Searched and Known

It all started with a little leg pain, then difficulty walking, and within weeks baby Daniel's entire body was swollen. I drove baby Daniel and the GSF nurse, Kim, to Jinja to meet with a doctor who referred us to a pediatrician. The pediatrician quickly assessed Daniel before sending us in for blood tests, urine analysis, and an ultrasound. When the results came back, the doctor informed us that baby Daniel was in stage two of Acute Nephritic Syndrome. For an 18 month-year-old, this was no light diagnosis. It didn't take long for the doctor to warn us of the gravity of the situation: Daniel needed treatment immediately. If treatment was not effective within a few days, Daniel's condition could become life-or-death and would require dialysis. 

How could this healthy child be in such dire condition? Oh, and didn't we just celebrate Christmas? And I'm supposed to celebrate New Years Eve tomorrow? And is there even somewhere to take Daniel if he needs dialysis? Will this little baby lose his life right here in my arms? I felt helpless. It's a hard place to be, but it drove me to the One who I know is sovereign over all. 

Baby Daniel was admitted into the Nile International Hospital. Kim, the nurse, spent the first night with him so that she could keep an expert eye on him and observe whether or not his body would take the medicine. The next day Daniel (my husband - not baby Daniel) and I went to Kampala to celebrate New Years together. New Years was a sweet time of refreshment for me + Daniel. Honestly, it felt like I escaped the nightmare of baby Daniel's medical condition and woke up at a beautiful resort full of delicious food and clean everything. What a whirlwind. 

Within days I was back at the hospital with baby Daniel. I spent the next four days attending to him. The job itself was mostly simple - just changing diapers, washing clothes, and entertaining little Daniel. But there's something about spending four days in an isolated hospital room that was emotionally challenging. Part of it was just reflecting on Daniel's life. It was an honor to care for such a delightful little boy. Where was his family to care for him and how'd he get stuck with me? My heart hurt for him as I thought of the many circumstances in his life that brought him to that hospital. I realized how little I knew baby Daniel before our concentrated time together. If I was learning so much about him in days, I must really only be at the tip of the iceberg with this little guy. I thought I loved little Daniel before our time in the hospital, but could it be that I loved a baby that I hardly knew? And if so, did little Daniel even know my love for him? 

God's love is more than just a generic value for our lives; He loves us and He intimately knows us.  It's not in a casual sense such as knowing our demeanor or knowing what makes us cry; we are fully known by Him. 

God challenged me in that hospital room to strive to know the children of GSF the way He knows me. I know I will never reach full knowledge of the kids here, and it would be impossible to intimately know over 80 children. But I pray that my love for them is never confined to brief interactions here and there or short greetings as I pass by their houses. I pray that my connection to them would reflect God's deep and everlasting love and knowledge of them. 

Psalm 139 (ESV)

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, 

behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before, 

and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I free from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,"

even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

How previous to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!

O men of blood, depart from me!

They speak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies take your name in vain.

Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

I ate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Tru me and know my thoughts!

And if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

Thank you to all who prayed for little Daniel during his time at the hospital. I thank God for the awesome work for healing that He did in Daniel's body! Although Daniel is no longer in the hospital, his body is still healing gradually. He's still on a strict diet and will be going for periodic blood tests until his body has fully recovered. Please continue praying for him!

Daniel on his first day at the hospital

Trying to entertain ourselves while Daniel's IV was hooked up!

Discharge day!

1. Please pray for Daniel as he is in the final stretch of the building project. His goal is to be done by the beginning of February, but he's going to need the driving force of your prayers to make this happen.
2. Pray that Daniel's US immigrant visa would finish processing so that it's available when we are ready to visit the US (we're hoping to be back in the spring for a few months). For anyone interested, his case is currently under review at the National Visa Center (NVC). If the case is completed at the NVC, it'll be sent to Nairobi, Kenya where Daniel and I will need to go for an interview.
3. Pray for Corinne as January tends to be a busy month juggling the sponsorship and scholarship programs! She also plans to kick off some training with the Baby House workers this month.
4. Praise God for His gift of health over 2014! Please pray that God would continue to sustain and protect us.