The theme for today is: Flesh.
Zach. Young, fit and vibrant. A lean, mean running machine. A master mason. Strong arms, strong hands and broad shoulders. Fit as a fiddle. Rarely out of breath. Full of life.
Then came his illness. Flesh and heart were injured. Flesh and heart were weakened. Flesh and heart were letting him down. Out of breath. Fighting for his life.
Life. What a gift. Life is a blessing. Life is precious. Life is fragile. Life, though filled with joy and wonder, is still difficult. Zach’s body and the bodies you see in ICU are a stark, sobering reminder that our bodies get ill. Our bodies deteriorate – old bodies and young bodies. Our bodies are fallible. Life. Life is a vapor.
Psalm 73. Asaph had the blues. We have too at times. Asaph says life is frustrating. Ditto. Life is not fair. Ditto. Bad people prosper. Bad people don’t struggle. Bad people are free of care – easy come, easy go. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
Psalm 73. From blues to bliss. Asaph goes to God. We have too. Asaph says life is in God’s hands. Ditto. Life is eternal. Ditto. God’s children prosper in Christ. God’s people struggle in Christ. God’s children have cares and burdens that are “light” and “easy come, easy go” in Christ. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
Psalm 73. From blues to bliss. The flesh is willing, but the flesh is weak. But God. But God. But God. “But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” God is our portion. Portion is inheritance. Jesus is our inheritance. We inherited fragile flesh. Deteriorating bodies. But we inherited eternity. We inherited happiness and blessing. Happiness and blessing in Jesus. Happiness and blessing forever.
Psalm 73. A sad song. Sad songs say so much. The flesh fails. A happy song. Happy songs say so much. The flesh inherits.
April 23. Life in the flesh. But God! Life in the Spirit. Life eternal. Life is good.
Today’s Updates:
Today the nurses decreased Zach’s sedation and pain meds and Zach started to move around a bit. He’s doing similar movements and postures to last week. We also give thanks because Zach no longer needs blood pressure support medications! His heart rate is high again with the decreased sedation, so they may make some more changes to his meds overnight.
They did another chest x ray on Zach today and his lungs look unchanged from the last image. He’s still got a bad pneumonia, but the lung appears stable and hasn’t had any further collapse with the chest tubes. Zach remains on the ventilator, but with his increased wakefulness he is initiating his own breaths again instead of the ventilator controlling them.
Another concern we have for Zach is his weight. Zach has lost about 30 pounds since his admission to the hospital despite his high caloric tube feeds. They did a test on him today which confirmed that he is receiving the right amount of calories compared to the amount that he’s using up. The doctor said that weight loss in ICU is common, and that the dietician will continue to follow Zach’s weight and make adjustments to the tube feed if needed.
We are glad to see Zach’s open his eyes and move around again, and we patiently pray for a day that we will be able to communicate and connect with Zach again. Thank you for your persistent prayers for Zach’s healing, particularly for his brain. We know the Lord hears and loves our prayers and that he is always near to Zach and all of us.
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)
“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he shall stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.” (Job 19:25-26)
