"Uppa"

In a few days, I will be 30 weeks along. That's 15 weeks since his original diagnosis. God has gotten us this far; I know He will be faithful until the end. (Philippians 1:6 "... he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion"). I do ask for extra prayers for strength and courage. As the date of his birth get's closer, there are more opportunities for me to feel nervous about the outcome. Please cover this in prayer! I DO believe God will heal Samuel, but I am human (and hormonal) and sometimes feel drained. I know that those doubts are not from God and I do my best to seek Him instead of giving in to them. When I turn to God for help, I always find the strength I need to keep going. I also have a little image that helps me. One of my darling nieces, Thea, says the cutest thing when she is tired and wants to be held. She will come up to you, raise her arms toward you and say in a little voice, "uppa". When you hear that word, you know she wants some snuggle time! So you pick her up and hold her close. I decided a little while ago to use this with God. When I'm feeling overwhelmed, I just turn to Him and say "uppa". Then I imagine Him holding me close and taking over. What a great feeling to know He is there to take our burdens!(1 Peter 5:7, Cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you".)

I also recently have been feeling the urge to share our story. So, for the sake of spreading the word in hopes of extra prayer support, I decided to re-cap everything that has taken place thus far. Please share with anyone/everyone you know who truly knows God and will pray for our baby.
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In September of 2011, my husband, Bryan, and I found out we were expecting our first child. We we overjoyed! We immediately began preparing for the precious new life. It was the best time of our lives! Then, in November 2011, when I was 15 weeks along, our son was diagnosed with a condition called Posterior urethral valves (PUV) and we were told to expect the worst. This condition, most often fatal, is non-genetic and is found is 1/8000 pregnancies. It was explained to us that the cause is unknown and it is just a "fluke". The condition causes a back up in the bladder and kidneys and most often results in kidney failure and death. There is only one treatment option in utero and, after a series of tests, we were told our son (whom we named Samuel Evan) was not a candidate as his kidneys were already failing. The doctors told us it was over; we would lose our son. Since we do not believe in abortion, we were told that at some point we would simply no longer find a heartbeat and I would have to deliver a stillborn baby. There are absolutely no words that fully describe the depths of our pain and anguish during that time. Our despair was so great and the pain felt overwhelming and endless. Suddenly, our lives had no meaning anymore. Our days were filled with tears and cries of desperation and begging God to save us. We felt no hope.

Then, over the course of a few weeks, and only by the grace of God, we began to find hope. God is the maker of all things and the great healer. Nothing is impossible for Him (Luke 1:37). So, instead of mourning and despair, we began choosing hope and optimism. Over and over again, God has shown us in the Bible how He is our healer and we need only to ask for His intervention. (1 John 5:14-15,  1 John 3:22, James 1:5-7, Ephesians 3:20, John 15:16, John 14:13-14, Luke 18:2, Luke 11:5-13, Matthew 21:22, Matthew 18:19, Matthew 7:7-11 - to name a few). At this time, despite all medical odds (the specialists have told us time and again it is impossible for Samuel to live), we have joy in hearts for our son is still alive and growing and his future is in God's hands. Sometimes, even with my ever-growing faith, I do get weary as we wait for Samuel's healing. But God is faithful! In my weakness, God is strong and so I am regularly renewed with hope and the courage to keep standing in faith. I firmly believe that He is listening to our prayers and the prayers of others. Every day at set times (7pm for one group and 8:30pm for another) people stop what they are doing and pray for our little Samuel along with us. We know we would not be were we are without God's intervention so we praise Him for it! We are asking for what seems impossible; we ask God to heal our son completely and allow him to live a full and long life. We know God can do it (Luke 18:27, Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God.") Please join us in praying for this miracle!

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Please feel free to share the above with everyone you know! We want God to be honored through this story and we also know we need all the prayer support we can get. 

Thank you, 

RaeAnne, Bryan and Samuel :)