On Sunday, I stood in the pulpit and opened my message by shouting "Hallelujah!" at the top of my lungs. God is worthy of our praise. We brought Caelan home from the hospital on Saturday and he is doing amazingly well. On Friday evening and Saturday morning, he was acting very sick and listless. He was just laying in the bed and seemed to be in a lot of pain. We were discharged Friday night, but we ended up staying until around 4pm on Saturday because Caelan really seemed to be struggling and we wanted the doctors to look at him. They finally said that he was alright and we could go, but that we should just take it easy. When we got home, he was so happy to see his siblings that within a relatively short amount of time he was laughing, dancing, and jumping around. He played all afternoon on Sunday and even went with us to Life Group. He is back to his old self and I think that he just got tired of laying in bed and missing his brothers and sister. God is so good!
The oncologist was so happy that she was able to give us good news about Caelan. She told us that she doesn't get to give good news to parents very often. I genuinely think that she was surprised that it was not cancer, but she was very happy about it. Our surgeon was wonderful and she was also ecstatic. We had wonderful nurses and doctors and everyone was so pleased that Caelan was alright. He really just charmed everyone and captured their hearts.
We can't stop praising God for His goodness and blessings. Being in church was a real blessing on Sunday and it was so wonderful to praise God for giving us the very thing that we so diligently asked for last week. We have heard from so many people over the past couple of weeks and please know that every comment you left and every email that you sent was such an encouragement during a very dark time. Your prayers were all so powerful and special to us. There were quite a few people who emailed me their stories of struggles with cancer and other illnesses. It is amazing to me how oblivious I can be to the suffering of others until my family goes through something like this ourselves. Know that you are in my prayers.
I can't stop saying how good God is. He is just as good today as He was last week, but sometimes our circumstances get in the way of us seeing that. But, God is bigger than our circumstances. I praise God for His Word, the teaching and guidance of His Holy Spirit, and the Body of Christ that continued to pray for us and encourage and build us up. I praise God for being a part of an amazing church family. I thank God for competent and compassionate doctors and for our family and friends. I thank God for His miracle working power.
I was talking with my four year old son, Kieran, today about Caelan's healing. He started talking about Paul and Barnabas and how God healed a man through them. He learned about it in Sunday School. He told me that what happened with Caelan was just like what God did in the Bible. I told him he was right. God did in Caelan the same thing that He did in the lives of others in the Bible. That's right, son - God heals and we are so grateful, I told him. I continue to be amazed by the faith and wisdom of my children.
At lunch today, Ashtyn asked if she could lead the prayer. We told her that she could and she sang the children's prayer song, "God our Father." At the end of the song, she thanked God for healing Caelan. We all clapped and were very happy to all be together again. Caelan then, in two year old talk, said, "Let me pray, let me pray. Close your eyes." We all cooperated and he started singing the song. He only made it through about 2-3 lines and then said, "Amen! Yeah God!!!" while throwing his hands up in the air. We all laughed and agreed!
Yeah God!!!!
I don't often get all giddy at this time of the morning, but I just did.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's God for you. The God of the exclamation mark.
Posted by: Bob Cleveland | March 10, 2008 at 07:31 AM
Praise God! Nothing else needs to be said!
Posted by: Kevin Bussey | March 10, 2008 at 10:57 AM
I'm speechless(I know, again, unusual):) except to join in saying "Yeah God!!"
Posted by: Debbie Kaufman | March 10, 2008 at 08:06 PM
Hey, just back from VN and up from Jet Lag at 3 something in the morning so I was reading blogs.
Praise God! I am so thrilled for you and your family. I am grateful that Caelan is well.
Posted by: Art Rogers | March 15, 2008 at 03:23 AM
Praise the Lord for the great gift He has given you.
Posted by: R. L. Vaughn | March 19, 2008 at 10:23 AM