The Power of Prayer

I'm going to start with the end of the story FIRST:  Right now, I am sitting in Jeff's room typing this blog  and Jeff is sleeping in a chair but only AFTER he finished walking down the hallway, AFTER he said good-bye to THREE chest tubes and AFTER he joked around with me.  Today has been a day of successes and victories.

Sometime it feels like Satan is saying, "Really Stacy?  Is that all you got, really?  You call that being strong?  Well, let's see how things go after this curveball?"

That is what yesterday was:  a curveball.  Yesterday morning, Jeff was still pretty lethargic, but he was mumbling more which made me happy.  I went to down to get a late breakfast while the urology crew were doing their thing.  Just a tip: always leave the room when the urology crew is doing their thing. You see, urine is important.  When you don't have urine output, things are not good.  The urology crew decided they would go in after it, but despite the call to the plumber, there was nothing.  Then came the words I didn't want to hear, "his kidneys are not working and we need to figure out why"  The rest of the day was a blur, they stripped Jeff off pain medicine to see if it would change things.  It didn't.  We went for tests and with each hour,  Jeff kept getting less alert.  By late afternoon, he wouldn't open his eyes for me, the mumbling was silent, he wouldn't eat and had zero color.    This is when, if you had a prayer-o-meter, then I think (from what I have heard from others) the meter would have been off the charts.   I was not aware at that moment of the large number of people, including some we have never met, who were praying specifically for Jeff's kidneys and his recovery.   What I did know at that time was Jeff started to improve.  At about 6 pm, we had someone who came to pray with us.  Jeff opened his eyes, he mumbled again and even managed a half smile by the end of that visit.  Jesus was there... he never left our side.

Do you believe in the power of prayer?  I always answered quickly to that, "Yes".  I pray.  I pray for others.  I believe in the power of prayer.  Well, wait a minute.   Was I only believing that God listened but deep down did I think that my prayer REALLY made a difference in the outcome of someone else's life?  Did I truly believe if NO ONE prayed for Jeff, then the incredible recovery in this past 24 hours would not have taken place?  Because, if I authentically believe in prayer, then it was NOT A coincidence that Jeff's turn around occured at the same time hundreds of people were fervently in prayer on his behalf.   I realized, I am quick to thank God for answering prayer when things improve, quick to pray to God for comfort when they don't go the way I want them to go, but never really take the time to truly appreciate the POWER of Prayer.  If you think Jeff's recovery has no influence from prayers, then there would be no point in praying for him.  But they do.  God listens.  Prayer matters.  So when I say, "thank you for the prayers".  It sounds so cliche, but means so much.  You are contributing to his recovery.  The greater the challenge, the bigger the victory.  The darker things are, the more brightly God's light can shine.

I went home to see Brayden last night.  A poster board filled with scripture had snuck it's way into our house.  Brayden loved reading each one out loud and then comparing it with the translation in his Adventure Bible.  There was a certain verse that stuck with him.  He said, "Ahhh, I just love this verse, it's amazing".  His love for The Word was genuine and he proceeded to repeat the last part of this verse over and over...

Did you read that?  ALL things... everything from yesterday, everything from today and everything we face tomorrow.

So here is the plan:  Jeff is fighting.  He needs to start eating, he needs to keep walking, he needs to keep using his teddy bear to help him cough and he needs those kidneys do their job.  Thank you for the prayers.

God is Good!!!!!!!!!  ALL the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Stacy