Day 86 - September 9 - Telephone...

Remember that game you played when you were a child called "Telephone" or "Telegraph" or something of that ilk. We kids all sat in a circle and the starter whispered a phrase in a child's ear, who then whispered it to the child next to them, and so forth and so on, repeated around the circle, until it came back to the starter. The last child would speak the phrase out loud. Then the originator would speak the original phrase, and then we would all collapse into convulsive laughter as we realized how badly mauled the original phrase became in the translation.

"I like graham crackers and marshmallows" somehow became "My aunt has a blue pencil box and a large walrus" or something equally absurd.

Well, I'm a bit nervous about posting right now, because I'm caught in a small game of "Telephone".

Things happened today at Valley with Connor, Cherié calls Eric at work, Eric can't blog, so he calls me and tells me what the doctor told Cherié who told Eric who told me. See what I mean? I feel little or no possibility of getting this right, which is important, because we aren't playing a child's game here.

But Eric has asked me to communicate some concerns - here is the gist of it.

One - There is some confusion over Connor's medical record which indicates he may have an infection that no one was aware of outside of the staff in Fresno. It's a particularly nasty infection, that will complicate therapy and has the potential to isolate Connor as a result. Valley is testing Connor to see what the story really is.

Pray that Connor is infection free, and that the record discrepancies are eliminated.

Two - Connor has been in and out of it all day, perhaps a consequence of his portable respirator, and doesn't appear to be in any condition to pursue therapy, let alone benefit from it.

Pray that Connor is physically and mentally able to maximize his benefit from therapy, every day, but especially today.

Three - Cherié is on the front line here, having to deal with everything by herself while Eric has to return to work. These gyrations tend to exact a toll on her mental state, and cause both her and Eric to suffer.

Pray that Cherié would be strong and capable in dealing with changing events by herself.

These were Eric's concerns when he called me. Now needless to say, this isn't exactly what was communicated by Eric. Remember the "Telephone" game? I've had to act as filter and interpreter here so you aren't getting the raw data from Eric or Cherié. Which leaves me with a few prayer requests of my own.

Eric and Cherié seem to suffer greatly not being in control of Connor's situation. Pray that they would learn to trust God at His word, that He intends good for both them and Connor, and that it is God alone, not Cherié or Eric, that will determine the outcome for Connor.

Eric wrestles with his situational inability to be where he wants to be, with Cherié and Connor, to help take care of them. Pray that Eric is touched by the confidence that surrendering his wife and child to God puts them in truly good hands indeed, and truly gives him and us reason to "take no thought for the morrow..."

After 86 days of dealing with the ups and downs, and disappointments and pain, it is probably difficult not to be pessimistic, to hear only the bad in everything that is said, and to take alarm or offense at the slightest discouraging word, but this only leads to anxiety. Pray for Eric and Cherié, that they might be blessed to hear encouragement in the words that the doctors speak, and the situations that they encounter, confident that God is at work, here and now, and every day of the future, for His glory, that they would truly be "anxious for nothing..."

Finally, pray that Eric and Cherié hear these things from my heart in the spirit that they are intended, as a brother in Christ, a fellow traveler who has spent time in the slough of despair, and was rescued by the hand of God, who loves them and desires the best for them, and who can testify to the power of the one God who has rescued me from death.

And there you have it. Another carefully communicated message from the parents of Connor, that, Lord willing, will actually make sense.

Or maybe it was "a large pencil box and a blue walrus!"

Brad

Michigan

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