Unquenchable Desires

Picked up this quote from Village Seven’s website and thought it too good not to pass on.

“If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world”

C. S. Lewis

The Ethics of God’s Family

I’ve been doing some reading in  J.I. Packer’s Concise Theology and came across this fascinating statement on one of the three theological themes to come out of Jesus’ teachings:

The ethics of God’s family: The new life, which comes to sinners as a gift of God’s free grace, must be expressed in a new life-style. Those who live by grace must practice gratitude; those who have been greatly loved must show great love to others; those who live by being forgiven must themselves forgive; those who know God as their loving heavenly Father must accept his providences without bitterness, honoring him at all times by trusting in his protecting care. In a word, God’s children must be like their Father and their Savior, which means being utterly unlike the world (Matthew 5:43-48; 6:12-15; 18:21-35; 20:26 – 22:35-40).

Effectively Persuasive

From The Westminister Confession of Faith, Chapter 8

8. To all those for whom Christ hath purchased redemption, he doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same; making intercession for them, and revealing unto them, in and by the word, the mysteries of salvation; effectively persuading them by his Spirit to believe and obey, and governing their hearts by his word and Spirit; overcoming all their enemies by his almighty power and wisdom, in such manner, and ways, as are most consonant to his wonderful and unsearchable dispensation. (Romans 8: 28-30, 9:8, 10:9-13)

As a Man Speaks to His Friend

My family and I are reading through the Bible together, with a plan to finish in a year. It is amazing as you read portions of  the Old Testament and New Testament together, how the puzzle pieces begin to form a complete picture.

A couple of weeks ago I was reading Exodus 33 and came across this amazing verse. Meditate on it for a while.

Exodus 33:10-11: And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

And God Knew

Exodus 2:24-25 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

God heard. God remembered. God saw. God knew.

What did God know? He knew their heart cry. He knew their physical pain. He knew their idols. He knew what He was about to do through Moses. He knew the pain wasn’t going to go away quickly. He knew His people would also be fickle with their devotion. He knew it was time.

It was what the Israelites would need to be reminded of as the years would pass by and severe hardships would come and go. They would need constant reminding that God knew.

It was what Jesus would need to be reminded of in His time of greatest need:

Mark 14:32-36 And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”  And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.  And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”  And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.  And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

It was what the Haitians trapped underneath rubble for twelve days would need to be reminded of – even as they heard people outside pass them by.

It was what you needed to be reminded of when the entire world seemed like it was against you and everything was collapsing in, and all you wanted to do was bury your head in your mom’s chest and cry. Feeling her tears touch your face and then hearing her whisper “I know…” was exactly what you needed, and she knew it.

The people we are called to serve need to be reminded, too – that God knows. In their time of greatest need, we become Christ to them. We need to know their heart cry, their idols, their physical and spiritual pain, and be ok with the fact that the pain may not go away. It starts and ends with: listening.  It means living the words of the persecuted missionary, Jim Elliot: “Wherever you are, be all there”.

Turning a Corner

image courtesy of Rani Garner

It has been a while since my last update on Maggie, but that doesn’t mean things have been quiet. In fact, there has been a lot going on in the background that I am very excited to tell everyone about.

With what we learned about how well Maggie took to drug X, we began to dig deeper in to why it was helping her so much. Pairing together that information with some major “putting the pieces together” from Kathi and Dax’s cardiologist, Maggie’s doctors had her tested for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a problem in the autonomic system. This syndrome is hereditary (Kathi and Dax both have it), but is oftentimes hidden until triggered by a major health issue. In December, the doctors and nurses were able to reproduce her exact symptoms. In Maggie’s case, these symptoms were mimicking seizure activity which were the clouding factors for doctors over the past several years. It was amazing to see what originally hospitalized Maggie in August 2008 reproduced and then halted.

In Maggie’s case, the location of her tumor is a major junction box for autonomic functions. With damage to that area and her already being pre-disposed to POTS, she was a lightning rod for this autonomic condition.

The great news is that this autonomic condition is easily treatable with a beta blocker and some easy to manage diet changes. We are still in the experimental stages of finding the right dosage, but over the past month and a half, Maggie has responded extremely well – so much so that Kathi and I took our first vacation away in 10+ years.

It is difficult to put in to words how big of a diagnosis this is. This time last year a hemispereotomy was on the table as the only other treatment options, thus the need to take some huge steps back and approach things slowly to ensure that the doctors were focusing in the right area. Had that happened, Maggie would still have the POTS problems, but suffering immeasurably more. Looking back, we can now easily separate Maggie’s autonomic POTS episodes from her seizures, which we think she may have had one to two real seizures over the past year. The Lords hand of protection was definitely over Maggie last year and this year.