Update!

The past few weeks we have been covered in an enormous wave of prayer. Many of you left encouraging comments on my last post, letting me know you are praying. I soaked up every word! So many others have reached out with texts and calls. We have been added to church prayer pages or prayer chains. We are deeply humbled and thankful. Our immediate community continues to check on us and bring meals. Our family has rushed to our aid upon request. We know Brian needs prayer for healing; we both need prayer for strength, prayer for courage to face the fear that goes hand in hand with cancer. Our kids need to look to the heart of Christ the same way we do, trusting that our God is always in control. 

This week I have been surprised to see that most of the symptoms my husband was seriously struggling with improve or dissipate. I don't know why I sometimes overlook the power of prayer. I'm not trying to, it's just my old nature to look at what's happening and get caught up in it all. There was a whole laundry list of strange, new, and difficult symptoms I observed day and night. It is heartbreaking to watch your loved one suffer. It's hard to watch a physically strong, capable, super positive man suffer through a health issue that seems to have sprung all of its own accord. 

From the start, I applied myself to sooth and encourage healing naturally. I still do, just not as hyper vigilantly with the dissipation of his ailments. I don't think the root cause has just disappeared, nor do I think we are totally fine now. It just reminds me that there is something else at work here that I might be forgetting. It's a key element at play and I need to give it some attention. 

The effectual, fervent, persevering prayer coming from a child of God/the church equals great spiritual power. The biblical usage of effectual and fervent is to be operative, be at work, put forth power, to aid one, to effect, to display one's activity, show oneself operative, to do, be mighty in. That almost sounds like hero work, doesn't it? To me, on this end, it is hero work, and I want to say THANK YOU! 

Specific things to pray for: 

Tomorrow, September 16 we go in for round two of out-patient chemo. This is a "downgrade" in chemo- a result of the molecular testing that showed the cancer is not as aggressive as they thought in the beginning. Pray that his body reacts better this time around and continues to heal. Pray he does not catch any infection during the week following.