2010 May - Aria MacDonald

This morning Hamish and I had the rare opportunity to attend church together.  Carol offered to sit with Aria while we went, sacrificing her own church attendance, Thank You Carol (and Cordell).   We haven’t been to church together since January !

Truthfully I don’t even know where to start except I was stunned at God’s planning and provision.  The whole service and message was like it was perfectly planned for Hamish and I and what we needed to be encouraged by.   We sang These Are the Days of Elijah , pretty much tied for fave worship song ever with Mighty to Save.

The sermon was on who is in charge of our lives and who is God in the midst of even the worst circumstances.

A guy from the congregation shared a brief testimony about Romans 8:28

And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

His point- was in the midst of deep trial what did the word ALL mean- did it really mean ALL or just some or a little bit.  No it meant ALL things.  To him and his wife it was the cancer diagnosis and death of their 4 year old little boy.  A boy whose birth lead his father to seek the God that gave him this wonderful gift of a child and whose death lead his mother to salvation also.

It was powerful to us as we also have a (nearly) four year old whose life is unsure and uncertain at this point.  Today she cultured Pseudomonas in her blood.  We know there are two strains living in her body (lungs) one is sensitive to 7 ABX and one is sensitive to one, our last card.  We have to wait and see which strain is in her blood.  She is still listed though.

I fully believe Aria will live and obviously we are fighting for her because we believe this.  God may have other plans and we put Him in charge of all things.

For me I have been holding on to something tightly and today it has become clear that this may not happen.  Today is Sunday and a new surgeon starts tomorrow.  I had my heart set on Dr Botha doing Aria’s 2nd transplant and instead of letting it go and leaving it to God I held on to it and let it burden my heart.   It is hard work to fully hand everything over to God because I want to keep something to myself and tell God I am right and I know best.  Today in church I felt God really speak to me and say Trust Me, Trust Me.  I have never really heard His voice like that before.

Finally the last song of the service was It is Well With My Soul- with this very video on the screens at church.  Watch it- the writer of this song knew a huge amount about pain and suffering. Both Hamish and I were overcome with tears and the fact we are ready for whatever God has decided for Aria.  It is well with our souls.

Argh – there is so much more to say- Hamish- maybe you want to add more to this?

Hello, Hamish here….

Just wanted to add one of the things that I have been battling with is the desire to be prepared for any eventuality in Aria’s journey. The other night I was awake a lot with the strong desire to pray. To pray about this psuedomonis bug that is dogging Aria and for the grace to be able to witness to God’s goodness and glory no matter what the outcome is with this bug and the larger journey.

I was really helped with this today as we heard a story about a family who due to horrific circumstances escaped a burning car, only to have to stand and watch 6 of their children die in that same car. As they watched this horrible, terrible situation the husband was able to say to his wife, “this is the moment we have been prepared for” or “this is the moment we have prepared for”. I found this to be a tremendous testimony, we are being prepared and have been prepared over the last four years (our whole lives even) for these events that are unfolding now. I have confidence that no matter what happens with Aria, a glorious restoration or a trip for her into glory that God will have prepared us to testify to his love, faithfulness and sovereignty in Aria’s life.

One last thing that touched me this morning was meeting some of the many people that are praying for Aria. We so appreciate all the prayer Aria gets. We KNOW that God hears that prayer and that it makes a difference. I was really saddened this week by the response to the Dominion Post article about Aria on the Facebook page of stuff.co.nz. Sadly enough it ended up being a catfight about whether prayer was a valid way of supporting Aria in her journey with many people saying it was a waste of time. Let me assure you, we as a family covet and cherish your prayers and all those who pray for our situation. It is sad some do not know the God who hears and answers prayers, but so encouraging to see and know people who do pray, and know the God who hears them and loves them.