Healing

As many of you may have read on Caring Bridge, Megan's transplant was postponed to today, Wednesday Feb. 11. So we have had an opportunity to pray that much harder for "the big day"! As the hours tick down before the procedure begins, help pave the way for this day and the coming months of recovery with prayer!

Looking back to the gospels and the book of Acts...amazement is the only word that comes to mind. Seeing how Jesus, and later, his disciples, took the time to see an individual: to see their hurt, to see their disease, to see the emotional pain, to see the spiritual void - and then he healed them of all of these things! We see that this has been His character since before the beginning of time, and He will not fail this family now, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Psalm 147:3

Pray that above all else this family will feel healing begin today, and that they will sense that it is coming from so much more than a bone marrow transplant. Pray that they will literally feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in their room, pray that an emotional healing will begin to mend whatever hurt may be in the hearts of Dave, Margaret, Megan, Lauren, Courtney and their extended family as well, pray that spiritual healing may begin - that they would come to realize that Christ crucified is their only hope!

Lord, let it be in the little things: an extra kind nurse, their favorite doctor, a visit from a friend right in the moment that they think they cannot stand it another second, sunshine through the window and warm weather when they go out to catch a breath of fresh air. And even break into the huge things...I pray that you would take her beyond her pain and that she would be aware that what she is experiencing MUST be you!

I urge you to look towards the cross in your prayer time and be encouraged, remembering what Isaiah the prophet spoke of Jesus in chapter 53:3-5, "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hid their faces he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely he took our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."

The lyrics of a song that I heard a few years ago keep coming to mind and I ask all of you to pray this over the Purcells' lives and Megan's hospital room!
Holy Spirit come, Holy Spirit dwell here. Fill this place with love overflowing, and joy
overflowing, and peace overflowing. In all of your glory, come.

Be vigilant and continually pray...the Purcells are counting on you!

Peace

Today is going to be a long day for the Purcells... All the preparations are being made for the transplant tomorrow and I know there must a bittersweet feeling looming in that room. Pray so urgently that a spirit of peace would inhabit Megan's hospital room rather than a spirit of fear and anxiety. Throughout today, let's battle for this family! - they are overcome with so much right now, I know that the thought of giving up strength must have crossed their minds. Let us all hang on to 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind."

Pray that all of Megan's treatments and labs go smoothly today, that she would rest well for a little while, pray that food will taste a little better, that she will be renewed with strength of spirit and be comforted knowing that the Holy Spirit is inviting her to rest in Him.

I have absolutely no idea what Margaret and Dave's hearts, as parents, are going through! Pray that their minds would be cleared of anxiety and worry, that they may feel an indescribable peace wash over them...remind them that they are not alone in their suffering: God the Father can most certainly identify with the pain of standing by and watching His child suffer! Be with Lauren and Courtney as they try to get on with school. Pray fervently that God would send someone to come alongside each of them and literally hold them up during this trial.

Be encoura ged to battle on and remember these words of Jesus in John 20:21, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you!"

Hebrews 13:20-21 May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.