Through The Fire

Since Landen is so little our doctors wanted to rule out anything as a precautionary measure. So, Landen saw the pediatric endocrinologist this month and he ordered some blood work and a stool sample. We learned that Landen is a very tough little dude! Because of the amount of blood required for the various test and his small body we had to go to the Wake Med hospital lab two days in a row for them to draw his blood. The lab techs are wonderful there. Of course Landen screamed and squirmed the entire time they were doing it but as soon as they were done and we could pick him up you would have never known he just went through that torture! The blood work came back fine but there were increased fat levels in his stool. Because of that the doctor ordered a test for cystic fibrosis. We didn't know what to think or feel about this. We didn't know much about cystic fibrosis and weren't really expecting any serious testing to be done on Landen. We were very worried and spent much time in prayer to our Great Physician! We had amazing support from our family, our friends and our church family. We had to wait about two weeks for the sweat test. This test was also done at Wake Med hospital lab. It was a two-hour test. In the first part, a colorless, odorless chemical, that causes sweating, was put on a small area on his arm. An electrode was then put over that spot. This let the technician apply a weak electrical current to the area to cause sweating. This was repeated on four different parts of his arm. The second part of the test consisted of cleaning the area and collecting the sweat on a piece of filter paper. Lastly she taped up both of his arms and we waited for 30 minutes. Again, he was so tough! He only cried twice, both times being less than 30 seconds. He cried when she turned on the electrode and again when she was removing some tape. The very next day was my birthday and that morning I got the best birthday present! The doctor called and said the test came back normal!!!! PRAISE THE LORD! We are still rejoicing! Our faith has been tested during this extremely difficult time in our lives. Luke has been having some medical problems as well which I will save for another post. We don't know why God has allowed these circumstances to come into our life but we do know that He has a perfect plan and purpose. As Luke and I were talking before the test we agreed that no matter what the result, we would praise God either way. We serve an awesome, gracious and faithful God. He knows what is best for us. He is molding us into the couple He wants us to be. I've always heard,"you're either in a valley, facing a valley, or just coming out of the valley." I've always believed it but now it has so much more meaning. During our trial a lady reminded me of the song: "Through the Fire" by the Crabb Family. I was so glad she did that because this has been one of our favorite songs. We played it right after she mentioned it and realized how thankful we are for what God has taught us through everything. I will close this post with the words to the song:

So many times I've questioned certain circumstances
Or things I could not understand
Many times in trials, weakness blurs my vision
And my frustration gets so out of hand
Its then I am reminded I've never been forsaken
I've never had to stand the test alone
As I look at all the victories
The spirit rises up in me
And its through the fire my weakness is made strong

Chorus:
He never promised that the cross would not get heavy
And the hill would not be hard to climb
He never offered our victories without fighting
But He said help would always come in time
Just remember when your standing in the valley of decision
And the adversary says give in
Just hold on, our Lord will show up
And He will take you through the fire again

AMEN!Please continue to pray. Landen will see a G.I. doctor on Monday, July 26th.