Today I asked Ian to tell me one thing that he's learned about God through his trial. His answer: "He is good."

This is a magnificent example of the holy spirit's activity in ian's life. apart from god, no one who has experienced even near the pain that ian has would be able to say that god is good. and some of us may feel like we can only say "god is good" after we have been through the trial and are able to look back on all of the ways that god orchestrated it for our good. but ian is saying this in the midst of his trial. how that convicts me- and how it points me to our savior, for the assurance of his salvation is what ian is banking on when he says that god is good.

when i asked ian what his biggest spiritual struggle has been or what aspect of god this trial has made it difficult to believe in, he said "nothing."

i want to be half the child of god that ian is.

thank you, for praying.

larissa

It's not that I wanted to show 300+ people the entire interior of my mouth, but Ian's smile is priceless.

Can't believe I get to spend every day with this man.

Today I was reminding Ian of how close he was to dying after his accident- that we had even contacted the funeral home. I asked him what that made him think and he said "why am i still here?" he said that he meant that in a hopeful way, and when i asked what it showed him about God's character, he said, "that he's merciful."

although it surfaces as a temptation at times, ian is not angry at god for what happened to him. with all of his limitations, his daily struggles, his temporary inabilities, he has many worldly reasons to say "why am i still alive" in a way that charges god for what happened. but he has never conveyed that attitude to me. he sees god's hand of mercy in the fact that he is still alive, that he is still able to spend time with the people that he loves. this is only a work of grace allowing ian to keep his salvation more central in his thoughts than his suffering.

i've mentioned this so many times on the blog, that no one has affected my walk with the lord more than ian, and no one has represented christ better to me in my life than ian. thank you, ian, for continuing to challenge me and point me to christ. i'm still praying for complete healing and that you see the goodness of the lord in the land of the living.

love you, ian.

laris

Ungrateful Heart

Last night, Ian asked me what I needed prayer for. I was instantly taken back to him being in The Children's Institute, let alone the ICU, sleeping all day, not even being able to lift his head in therapy. Now he's asking me what I need prayer for. I so often take for granted all that God has done in Ian already. But in that moment, I realized how amazing it is that he can talk to me and ask me questions. God has been so kind to Ian and has shown him ceaseless mercy.

My heart so quickly becomes ungrateful and so quickly turns to the healing that I still want to see in Ian. It's wonderful to keep asking for more- I believe that it honors the Lord that we would keep asking, because it shows our faith in him as an endless supply of mercy and healing. But I want to be more grateful for the prayers that we've been asking for so long and have now been answered.

Thank you, always, for praying with and for Ian. Let's keep praying for more and more healing. Maybe, just maybe, we will see the end of this trial here on earth.

Larissa

Initiating communication

We've been praying that Ian would be able to more consistently initiate in a variety of ways and in particular in communication. A friend recently observed that initiating in conversation can be a problem for a lot of people, but it's especially a challenge for Ian because of his injuries. He will occasionally cross the bridge of communication without our prompting or encouragement, but our prayer is that he would do it more consistently.

He took me by surprise recently when the two of us were sitting on our patio, and I was babbling about some vintage cars our neighbor has. I remarked that his intention was to hold onto them until they became classic cars at which point he would sell them. I heard Ian clearly ask me, "when will that be?" It was as though I turned around to discover he was staring at me from my side of the bridge without me noticing him cross over. Reflecting back, I'm not sure I answered him coherently; I was so startled!

That kind of communication is what we're praying for. We want to hear him tell us he's hungry or thirsty or hot or cold. We want him to show us his humor again (which we've seen glimpses of recently). I miss the spiritual conversation we used to have. We're praying that the Lord would restore all form of communication.

Hope this helps be more specific in prayer for him. Thanks for praying.

Steve