(First of all let me say that I am sorry that it has taken me this long to give all of the details concerning Jack. We just returned to Ashland after taking our scheduled vacation last week. Jack and Emmett received lots of special attention from our families, while Ross and I took Ellie Kate to Disney World. We are all currently happy and healthy with lots and lots of pictures to post.)
Ross and I were able to attend a ministry retreat a few months ago. We had the privilege of hearing Dr. Calvin Miller speak and offer advice in regards to ministry. He is an absolute brilliant mind having authored over 40 books. He is a retired pastor as well as a professor. He is a passionate follower of Christ not lacking in common sense or compassion. A statement that he made that weekend made an impression on me then and registered all the more powerfully with me since our revival services. Dr. Miller said, “I would much rather be a part of a church service in which I cannot explain what happened instead of one where I can.”
I ended my last post by stating that, “I cannot wait to share this latest happening in our family’s life.” I would like to put some perspective with that statement. Before I tell you what took place with Baby Jack last week, let me first say that I share our experience with you lacking anticipation when it comes to recounting my little one’s sickness. My excitement definitely has more to do with trying to convey the goodness of the Lord in our lives. No matter how I try, I will not be able to fully explain what took place. In a real sense, you definitely had to be there.
Another reason for this post is to get my thoughts down. Last week was crazy, fast, and furious. Processing what took place has not been easy for me. I mean, Jack had already been terribly sick at 8 weeks of age. It had never entered my mind that I would be returning to Children’s Hospital with my sweet baby.
Monday night, the 1st of August, was the second night of revival services at First Baptist Church of Ashland. I was seated in the front row as Ross made his way to the pulpit. I had been told that there was enough help in the nursery for this service and I must say that I was relieved because I was looking forward to hearing the message that Ross was going to preach. Mind you, I did not know which passage he would be preaching on or even the title of the message.
He began by asking the question, “Do you really want revival?” In his introduction he spoke of being a part of several revival services. He told the congregation that when he found out that he would be the preacher of these revival services, he thought, “Lord, please don’t make me preach that passage.”
The passage that Ross was referring to was 2 Chronicles 7:14. It says, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Ross spoke about how many times he had heard this passage preached, both correctly and incorrectly. He went on to say that it was the "go to" revival service passage. He made his feelings quite clear concerning his lack of desire when it came to preaching this passage. However, he was also very clear in stating that he was convinced that this was the message that the Lord had given to him. And with that, he began to deliver the sermon.
My husband preached boldly and passionately. He was starting the third point of his sermon with a fourth point to go. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone peeking thru the side door, motioning for me. I left the sanctuary and was told that Jack, my normally jolly little guy, was crying and couldn’t be consoled. My first thought was that it was passed his bedtime and he was being fussy because he was ready to go to bed.
When I took Jack, he was definitely exhausted. I rocked him and noticed that he would try to go to sleep, but then he would cry out in pain and struggle to take a breath. I told the nursery worker that something wasn’t right. She agreed and said that that’s why she had gotten me out of the service.
The sight of Jack hurting and laboring to breath was frighteningly familiar. I made the decision to go get Ross out of the pulpit. I handed Jack to someone else in the nursery and quickly headed out to get Ross.
Thankfully, we have doors that lead to the choir loft. I opened one of these doors and got his attention. At this point, I had begun to cry and all I could say was, “I need you.” He paused with a baffled look on his face. I continued, “I need you. Jack is having trouble breathing.”
I found out later that Ross had literally just used Jack’s sickness at 8 weeks of age as an illustration in his sermon. He talked about pleading with the Lord to let Jack breathe. He followed this with another illustration in which, he had his arms stretched out proclaiming, “Give me air!” This was the point when I had opened the door.
He told the congregation to pray and he ran passed me to the nursery. He took Jack in his arms, observing the struggle that was taking place with his breathing. We hurried out the door. Thankfully, someone was able to get my purse off of the front row. I found the keys in my purse and I held Jack as Ross drove us to the emergency room. All I kept saying over and over was, “Not again. Not again. Not my baby.”
We went into the emergency room pleading for help. We were ushered back to an area where we were asked an endless list of questions trying to understand what was taking place with our baby. All the while, Jack was inconsolable.
At this point I didn’t know that a church member had contacted one of the local beloved physicians to come to the emergency room. Dr. H showed up and took over. He was really great.
X-rays were ordered.
X-rays were taken and blood was drawn. I felt so helpless for my little one.
Jack finally dozed off lying on my chest.
The x-rays came back and showed that Jack’s lungs looked fine. However, more x-rays were taken because of concern over his abdomen. Apparently, he was very bloated and unable for whatever reason to pass the gas in his tummy.
We also noticed that Jack’s legs and feet had turned a bright red color.
Dr. H made the decision to send us to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. An ambulance was called.
I don’t know exactly how long Jack slept, but when he woke up he was actually smiling and passing gas. I immediately looked at Ross wanting some reassurance concerning my decisions. He was quick to remind me of the waiting room filled with people praying not to mention the sanctuary that was also filled.
Since Jack seemed better, we were allowed to drive him to Birmingham.
He rested the whole way.
The Lord reminded me, as Ross drove, of that very morning when I had sat Ellie Kate down and discussed putting on the armor of God in Ephesians 6. We had gone over each piece of protection. The one that stuck out the most to me was the shield of faith with which we could extinguish to arrows of the evil one.
We arrived at Children’s to a full waiting room. Thankfully, we had a room waiting on us. Jack immediately woke up and began crying.
An i.v. was started. X-rays were taken.
The x-rays showed that his lungs and abdomen were all doing well.
The doctor’s concern was with Jack’s legs. At this point, he had red spots on his legs and feet that didn’t blanch when touched. The doctor referred to them as petechial. She said that they could be a sign of a bacterial infection. That, along with his irritability, concerned her. She wanted to do a spinal tap and have blood drawn. She said that we would probably be there for a couple of days.
I was in disbelief.
I spoke with one of the doctors and expressed my concern over the idea of having a spinal tap performed. She was quick to tell me that they did not order frivolous tests.
Ross and I gave our consent and were taken to a nearby waiting room. It was probably about 2:30 in the morning.
I felt frail.
Ross and I leaned against one another and prayed for our baby. This all seemed quite surreal.
After the procedure was performed, we were able to return to Jack’s emergency room. I held that sweet baby until he went to sleep.
We were taken to a room around 4:30 a.m.
Exhausted, you could say.
I positioned Jack in the hospital crib and Ross prepared our fold out beds.
Ross and I slept for maybe three hours.
At some point the next morning, the doctors came by to check on Jack. The spinal tap showed negative for any type of infection. He was acting like his happy little self now. He definitely had a yucky cough and a lot of congestion. They wanted to observe him and hopefully send us home that afternoon. Jack sang and cooed for them. He then pulled the covers across his forehead as if to say, “Please go away so I can sleep.”
And sleep he did. Poor baby had experienced a rough night.
Ross felt strongly that he would be back in the pulpit of FBC Ashland that night. That afternoon, we were able to have a doctor sign off on Jack being discharged from the hospital.
Exhausted, we arrived back in Ashland around 6 p.m. Just an hour later, Ross was standing back in the pulpit. Thanks to my Mom keeping our children at our home, I was seated on the front row.
He said that he couldn’t help but ask the Lord, “Why?” Throughout the previous 24 hours, he had continuously posed the same question. He knew that he was supposed to deliver the message that he had been preaching when I came and called him away the night before.
He said that he got his answer while we were in our hospital room. As he looked over at sweet little Jack, the Lord told him that our little one was the reason.
Now normally Ross would have about seven pages of typed notes. His sermon outline would be complete with footnotes. However, on this night he didn’t have his typical outline. Instead he had that same confirmation from the Lord about what he was to say.
He said that he was neither smart enough nor was he strong enough to deliver the message that the Lord had given to him. He was also not willing to be disobedient.
He then went on to preach a message of reconciliation. The more recent history of our church includes a split. There had been many wounds. There had been many relationships that needed mending.
When Jack got sick, both this time and last, it drew our entire community together. It wasn’t that just one denomination or church group prayed for our baby, the whole community lifted up our little one.
Ross preached a very powerful, heartfelt sermon using a passage out of Colossians. He then called for a show of reconciliation. The message ended with the signing of a petition of reconciliation followed by an altar filled with many seeking the Lord.
Even as I read over this now, I almost don’t even want to post it. This is what took place. This is also not all that took place.
Ross and I feel that Jack was congested while his abdomen was swollen due to gas. The combination caused a lot of pain, as well, as a struggle to breath. I have no idea what was taking place with his legs and feet.
I want to be very careful when I try to explain what was taking place because I truly believe that there was so much more going on than we will ever be able to explain.
Praise the Lord that what Satan intended for evil, the Lord used for good.
It was once again overwhelming to witness the show of support that we experienced from so many.
We were humbled then.
And we continue to be now.
Ross and I were able to attend a ministry retreat a few months ago. We had the privilege of hearing Dr. Calvin Miller speak and offer advice in regards to ministry. He is an absolute brilliant mind having authored over 40 books. He is a retired pastor as well as a professor. He is a passionate follower of Christ not lacking in common sense or compassion. A statement that he made that weekend made an impression on me then and registered all the more powerfully with me since our revival services. Dr. Miller said, “I would much rather be a part of a church service in which I cannot explain what happened instead of one where I can.”
I ended my last post by stating that, “I cannot wait to share this latest happening in our family’s life.” I would like to put some perspective with that statement. Before I tell you what took place with Baby Jack last week, let me first say that I share our experience with you lacking anticipation when it comes to recounting my little one’s sickness. My excitement definitely has more to do with trying to convey the goodness of the Lord in our lives. No matter how I try, I will not be able to fully explain what took place. In a real sense, you definitely had to be there.
Another reason for this post is to get my thoughts down. Last week was crazy, fast, and furious. Processing what took place has not been easy for me. I mean, Jack had already been terribly sick at 8 weeks of age. It had never entered my mind that I would be returning to Children’s Hospital with my sweet baby.
Monday night, the 1st of August, was the second night of revival services at First Baptist Church of Ashland. I was seated in the front row as Ross made his way to the pulpit. I had been told that there was enough help in the nursery for this service and I must say that I was relieved because I was looking forward to hearing the message that Ross was going to preach. Mind you, I did not know which passage he would be preaching on or even the title of the message.
He began by asking the question, “Do you really want revival?” In his introduction he spoke of being a part of several revival services. He told the congregation that when he found out that he would be the preacher of these revival services, he thought, “Lord, please don’t make me preach that passage.”
The passage that Ross was referring to was 2 Chronicles 7:14. It says, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Ross spoke about how many times he had heard this passage preached, both correctly and incorrectly. He went on to say that it was the "go to" revival service passage. He made his feelings quite clear concerning his lack of desire when it came to preaching this passage. However, he was also very clear in stating that he was convinced that this was the message that the Lord had given to him. And with that, he began to deliver the sermon.
My husband preached boldly and passionately. He was starting the third point of his sermon with a fourth point to go. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone peeking thru the side door, motioning for me. I left the sanctuary and was told that Jack, my normally jolly little guy, was crying and couldn’t be consoled. My first thought was that it was passed his bedtime and he was being fussy because he was ready to go to bed.
When I took Jack, he was definitely exhausted. I rocked him and noticed that he would try to go to sleep, but then he would cry out in pain and struggle to take a breath. I told the nursery worker that something wasn’t right. She agreed and said that that’s why she had gotten me out of the service.
The sight of Jack hurting and laboring to breath was frighteningly familiar. I made the decision to go get Ross out of the pulpit. I handed Jack to someone else in the nursery and quickly headed out to get Ross.
Thankfully, we have doors that lead to the choir loft. I opened one of these doors and got his attention. At this point, I had begun to cry and all I could say was, “I need you.” He paused with a baffled look on his face. I continued, “I need you. Jack is having trouble breathing.”
I found out later that Ross had literally just used Jack’s sickness at 8 weeks of age as an illustration in his sermon. He talked about pleading with the Lord to let Jack breathe. He followed this with another illustration in which, he had his arms stretched out proclaiming, “Give me air!” This was the point when I had opened the door.
He told the congregation to pray and he ran passed me to the nursery. He took Jack in his arms, observing the struggle that was taking place with his breathing. We hurried out the door. Thankfully, someone was able to get my purse off of the front row. I found the keys in my purse and I held Jack as Ross drove us to the emergency room. All I kept saying over and over was, “Not again. Not again. Not my baby.”
We went into the emergency room pleading for help. We were ushered back to an area where we were asked an endless list of questions trying to understand what was taking place with our baby. All the while, Jack was inconsolable.
At this point I didn’t know that a church member had contacted one of the local beloved physicians to come to the emergency room. Dr. H showed up and took over. He was really great.
X-rays were ordered.
X-rays were taken and blood was drawn. I felt so helpless for my little one.
Jack finally dozed off lying on my chest.
The x-rays came back and showed that Jack’s lungs looked fine. However, more x-rays were taken because of concern over his abdomen. Apparently, he was very bloated and unable for whatever reason to pass the gas in his tummy.
We also noticed that Jack’s legs and feet had turned a bright red color.
Dr. H made the decision to send us to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. An ambulance was called.
I don’t know exactly how long Jack slept, but when he woke up he was actually smiling and passing gas. I immediately looked at Ross wanting some reassurance concerning my decisions. He was quick to remind me of the waiting room filled with people praying not to mention the sanctuary that was also filled.
Since Jack seemed better, we were allowed to drive him to Birmingham.
He rested the whole way.
The Lord reminded me, as Ross drove, of that very morning when I had sat Ellie Kate down and discussed putting on the armor of God in Ephesians 6. We had gone over each piece of protection. The one that stuck out the most to me was the shield of faith with which we could extinguish to arrows of the evil one.
We arrived at Children’s to a full waiting room. Thankfully, we had a room waiting on us. Jack immediately woke up and began crying.
An i.v. was started. X-rays were taken.
The x-rays showed that his lungs and abdomen were all doing well.
The doctor’s concern was with Jack’s legs. At this point, he had red spots on his legs and feet that didn’t blanch when touched. The doctor referred to them as petechial. She said that they could be a sign of a bacterial infection. That, along with his irritability, concerned her. She wanted to do a spinal tap and have blood drawn. She said that we would probably be there for a couple of days.
I was in disbelief.
I spoke with one of the doctors and expressed my concern over the idea of having a spinal tap performed. She was quick to tell me that they did not order frivolous tests.
Ross and I gave our consent and were taken to a nearby waiting room. It was probably about 2:30 in the morning.
I felt frail.
Ross and I leaned against one another and prayed for our baby. This all seemed quite surreal.
After the procedure was performed, we were able to return to Jack’s emergency room. I held that sweet baby until he went to sleep.
We were taken to a room around 4:30 a.m.
Exhausted, you could say.
I positioned Jack in the hospital crib and Ross prepared our fold out beds.
Ross and I slept for maybe three hours.
At some point the next morning, the doctors came by to check on Jack. The spinal tap showed negative for any type of infection. He was acting like his happy little self now. He definitely had a yucky cough and a lot of congestion. They wanted to observe him and hopefully send us home that afternoon. Jack sang and cooed for them. He then pulled the covers across his forehead as if to say, “Please go away so I can sleep.”
And sleep he did. Poor baby had experienced a rough night.
Ross felt strongly that he would be back in the pulpit of FBC Ashland that night. That afternoon, we were able to have a doctor sign off on Jack being discharged from the hospital.
Exhausted, we arrived back in Ashland around 6 p.m. Just an hour later, Ross was standing back in the pulpit. Thanks to my Mom keeping our children at our home, I was seated on the front row.
He said that he couldn’t help but ask the Lord, “Why?” Throughout the previous 24 hours, he had continuously posed the same question. He knew that he was supposed to deliver the message that he had been preaching when I came and called him away the night before.
He said that he got his answer while we were in our hospital room. As he looked over at sweet little Jack, the Lord told him that our little one was the reason.
Now normally Ross would have about seven pages of typed notes. His sermon outline would be complete with footnotes. However, on this night he didn’t have his typical outline. Instead he had that same confirmation from the Lord about what he was to say.
He said that he was neither smart enough nor was he strong enough to deliver the message that the Lord had given to him. He was also not willing to be disobedient.
He then went on to preach a message of reconciliation. The more recent history of our church includes a split. There had been many wounds. There had been many relationships that needed mending.
When Jack got sick, both this time and last, it drew our entire community together. It wasn’t that just one denomination or church group prayed for our baby, the whole community lifted up our little one.
Ross preached a very powerful, heartfelt sermon using a passage out of Colossians. He then called for a show of reconciliation. The message ended with the signing of a petition of reconciliation followed by an altar filled with many seeking the Lord.
Even as I read over this now, I almost don’t even want to post it. This is what took place. This is also not all that took place.
Ross and I feel that Jack was congested while his abdomen was swollen due to gas. The combination caused a lot of pain, as well, as a struggle to breath. I have no idea what was taking place with his legs and feet.
I want to be very careful when I try to explain what was taking place because I truly believe that there was so much more going on than we will ever be able to explain.
Praise the Lord that what Satan intended for evil, the Lord used for good.
It was once again overwhelming to witness the show of support that we experienced from so many.
We were humbled then.
And we continue to be now.
2 comments:
Amy, I was not aware of your struggles this past week, but I due feel the worship you experienced through pain. I praise the Lord that your angel was not seriously ill and that Ross was given the burden and privileged to preach what was obviously necessary. Thank you for sharing your story. Your wonderful family our always in our prayers.
Christy Rials
It has left me crying after reading this. Jack is a blessing, as is all children, but how amazing that God has already used this tiny blessing to do some powerful things in the name of the Lord. Many prayers my friend! Thanks for sharing!
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