He will Hold us Fast

It’s taken me a while to sit down and write this update. Partly because it’s been hard to grasp the reality of another surgery and hospital stay for Zeke and the fact that this next season our family is going to walk through is going to be difficult. Our time back from the Stollery Hospital in April has had its ups and downs and we've been grateful for God’s grace through it all. It’s been 4 months since the last update and since then we’ve had CT scans, ER visits and a lot of concern regarding Zeke’s overall heart health. What we had hoped to accomplish and sustain from the cath lab unfortunately has not happened. A recent CT scan revealed that the SVC Dr Coe had ballooned has narrowed even further over the past 4 months. This coupled with the other complications Zeke has developed from his pulmonary hypertension has lead the team to pursue surgical intervention as the only course of action to help Zeke’s heart and give him a better quality of life.

What does this all mean; well Zeke and I will be travelling to Toronto where he’ll be having his heart surgery with Dr Honjo. Ben and I decided that in light of the uncertainty with how to proceed it was in Zeke’s best interest to be with a surgeon who knew him and had worked on him. There are a lot of unknowns at this stage and we are still waiting for Boston Children’s Hospital to get back to us with their second opinion on how to proceed and what surgical intervention they suggest to help Zeke. In the meantime we’ve gotten the call from Sick Kids and need to be in Toronto to start post op testing for September 22nd.

We'll be in Toronto for an unknown period of time and have no idea what the outcome of the surgery ahead for Zeke will be, but we are hoping and praying for the best possible outcome. We are asking you once more to join with us in praying for Ezekiel. We believe God can heal him and is able to and so we are praying and asking for a miracle.

This past summer our church has been preaching through the fruit of the Spirit. When Carlos preached on faithfulness he quoted a devotional from Oswald Chambers that encouraged and challenged me all in the same breath.

“If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; or even if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential will of God means a hard and difficult time for you, go through it, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose become one.”

If I could I would take the cup of suffering from Zeke and walk through what he is about to endure. Because I cannot, what gives me comfort and hope is knowing that God cares for Zeke more than we do and is with him through it all.

So my prayer for our sweet boy is this;

Be still my son, The Lord goes before you. He will never leave you through the pain and tears. He hems you in and sings over you. He will sustain, guard and keep you. Be still my boy the Lord is your strength

We have a high priest who was tempted in all things and was without sin; who intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father, the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us with groanings no words could capture, and our Father who cares and is near to the broken hearted. We've clung to God's word because it's what sustains through life's trials. I pray these verse encourage you as they have us.

Psalm 40:1-4

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”