Friday, July 16, 2010

WEAKLY WISDOM

Stones of Remembrance
Ten months ago our thirty-five-year-old son Scott was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver from unknown causes. He ran fevers and had some level of constant pain. In January he was hospitalized for the third time with blocked bile ducts. It was so hard to see my big, strong burly son in bed, skin and eyes yellow with jaundice. The doctors' best guess at that time was auto-immune disease. Scott was given a strong IV antibiotic and told that he would probably be looking at repeat hospitalizations and possibly a liver transplant. His length and quality of life did not seem promising six months ago. He is the father of three amazing kids and you can imagine the fears his wife was battling.

While the docotors used the resources available to them, Scott's family and friends and people who had never even met him took his name before the throne of God. Since that last hospital visit, his health has appeared to steadily improve. He has regained strength and energy and we have all been hopeful, yet afraid to believe he could be healed until we saw proof. This week, Scott got the results of an MRI and recent blood tests. We have our proof! His liver enzymes are normal for the first time since his diagnosis. His spleen is back to normal size and the nodules on his liver have all either reduced in size or disappeared!

We may never know what caused the on-going inflammation and infections, but the disease process has stopped and his liver is regenerating. We are assuming the healing began with the IV antibiotics he received in January. Some people may find it hard to accept that while we give credit to the medical profession, we give all the glory to God. Nothing happens outside of His will and we are so very grateful that He chose to answer this prayer in a way that brings us such joy.

I'm in a ladies Bible study on Tuesday nights and we're using the video series "Me, Myself, and Lies" written by Jennifer Rothschild. The title of the lesson I did today was "I Will Remember." It spoke of the "stones of remembrance" God told his people to collect to remember what He had done for them. Exodus 28:9-12, Deuteronomy 27:1-7, and Joshua 4:3-9, 20-21 all speak of these stones. So I decided to go outside and find a stone to remember the glorious news we've received this week. I walked out the front door and began looking at the river rock that fills the spaces between our overgrown hostas. I wondered if God had one particular stone already chosen for me, and would I recognize it when I found it? I found a nice smooth one and bent to pick it up. As I did, my gaze landed on a reddish stone...remarkably resembling the shape of a human liver!

My "Scott's healing" stone of remembrance now sits on the base of my desk lamp. Everytime I look at it I will remember my prayer from Matthew 17, verse 15, which is marked and dated 09-08-09 in my Bible: "Lord, have mercy on my son." And I will remember, maybe always with tears, how God answered that plea.

I intend to collect more stones and hope the day comes that we need to order a whole new truckload of river rock because our garden is bare--and my desk is covered with stones!

Because every post needs a bit of comic relief, I want to beat my son to the punch on this one--I fully recognize that he's had enough (bile duct) "stones of remembrance" to last a lifetime and won't even want to look at the one on my desk!

3 comments:

Linda Glaz said...

God is so good.I have a son about the same age and my father dies of liver failure. So whenever I think of either of them, I'll be praying for your son.

Mary T. Mertz said...

Praise God, indeed! May your son continue to be healed and strengthened.

Becky Melby said...

Thank you both for sharing our joy.