The Lord is Flexing His Muscles

The Lord has been very gracious to us today. Baby James seems to be moving along. Since he cannot swallow the nurse has to suction his throat a couple times an hour. The nurses have been concerned because he does not gag when they put the tub down his throat. Well, this afternoon when the nurse put the tube down his throat he began to gag. So far he has gagged numerous times today. This news although sounding sort of strange, is excellent. Gagging is the body's natural way of protecting the air way. Without a gag reflex food and fluid can flow into the lungs. Gagging in a sense stops too much stuff from going down our throats at one time. The nurse told us that he is swallowing, but still needs to be able to swallow more. Please be praying that James' gag reflex continues to get better and better. Also be praying that he would be more consistent with his swallowing. A physical therapist came by and had James do some exercises to see how well he used his muscles. At first he had a hard time tracking with his eyes, and he also had a hard time grasping anything with his hands. She worked with him for about an hour and by the end of her time with him he was grasping onto our fingers and looking at us when we talked to him. Everything seems to at this point be progressing quite well. Kristal and I are super excited. Right now the main thing that is keeping him here is his inability to swallow and gag, but he is progressing. Thank you so much for your prayers. It is very encouraging to Kristal and I when you leave comments on the blog. Continue to pray for baby James. The Lord is so mighty. He is so kind to us. Words cannot express how wonderful it is to hold little James in my arms. He is a super cool and studly object of God's glory. One of the ways the Lord likes to flex his muscles the most is by showing off his ability to create and sustain life. It is really exciting to see Baby James start having normal baby movements. He is also now starting to make normal baby sounds.

Please also be praying for Kristal and I that we would get opportunities to share our faith with the doctors.Please be praying that the Lord would grant us boldness of speech. The Lord has put us in the company of many doctors and nurses. The Lord works all things according to the counsel of his will. We really believe that one of the reasons we are in the position we are is so that we might be in a position to share the message of Christ with those who are taking care of our child. Those who are taking care of our sick child are most likely in a far worse condition than he is. Jesus once said that only the sick need a doctor. When he said this he was in no way saying that there are healthy people and there are sick people. Rather he was saying that everyone is sick and only those who know they are sick will seek a doctor. Jesus said this to the pharisees--those who felt that they were good enough to maketheir way to heaven on their own. They felt that they did not need a savior. They felt that they were healthy. They didn't know they were sick. You may be in that same boat today. Well, "At least I don't do drugs and at least I am not like those dirty porn stars. Surely I lie sometimes and surely I make myself look better than the next man, but atleast I am not a murderer or a rapist." I am sure that there are many who are reading this blog right now who have not fully thrown themselves upon Christ as their ONLY hope of salvation. In your mind you think that Jesus is great and all if you want to be religious, but you think that you really don't need him. The only reason you don't think that you need him is because you do not realize how sick you are. You are what could be called sin sick. If you do not see your sickness, if you do not see how sinful and defiled you are before a holy God you will see no need for a savior. I emplore you this evening to throw yourself on Christ as your only hope. Your good works, as good as they may be, do nothing for you. You need someone to literally give you new life. If you are not trusting upon Christ as your only hope of salvation then you are in a worse predicament than my sick child. You are far sicker and far more in need of a doctor. Seek for Him while he may be found. If you say to yourself, "Wow Jimmy, I am not that bad. Surely I mess up sometimes, but I am not that bad." If you are saying this to yourself now them be assured that you are about as sick as you possibly can be. You are so sick that you cannot even detect your own sickness. You are like a man with boils all over his body who cannot even detect that he has a skin irritation. Apart from Christ you may find hope, but it is a false hope. Christ is the your only hope of being saved from the wrath of our Infinitely good, loving, and just Father in Heaven. Please o Please seek the only doctor there is for your sin sickness--Jesus Christ. Cry out to him that he may save your soul and heal you. Cry out to him that he may give you new life. Cry out to him that he may forgive your sin sickness. Cry out to the great physican, for He is the only physican.

Praise the Lord for a Good Day

Today has truly been a blessing from the Lord. We were woke up this morning by a phone call from our nurse saying that Baby James' breathing tube was taken out around 7:45 am. He has been off his breathing tube all day long without forgetting to breath. For those who don't know, the breathing tube was taken out a few days ago, but they had to continually keep an eye on him because he would forget to breath. They ended putting it back in because he was having such a hard time. So it is refreshing to see him back off the breathing tube and doing fine without it. The doctors see his independent breathing as an obvious big step for Baby James. We had a talk with Dr. Edwards tonight and he told us that James is doing extremely well considering his tramatic circumstances and considering the fact that he is only five days old. There are a few things that do concern Dr. Edwards, but he says that we just need to give James the time to heal. Please pray that Baby James would be better at swallowing, gagging (seriously--it is a necessity), regulating his body temperature, waking up for longer periods of time, and crying. These are all things that all full term babies are supposed to be able to do. Because of his injury he is slowly learning how to do all of these things. The doctors right now are still doing tests but are mainly directing their decisions based off of how Baby James is progressing.

Both Kristal and I were fortunate to hold James quite a lot today. Even though he is not all that active, he seemed to be quite content today. He is a cute little guy. Hopefully tomorrow Kristal will be able to start breast feeding him.

We do thank the Lord for all of you and for all of your prayers. The Lord has especially provided for Kristal and I through our parents. They have been so faithful to encourage us, spend time with us, get us whatever we need, and be an emotional support since the get go. Please pray that the Lord would doubly bless our parents (John, Kelly, Jim, and Lynn) for their goodness to us. Also, please pray for Kristal, she is quite sore and is having to get up throughout the night to pump and take medicine. She went through a lot during the delivery and is recovering quickly, but is still experiencing much discomfort.

One of the things that the Lord has taught Kristal and I through this trying time is how important it is for us to have our eyes on heaven. The Lord has been teaching me quite a lot about the doctrine of heaven throughout the past few months. I have been studying the book of 1 Peter and the book of Hebrews quite a lot, and the doctrine of heaven truly is the most prominent doctrine in both of those books. Surely the doctrine of CHrist and His work do recieve quite the attention, but the doctrine of Christ and His work is generally discussed to show exactly how assured we can be that our salvation is sure and unalterable. Some condemn certain Christians of being so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. This may be true depending on what you mean by "heavenly minded." But, I would suggest, that most Christians are on the opposite extreme--they are so earthly minded that they are no heavenly good. The doctrine of heaven is that which gives us the strength to praise God in the midst of terrifying circumstances. The doctrine of heaven is that which gives us confidence that no matter how bad things get here, we are looking forward to a place where there are no dissapointments. In the book of Hebrews and 1 Peter the doctrine of heaven is taht which specifically emboldens Christians undergoing persecution to continue in their profession of faith and bold proclamation. The doctrine of heaven seems to be deemphasized in most doctrinally driven churches because it has been distorted by our warped culture. Shows like Touched by an Angel seem to cause us to not want to emphasize it all that much in fear that people will see us as overly sentamental and fluffy. But God has given us much about the doctrine of heaven because it is a great help to us. It keeps a smile on our face and contentment in our hearts when nothing goes our way. Please read and reread and reread Hebrews and 1 Peter a few times in the next few days and feast on the wonderful truth of paradise. The doctrine of heaven to me is like a big fat juicy steak, it is filling and satisfying. It reminds me that discomfort and trouble are to be expected in this life, but that there is coming a day for those who know the Lord--a day of peace and rest. A day where we no longer fear anything. Feast on the wonderful REALITY of your eternal dwelling. Remember that you are just aliens and sojourners here on this earth, and live like it.