10/26/2011
Author: John Powell
For 60 some days, I’ve checked Brandon and Mandy Pelton’s blog to see how baby Jude was doing. I also noticed how Brandon and Mandy were doing. I prayed as much for them as I did for their precious baby. Long hard trials wear people out. With all my heart, I wanted them to do a hard thing well. And they did.
They loved their baby and fought for his life. They knew that if he lived, his special needs would stress their family. They trusted God for the future.
They gave us a window into their daily life in the hospital with their sick baby. They wrote something to us every day. They didn’t have to do that. What they wrote was honest and reflected their view of God and their place in His story of redemption. They didn’t demand healing for Jude but they asked for it. They let us share their pain without explanation. They accepted the mystery of God’s ways and invited us to also.
Like hurt children burying themselves in their parent’s arms, they ran towards God in their pain. They lived like loved children of their heavenly Father. They didn’t use what was happening with Jude to judge God to be unworthy of their trust. They had settled in their hearts that they would still love, trust and serve God no matter what happened. God is worthy of that, and they knew it.
They fiercely loved their little son. Yet they held him lightly, willing to let go of him. Who knows how to do that? Nobody. Yet God led them through impossibly hard waters, and they did not drown. They were able to do what was required, not because they are such great people, but because they know the great God.
In the months and years ahead, the Pelton family will still need our prayers and support. Jude changed them and their family in ways that the enemy of their souls will want to use to hurt them, as much as the lover of their souls wants to bless them. Their thoughts and feelings will jump around. Reactions will vary.
Grief is hard to endure. Pain hurts. It can tempt us to forget what we previously affirmed. We may grow weary of feeling the pain and turn to ways to dull it that further wound us. Riding the roller coaster of life, even with God in control, isn’t an easy ride. So keep praying dear friends of Brandon and Mandy.
Keep praying that their lives will always affirm : ”You O God, are strong, and you O Lord, are loving.” Psalm 62:12
Mary Lou Powell
The trees planted by the waters in Psalm 1 are blown by the same wind that drives the wicked away like chaff (v.3). But for God’s sons and daughters, it forms us and strengthens us to bear fruit. And those like Brandon & Mandy who are blown by gale force winds, get permanently reshaped. The process is painful, but it puts the fruit within reach. Even the young can reach it!
Pastor John
