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June 20, 2005
June 20, 8:45 pm
it has been a much better day, today, than yesterday. You know we often say that there is a calm before the storm, but I have found it to be more accurate that there is a storm before the calm. Which makes sense. Who would pray and ask God to bring a storm when you are in a calm? There are also a number of incidences when jesus’ disciples were in a literal storm and they cried out to God, because they were afraid, and jesus came and calmed the storm.
I can tell you that I did a good bit of crying yesterday, and in the midst of physically crying I also found myself crying out to God to calm the day’s storm.
Gloria spent the night with asher last night. I guess it would be more accurate to say that she watched asher throughout the night and got about 20 minutes of sleep sometime this morning. It is my privilege to be with him tonight.
Gloria got to meet asher’s physical and occupational therapist along with his respiratory therapist this morning. It was really helpful for her to get to ask questions, and even better to get answers.
Several wonderful things happened this morning during a couple of his times of therapy. They took the end piece off his oxygen tube. The end piece is what causes pressure to build up and sustained for him at a certain level. The level has remained the same, but it is not being delivered to him under pressure. If he keeps his blood oxygen levels up where they are supposed to be without this pressure, they will soon be able to take him off of oxygen completely. Given that we were told that he might not ever come off of oxygen, we are just thanking the Lord.
During his physical therapy session asher also responded to 2 commands. He shut his eyes and held them shut and he also stuck out his tongue. The day was pretty much like this all day. Thank you Lord.
All of those who came to take care of asher throughout the day were really wonderful. It was hard, at first to adjust to the new room and surroundings when they moved asher yesterday afternoon, but by the end of the day, today, we really felt much more comfortable.
Also, throughout the day, most of asher’s nurses from icu came by to visit him. It was like seeing family. I just can’t tell you how wonderful everyone was up in the icu unit where asher stayed 1 day short of a month. Each one of his nurses was truly a gift from God to us.
I also want to share a note that we received in the mail today from a dear friend of ours, Catherine, who had a dream about asher very recently and she wanted to share it with us through this note since she had to leave town on business soon after.
“dearest friends.
Here’s my dream of this morning. A toddler I knew had been hurt, but someone told me that his cuts and wounds had been healed. I went to see this little boy and as I was being shown how much better he was doing, I realized that he was walking, in the lock step fashion that beginning walkers use. Great joy flooded over me and I danced around saying “asher is walking! Asher can walk again.”
It leaves me speechless when I think about the ways that God is so obviously revealing His love and concern for asher and all of us by giving so many encouraging dreams and vision to others about asher and his being healed and restored. I know that it is truly because of the great outpouring of care and concern through the prayers of so many throughout the world that God is revealing in so many ways, like through dreams and visions, that our prayers are being heard and answered every moment of every day.
In luke, chapter 2, where it talks about jesus being taken to the temple to be dedicated (circumcised) on the 8th day, that joseph and mary met 2 people, simeon and anna the prophetess. Both were equally significant in that God used them to be witnesses to joseph and mary in order to, again, confirm to them who there son really was.
What is so interesting about anna, is that she was a widow, and had been one for 84 years, and her reputation was that she “prayed and fasted in the temple night and day.” She truly is the model in the Bible for the significant role that widows are to have in the world today. Another thing that is very interesting about anna is that she was a prophetess, and her father was phanuel, who was from the tribe of asher.
The only reason that I bring this up is that so many of the dreams and visions that have been shared with us about asher, from the very night that he fell until now, have come from women, and in the very depths of my being I believe that something very profound is being revealed to us by this fact. Lord give us eyes to see and ears to hear and your will made known.
With great thanksgiving,
Andy mendonsa
| By Leda | 11:48 PM
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Comments
more thankful tears and sobs . . .
GOD is so good!!!
one day we'll know why so many
of us who didn't know asher before
are so closely related to him now.
watching and waiting expectantly
with love . . .
Posted by: grace at June 21, 2005 12:15 AM
We are so encouraged to hear that Asher was able to respond to commands!!! I've been praying that the Lord would cause his brain to work properly, that the signals would function as they should. Rejoicing and continuing to pray...With love,
Scott and Laura
Posted by: Laura Lillard at June 21, 2005 08:37 AM
This whole story has presented it to me over the last couple of days. I have seen a black volkswagen all over town with "pink robots never die" on the back window, and wondered what on earth it could mean, aside from the obvious flaming lips reference. I met one David Ruiz, who made a brief mention of a friend who sustained a fall and was in the hospital. I later receieve a flyer in my email for a skate contest/benefit with the caption "pink robots never die", and then i stubmbled across this blog.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family that your son may recover fully and quickly. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to go through this with a loved one, but if the emotional impact reading this has had on me - a complete and total stranger - is any indication, it must be heartwrenching and very difficult.
It sounds like Asher is well-loved, and for God to allow this situation to take a wrong turn he would have to let a LOT of people down. Somehow I get the feeling he's not going to do that.
Posted by: Name Witheld at June 21, 2005 08:54 AM
Rejoicing with you in every sign of progress... of the evidence of God's hand at work both in Asher & in you as you persevere in all of this. With tears of thankfulness & joy in hearing prayers being answered; & with love & continuing prayers, louise
Posted by: Louise Tucker at June 21, 2005 10:33 AM
today at the univ of central florida i saw a video about prayer by jim cymbala in nyc and heard how his church prays 24/7, so now more troops have been added to intercede for asher!
+ + +
The Brooklyn Tabernacle Prayer Band has received your prayer request and we will be praying.
We will continue to pray for your request for the next 30 days. Jesus told us this:
"If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you." (Matthew 18:19)
We ask you to petition God for your request along with us on a daily basis, thanking Him for His intervention in your situation.
Posted by: grace at June 21, 2005 11:54 PM
