Keep Knocking
He will be with us in trouble
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him."
-Matthew 7:7-11
I have really struggled with this verse. I think any believer who's experienced chronic illness probably has. I have asked a lot of times for things I have not received.
In fact, from the first moment Benaiah's brain scans popped up on the screen in the hospital, my thoughts were not "Oh, well I'll just ask the Lord to heal that, He can do anything!" To my shame, my heart sank. How many thousands of parents have pleaded with God for their sick child, only to watch them keep suffering? I thought. Why would He answer me?
Instead of recalling all the times the Lord has moved into my circumstances and heard my cries for help, I let myself dwell on suspicion: How could you let this happen to my child? We're just trying to serve you with our lives and our family is getting hit with one thing after another! You could have stopped this, and you didn't, so how can I expect your help?
I asked absolutely everyone to pray for our son. And I kept asking. Shooting flares into the darkness. But I braced myself for no help to come.
There in the waiting, a friend wrote this to me...
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Updates
Thank you so much for continuing to pray for our family!
Benaiah is still on medication to control the swelling in his brain, but at his last appointment, the pediatrician said that if he hadn't seen the scans, he would never know Benaiah had a medical history. The opthalmologist was also really encouraged because we got the swelling under control before it did any damage to Benaiah's optic discs. His eye movements are normal, his vision is good, and his symptoms are under control at this point.
As he grows, the neurologist is keeping the dose of medicine the same to see if he will start to compensate on his own without the need for surgery. We are already so blown away at how merciful God has been in caring for him and for our family through this. Benaiah's next MRI is December 19. Please pray that he will keep improving, and thank God with us for how well he's doing!
Thank you for praying for the electrophysiology study of Beka's heart. It came back normal and the cardiologist thinks that it is adequate to let her stay on her heart medicine rather than implant a defibrillator! He has noted some atrial tachycardia on her monitor, but the medicine does a good job controlling it. She has a stress test August 5, and we'll keep you posted on the results.
Another big answer to prayer: we received a few huge donations over the last few months and we were able to pay off all of the medical bills so far!! Thank you, Lord!!
Our family is settling in and adjusting to our role at the Homes of Ethnos360. Cody has been able to help repair some of the mission's large equipment, serve on the security team, and take on several projects to keep things running smoothly. The staff here has been so encouraging to us.
They had been praying consistently for someone to come help on their maintenance team, and especially as we have wrestled with the delay in returning to ministry in Papua New Guinea, it has been such a good reminder that God has us here on purpose and we can learn to lean into whatever work He places before us, whole-heartedly.
"The Lord will work out his plans for my life - for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever."
-Psalm 138:8
Please pray for our hearts to get the hang of that! Pray that God will humble our hearts, that we will grow closer to Him and to each other, that He will mature us in the waiting, that He will give us opportunities to tell others about Him, and that He will teach us to be faithful, godly parents to our boys.
Thank you so much for praying, supporting and keeping up with us!
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love,
Cody, Beka, Abishai + Benaiah
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