“Realize that God means for you to be where you are. When you are in a difficult place, realize the Lord either placed you there or allowed you to be there, for reasons perhaps known for now only to Himself.” (The Red Sea Rules by Robert Morgan) 2014 was an emotional and faith building year for us. It is a year we can look back on and say we saw, and experienced, God’s hand at work not only in our lives but in the life of others. In February of 2014 we found out we were expecting our second child. We were so excited, not only for ourselves, but also for Wade because he was going to be a Big Brother!! In June we found out we were having another boy and began planning for Baby Walker’s arrival in November 2014. I was around 30 weeks in my pregnancy when we found out Walker had something wrong with his kidneys. We had 4 doctors tell us to expect a very difficult outcome, the most likely being that Walker would not make it. With my lack of amniotic fluid the fear was his lungs would not be able to sustain life, and we would never be given the opportunity to address his kidney issue. If he was able to overcome the lung issues we were told Walker would go into renal failure around the 3rd day of life. At that point Adam and I began to prepare for the day we would have to say goodbye to our son. We found ourselves on bended knee asking God to grant us a miracle & begging him to save our son. God provided. As most of you know Walker was born on October 23, 2014 and came out screaming! After he was born he was moved to the NICU at Brookwood and later transported to Children’s. Adam and I had decided if Walker overcame all the obstacles he had before him, we would have him baptized after he was born. He was baptized on October 24, 2014 (Wade’s 4th Birthday). He will be 10 weeks old tomorrow!! Walker was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Failure at birth and has spent most of his life at Children’s Hospital. The weekend after Thanksgiving Adam and I found ourselves in the ER at Children’s admitting Walker for what we thought was dehydration due to vomiting. The reality was his kidney function was failing & he was in Renal Failure. The next day we were told to expect him to go on dialysis overnight. That day he was moved from the Renal Floor to Special Care to PICU. Among our family and close friends, Reverend Bill Boyd and Ingram Link from our church, Covenant Presbyterian, came to pray for Walker and for us as we found ourselves again waiting on God to reveal His plan. As we sat in the open waiting area outside Walker’s room I showed Reverend Boyd a plaque that had Maggie and Will Brooke’s name on it for donating to Children’s Hospital. Maggie and Will Brooke are not only member’s of our church and actively involved in the community, but Maggie Brooke “saved my life” as a child. My Dad was supposed to be “watching” me at the pool when I was 3 years old and I somehow ended up on the bottom of the deep end. Maggie Brooke jumped in with all her clothes on to save me. And as I found myself watching my child fighting for his life her name is on the wall outside his room. Another moment in our journey with Walker that we have seen God provide us comfort. Walker has had multiple surgeries and though he his stable, as the doctor’s have told us “he has no reserve” in the event he gets sick. As he grows he will need more kidney function and the prediction is that his kidney will not be able to provide what he needs. His right kidney is not a functioning kidney so what little function he does have is coming from his left kidney. We have been told to prepare for Walker to need dialysis prior to transplant, which is around 25 pounds. Our prayer is that Walker continues to prove everybody wrong and go further than they expect him to with the kidney function that he does have. Our prayer is that he does not need dialysis and can get to transplant with as few bumps as possible. We believe, and God continues to amaze us and sustain us day by day. Walker would not be here and doing as well as he is if it wasn’t God’s will. We know the days, weeks, months, and years ahead are not going to be easy, but God never said life was going to be easy. We are meant to live our lives day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, with God being at the center of our lives. I have always known and believed that to be true, but never lived that out in my daily life until now. Through Walker’s life he has brought me to my knees and drawn me closer to the Lord than ever before. As most of us know when things are good we think “we got this,” but when things get hard we turn to the Lord. We should turn to the Lord on the good days and the bad. A good friend of mine, who passed away from Melanoma, once said why wait to pray with your husband until you are faced with cancer or hard times. We should all pray with our husbands and with our children. I ask the same she asked of so many, don’t wait to turn to the Lord when times get tough, turn to Him now even when things are good! As we all enter 2015 and make our resolutions mine is to continue to depend on God day by day, good or bad.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 04:20:13 +0000
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