Hey prayer family,
These past few weeks have been a time of checking where my eyes have been. I didn’t need to look any further than verse 1 of Psalm 123.
I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven.
Situations can quickly allow our eyes to look and focus on ourselves, or maybe around us in other places. I read Psalm 123 a few days back and the beginning of this Psalm was a reality check, I asked myself the question, where are my eyes focused or pointed? Immediately, God revealed to me that I had been praying natural prayers, and not SUPERnatural prayers. It is comforting to know that the Psalmist had the same problem we all do, our eyes are naturally pointed down. It takes some effort to LIFT our eyes to God. But by lifting ones eyes to Him, our Creator, we learn to see things as He sees things!
Lord, let us see things how you see things. As the loving creator of all, graciously lift our eyes to you when we’re inward facing, or outward facing, please let us be upward facing.
Murphy Update:
Murphy is home now, which means the doctors are ok for him to have a short out of hospital stay at home. Supermum, Nat, has had quite the fortnight (that’s a two-week period for those reading in USA). Nat has been given the next wave of detail and information for what the next 12+ months looks like, in terms of treatment. Therefore, with this information on board, for us, we are reminding ourselves to daily lift our eyes on Him. We are thankful though for this information, as it allows us to know what to prepare Murphy, and our family, for in the coming months.
Murphy’s third cycle of chemotherapy was a different combination of drugs, and this cycle knocked him about, a lot. The sickness didn’t stop for a long time after treatment, and there were some unforeseen visits back into hospital after his releasing to go home.
Murphy had RSV during his last round of treatment. This common illness added a layer of complexity to his stay in hospital because it meant he couldn’t even leave his room, for fear he could infect other children. This meant it was a long two weeks in hospital, not being able to walk around the ward! For those of you who know super-speedy-Sonic Murphy, knows how difficult this was!
A great victory has been that we were able to have a family Thanksgiving dinner! This past Saturday, Nat, the four kids and I sat around the dining table and ate roast, veggies and salad and talked about all of the things that we are grateful for! The common thread from the kids responses was that they were all very thankful to share a meal together for the first time in a while. It was a meal we will remember. With much crying, laughing and sharing, we knew this was a special treat. Once we ate and cleaned up, the boys and I were blessed with the amazing baking of the girls, Nat and Calista. Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Scrolls! A small slice of America. Much thanks to our lovely American ‘grandmother’, Miss Gail, for posting over a supply of pumpkin spice!
Prayer:
Please pray for the specifics around what Murphy’s body is going through
Can you pray for his immune system
Pray that SUPERnaturally Murphy doesn’t have the side-effects that comes with the drugs
Pray for SUPERnatural healing to take place
With each round of chemo, pray that Murphy’s neutrophils lift without the need for heavy doses medication
Please pray for Murphy’s spiritual eyes, even though he is on a 4 year old. Can you pray that Murphy knows where his help is coming from, the Lord Almighty!
Finally, please pray that in the ‘cold’ and lonely confines of hospital rooms, may Murphy experience the warm embrace of God’s love
God bless,
Dan