prayer request

And He [Jesus] said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. “So I [Jesus is still speaking] say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil [unholy/unrighteous/sinful beings], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Luke 11:5-13

____________________________

I was reminded of this passage of the Bible this morning in church. My eyes skimmed over the page we were reading during the service, and I saw these particular verses and it made me think a little more clearly about an on-going prayer request we've had regarding this pesky rash that continues to spread over various areas of Ethan's body. Over the past week, Ethan's rash (a result of his minor case of graft-versus-host-disease) had spread once again onto his hands, chest, stomach, neck, chin, cheeks, eyes, forehead and scalp. And the medicine/ointment that had worked fairly well in the past, hasn't been as successful this time around - especially with regards to his face. And with this particular medicine I can't treat his hands or his eyes because his hands are always in his mouth, and the medicine can't go into his eyes... so without treatment, they get worse. And the areas I can treat, haven't been showing signs of improvement.

His sensitive skin has been an issue for a while, and just as I was about to be discouraged by the need to have to continue to pray for the rash to go away, these verses reminded me that there is reward for persistence. So I thought of you - my blog family - and wanted to ask if you'd once again join us in praying for Ethan's rash to go away. I am really concerned about his face, especially his eyes. They are just so very red and look irritated. The rash and bumps have just about covered his entire face and it breaks my heart to see his skin attacked in such a way. Which brings me to the other side of this prayer request.... I believed I've mentioned before that we've started weaning his final medication (called cyclosporine). The medication that is supposed to prevent graft-verses-host-disease (GVHD), and he has to be fully off of this medicine before he will be allowed to be in public places and around people again. So, I suspect that the doctor's reaction will be around the fact that since Ethan's been weaning off this medicine, and the rash has gotten worse, then he's probably not ready to be weaned.... which would keep him in isolation that much longer.

So....I'm praying 1) that the rash starts to show signs of immediate improvement, especially around his eyes and face and this GVHD on his skin will clear up and be a non-issue & that 2) he can still be weaned as scheduled with no complications. So that we can look forward to a wonderful summer together without any restrictions!

We're supposed to be going to Boston tomorrow for his check-up, but we're expecting a rather large snow storm overnight tonight (up to 15 inches!) so I bet we reschedule. But that could very well be a blessing in disguise, because if Ethan's doc saw him tomorrow, she may make a judgement call on extending Ethan's medication time frame.... so having to reschedule the appointment means we'd have an extra day or so to let the Lord work first!

Thank you for your prayers.... I really wish you could know how overwhelming grateful we are for each one of them.