Not Forgotten!

As the silver bearded priest walks through the ancient hills of Israel on a narrow trail his stomach begins to churn. Bethlehem lies before him, anxiety and adrenaline run through his veins. Farmers on the hill notice his presence and even some whisper his name. "Is this Samuel?" they ask in fear and trembling. The people of Bethlehem's hearts stopped for a brief moment as they see someone they didn't expect to see. Questions as the elders gathered in the community trying to figure out what was about to take place, "Why here in Bethlehem? What's this mean?" During this time, Israel was weak, the people demanded a king and instead of Saul saving the Nation he nearly destroyed it. So what did God do? He did what no one could have ever imagined. He issued a surprise invitation to a nobody in Nowheresville.

How long will you continue to feel for Saul? I have rejected him as king of Israel. Fill your container with olive oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse who lives in Bethlehem, because I have chosen one of his sons to be king. (I Sam. 16:1)

I can only imagine what the people thought at the time. Prophets don't visit Bethlehem. But Samuel says that he has come to sacrifice an animal to God and invites the elders, Jesse and his sons to join him. All of Jesse's sons line up one by one as Samuel examines them. Eliab, the oldest, seems the logical choice. Strong, courageous, this is the guy, Samuel thinks. But God says no. Abinadab then seems like the next best choice. He's got dark wavy hair, and wears Gucci suits. What a classy king he would make. But God doesn't care about class. Samuel asks for son number three Shammah. Wow, Shammah is brilliant and very studious, he's even the valedictorian of Bethlehem High. Samuel is impressed, but God isn't. Seven sons pass. Seven sons fail. They all seemed to have the perfect resume, but God looks at the heart. (I Sam.16:7) We know the rest of the story. Samuel asks, "Jesse, don't you have 8 sons?" David was forgotten as he was only a shepherd boy in the hills of Bethlehem.

Have there ever been times in your life where you feel forgotten, excluded, not qualified, un-credentialed that causes you to feel as a misfit or an outcast? I can only imagine how David must have felt as his own father and brothers forgot that he even existed until Samuel asked. But the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (16:7) God uses the misfits and the outcasts to do exploits for His Kingdom. Peoples opinion doesn't' matter, what people say about you doesn't matter, all that matters is what your maker thinks. You are "Not Forgotten!"

What You See

The small skinny, beardless boy kneels down by the brook. Sweat drops from his forehead as he listens to the sounds of war and the growling, bloodthirsty men of the Philistine Army. As the mud from the brook squishes on his knees and the cold water cools his hand he sees a reflection of a rudy and handsome copper haired young man with eyes that would steal the hearts of young Hebrew teenagers. But he searches not for a reflection, however, but for stones. Stones that he used for fending off the predators that would come the destroy and devour his sheep. He chooses 5 of them, places them in his shepherds pouch and draws near the Philistine that stands before him. Skinny, scrawny, rudy and handsome David. Bulky, brutish man eating Goliath. The toothpick verses the tornado. The Toy Poodle taking on the Rottweiler. What odds do you give David against the his giant? Perhaps better odds than you give yourself against YOUR giants.

Your giant perhaps doesn't carry around a sword or a shield; instead he carries unemployment, abandonment, sexual abuse or depression. Your giant doesn't parade up and down the hills of Elah; instead he roams throughout your office, your bedroom, your classroom. He brings bills your can't pay, people you can't please, alcohol you can't resist, pornography you can't refuse, a career you can't escape, a past you can't shake and a future you can't face. You know well the roar of giants just as Israel knew the sounds and scoffs of Goliath and the Philistine army.

What giants do you face? "What Do You See?" As David kneeled down and saw his reflection in the brook he didn't see a little boy, but saw the God that lives in him. He didn't look at what he was capable of, his experience, his success, his failures, his qualities or reputation. In fact he doesn't even care about who this Goliath is or what he's capable of. He doesn't ask one time about his skill, age, social standing, weight, height, spear length, size of shield, quickness, or the skull and bones tattooed on Goliath's 55 inch bicep. David asks one question, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? (I Samuel 17:26) He simply focuses on God and what he's capable of doing! Look past yourself and stand in awe of what God can do in your life.

Focus on Giants--you stumble.

Focus on God--your giants tumble.

Jayden's Journey Day Six

Well............what a day! First off, today is my beautiful wife's birthday, and I asked what she would like to have for her birthday. Not surprised by the answer, she simply said, "I just want to have Jayden home!" Coming into surgery and knowing what our son was going to be going through we knew that we were going to be here for a long time. We have been extremely surprised by how well Jayden is bouncing back from his procedure and I honestly can say that he is probably the toughest kid that I have ever met. As I showed up to his room this morning we were blown away by how well he was doing and for the first time through out this Journey, I felt that Jayden was finally himself! As the doctor's were making their morning rounds to discuss with each other what the plan was for the day with Jayden this is what they said, "Jayden is recovering very well. His saturations are very adequate and the plan is for him to go home tomorrow." What???? God has heard and has answered all of our prayers! Our son Jayden is coming home tomorrow November 8th. A surgery that usually takes anywhere from 10 to 14 days to be released, Jayden only got to spend 6 days total after surgery! We are so thankful for how well he is doing! God has had his hand throughout this entire process. We have had an incredible staff of Dr's, nurses and surgeons that have worked around the clock to help our son recover quickly. He has blessed us greatly! So to every that has been praying, I get to say..............JAYDEN COMES HOME TOMORROW!!! Thank you every, and THANK YOU GOD! What an incredible birthday gift from God to Rachel.

Jayden's Journey Day Five

Today was a very big day for Jayden. They have began weening off all of the all the blood pressure medicine and are planning on taking out some of the neck lines. Today was a great day simply because he is starting to look like Jayden again! He's starting to smile and make faces which has been so refreshing to see. We are so thankful for God hearing and answering our prayers. He is looking and doing great and the Dr's. are thinking that he should be out of here possibly Wednesday or Thursday this week! His blood pressures have leveled off and are normal, and his oxygen saturations are perfect no more oxygen shooting in his nose. We feel that he is doing incredible and hope and pray that he isn't here much longer. He has been put on a medicine to help him with some of the gas issues that he is having because he is having a little bit of a difficult time pooping. After they gave him that, things started to get a little crazy as we changed his diapers 3 times in a row in a matter of 1 minute.

I know that God has us down here at Children's Hospital for a reason. We have met some incredible people who are facing very difficult situations with their children. I believe that God is going to do some incredible things in this hospital. I believe children will be healed completely, cured from disease and families restored. God has given us some incredible opportunities to be a light to people who are facing some of the most difficult situations of their life. God is GREAT and we continue to trust in Him and both Rachel and I believe that God is being glorified right here in Minneapolis at Children's Hospital. Once again, thank you for all of your prayers, cards and messages through this process. Words can't express how they have kept us encouraged and strengthened us through the days.

Jayden's Journey Day Four

Today has been a great day as Jayden is overcoming big hurdles. His oxygen levels are great and they have reduced the oxygen pressure from 80% to now 30%. We need to continue to pray for his blood pressure levels as they are still monitoring it, and have some concerns about the internal stitches bursting, but they are now slowly removing the medicine that is keeping the pressures low. The Dr's. removed the big bandage from his chest and for the first time we were able to see where they cut him open. Jayden is more alert and is becoming more like himself, but I think that he has his days and nights messed up a little bit because he is sleeping a lot. He also feed for the first time and is doing great by getting rid of the fluids in his body (if you know what I mean). Today has been an incredible day and it seems that he is winning the battle. We continue to thank God as He has had His hand in everything that has happened so far. God is GREAT and we are so thankful that He has had Jayden in His arms this entire time. Both Rachel and I are overwhelmed and tired, but we are so thankful for our beautiful son. I know that God has some pretty big plans for his life, and God is greatly to be praise.

Thank you God for hearing our prayers! You are so faithful and have a perfect plan for Jayden's life. We thank you for bringing us through this experience and we will continue to rejoice in YOU! Thank you for the gift of life, and help us to live our lives for your GLORY! Use this situation in Jayden's life to glorify your name forever! Amen.

Jayden's Journey Day Three

Jayden had a little bit of a difficult time today as he is now completely off the ventilator. I would say today was the most difficult day so far of then entire process. The hardest thing for a baby to do while coming out of surgery is re-learning how to breathe and properly use their lungs. His oxygen saturations are doing well but they also have a little bit of oxygen shooting down his nose. We thought that he was going to be able to feed today, but since he is under a lot of stress and pain they decided to keep him sedated and just have fluids pumping into his body. As a result of having the ventilator, Jayden has a lot of junk building up in his lungs and it was our hope that he could cough on his own in order to break it up, but he had to have a tube stuck down his nose that sucked the junk out multiple times. Another issue that Jayden faced today was higher blood pressure that could be do to the pain he is encountering. They have him on a drug to keep it low as they are concerned that if the pressures get too high the stitches in his heart could burst. (We pray this never happens)

I would say that this has been the most difficult day of my life. Rachel and my family are up in town, and we decided to go out to eat and just kind of get of the Hospital for a little bit, but as we were leaving you could just tell that he was going through a lot and had the look on his face of "What's going on?" but the pain and trials will only last for a moment and rejoicing comes in the morning! Nurses and Dr's are really pleased with Jayden's progress, but it is still going to take time. Tomorrow's goal is to have him eating and hopefully have him completely off his blood pressure medicine and off his oxygen! Continue to pray as there are still many more hurdles that he has to overcome.

Jayden's Journey Day Two

This morning around 6:00am we were suddenly woken up by the nurses asking us if we wanted to hold Jayden before they placed the ventilator in him. Before we could even really know what was going on, we were kissing our son one last time before he would be completely sedated. After about an hour, Jayden was ready for the OR (operating room) for his surgery. At 8am the nurses took him and it was then a waiting game. Around 10:30am our cardiologist came in and said that everything was going well, and that at this time his heart was completely exposed with no blood in it, as the surgeons were patching the pulmonary valve. Words can't express what was going through my mind in this moment, but I knew that God was in control. 30 minutes later he came back in and said that everything went perfectly and that he was now getting stitched up and would be back in his room in a few minutes. God is GREAT! And we are so thankful that all is going well right now.

For those that are wondering exactly what the surgeons did for Jayden, I will do my best to explain. They used a laser device to cut through the skin in his sternum and because the sternum is not bone yet and more like cartilage it was very simple to get in. After they had him open they arrested and drained the blood in his heart, and began to fix the problem which is the pulmonary valve. They went along side the valve making an incision in an attempt to widen and open the valve more as they patched a piece of a cow vein in that space. They then put him back together and stitched him up. Right now he has a bandage on his chest, with two tubes draining the blood out from around his heart. He has many iv's all through out his body, a ventilator breathing for him and many other things that I don't even know, but the plan is to have everything off him tomorrow morning and hopefully he will be able to come home possibly next Friday. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and continue to lift him up as he is still not quite out of the woods, but he is on the winning side as of now.