We finally went back to visit Jacob again! J
We actually revisited a couple different places that we had gone to different
weeks before. It was nice to see the same people again, to build relationship
with them. We would actually recognized people, it felt good to have that
connection. But Wednesday we went house visiting and Jacob was on that list. It
was so good to see him again. He’s so cute! Ruth, his mother, said that he is
still healthy and is doing good. I woke him from a nap, which I felt kind of
bad about, but he was still a very happy boy. Even though we were only there
for 15 minutes or so, holding him again made me so happy. Smiles came to my
face when I watched Ruth hold him with such care. They were so cute together.
This is Ruth and Jacob with a tie-die beach ball I gave him.
(Thanks to Ali. I’ll have to repay her. It was hers, but she said she didn’t
mind giving it up.) He loved the bright colors and immediately started sucking
on it. (Hopefully it’ll last a while. Toys in India seem to disappear or get
broken because they don’t always know how to use it.)
Before we left I asked Ruth if she had any specific prayer
requests. She said continued health in her family and also her husband is not a
believer, so for his faith. When I heard that, a sense of protection came over
me. I felt like I needed to pray more for her husband than Jacob. I want him to
have a healthy family situation and it makes me sad to know his father isn’t a
Christian. So when you think about Jacob, you can pray for his father and
family as well. But before we left, we prayed over her, Jacob, and the rest of
the family. It felt good when I left. I believe his father will come around and
see that he needs Jesus Christ in his life.
And this is Jacob and I. Isn’t he a cutie?
Then on Friday, we were in the middle of watching The
Passion as a team when Sarah, the lady in charge of Victory house, called and
said we should come to the house. Elizabeth had died this morning and she thought
we should pay our respects. I don’t know if you remember, but I mentioned her
in one of my first blogs when we got here in India. She was the one that her
dad couldn’t fully support so he gave her over to Sarah’s Covenant Home, and
she had cerebral palsy. So we went over and prayed, sang songs, listened to
Sarah say some very powerful words about Lazarus and raising people from the
dead. She spoke about not letting the devil discourage you from past
experiences, the doubt in your head that makes you think you can’t do something
powerful is all from the devil. Listening to her talk about this got me really
pumped up, especially because she was so passionate about the subject too. We
prayed over Elizabeth. We prayed that she would rise up again, that her eyes
would open and she would wake up, ready to run. At first, I was asking question
s like, “where is she going? What is she doing right now? Is she running
around, laughing with Jesus? What was she thinking right before she passed?”
Then I started thinking about what Sarah said. I believed 100% that God was
going to open that little girls eye again. I had faith that she would breath
again. I know it can still happen and I believe God could still bring her back.
He rose Lazarus FOUR days after! It was just hard to have that complete faith,
and believe so strongly that she was coming back then not see her open those
peaceful eyes again. Friday night I still believed God was going to bring her
back. I was holding on and believing God would do that. I felt like it wasn’t
time to give up yet. I cried out so much for her, how amazing would that be for
her to come back. Think of the testimony she would have, and I believe God
would have helped her remember what happened so she could share it with other
people. It was just hard to walk away, to leave when her eyes didn’t open yet.
I had the faith as least the size of a mustard seed, but I couldn’t do
anything. Katie said, “God says we have the power to move mountains, but who
knows, maybe it wasn’t His timing.” Only God knows why this happened, but I’m
not going to be discouraged by it. I continue to believe God will use us for
miracles, and I’m learning how to except times like this, times when we don’t
see the results we want to.
Things to keep in your prayers:
-Safety and good health as we travel and stay in a village
outside of Hyderabad
-The ability to except what happens..or what doesn’t happen
-Continued team unity and bonding for the last couple weeks
here
Love to all and God bless!! 🙂
