Be Courageous, Be Strong

We spent last week at NTS Camp with an incredible group of our students and leaders.  It was my first time attending the camp, and looking back I am so glad that I got the chance to go.  Several times throughout the week, my thoughts and prayers went out to our friend Michael Einfeldt.  Michael had attended quite a few years of NTS Camp so being somewhere that he loved that was somewhere that he couldn’t be this year was bittersweet.

So much of our week at camp was focused on connecting with God through the story of Joseph.  If you know anything about Joseph’s story, you know that he endured a lot of hardships throughout his life.  A short summary would include being hated by his many brothers, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, wrongfully accused, and then thrown into prison.  To put it simply, many things about Joseph’s life just weren’t fair.  And for me, what resonated was how I’ve thought that at many times, things about Michael’s accident just aren’t fair.  But for Joseph, even in those difficult times, God was working.  And this is something that I continue to truly believe about Michael and his situation.  I know that through it all, God is working and this is something that brings incredible comfort and peace.

And if you’d like an example of how God’s working, I’ve got a great one for you tonight.

Michael had a trach put in just over six months ago.  It was something that he needed at first to breathe, and then for the many surgeries that he would endure.  Michael had his last surgery, three months ago, just before he left Stony Brook University Hospital for Rehab.  But the nature of his trach is that he would still have it and that little by little, they would work for the day where it could be removed.

This past weekend, Michael finally reached the all important stage of having his trach capped (or covered completely) with the intentions of seeing how well he tolerated it.  Thanks so some text updates from Sally, we learned that Michael did amazing this weekend!  So right now, the plan is, that as long as everything continues to go well, he will have it removed today!  Sally told me that she has been told by many that this is a MAJOR Milestone to get passed and that for many, removing the trach helps to speed up the recovery process.

In the past six months, Michael has been on this incredible journey of healing and recovery.  And today, I just want to thank and praise God for being with Michael every step of the way.  So many of us have followed his story and prayed for his recovery and so for us, this is another praise and reminder to continue to pray.  Our love message for Michael would include the words of 1 Corinthians 16:13 that say, “Stand firm, be courageous and be strong.”  Michael continues to have a long road ahead of him and these are words of truth that he will need.  But for today, we can simply pray that everything will go well and that they will indeed remove the trach and that this will be another great step in the right direction for our friend Michael Einfeldt.

*UPDATE… Just got a text from Sally, the trach is out!!!  WooHoo for Michael!!!