Lush grass or cold rocky crags?

Lush grass, fertile soil, butterflies, meadow flowers, frangrant pines, soft ferns, a beautiful babbling brooke…The valley has all the makings of a perfect postcard picture. So, why do so many of us long for the mountain top experience?

I finished a great book recently by Andy Andrews titled The Noticer: Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective. A casual story about a man who mysteriously shows up in people’s lives at an opportune time and helps them with “a little perspective” of the situations they find themselves in. It was the perfect read for the journey we are on right now and how the journey is about to become a much larger expedition for our family.

As many of you know from our recent posts, we are expecting a new addition to our family…a son who is set to arrive at the end of May. If you are new to Lessons from Matthew you can catch up on the previous posts Can Lightning Strike Twice? and Lightening Update. We haven’t posted in a few weeks while we have been gathering information on what kind of expedition we may be facing with our new son.

Without going into all of the details, there is substantial enough information in the different ultra-sounds and fetal heart-echo to determine that our new son may join Matthew in the CHARGE Syndrome corner. The puzzle pieces I mentioned in past posts are coming together to form a familiar pattern and picture. Nothing is certain for sure, but we are beginning to assemble the “team” that will be present at his birth. We covet your prayer as we assemble this team and as we build the needed appointments to fact-find in the next several weeks. As early as next week we will be getting another look at our boy’s heart at Mott’s Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan. Who would have ever known other than our creator that we would be back at the Neo Natal Heart Center there again.

CHARGE Syndrome or not, our new baby boy will enter this world with challenges similar to what we experienced with Matthew. What we will not know until that day is the extent and severity of the information we know now and what we will not know when he is born.

The main question many of you are begging to ask at this time…How are we doing? I can personally say, it is the most helpless feeling in the world to hear your best friend (my wife Theresa) cry herself to sleep at night. I have my moments too…but, as a guy I will take my time to release when I can wear my sunglasses, even while driving on a cloudy day. I think Theresa and I are not asking God the “why” question, but more the “how” question. How are we going to take on this new challenge? We know strength will come…but, it can be hard when you are in the infancy of processing bad news.

I mentioned Andy’s book earlier…here are some of the words he wrote:

“Everybody wants to be on the mountaintop, but if you’ll remember, mountaintops are rocky and cold. There is not growth on the top of a mountain. Sure, the view is great, but what’s a view for? A view just gives us a glimpse of our next destination-our next target. But to hit that target, we must come off the mountain, go through the valley, and begin to climb the next slope. It is in the valley that we slog through the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit life’s next peak.” Andy Andrews – The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs is a Little Perspective

Right now we are trying on new hiking shoes, testing and sizing up a new walking stick, selecting gear and outfitting our packs…we have the next summit in view and getting ready for the expedition of our lives!

Would you continue to pray for us? We would be grateful if you would pass along our need as well.

Many have asked if it is okay to share this blog about our Lessons from Matthew…not only is okay, but we emphatically ask that you would. We welcome any chance to show how good God is and how he is working through the power of prayer. Conveniently use the “Share” buttons at the bottom of this post. If you want to join in praying for our family and getting updates on our journey, join us by filling out your information at the top of the right-hand column.