heart mending

This is my friend, Andrea. You may remember Andrea of Abigail fame from about this time last year. Last year, we were raising money for Abigail to have a tumor removed from her leg. The good news is that today, Abigail's check-up revealed a "normal 3-year-old." This is news worth celebrating!

Unfortunately, this wonderfully uneventful visit to the doctor is under the shadow of her sister's extended hospital stay.

This is Shilo, Abigail's sister. She is five months old. All told, I think she has spent something like three of those months in the hospital, mostly in some form of an ICU. This particular stay has lasted since February, brought on by a typical-in-other-people virus. But Shilo is little. And she has a heart defect. The virus required her to go on all kinds of equipment, including a ventilator. After quite a while, it became evident she would not be able to get off the ventilator without undergoing open heart surgery. The surgery was expected...a little on down the road, perhaps, but expected. As it is, though, things keep happening that destabilize Shilo just enough to where they cannot go through with the surgery. The surgery should alleviate all kinds of health issues, so as scary as open heart surgery on an infant sounds, it is welcome. All Shilo needs for the surgery is some stable days in a row -- days free of fevers, with clear lungs. Those have been hard to come by lately.

Could you join us in praying for Shilo and her family? They have been separated from each other for most of the last 8 weeks. That is a long time, and a great percentage of Shilo's life and Abigail's recent memory. Or anyone's recent memory. Even if the surgery goes through quickly, there will be at least a few more weeks apart before Shilo and Abigail can be together in the same house with both of their parents at the same time. Until then, the scene is Andrea and Shilo sitting in a small room full of medical equipment all day without snuggling each other while Jason is at work and Abigail stays with various friends. Therefore, prayers for "in the meantime" are greatly appreciated as well. I'm not going to say that this is a super-family or anything, because I know Andrea would hate that. But their normal days require more stamina than most of our normal days. We trust God's grace can cover us all and each of them even as the answers we wait for are slow in coming. Please join us in entrusting each of them to the care of their Father and asking that He would speedily mend Shilo's heart...and everyone else's.