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Archive - August, 2009

Sick Again

August 22, 2009 in Dave's Musings, Tay Sachs with 26 Comments

Carmen is sick again. It’s likely some type of pneumonia. Please pray.

***

With each bout of sickness, Lana and I struggle through the same questions.
Will this will be the one?
Should we take her to the ER or treat her at home?
Are we ready to let Carmen go?
Are we still hanging on for her…or for us?
What should we pray for? Specifically.
We know that God can heal Carmen if He chooses. We’ve asked him hundreds of times. Will He?

***

The tension is always there.
Usually, it sits right below the surface of our daily lives.
But each battle with sickness brings that tension right to the top, right out in plain sight.

It can get ugly.

Every time we go through this, Lana and I say things to each other that we would never say otherwise.
Hurtful things.
Things that aren’t even true.
Yet each time, we work through the tension and forgive each other for what we say.
After each sickness passes, we are stronger together because of it.

***

Carmen is sick again. Please pray.

Earning Wings and Flying Away

August 20, 2009 in Lana's Journal, Tay Sachs with 5 Comments

I am sharing this message from Athos and Helen, parents of sweet Stephen who passed away a couple of weeks ago. Dave, Carmen and I had the privilege of attending Stephen’s funeral.

It saddens us all to know that our son Stephen Andres Brewer entered into heaven in the early morning of Sunday, August 2, 2009. Stephen, as all of our children affected by GM-1 and other Lysosomal Storage diseases do, fought a bold and brave battle against incomprehensible odds for three years.

Stephen was a little boy with the courage and strength beyond measure. He confronted the unrelenting symptoms of this disease and never let it affect his beautiful spirit. Stephen was surrounded by his family as he left this earth. Simultaneously as his spirit lifted to heaven, it began to pour rain as though the angels and God cried tears of joy to have him back home. We will miss him dearly.

Athos and Helen Brewer

Stephen, February 2008. Isn’t he adorable?!

Stephen

My Girls

August 19, 2009 in Dave's Musings, Everyday Family with 4 Comments

It’s been a bit since I’ve posted so I thought I’d just say “Hey” and share a recent picture of my girls.

My Girls

I’m the luckiest guy in the world!

Baby Ryan

August 16, 2009 in Lana's Journal, Tay Sachs with 8 Comments

This morning, beautiful Baby Ryan went to be with Jesus. Ryan was three years old and had Tay Sachs. He was also adopted from Guatemala. Please pray for comfort and strength for Nancy, Ryan’s mom, and his three older sisters.

I was really hoping that Ryan and Carmen could meet as they share a birth country and adoption story. They will someday soon meet in Heaven.

And since you are probably wondering, no, Carmen and Ryan are not related. They are from different parts of Guatemala. The year we brought Carmen home from Guatemala, two other children were adopted into the U.S. from Guatemala who were later diagnosed with Tay Sachs. I want to add that this is not a good reason to be afraid of international adoption as these diseases are so, so rare. And no one could have known at such an early age that these children had Tay Sachs.

Beautiful Baby Ryan

Baby Ryan