I used to have two alarms set on my mobile. This week I added a third.
My 5 AM alarm wakes me up for the day - Asha and Enoch have to be out of the house with their uniforms and 'tiffins' at 6.50 AM.
The 3.20 PM alarm tells me that it is time to pick up our older 2 as their bus returns anytime between 3.30 and 3.50 PM.
And now Sheba and I have added a new alarm for 10.00 PM.
It's an alarm to remind us to give our newest son his life-sustaining medication. One dose every night.
What a blessing this medication is. And how sobering it is for us to now be praying with our son - that the meds will really work in his little body, that he will grow and develop to be strong and healthy, that his mind and will and spirit will be honed and built up as well.
Till now there are no paediatric doses for the specific set of meds that Yohan has to take - and we have been cutting the adult dose into 2/3rds and giving it to our lad. After praying with him, he takes the pill with a big smile and a large glass of water and just gulps it down.
Today we learned from our colleagues at CMC Vellore, that Yohan's weight is enough so that we can safely give him the adult dose. No more cutting pills!
And so every evening we now have a new focal point. To make sure Yohan takes his meds. A week ago we quietly crossed a rubicon in our family - from helping and serving others - to becoming a family who ourselves is affected. Humbling. Today I pray for a cure in a very different way from the haphazard way I prayed before. These days I project forward how Yohan will be as a young man and feel a very different set of emotions and hopes, than I had before. There is a concreteness, a clarity and urgency to my talking with God, a clear edge which comes from being part and parcel instead of looking in from the outside.
We know that Yohan has many other needs besides meds of course. His healing will be life-long - just as it is in each one of us as we allow ourselves to be fashioned and shaped into the persons God wants us to be. As new parents we face a new set of issues - dealing with the shadowy sorrows that our son has already gone through. Things come up in some of the talks we have had so far that tell us that this little fellow has already experienced a life-time of sadness. And so much healing of the soul and spirit is in order. Our prayers are that we will be able to facilitate a closure and restoration of Yohan's inner person as well.
In the meantime, we plunge joyfully on. Lots of hugs every day. Building a routine. Trying to get a remedial learning programme up and running for Yohan as soon as we can (we are talking to Grih Shiksha for their curriculum). Working with Asha and Enoch to integrate our newest and quite unexpected member in our home. Helping Yohan understand that life is not just eating chocolate all the time - that we need to grow in love and self-control. All of this happening all at once. We appreciate your prayers as we step forward.
In the meantime, the alarms keep going off. The next one will do so in just over 5 hours from now. Another short night ahead!
Onwards!
My 5 AM alarm wakes me up for the day - Asha and Enoch have to be out of the house with their uniforms and 'tiffins' at 6.50 AM.
The 3.20 PM alarm tells me that it is time to pick up our older 2 as their bus returns anytime between 3.30 and 3.50 PM.
And now Sheba and I have added a new alarm for 10.00 PM.
It's an alarm to remind us to give our newest son his life-sustaining medication. One dose every night.
What a blessing this medication is. And how sobering it is for us to now be praying with our son - that the meds will really work in his little body, that he will grow and develop to be strong and healthy, that his mind and will and spirit will be honed and built up as well.
Till now there are no paediatric doses for the specific set of meds that Yohan has to take - and we have been cutting the adult dose into 2/3rds and giving it to our lad. After praying with him, he takes the pill with a big smile and a large glass of water and just gulps it down.
Today we learned from our colleagues at CMC Vellore, that Yohan's weight is enough so that we can safely give him the adult dose. No more cutting pills!
And so every evening we now have a new focal point. To make sure Yohan takes his meds. A week ago we quietly crossed a rubicon in our family - from helping and serving others - to becoming a family who ourselves is affected. Humbling. Today I pray for a cure in a very different way from the haphazard way I prayed before. These days I project forward how Yohan will be as a young man and feel a very different set of emotions and hopes, than I had before. There is a concreteness, a clarity and urgency to my talking with God, a clear edge which comes from being part and parcel instead of looking in from the outside.
We know that Yohan has many other needs besides meds of course. His healing will be life-long - just as it is in each one of us as we allow ourselves to be fashioned and shaped into the persons God wants us to be. As new parents we face a new set of issues - dealing with the shadowy sorrows that our son has already gone through. Things come up in some of the talks we have had so far that tell us that this little fellow has already experienced a life-time of sadness. And so much healing of the soul and spirit is in order. Our prayers are that we will be able to facilitate a closure and restoration of Yohan's inner person as well.
In the meantime, we plunge joyfully on. Lots of hugs every day. Building a routine. Trying to get a remedial learning programme up and running for Yohan as soon as we can (we are talking to Grih Shiksha for their curriculum). Working with Asha and Enoch to integrate our newest and quite unexpected member in our home. Helping Yohan understand that life is not just eating chocolate all the time - that we need to grow in love and self-control. All of this happening all at once. We appreciate your prayers as we step forward.
In the meantime, the alarms keep going off. The next one will do so in just over 5 hours from now. Another short night ahead!
Onwards!
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