Baby Eli

Will you join me in praying for our dear friends again? Eli has shown slow but gradual progress for the past 3 weeks. Today was the day to extubate him, to try to take him off the respirator.

Here is the report his parents just posted:

"Eli was taken off the respirator this afternoon. That was about an hour and a half ago. He's struggling quite a bit, so there's very real concern that he'll have to be re-intubated. His voice doesn't work yet, but he's constantly crying... a silent cry, but his face still shows the struggle all too well. This is pretty hard to endure."

You may remember, Eli had open heart surgery at 2 days old to replumb his heart to a 3-chamber heart. He has been in PICU since he was born, 3 1/2 weeks ago.

Eli's parents, Tanya and Jason, ask for prayer that Eli will have the strength to breath on his own, and that they will know the will of God.

My own prayer is that Tanya and Jason will feel the everlasting arms of God holding them as they wait upon Him to reveal His perfect will.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion,"

says my soul,"therefore I will hope in him."

Lamentations 3:22-24

A Beating Heart

I just returned home from Children's Hospital of Central California. We stopped in to visit Baby Eli's parents who had waited all day as their precious 2-day-old son underwent about a 12-hour surgery to literally restructure his heart.

What a joy to stand beside his bed in PICU with his mom. He looks so sweet and handsome. He is resting well and the surgeon says Eli is right where he should be on this journey. (See Eli's picture below.)

You can imagine the excitement when Tanya and I noticed Eli's little chest moving up and down with the beat of his heart, pumping his oxygenated blood through his body on its own. Eli has many hurdles to overcome and more surgeries in the coming months. We are thankful for the wisdom of the doctors who worked for so many hours today to repair the intricate parts of his little heart. We are thankful for God's grace to allow his parents to stay near him.

We continue to pray for Eli's recovery and prognosis. Please join Jason and Tanya in praying that God will use this situation for His glory as we live out our faith and trust Him with this precious little boy.