I've decided to start a weekly post called "Prayer Spotlight". One of the best things that has happened directly because of my PCD is the time I have to pray and read my Bible. Even on my healthiest days, I now have to do my treatments 4 times a day, up from 3 before this last hospitalization. What do treatments consist of? Nebulized albuterol (to open up my airways), nebulized hypertonic saline (to make my mucus secretions thinner and easier to cough up), nebulized pulmozyme (it's a specialized drug that targets the leftovers of white blood cells and DNA when they are done fighting infections and helps break those down so I can get that junk up easier), and 30 minutes of chest percussion therapy, which mostly consists of a vest I put on and it vibrates and breaks up mucus and rips secretions off the chest wall, making it easier to cough up. In short, Chest Percussion Therapy or CPT for short, is basically a variety of ways to use a combination of drugs and "beating" whether by respiratory therapist, (or a trained hubby, parent, or friend!), or a machine or device to get the crud out of our lungs since my cilia don't do it for me like everyone else's. These basic treatments take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on what I'm nebulizing and when, so at a minimum, a typical day altogether it's at least 3 hours of sitting time. By God's grace, the first set is always dedicated to Bible and prayer time. With the additional set added, I've decided to try and dedicate another set to prayer time.
I love to pray and see how God answers those prayers--big and small. One of my favorite quotes is about Martin Luther who said, "I've got so much to do today, I need to pray for at least 4 hours before the day starts." That is always such a convicting reminder of how little I pray. Another quote that has stuck with me was when I was first saved someone said, speaking of Jesus, "He who needed to pray least, prayed most." There are many times in the New Testament where you will see Jesus going off alone to pray all night, or withdrawing from the crowds to pray. He is our example in everything--and how much more so in prayer. Prayer draws our hearts closer to the God of the entire universe--the only One who CAN change our circumstances in the blink of an eye or change our heart or habits. Oftentimes, we trick ourselves into thinking we want to "DO" something other than "just pray", but the reality is that praying is the BEST thing we can do.
When I was in the hospital, one way I was able to take the focus off of myself is finding out how others were doing and asking how I could be praying for them. When we "regard one another as more important than ourselves" as it says in Philippians 2, our eyes are taken off of our circumstances and focused on helping someone else, who is often facing even more difficult circumstances than yourself. Like the 3 year old girl Kinzie who was starting chemo, or the parent that just lost their child, or the friend that finally got pregnant and her baby has trisomy 18 and will likely not survive, or a family friend's little boy who just got diagnosed with a brain tumor, or the millions around the world that don't have access to medical care--yes 39 days in hospital was hard--BUT praise God I had access to a hospital and health insurance to pay for it (that stay probably cost way more than Jordan makes in an entire year!) and that I have such a wonderful support network that was able to stay with me, visit me, encourage me, pray for me, make me laugh on the hard days, and give me reasons to smile every single day. So without further ado, I'd like to share a prayer request for my very first "Prayer Spotlight" of the week. :)
Russ and Ashley Hoober are good friends of ours that we met at Grace Bible Church in Phoenix. We didn't meet right away, but Ash has some health issues and we connected in that way and then we started going out to lunch after church with their group of friends pretty regularly and got to know them even better. Ash and I have enjoyed praying together many times--Russ is a great leader and always has interesting dialogue to add to conversations, whether it be theological or political. They now have a 2 1/2 year old son, Augustine, and Russ was recently diagnosed with a rare soft tissue cancer. Ashley sent these specific praises and prayer requests:
Praise God for:
1. That we trust in the Father of Mercies and God of all Comfort and that are days are like grass (short!) (2 Cor 1, Psalm 103)
2. Even worse that cancer is our sin! And it was crushed at the cross with Jesus! "He does not does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him! "(Psalm 103)
3. The Lord allowed us to find the cancer and treat (initially) quickly
4. That the Lord has changed Russ' heart- he is more humble, more joyful, and has an ongoing dialogue with the Lord because of this trial (Romans 5)
5. For our attitudes during surgery recovery and Russ' attitude to follow doctors orders and not be restless
Pray for:
1. Focus on the Lord in a season of waiting and uncertainty
2. Healing from the surgery, that the surgeon got all the cancer out from his surgery
4. To trust Jesus and His design that suffering is for our good
5. Wisdom for the team of doctors and oncologists we will be working with (fearful due to it being a very rare cancer)
They have also incurred a lot of medical debt and will likely incur more. A GoFundMe account has been setup to help them out. Please prayerfully consider donating to help them if you are able, at the very least, please keep them in your prayers, and I would love it if you would share the link on your social media sites. Thank you so much friends!
As a funny side note--Ash is saved in my phone with (Huskers) next to her name because she and Russ are big Nebraska Cornhuskers fans as he is from Nebraska--where Jord is from, and a very large part of my heart lives with multiple close family friends in Lincoln and other dear friends (our oldest and first nieces/nephew) in Chadron that I got to visit last May. Thank you for praying for my dear friends! I will keep you posted!
In His Mighty Grip,
Rachelle :)
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