Even if…

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” -Habakkuk‬ ‭3:17-18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This will be a very focused update, but I wanted to share a prayer request for those who aren’t already aware. (Also, it is late and so I apologize for typos!) Little man here, Ahad, is now in Florida. 

In the last update, I believe we were waiting for his passport. Well, I the span of about a week we obtained his passport, applied for and received his visa, and flew to the US. During the flight Ahad demonstrated his dislike of flying: he started having trouble breathing, turned a bit bluish, and his oxygen levels which are normally low, went even lower. The flight crew gave us an oxygen tank with the reminder that there was only so much oxygen for everyone for the flight in case of emergency. As Ahad’s breathing calmed with the oxygen, my prayers fluctuated between praying for God to keep others from needing oxygen to making a miracle oxygen supply that would last the 9 or so hours left in the trip,  to providing peace for us on the flight, and keeping Ahad asleep as much as possible to lower his oxygen needs. With a couple more episodes of breathing trouble and an oxygen tank or two later, God allowed little man to make it to Dulles, where my family picked us up for what was originally an overnight layover before a flight to Jacksonville. Yet obviously Ahad demonstrated he could not fly, so this led to a car trip to Florida the following day. The doctor who was stateside in charge of the program for these pediatric heart patients flew in from Indiana and drove us down. 

He was all bundled up in the airport, prepared for cold American weather even in Florida 

Monday morning found us at the Cardiologist appointment with Ahads oxygen levels being at about his baseline but incredibly low for how “good” he looked on the outside. A couple doctors came in during his heart test looking quite concerned. They had heard his saturation was only 58% and looked rather confused when they saw him chilling on the examination table. Yes, God has allowed Ahad to be a walking miracle! Needless to say, the team was worried about his oxygen levels and admitted him into the hospital for monitoring until his more definitive test takes place on Wednesday. He has a heart condition in which the veins from his lungs do not connect to the correct side of his heart, leading to the mixing of blood with fresh oxygen with blood requiring oxygen, among other issues.  This can be fixed with surgery but normally such an operation would take place earlier in life. It is possible we will go home without surgery because it is too late and/or the risks of surgery outweigh the benefits.

So many questions run through my mind with this whole situation. I could ask “why” for so many aspects of this trip.  But God has been so merciful already and will not change now. He will do what is best for this little one and His family. We hope tomorrow we receive news that he can safely have the operation.  But even if we don’t receive this result, we will trust and rejoice. Please pray for tomorrow’s procedure, that God would make His presence known and continue to communicate His truth to each one involved. Pray for the possibility of surgery and for trust in His will whatever the outcome. Ahad’s mom has been so courageous, please pray for her heart as they take her little one away from her for the first time. Pray for her to understand the truth of the Gospel. She has heard it many times in the past and again on this trip. Praise God with me for good conversations and special memories together. Pray for a deeper understanding of who the True God is. Thanks for praying!!! 

In Christ,

Theresa