to His Son and to the apostle Paul, but gave them the grace to bear the pain they wanted relief from, and so has He given your family this grace. God bless you with your walk with our Lord & Savior & the Heavenly Father. GM/N
We are praying for her!
(I loved what you had to say about going through this, LAR. And I also liked what your Dad said, too.)
Love you!
It's not usually easy to see the positive side to having a child that's sick, but it sure helps with the sanity if you can get to the place of accepting it and working with it. I have to continually be reminded that God really IS in control. And that He sees things that I don't. And that many of the people I have in my life now are here because I have a special-needs child. You may be being a blessing to someone that you wouldn't otherwise know, if you weren't experiencing this situation with your daughter.
And that's as serious as I can be for one day! ;-)
Deanna
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