Another Cast

"This is getting to be a bad habit," Matt said after the doctor left the room. Joel's doctor took another x-ray today and found that the two parts of his femur have shifted out of alignment to a 35-degree angle. The doctor would like to see that angle at no more than 20-degrees (small children can correct small angles with growth). So Joel is scheduled for another recast tomorrow morning. Another OR visit, another time under anesthesia, another fussy/crabby day for Joel and another stressful day for Mom and Dad. As you can tell, I'm not very pleased with this turn of events. We're praying for God's wisdom as we look into other options for Joel. These options would have to pan out within a short time frame (1 to 2 days), as his bones have already begun to form a callous, so the window of opportunity is getting smaller.

I've been reading the book of Judges during my morning devotion time. Gideon was given a clear vision when the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!" (Judges 6:12) Gideon sure didn't feel mighty. "O my Lord, how can I save Israel [from the Midianites]? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." (6:15) Then the Lord told Gideon to tear down his father's altar to Baal and build an altar to the Lord on top of it. The Lord was preparing Gideon for battle. Later, the Lord would take an Israelite army of 32,000 and whittle it down to 300 so that all the glory of the battle won against the Midianites would go to the Lord and not to Israel.

The Lord has given Matt and me a vision for our family, a vision that was confirmed this past weekend. We feel so weak and small and ill-prepared to work out this vision. God knows that. He wants all the glory to go to Him. The last couple of weeks, the Lord has asked me to remove the idols that would hinder me in the battle that lies ahead. These idols are not evil, but they are keeping me from God's best. One biggie for me has been the desire to get projects done around the house so that if another house were to come on the market that would suit our growing family, we would be ready to walk through that door, should the Lord provide it. A baby in a full body cast, a pregnant Mommy, school work, end-of-year assessments and a very busy Daddy are not conducive to getting a bunch of projects done. This idol must go. I like the way Oswald Chambers puts it: "If your hopes are being disappointed just now, it's because they are being purified." The Lord has always provided for us and He always will. He promises to never leave or forsake us, even when life takes twists and turns we're not expecting. So we continue to wait on the Lord (we're getting used to being in this mode), knowing that His plan for our family is so much better than what we could ask or even imagine.