Admittedly, I am a little distracted this week and have only one thing prominently on my mind. Our first grandchild, Vinny, is due to arrive in this world on Wednesday, July 29, in Boston at the Children’s Hospital. As many of you already know he has been diagnosed with a heart defect. As of right now it is unclear exactly the extent of it, but he is somewhere on the Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) spectrum. HLHS is a birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart. As the baby develops during pregnancy, the left side of the heart does not form correctly. Without going into detail or getting too technical (neither of which I am capable of doing) suffice it is to say that HLHS is a very serious situation. He will require surgery soon after his birth and perhaps several other surgeries in the months ahead. The doctors, some of the best in the world at the hospital rated number one in the world in pediatric cardiac surgery, will assess the situation and make that determination as soon as possible. We are asking all to continue to pray for Vinny, our daughter, Laura, and her husband, Mike.

We believe that God hears the prayers of His people. And we believe that God can heal. We are not “name and claim it” people. We are more the “Not my will but Thy will be done.” type of believer. God is in control. We know that God is God and that He loves us, no matter what. And that He loves Vinny more than any of us ever could. In fact, He has created him and knows every part of His body. He knows what needs to be done and He will guide the hands that need to do it.

Susan re-wrote a portion of Psalm 139, inserting Vinny’s name. We have it hanging on our refrigerator. It is our prayer and God’s promise, a proclamation of the Lord’s intimate love for each one of us and His Divine presence from the beginning of our days.

For you created Vinny’s inmost being;
you knit him together in Laura’s womb.
I praise you because Vinny is fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
Vinny’s frame was not hidden from you
when Vinny was made in the secret place,
when Vinny was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw Vinny’s unformed body;
all the days ordained for Vinny were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to us are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were we to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand-
when we awake, we are still with you.

Thank you for your support, love and continued prayers. We will keep you posted.

What do you think?
How does it make you feel?

Shalom,

Steven