Harder Family

Harder Family

Monday, March 9, 2015

Omnipotent (All Powerful), Sovereign God

Psalm 103:1-3 "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise The Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits-who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases."


1 John 5:14-15 "And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him."

Yesterday, I could feel God preparing us for today. We knew it would be a long day and it lived up to being just that. God laid it on my heart to sing the song "Blessings" for Wayne at church. Somehow God enabled me to make it through the song. It was my heart crying out to God that I trusted Him with the outcome of today. Our purpose in all of this was to give God all the glory, and I pray that He has received just that.

Last night, some friends arranged to have a prayer vigil at our house. We had friends from church, mountain biking, our homeschool group, from Classical Conversations surround our house and Wayne in prayer. It was a powerful time of worship and I could sense the presence of the Lord in our midst. I could feel God comforting me and reminding me that He is in control and that He loves Wayne even more then I do.

We left for the hospital early this morning, around 4:45. When we arrived, Wayne was whisked away to get his MRI. After they were done, we were brought to our pre-op room. We learned there that Wayne was scheduled for surgery at 12:15. That time came and went as the surgery before him went over the scheduled time. While waiting, the different doctors and anesthesiologists came in and explained the surgery to Wayne. We found out that he was going to be fully awake during the whole brain surgery (we had heard this before, but we were under the impression that he would only be awake while they mapped his brain). They said they would sedate him for the beginning and end of the surgery, but he would feel the pressure of the head brace and would feel the vibrations of the saw as they cut open his skull. Needless to say, Wayne was nervous, but took it like a champ. The last few minutes before he went off to surgery, we spent some precious time praying together and reading scriptures (Ps 40-41, Isaiah 40, Ecc. 1, 9). We were trusting God regardless of the outcome, but believing Him to do what He is capable of doing...bringing complete healing. 

The wait was long, but I had a great support team. My sisters (Sarah and Rachel) were with me the whole time, as well as my other "sister" Maria. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and encouragement. I finally decided to head to the hotel to take a little nap since they were "half way" through the surgery time they told us. While I was gone, they called to say they were done with the extraction part and were sewing Wayne up. Before I could get back, Dr. Chandler came to see me. Thankfully, my sister Sarah and Maria were there. They took wonderful notes on what he told them. After I arrived, the other neurosurgeon, Dr. Tate, came to talk to me. He said that Wayne's brain had moved things around and that they were able to be aggressive in the extraction process. Dr. Chandler told my sister they got about 99% of the tumor, which is far greater then what they had initially hoped they could get. Dr. Tate told me that Wayne was already talking, could count to ten, knew his name and my name, and could move his right arm and leg. They were super thrilled with these results because we had been told since the tumor was in the SMA area, he would probably have speech and motor loss temporarily for around 10 days. Just this morning, my friend Stephanie asked me for any specific prayer requests for today. I told her it would be awesome if Wayne could wake up from surgery and talk...to defy the odds the doctors gave him. I mean, we have the Great Physician on our medical team, so why couldn't that happen for Wayne. That is just what God did. Not only were they able to get almost all of the tumor, Wayne came out with minimal SMA. His surgery also took significantly less time then they predicted. The doctors say they are confident that Wayne will make a complete recovery to his "baseline" in no time.

I finally got to see Wayne tonight around 7:30. It took me off guard to see Wayne in the condition he was. I would hate to see a patient who wasn't doing well, since they were all thrilled with his progress. He was struggling for words, but kept squeezing my hand. He was able to say he loved me, as well as today's date, his full name, and my name. He did freak me out when I told him what the doctors said. He told me, "They lied, they lied." He kept repeating it and I momentarily was shaken up. I quickly realized it was probably the effects of the drugs and surgery. The nurse confirmed this later and told me that it possibly could be that he wants to say another word and can't find it right now. By the time I left after 9, he was able to get out that he wanted water and he thanked his nurse. He was still struggling and frustrated, but I could already see progress.

I have to admit, it was very difficult for me to see Wayne lying in the hospital bed struggling to talk. At one point I thought I was going to be sick and I had to sit down. Thank you to all the nurses who do this work all the time...my hat comes off to you. Just seeing Wayne in this condition, and seeing the drain coming out of his head was enough to make me nauseous. I was able to muster enough energy and strength to be with him until the resident doctor came and checked him out. Shortly after that, I headed to the hotel to get some sleep (which I plan on doing when I'm done posting this).

Tomorrow morning the plan is to get back to the hospital early to see Wayne. Hopefully we will get a great update from the neurosurgeons. Today was a huge answer to prayer. To everyone who has been lifting out family up before the throne of God, THANK YOU! God in his Sovereign plan allowed all of this to happen, but in His Sovereign plan, He also has this healing planned. I know that we still have a journey ahead of us, but we also have the Great Physician, Jehovah Rapha!! God is good, and His faithfulness endures forever. He still would have been good if His answer were different, but I'm going to praise Him for the answer He chose to give us today. 

Lamentations 3:22-23 "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end;they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."


8 comments:

  1. All praise and glory to Almighty God. This is positive news and answer to prayer. Keep us posted and we'll keep praying! Jan Schaller

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  2. Amen! Such great news. We will keep him and your family in our prayers.

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  3. Let us shout for joy at your victory and lift the banner in the name of our God. May The Lord fulfill all your requests. Now I know that The Lord gives victory to His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with mighty victories from His right hand. Some take pride in a chariot, and others in horses, but we take pride in the name of The Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand firm. Lord, give victory to the king! May He answer us on the day that we call.

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  4. Thank-you for your update. We have been praying so hard here. It is wonderful to hear what great progress he is making and how well Wayne is doing. You will remain in our prayers daily. The girls have also been praying for "Sophia's daddy". Love you all so much!

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  5. Praise Him in Advance!!!
    Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder to them that diligently seek him.

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  6. Praise the Lord for His forever faithfulness. We are continually lifting you all up... Much love and praise be to God. He is good! -the Halaseh's

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  7. Following along, praying and rejoicing.

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