A special visitor showed up today. Mike Schouten, Executive Director for ARPA Canada, checked in on the Hoagies and the Teitsmas. That was cool.

The theme for today is: Lament.

Psalm 13. David laments. David wrestles. David requests. David rejoices.

David wrestles. David is despondent. Full of despair. He feels forsaken by God. He feels forgotten by God. He’s overcome with the deepest of depths of anxiety and emotion. He’s overwhelmed. He wrestles with his thoughts. His thoughts go everywhere and yet nowhere. He’s consumed with misery and complaints to God. He wrestles with the depth of his trial. He wrestles with the length of his trial. “How long?” he asks four times. He’s flat on his face. David. A defeated man. A weak and weary wrestler.

David requests. David asks God to look, answer, and give. He asks God to look at him, look on him, and look over him. Deep down he suffers. Deep down he longs. Deep down he knows. He knows God. And so, he simply prays ‘look.’ And then he prays ‘answer.’ The God who looks is the God who answers. Who answers in His time, in His way, and in His love. And the God who answers will give. David prays ‘give.’ Give me light. Light gets rid of darkness. Light takes away fear. Light takes the burden. Light provides energy. Light gives hope. Light shines. Shine Jesus shine. Light saves. Save Jesus save. David. A defeated man. A praying man. A praying man who desperately shared three prayer requests with God.

David rejoices. The man of constant sorrows. The man of constant prayers. That man will now trust, sing, and rejoice. He trusts God’s love. No longer forgotten and forsaken. He will sing. No more complaining. He will rejoice. He will let go and let it out. David. A defeated man. An ecstatic man.

It’s kind of embarrassing to write that we too have questioned the depth and the length of this trial. It seems to pale in comparison when you read the psalms. Pales in comparison when you hear what others have gone and are going through. Nonetheless, we wrestle. We will keep wrestling. We’ll steal David’s prayer requests and ask God to look, answer, and give. We will trust, sing, and rejoice. Not perfectly. Not quite like the man after God’s own heart. But by God’s grace, we’ll live Psalm 13. We lament. We wrestle. We request. We rejoice.

Today’s Updates:

The nurses are continuing to decrease Zach’s sedation and pain medications. With these adjustments, Zach has become more restless and his heart rate has gone up. He is currently moving around a lot in bed, but still not responding to voices or focusing his eyes. Our nurse encouraged us today by saying that Zach is young and his brain is still flexible, and Lord willing Zach will one day be alert and communicative again.

The respiratory therapists attempted to decrease Zach’s ventilator settings, but they undid their changes when Zach’s breathing rate increased. They will try to bring down his ventilator settings tomorrow.

We are thankful that Zach’s condition has been stable for a few days now (you’ll notice our updates are getting shorter!) Please continue to pray earnestly that Zach may heal and that his brain may fully recover. Thank you for your continued support.

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

(Psalm 13)