Sunday, January 2, 2011

Until the Whole World Hears

May the powers of darkness tremble
as our praises rise,
Until the whole world hears
Lord we are calling out,
Lifting up Your name
for all to hear the sound!
lyrics by R. Glidewell, John Mark Hall; Bernie Herms, Jason Mcarthur
Photo: Our first family photo with all seven of us
standing in His strength.
,

On the same day from the hospital, I made an appointment with our pediatrician because Ian was starting to wheeze but had no fever and was sleeping through the night. I had told the nurse that we needed an appointment for later in the afternoon because my husband was coming home from the hospital that morning. When we arrived, our pediatrician asked about Chris and I told him we were just so glad to be home. Then he listened to Ian's lungs, leaned up and told me that we needed to have his chest x-rayed to make sure that he didn't have pneumonia. I couldn't believe it and started crying. I feared that we were going back to the hospital, this time with Ian. I was calling everyone asking them to pray for Ian as I was walking to the Radiology Department. Praise God, the x-rays revealed that it was bronchitis and not pneumonia. He would have to take an antibiotic and do breathing treatments but our peditrician said that this should clear his lungs.

Before Ian's doctor appointment, I had tried to get Chris' pain medicine filled at our pharmacy. They told me that we had never been there and that I would need Chris' insurance card. We had been getting our prescriptions filled there since our oldest, Sami, was a baby and she is nine now. I didn't have our insurance card with me so I had to go back home to get it but now I didn't have time to get it filled until after Ian's doctor appointment. After Ian's doctor appointment, I returned with the insurance card and they told me that we were denied because we were probably not insured any longer. I completely panicked because we had been out of the country for so long and wonder if something had happened with our health insurance that I didn't know about. My mind is racing, "Did I pay the insurance bill before we left for China? We are financially ruined because Chris has been in the hospital for six days and we have no insurance." I called our insurance company on my cell phone and Ian decides it was a perfect time to do his business for the day. I would have waited a few minutes to change it but the smell was starting to linger at the pharmacy desk. Most people checking out at the pharmacy are already sick so I didn't want to make matters worse. I decided to take him to the van and change his diaper. I still had everything in the van from when we had left the hospital so it was a little crowded in the van for a diaper change. At this point, I am on the phone with the insurance company, maneuvering things around to change his diaper inside the van because it is cold outside, getting a little claustrophobic and God gives me the verse, you "are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed" (I Corinthians 4:8-9). PRAISE GOD, minutes later, I did find out from our health insurance that we were insured. I went back in the pharmacy to tell them the news and they informed me that they didn't have the pain medicine Chris was prescribed. God must have been holding me around the waist to keep me from jumping over the counter and tackling the whole pharmaceutical staff at that moment.

I then took Chris' prescriptions, across the street, to another pharmacy to have them filled. Everything went fine and then I drove back to the other pharmacy where Ian's prescription had already been sent electronically from our pediatrician. The pharmacy then informed me that Ian did not have insurance. I told them that I had faxed and mailed all the documentation over to our insurance company last week. I called our insurance company again, this time they told me that Ian had insurance but it did not begin until the beginning of the year. I told her that it is suppose to be effective on the date of the adoption. She put me on hold to find out what I already knew was correct. I was using the pharmacy's phone which was not cordless, trying to jungle Ian and answering phone calls on my cell phone. It got so crazy that I meant to hang up my cell phone and hung up with the insurance company instead. At that point, I decided to just pay for Ian's medicine and figure it out later.

When I finally made it back home, it was 6:30 p.m. and I thought everything was finally over. As soon as I walked in the door, Chris tells me that he needs to talk to me in the bedroom.When we get to the bedroom, Chris lifts up his shirt and his whole right side is totally swollen, bright red and very warm from the top of his rib cage to halfway down his leg. I call Chris' Mom crying trying to explain the situation to her and begged her to come over and look at it. Then I call Dr. Winger's answering service to ask him what to do. He calls back to tell us that it sounds like an infection and wants Chris to take his new antibiotic. I was shocked that Chris had an infection because he had been given antibiotics intravenously, day and night, the entire time he had been in the hospital. I joked that Chris would not get sick for the next five years because he had so much antibiotics inside of him. Of course, we barely made it home before he had an infection. Praise God, the new antibiotic worked and we could see a huge difference by the next day.

I know that through all of this, the enemy meant this for evil but I also know that God can always turn everything around for His glory. "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Ephesians 6:10-13). The enemy loves it when he knocks our feet out from under us. "Do not gloat over me my enemy though I have fallen, I will rise" (Micah 8:1).

We just celebrate the birth of our Savior who died on the cross for our sins so that whoever believes in Him would have eternal life. The enemy tried everything he could to destroy Him. In the end, Jesus was rejected by His own people, betrayed by a friend, abandoned by his disciples when arrested, beaten beyond recognition, flogged almost to point of death, and nailed to a cross as though He was a thief or murderer. The Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath and "asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken and then their bodies could be taken down. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that He was dead already, so they didn't break his legs. These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, "Not one of his bones will be broken," (John 19:31-33, 36). I love that God would not allow Jesus legs to be broken. Even in death and on the cross, He was the only One left standing. I believe it was to show that He was standing in our place, bearing our sins upon him. On the third day, I wish I could have seen the enemy's face when Jesus stood up again, brought the enemy to his knees in defeat and "shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross" (Colossians 2:15).

Because of His victory, I can stand firm against the enemy, not by my strength or might but by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6). Through these past weeks, we have felt like we have been "tortured" by the enemy physically, emotionally and mentally. Every time we were knocked down by the enemy, God's always let me see that we were still standing through His goodness and grace. In the end, all the enemy did was make me want to praise God for what a personal and powerful God He is. I will continue to shout until the whole world hears what He did on the cross for us, that He lives and pursues you in order that you made know Him. "I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever" (Psalm 89:1-2).