Here are three stories written by wives of NOBTS faculty members that tell of God's faithfulness despite difficult circumstances this year involving their children. 在每种情况下，他们都有感恩的理由.
作者:劳拉·哈伍德(Laura Harwood. 亚当·哈伍德
我们正处在工作日的早高峰. 每个人都被淋湿了, 早饭吃完了, and school lunches were being packed before we all hurried out the door to go in our different directions. My husband Adam and I were doing the usual who’s-doing-what-today-routine as we prepared to send our two teenagers off to their respective high schools.
我们17岁的儿子乔纳森对我说:“妈妈，我感觉不舒服.“我6英尺4英寸高的儿子一直很强壮, active, 和健康, 所以每当他抱怨的时候, 我保持警惕. He had mentioned having headaches the last couple of days (which were unusual for him) but I was not too concerned about headaches.
但当我听到他的声音，看着他苍白的脸时，我立刻开始担心起来. 乔纳森坐了下来，把头往后仰，开始揉自己的胸口. 他说他感到胸口发闷，手臂上有一种奇怪的疼痛. 然后，他迅速地从椅子上跳起来，匆匆跑到浴室，然后变得很不舒服. 就在那时，亚当和我知道这不是一种典型的疾病. 我们的儿子有点不对劲.
分类和测试
We immediately changed our plans and headed for the emergency room at 新奥尔良 Children’s Hospital. 在早上的这个时候，没有办法避免繁忙的交通高峰.
当亚当在新奥尔良市中心附近的堵车中爬行时, 乔纳森又开始抱怨胸口疼，手臂疼. 亚当知道乔纳森不能再等下去了. 他需要立即得到帮助. 儿童医院还是太远了. 亚当直奔大学医疗中心急诊室的入口, 当约拿单被分诊时, 医疗的轮子开始转动，神的慈爱和信实开始提醒我们.
在接下来的几个小时里，乔纳森被置于监测器上，接受了一连串的测试. 医生告诉我们，他的肌钙蛋白水平表明他有心脏病发作, 但他没有表现出任何其他典型的标记. 乔纳森这个年龄的人的肌钙蛋白酶通常在20-25岁左右. 他最初的读数超过5000. 每隔几个小时，这种酶就会被重新检查一次，他的数字继续攀升. 他的肌钙蛋白水平最终达到了13000.
在急诊室待了一整天之后, 心脏病专家的诊断结果是心肌炎——心脏的炎症. Jonathan was admitted to the hospital to monitor his heart and to wait for his enzyme level to stabilize. 他待了四天. He was discharged with orders for two weeks of strict bed rest and then restricted physical activities for 6 months.
上帝在工作的提醒
现在离住院已经两个月了. Jonathan has seen his cardiologist regularly and has had echocardiograms and MRIs to monitor his heart. 他心脏周围还有肿块, 但情况正在好转，我们的家人仍然希望他能完全康复.
在这个充满挑战的时期, 神的信实和良善是如此的多. We look back and see so clearly how God’s hand led us to the best cardiac hospital in our city and provided amazing doctors who worked diligently behind the scenes, consulting with physicians in other hospitals to ensure Jonathan was given the very best plan of care.
当我们开始担心, our family was filled with a sense of peace and comfort that our son’s life was securely held in the hands 的 Almighty. 亲爱的基督徒朋友为我们祷告，不断鼓励我们, 与我们分享圣经, 并且心甘情愿地，热切地寻求与我们一起承担这一重担的方法.
Our 希望 has been that Jonathan would be able to use this experience in his young life to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalms 34:8) and that he would see so clearly how God was faithfully causing this to work for his good (Romans 8:28).
我们仍在为约拿单的完全痊愈祷告并信靠神, 但是我们非常感激他已经用了很多方法来工作. 你们要称谢耶和华、因他本为善! 因为他的慈爱永远长存”(历代志上16:34)。.
丽贝卡·赖斯(Rebekah Rice)著. 波米
在我40岁生日的前一天, 1月8日, 2020, 我挣扎在这样一个具有里程碑意义的生日的情绪中, I told my husband Bo that I was not sure what the next decade held for me as a ministry wife and stay-at-home mother of four.
在我们生了三个最大的孩子之后, we fostered and adopted our fourth child Nathan through the Louisiana Department of Children Family Services (DCFS). 他于2018年1月22日被正式收养. I did not feel that the Lord had released us from our foster care and adoption journey that we had been on since October of 2016, 但我和菠一直在祈祷上帝指引我们的家继续营业.
2月8日, 2020 -- exactly one month after I struggled with God’s purpose for a new decade of life -- the Lord clearly revealed His purpose to me and answered Bo’s and my prayer about continuing our foster care journey.
儿童与家庭服务部联系我后，我在2月7日过夜, 2020, 在当地医院的新生儿重症监护室, 我带回家一个两周大的漂亮的小女孩，名叫萨瓦纳. 她非常需要我们的家庭, 我知道上帝已经证实了他对我的生命和我们家庭的生命的继续召唤. The journey and calling has been filled with overwhelming joy and gratitude in the midst of great heartache and trials.
因为她出生的环境, 萨瓦纳在她生命的第一年经历了巨大的挣扎. 每次她吃东西，饿了，有一个气泡，需要打嗝，等等. 所有这些都在她小小的身体里表现出疼痛. 她很难安慰，而且睡得不好. 她立刻喜欢上了我, 但正因为如此, I was the only one who could soothe her or who could feed her—the first nine months of her life were intense.
在她来我们这里照顾一个月后, 整个世界都因为COVID而关闭了, 我们的三个学龄儿童回家进行虚拟学习. 那几个月非常艰难, 回顾过去, 除了上帝的恩典，我不太清楚我们是如何做到的.
但即使在艰难和疲惫的时刻, tears of overwhelming gratitude would pour down my face because 的 privilege of being the one who got to hold, 爱, 培养, 并通过这种强烈的治疗过程温柔地照顾大草原.
她开始痊愈了, 她会伸手抓住我的一只手，在她喂食的时候握住我的手指. 我的心融化了，我的眼睛里充满了美丽的泪水. 在那些疲惫不堪的时刻, her tiny hand clasping mine was the reminder I needed that our Mighty Holy Father cared for me just as tenderly and fiercely as I cared for Savanna, 我的心就会充满感恩.
真正的家
今年, 4月12日, 2022, 路易斯安那州的一名法官合法地宣布萨凡纳露丝·赖斯是波和我的女儿, and tears once again flowed freely with the overwhelming gratitude of God’s goodness to Bo and me.
From God bringing Savanna 成 our home to the emotional highs and lows of foster care to her becoming our daughter, 我可以毫无疑问地说，上帝是如此的好. 他是如此的善良.
Savanna continues to have health needs that require many doctors and therapy appointments each week, 但她的生活确实是个奇迹. 在她的治愈之旅中，她已经走了很远.
我读了安·沃斯坎普的书 一千件礼物 12年前, and the main idea 的 book has stuck with me—to “dare to live fully right where you are” through seeking to give thanks to the Lord in the day to day because in Him we find true joy. So, 即使在精疲力竭的时候, 困难的, 美丽的, 缺陷, I am so thankful God entrusted Bo and me to parent and shepherd Savanna and has allowed our family to be her family–forever.
作者:玛丽莲·斯图尔特(Marilyn Stewart. 鲍勃·斯图尔特
我的孙子六天大的时候，我们家接到了一个震惊世界的电话.
我的女儿和女婿被告知他们美丽的, 外形完美的婴儿患有脊髓性肌萎缩症(SMA), 婴儿死亡的头号遗传原因. 这是一个漫长的过程。, dark night of tears as we struggled with the news that our sweet baby would not live to see his second birthday.
第二天早上在神经科医生的办公室, 好消息是:凯莱布的SMA型并不是最严重的, 今天有了突破性的治疗方法. 仍然, SMA是退行性的, 看起来很像成人的渐冻症, 每个人的反应都不一样.
换句话说，没有任何保证.
祝福
凯莱布聪明、漂亮，达到了其他宝宝能达到的标准. 他看起来和其他婴儿没什么两样. 但是SMA是无法治愈的，正如神经学家提醒他的父母的那样, 治疗只能减缓病情, 不要停止.
我承认，这并不容易接受. 这也不容易让人接受.
全年, 我们家又传来了另一个不幸的消息, each being a reminder that we cannot dictate what life will look like or what tomorrow will bring. 我们不知道凯勒的未来会怎样. 我们知道他将面临挑战，其中一些将是重大的挑战.
然而，我们是如此的幸运. 凯莱布点亮了我们的生活，让我们的心充满欢乐. Already he is reshaping our thoughts and tuning our hearts to listen more attentively to the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1: 3-4). 在每一个转折中，我们都看到神的怜悯，因为他耐心地等待我们成长, 即使祂与我们同行.
凯莱布的消息一开始让我很震惊, 我们很快恢复了理智，意识到这不是世界末日. 我们很清楚别人, 即使是亲爱的朋友, 是否面临着比我们更严重的考验和损失. 在艰难的日子里, we marvel as we realize that God had gone before us to make our path that day easier than it could have been, 我们心中充满了感恩.
We are as humbled as we are grateful: grateful for dedicated medical researchers and advances; grateful that newborn screening very recently became available; grateful for the outpouring of 爱 and care we have received from praying friends.
的礼物
许多年前，我发现了C. S. 刘易斯的 魔术师的侄子 的 纳尼亚传奇. To read it is to feel young Digory’s desperation to save his dying mother as he searches out the great lion Aslan, 故事中的基督形象, 祈求"魔法"来治愈她.
Only in despair does Digory find the courage to lift his eyes from Aslan’s terrible paws to look 成 the lion's eyes. 当他这样做的时候，迪格雷惊讶地发现那里有“巨大的、闪闪发光的眼泪”. 在那一刻, 迪格雷开始相信阿斯兰一定比他更关心他生病的母亲.
I do believe Jesus 爱s Caleb more than I do—my 爱 is so shallow compared to His—and when I remember this, 我的盼望开始升起(诗篇27:13-14).
最近, 我女儿在SMA社区的一个朋友, 一位母亲，她的孩子强烈地感受到疾病的影响, 告诉她, “苦难是一份礼物.”
也许. This inspiring woman knows far better than my family does at this moment the trials of this condition, 她知道耶稣. 我只知道只有上帝能改变痛苦 成 一份礼物.
我也知道这一点. 当我看着凯莱布甜美的脸庞看着他成长和学习，我知道 he 是一份礼物. 就像上帝赐予我的每一份礼物一样，我努力，我打算， I 希望 带着喜悦和感激接受这份礼物, 然后毅然转身，放下我们珍贵的礼物, 我们的孙子, 回到那些深谙苦难的人手中, 落在国王耶稣满是钉子的手上.
