June wore Croc type shoes all summer. Can you
tell?
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Faith & Healing
Dear Jen,
Why is this topic of healing always an issue for me? I struggled with it when I learned of your baby Elisabeth. I believed she could be healed but at the same time she had a condition that never had been healed before so I knew that this was most likely not in God’s plan for her. I guess I feel the same way about Down Syndrome. The Lord knit these babies in their mothers’ womb and praying for “healing” is a struggle because who is to say they should be different than what they are now? Elisabeth taught me what true Hope is. She had a purpose beyond her little life. Why can’t we think the same of these babies with Down Syndrome?
Then I wonder if maybe I lack the faith I should have. Am I way off-base and I should be praying that certain conditions should be different? The Lord knows my struggle and continues to give me peace as I seek His thoughts and ways on it.
Ann
Ann,
This was definitely among the hardest parts of our journey with our daughter. We’d waited so many years to finally conceive, and then we find our our baby had a lethal condition. Right away people dismissed the prognosis (God will heal!) and like you’ve experienced, ignored the medical information (Doctors are wrong all the time!). Levi and I felt a specific calling to accept the bad news and yet live gracefully with it. Of course we hoped beyond all hope that our baby would be born screaming and normal, but around that time I had read Philip Yancy’s Prayer, and my thoughts about healing were actually being lived out in front of me: God CAN heal, but He is in charge and He doesn’t always choose to do this. I believe the healthiest perspective is to acknowledge how confusing this is to us as humans. We desire healing and He created us to have these longings, but we live a broken world and this is one of the examples.
I cannot picture Elisabeth any other way–if I imagine her to be healed from her fatal dwarfism, I am picturing a different baby. At the same time, if we lived in a perfect, heavenly world, there would be no fatal illnesses or painful medical problems. Or for that matter, no cellulite or wrinkles or jealousy or judgement. Even though our babies are perfect gifts, WHATEVER their conditions, I do think there is room for healing. They aren’t flawless. We pray for their health just like we pray for the health of our seemingly “normal” babies (have we not both prayed for our quick-tempered children to get control?!).
I love how Philip Yancy says it:
When I fall sick, or learn of physical suffering in a friend or loved one, I bring that request to God, whom the Bible describes as “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.” Sickness, not health, is the abnormality that Jesus came to expose. While not solving all the problems on earth, Jesus’ miracles gave a clear sign of how the world should be, and someday will be. His acts of healing restored to specific individuals what had been spoiled on the planet as a while.
Maybe I’m the one with the faith issue, because I’m perfectly fine with living with all this gray.
Jen
Why is this topic of healing always an issue for me? I struggled with it when I learned of your baby Elisabeth. I believed she could be healed but at the same time she had a condition that never had been healed before so I knew that this was most likely not in God’s plan for her. I guess I feel the same way about Down Syndrome. The Lord knit these babies in their mothers’ womb and praying for “healing” is a struggle because who is to say they should be different than what they are now? Elisabeth taught me what true Hope is. She had a purpose beyond her little life. Why can’t we think the same of these babies with Down Syndrome?
Then I wonder if maybe I lack the faith I should have. Am I way off-base and I should be praying that certain conditions should be different? The Lord knows my struggle and continues to give me peace as I seek His thoughts and ways on it.
Ann
____________
Ann,
This was definitely among the hardest parts of our journey with our daughter. We’d waited so many years to finally conceive, and then we find our our baby had a lethal condition. Right away people dismissed the prognosis (God will heal!) and like you’ve experienced, ignored the medical information (Doctors are wrong all the time!). Levi and I felt a specific calling to accept the bad news and yet live gracefully with it. Of course we hoped beyond all hope that our baby would be born screaming and normal, but around that time I had read Philip Yancy’s Prayer, and my thoughts about healing were actually being lived out in front of me: God CAN heal, but He is in charge and He doesn’t always choose to do this. I believe the healthiest perspective is to acknowledge how confusing this is to us as humans. We desire healing and He created us to have these longings, but we live a broken world and this is one of the examples.
I cannot picture Elisabeth any other way–if I imagine her to be healed from her fatal dwarfism, I am picturing a different baby. At the same time, if we lived in a perfect, heavenly world, there would be no fatal illnesses or painful medical problems. Or for that matter, no cellulite or wrinkles or jealousy or judgement. Even though our babies are perfect gifts, WHATEVER their conditions, I do think there is room for healing. They aren’t flawless. We pray for their health just like we pray for the health of our seemingly “normal” babies (have we not both prayed for our quick-tempered children to get control?!).
I love how Philip Yancy says it:
When I fall sick, or learn of physical suffering in a friend or loved one, I bring that request to God, whom the Bible describes as “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.” Sickness, not health, is the abnormality that Jesus came to expose. While not solving all the problems on earth, Jesus’ miracles gave a clear sign of how the world should be, and someday will be. His acts of healing restored to specific individuals what had been spoiled on the planet as a while.
Maybe I’m the one with the faith issue, because I’m perfectly fine with living with all this gray.
Jen
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Healing & Prayer
Dear Jen,
Do you remember this story from Lent, earlier this year?
_______________________________
During Lent I really wanted to wait on an answer from the Lord. I have heard people make comments about praying for the healing of June’s hearing loss and for some reason it has always rubbed me the wrong way. At the same time I believe we need to ask for healing and have prayed for June. I wanted to have peace with what to tell people when they suggest praying or even imply that we don’t have enough faith. A week or two into Lent, Kate e-mailed and asked people to pray for her college roommate’s son who is profoundly deaf. I was more than willing to pray but again felt this irritation. Was it because I felt when people implied prayer was needed, they were implying something was wrong with my child? Was it because my child wasn’t healed and now you’re asking me to pray for someone else’s?
I continued to ask the Lord about this and tried to figure out what my feelings were. I was talking to my sister-in-law, April, who also has two children with hearing loss. I was telling her about how I was feeling and how mainly I am upset because I don’t think anything is wrong with June. She was created by God and I think she is great the way she is.
We were having this discussion on Good Friday (the last day of Lent) and she told me she hung out with her step-sister, Jen, the night before. They were watching one-hour documentaries on different topics and one of them was on healing. April expressed to Jenny some of the feelings I had been having and Jen said “But the Lord has healed.” April looked at her like, “What?” And, Jen said “The Lord has healed you so that you can see your child as whole.” It was my answer! How amazing. My daughter is whole in my eyes and we are healed!
Ann
Do you remember this story from Lent, earlier this year?
_______________________________
During Lent I really wanted to wait on an answer from the Lord. I have heard people make comments about praying for the healing of June’s hearing loss and for some reason it has always rubbed me the wrong way. At the same time I believe we need to ask for healing and have prayed for June. I wanted to have peace with what to tell people when they suggest praying or even imply that we don’t have enough faith. A week or two into Lent, Kate e-mailed and asked people to pray for her college roommate’s son who is profoundly deaf. I was more than willing to pray but again felt this irritation. Was it because I felt when people implied prayer was needed, they were implying something was wrong with my child? Was it because my child wasn’t healed and now you’re asking me to pray for someone else’s?
I continued to ask the Lord about this and tried to figure out what my feelings were. I was talking to my sister-in-law, April, who also has two children with hearing loss. I was telling her about how I was feeling and how mainly I am upset because I don’t think anything is wrong with June. She was created by God and I think she is great the way she is.
We were having this discussion on Good Friday (the last day of Lent) and she told me she hung out with her step-sister, Jen, the night before. They were watching one-hour documentaries on different topics and one of them was on healing. April expressed to Jenny some of the feelings I had been having and Jen said “But the Lord has healed.” April looked at her like, “What?” And, Jen said “The Lord has healed you so that you can see your child as whole.” It was my answer! How amazing. My daughter is whole in my eyes and we are healed!
Ann
Friday, December 2, 2011
Unity
Dear Jen,
At small group today we were asked how to pray for our baby. Greg and I had different requests and I don’t believe it’s a bad thing. We are processing things differently so why would we not have different requests?
I have asked people that our journey towards this baby would bring Glory to God and that our baby would as well. Greg is asking first for her not to be Down Syndrome. He says he has to ask the Lord for what he would desire for her most and it would be for her not struggle. In this, Thy will be done. He will love and accept her regardless but this is what he will ask.
One of our friends mentioned that Greg’s children have really brought Greg to his knees. With our struggle to get pregnant with our first two and now in this the Lord has taught Greg to talk to Him about them all. During these times it is when I have become more dependent on my community because I do not have the words or even know how to pray. I depend on these people to pray for me. Both are good; both have taught us much.
Ann
Ann,
Even to this day Levi and I handle our experience with Elisabeth so differently. My prayer is that your differences will continue to unify you and not cause dissension.
Jen
At small group today we were asked how to pray for our baby. Greg and I had different requests and I don’t believe it’s a bad thing. We are processing things differently so why would we not have different requests?
I have asked people that our journey towards this baby would bring Glory to God and that our baby would as well. Greg is asking first for her not to be Down Syndrome. He says he has to ask the Lord for what he would desire for her most and it would be for her not struggle. In this, Thy will be done. He will love and accept her regardless but this is what he will ask.
One of our friends mentioned that Greg’s children have really brought Greg to his knees. With our struggle to get pregnant with our first two and now in this the Lord has taught Greg to talk to Him about them all. During these times it is when I have become more dependent on my community because I do not have the words or even know how to pray. I depend on these people to pray for me. Both are good; both have taught us much.
Ann
_________
Ann,
Even to this day Levi and I handle our experience with Elisabeth so differently. My prayer is that your differences will continue to unify you and not cause dissension.
Jen
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The Stuff We Feed Our Kids (response)
Jen,
I’ve gone crazy about this stuff as well and one thing I have decided is that as long as we continue to expose our children to good food we are doing o.k. Did you like vegetables as a child? I liked very few. Now I LOVE them. I make Catina PB&J or mac-n cheese but ask her to try something along with it. At our last doctors visit the doctor showed Catina this picture.
Between her exposure at preschool and the doctor she has
decided to try a few more things. Sometimes we need people outside us to
encourage them. As our kids grow older we can enforce things a bit more.
Catina isn’t allowed to eat after dinner. If she’s hungry she should’ve eaten what was presented. I do, however, always make sure there is at least one thing she will eat. That’s why we almost always have a piece of fruit as part of the meal. I also try to make sure she has limited snacks a couple hours before dinner. This way she is hungrier and may try something new. She also isn’t allowed to have dessert unless she eats the vegetables and protein. We don’t have dessert every night but she has had many a nights watching the rest of us eat a brownie because she didn’t eat her meal. Its tempting to not want to eat the brownie in front of her because it sounds mean but it does teach her to live with her choices. She has impressed quite a few of our friends by sitting quietly while we eat dessert having none for herself because she made the choice. We learned this from a Love & Logic conference we had gone to.
Another thing that has encouraged Catina to eat a better variety is allowing her to help me cook. She seems to eat more if she can help. There is a great website called http://www.weelicious.com/. It has been helpful as well. Having her help isn’t always the most convenient but if it works….
Catina is still not the greatest of eaters and its a constant struggle with her. A lot of my suggestions are for older children but know that your kids will be able to do these things before we know it. Crazy! We should create a link where we share the recipes our children love. Although they may love it for a few weeks and change their minds the next!
Ann
I’ve gone crazy about this stuff as well and one thing I have decided is that as long as we continue to expose our children to good food we are doing o.k. Did you like vegetables as a child? I liked very few. Now I LOVE them. I make Catina PB&J or mac-n cheese but ask her to try something along with it. At our last doctors visit the doctor showed Catina this picture.
Catina isn’t allowed to eat after dinner. If she’s hungry she should’ve eaten what was presented. I do, however, always make sure there is at least one thing she will eat. That’s why we almost always have a piece of fruit as part of the meal. I also try to make sure she has limited snacks a couple hours before dinner. This way she is hungrier and may try something new. She also isn’t allowed to have dessert unless she eats the vegetables and protein. We don’t have dessert every night but she has had many a nights watching the rest of us eat a brownie because she didn’t eat her meal. Its tempting to not want to eat the brownie in front of her because it sounds mean but it does teach her to live with her choices. She has impressed quite a few of our friends by sitting quietly while we eat dessert having none for herself because she made the choice. We learned this from a Love & Logic conference we had gone to.
Another thing that has encouraged Catina to eat a better variety is allowing her to help me cook. She seems to eat more if she can help. There is a great website called http://www.weelicious.com/. It has been helpful as well. Having her help isn’t always the most convenient but if it works….
Catina is still not the greatest of eaters and its a constant struggle with her. A lot of my suggestions are for older children but know that your kids will be able to do these things before we know it. Crazy! We should create a link where we share the recipes our children love. Although they may love it for a few weeks and change their minds the next!
Ann
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