The theme for today is: Heavy and Light.
Heavy. My head feels so heavy. My heart feels so heavy. Lots of heavy things to consider today. The Bible tells me that I’m the head of my household. And I’m learning each day that this comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility. More responsibility than I could have ever imagined. More than I thought I could bear. Today, I felt like all I carried was weight. Weight and worries. More than I can handle. Sapped of any strength to carry the weight. Not to mention the weight carried by Alice, Megan and the Teitsma family as well during these past six weeks. Unbearable weight. What do you do? Where do you turn? Who do you turn to? And so I turned to God’s Word.
God’s Word tells me there’s something I can do, we can do, about all this weight. Give it to Jesus. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Heavy for us. Light for Jesus. I feel better already.
Light. I also feel light today. I feel happy. We (Ed and Alice) feel happy. And I’m sure the Teitsma family feels happy as well. Happy for Megan. She completed her teaching practicum today. Considering the circumstances, this was no small task. By God’s grace and in His strength, she was determined to complete this. And complete this she did. With hard work, excellence, dependence on, and devotion to her Heavenly Father.
She also completed her practicum all while showering Zach with unwavering devotion. Ever since we met Megan we knew she was THE one. And so did Zach. Their devotion to each other has been beautiful to watch. Megan’s devotion has been even more evident the last six weeks. Megan loves Zach. It shows.
Megan’s love for Zach is genuine. It comes with utmost affection. It’s a love that shows honour, rejoices in hope, is patient in tribulation, and is constant in prayer (Romans 12).
Megan’s love for Zach is the 1 Corinthians 13 love. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8).
We have asked for prayers for Zach. We also ask for your prayers for Megan. Please pray that God will hold her close and give her everything she needs so she can continue to come alongside Zach in his race.
Megan is running with Zach. Megan is running for Zach. Megan loves Zach. How can you not feel light?
Today’s Updates:
Mondays usually mean we get a new doctor, but our doctor is stuck in Ontario until Wednesday! The doctor from this past week is going to stay with Zach for an extra two days to cover for the new doc.
Today they adjusted Zach’s pain medications again, still trying to find a balance where Zach is comfortable but not too sedated. The doctor believes that pain is one of the driving forces of Zach’s agitation, so he consulted the surgeons to look at Zach’s feet again today. The surgeons assessed Zach and said they are going to amputate his feet hopefully sometime next week. Zach is recovering well from his other two surgeries, and they removed the stitches from his right arm amputation today.
The physiotherapist worked with Zach today. Zach has lost a lot of muscle mass since arriving in the ICU. The physio moved Zach into a sitting position, but Zach doesn’t have the ability to intentionally hold himself up with his current neurological status. We are glad they are working with Zach to keep his limbs healthy.
The rest of the day was similar to the past few days. Zach is still receiving minimal oxygen from the trach mask and is coughing up a lot of mucous, which is good to see. He is still agitated with only a couple hours of rest today. We ask that you pray for Zach’s upcoming surgery, that the amputation may be beneficial to Zach’s recovery. Please also continue to pray for Zach’s brain and lungs to heal. We are daily reminded that our Lord is with Zach and us every step of the way.
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” (Psalm 55:22)
“The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)
