Be Our Strength

It’s Missions Conference Week at Eastport Bible Church.  Which means that we have a group of missionaries who are at our church to share their ministries with us.  We have special events all throughout the week and it makes everything a little extra busy, but also a lot of extra fun.  One thing that our church always encourages is sharing meals with the different families that are here for the week.  So tonight, we invited our friends John and Naomi Caprari over.  Jeremy’s mom made her special Salmon dinner and we all had a great time catching up and hearing about their upcoming mission in Tanzania, Africa.

Later in the evening, John shared with us that there were so many people and churches in Michigan (where he and Naomi are currently based in between traveling) that are praying for our friend Michael.  This was such an encouraging and beautiful thing to hear.

I took a bit of time to look back tonight to see if I had pictures of Michael with the Capraris.  And in doing so, I realized that John graduated that same year that Michael started coming around to Youth Group.  So they didn’t have a whole lot of time or opportunities to interact to much because John ended up moving out to Michigan to attend Grace Bible College.

However, last summer, he and Naomi returned to do a summer internship at our church.  And during this, John had the chance to spend some time with Michael and get to know him at many of our summer events.

I found a few pictures of them from one of our nights of Youth Group at the Beach.  It was fun to think back and to see how God worked so incredibly in both of their lives.  John came to our youth group in Jr. High and became incredibly involved in everything that we did.  He was one of our core students and we loved having him around and watching the many ways that God would grow his faith.  John attended Youth Group all throughout high school and would join us for many events, camps and mission trips.  He developed a strong love for Jesus and a deep desire to use his life to serve God.  We were so blessed to be a part of John’s life.

And it was cool, because for a short time last summer, Michael was able to be blessed in knowing John as well.

John taught the Bible lessons that summer and Michael was there to be encouraged by his stories and by his words.  I don’t remember everything that John said that night, but I do know that he contributed in making an impact on the kids in our youth group and for that we were so thankful.  It’s another example of the amazing ways that God weaves our lives together.

John and Naomi asked tonight how Michael was doing and we were able to fill them in first hand.  This past weekend was a rough one for Michael.  He ended up having to go through tests and procedures so that the doctors could figure out what was causing him discomfort.  Thankfully, they were able to and as of tonight, Michael is at his Rehab, resting and hopefully gearing up for his first full week of therapies.

I got a message from Sally tonight, that she asked me to share.  So of course, I told her that I would, and here is what she told me, in words so raw and beautiful:

This journey to healing from a TBI  is not a smooth one and not always do you move in a forward direction. Often you take two steps forward and then one step back.  I have to be honest I have found myself questioning why, I have gotten impatient, scared . Anxious and even angry at times. But I am human and I find these feeling just weaken you.

I have to stay strong. I have found my strength, my hope and peace by being patient and submitting to Gods timing and trusting Him that He has got this and would never give us something we can’t handle. To always remember he will never leave us and that we are not alone and to remain confident that his plan for Michael will be great. This is what keeps you going. Keeps you moving forward. I could only ask to pray that we continue to move forward and that the bumps in the road be fewer and far from in between .

Please continue to pray for Sally, Michael and for their family.  Isaiah 33:2 was on my heart today.  I love that it asks for God’s grace, which he always so freely gives.  I know that I personally love for God and for the good things that He promises.  The verse continues as it asks God to be our strength every morning and our salvation in the times of our distress.  It was a beautiful prayer for my life and for Michael and his family as they continue on this long journey.