Artists

Hope's Call

When Life Takes a Turn

Hey Everyone....I am sure I am like most of us when I say, I can hardly stop aching for the many thousands and thousands of people affected by Hurricane Katrina. Looking at the images on television sometimes makes me step inside the screen mentally. I begin imagining if that were me and my family wading through waist high water with no idea where we were headed. Yesterday, as I watched mothers with little babies sleeping on cement overpasses, I just wept. Last week all these people likely had a warm bed, dry clothing,and food in a cold refrigerator and then...suddenly life took a dramatic turn. I have to say that, although I have never been through something of this magnitude and devastation, I have been through a few life storms that have felt at the time like things would never be ok and would never be "normal" again.

About 5 years ago, we were enjoying life with 4 healthy kids...We were just beginning the ministry of Hope's Call. Our kids were enjoying life and friends. Everything seemed to be going along just fine. Then a series of events turned into a major life turn for our family. The first turn came with heart wrenching news that deeply affected our son, Josh, who was 10 at the time. His very best friend in the whole world, Gregory Price, went home to be with the Lord suddenly, as a result of a rare auto immune disease with a very long name. His parents were amazing. Through the dramatic turn they were experiencing, they gave God all the glory for the years they were blessed to have Greg. They thanked God for his friends and his life. They were the most amazing example to our family. They showed us that although life can dramatically turn, and tremendous hurt can come, God NEVER turns away. He is there. He is faithful. He is a comforter. He is HOPE. They lived out GRACE right before our eyes.

Little did I know how soon I would need to see and find strength from their example. Just 2 weeks after Greg's death life took a turn for us personally...At first, it seemed like it would be a small curve in the road, but soon we realized, it was a major turn in a direction we never could have imagined it going. We found ourselves in a hospital emergency room with son, Josh (remember, this was his best friend that had died). He couldn't walk, he had a fever, and he was covered with a strange rash. We were mind boggled. We were told that Joshua had a very rare auto immune disease (It was oddly similar to Greg's, yet they said these things are not contagious). It had a similar and equally long name. Over the coming months, we would learn much about this disease. Doctor's warned us that it had certain risks, but they said they felt confident these things would not happen to Joshua. Well each one, one at a time, sometimes two at a time did happen to Josh. He became very sick and his illness became life threatening. LIFE had taken a dramatic turn. It would never be completely the same. Joshua was in aggressive kidney failure. The doctor's were working tirelessly to try to stop the kidneys from failing. It is a very long story and Joshua went through so much...But through it all he possessed this amazing peacefulness that was contagious. God's grace was all over him. I had my good moments and weak moments, as did my husband and our family, but God remained constant in His faithfulness and love. I remember one of my weak moments was when Josh said to me, "Mom, maybe Greg missed me and he asked God if I could come to heaven to play." Oh, what a moment. One time, Josh made me laugh and cry at the same time. He wrote a song called God does Miracles. It said:

God does miracles I know this is true.
God does miracles, This I am telling you.
If you trust in the Lord, He'll be there all the way.
That's what I am going around singing to say!

That blessed me so much. To read his hope and his conviction that once God healed him, he knew he had to share it! WOW! Tears! The same song also made me laugh. Here is a classic line from one of the verses:

I'm just another kid who got a disease. At least I didn't get rabies.

Oh gracious, how I laughed! And how I needed to.

I cannot tell you the countless prayers, cards, emails, posters, games, and visits that Joshua received. All the time, God was just working through people to help lift all of us up. And all the time, I was reminded of the grace and strength of Greg's family and they lost their son. I still had mine. I had so much to be thankful for.

Joshua began to stabilize after about one year. The illness with the long name was gone, but he was left with kidney damage that doctors expected to lead to eventual kidney failure over a longer period of time. He continued on medications and close monitoring for about 2 years. Then because of his amazing progress, he was removed from all medication and just continued with close observational check ups. Well, about 1 and 1/2 years ago and 3 and 1/2 years after the illness began, his doctors at Children's Hospital shared their amazement with me about how well Joshua was doing. They knew we were moving to TN and had to have his records transferred and follow up care here. In my final conversation with his main doctor, Dr. Mattoo, the words of this man were...."Mrs. Beauvais, I never expected Joshua would do this well. He may be observed closely by his regular physician, but he does not need on-going care at Vanderbilt, unless a problem arises." Guess who did that .....GOD! This was another turn, but it was a good turn! Praise God! I love it when God stumps the doctors!

No doctor will promise us that Joshua's health problems are over, but GOD has promised us that He would go through every single one with us FAITHFULLY. He is an AWESOME God and I cannot imagine weathering any storm without HIM. I truly believe that Joshua is HEALED. But I know no matter what each of us may face....God walks with us. I believe that He wades through the water with those devastated people on the gulf coast. I believe He rides up into the helicopter with His children that are in those baskets. I am thankful that He gently closes their eyes for a few minutes of rest when they are weary and I believe He wraps His loving arms around them when they face the loss of life and possessions. Life surely takes turns, but GOD never turns away! He is a loving and merciful GOD. Let's pray about what we can do to be His hands and His feet during this tremendous time of need. I will never forget all the people He used to surround us with HIS love. And I will never forget the quiet nights in the hospital room, as Josh slept, when He would just embrace me with His presence and remind me that our family was not alone.

Let's commit to praying everyday that the people of the gulf coast will call out to a GOD who hears, look to a God who sees, and reach to a God who stretches HIS loving arms out to receive all who call on the name of the SAVIOR.

With Love and Prayers,

Donna
http://www.hopescall.com