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The Bible tells us that we are to comfort others with the comfort we have been comforted with. Personally, I have been through some very tough times, to the point I thought God had turned His back on me and my prayers could no longer be heard. But then, unexpectedly, His hand was again on my shoulder. I learned that principle well and counseled a man who had attempted suicide that he was now a fit minister to others who are hurting as he had been. How sweet it is to come to the end of that journey. And sweeter still to be fit to comfort and encourage others who are suffering. Dedication has such rewards. I call this story, The Sweet Aroma of Dedication It is the story of Ann Townsend. Little babies should be content. They should only cry when they're hungry, lonesome or wet. They should be curious about their hands, and they should sleep soundly. Little Hannah was too busy being fussy and crying to see her hands; she cried when she wasn't hungry or wet, even when she should have been sleeping she cried, and she continued to get worse throughout her six weeks of life. Ann had good reason to be concerned. She cuddled and rocked Hannah for hours at a time, sometimes all night trying to comfort her. Then she saw something alarming. Little Hanna's eyes had turned yellow. She called her husband Dave, and they decided to see a doctor immediately. The doctor made a simple test and told them it was a good thing they'd brought her in. He ordered an emergency blood test and without delay, sent them to Children's Hospital. There, Hannah was examined again and a liver biopsy ordered. Two days later the biopsy was taken and on the third, Hannah's diagnosis was complete. Little Hannah had biliary atrosia. The doctor handed them a big book and said, "This is what your life is going to be like; and the problems you are going to have." Taking that book out of his hands was like receiving a gruesome sentence for their baby. It's hard to read with tear filled eyes. And the more Ann read the harder it got. It told her of stunted growth, mental impairment, and underdeveloped motor skills, that their little darling would require constant care. Finally, she would probably die young and miserably. From Ann's deepest heart arose a protest born out of faith and priceless love, "God wouldn't do this!" Thus began a struggle between, doctors' reports and God's Word. Ann settled one thing like a cornerstone. The outcome for Hannah would be health and life, and upon that strength began an uncompromising journey of faith. At six weeks old, little Hanna was immediately scheduled for radical surgery. They removed the gallbladder, attached a piece of intestine to her liver for drainage, turned an intestine inside out, stitched it to her outside skin, near her solar plexis and produced a hole (a stoma) there. And there, a little bag was affixed to catch her bile so that it could be reintroduced at the right time. What Ann would have to do to her baby was a lot like giving a puppy its first bath. The puppy had no idea of what you are doing to it or why. Remember how it struggled, trying to save its helpless little self. And even though it was for its health, the puppy thought it was being punished . . . how difficult it was, and how glad you were when it was over. You cuddled your little dog in a towel for a long time trying to make it understand that you still loved it. Within a half hour of her feeding, Ann would have to remove the bile from the bag with a syringe and insert a long tube all the way into the bottom of her intestines and slowly squeeze the bile in. so that her food would digest properly. Ann explains, "I got used to it, but it took me a while." Bile has a penetrating, "vomity" odor. Sometimes, it would squirt back up and onto Ann Moreover, cleaning the stoma was a stressful task, much worse than holding a puppy still while cleaning its ears. The stoma was surrounded by a plastic washer that was glued to Hanna's stomach. She had to remove it and glue another in its place. The neck of the bag had a ring in it that pressed into a lip on the washer. Removing and replacing it was a miserable chore. Ann says, "because Hannah would be crying and screaming. I'd break out into hot sweat just trying to get her cleaned up and a new washer put on her." But an amazing thing happened: Ann learned to like the odor of bile. "It kind of became a perfume to me because we were so close. I was with her 24 hours a day." Ann had to go through this process several times each day for six weeks until Hannah's liver began working. How Ann and Dave wished they could explain to their baby what was happening. But, how do you comfort a child in pain when love just doesn't seem to be enough, especially when you must hurt her again and again? At least the torturesome stoma cleansing ceased after six weeks, But the sickness did not, and neither did the 24-hour daily vigilance. And neither did Ann's tenacious faith. There were frequent setbacks when Hannah would get an infection that would shut down her liver and send her back to the hospital for ten days. These were tiring and anxious months, and after each ordeal they hoped to get through just one full month without a hospital treatment. The hospital would administer a powerful antibiotic and steroid blast (a very high level) to get her liver working. Then, after a year of these monthly treatments, the doctor's report came like a kick in the heart. The steroid blast no longer worked. Supplements that were supposed to help her gain weight had failed. The hospital gave up. Her liver was ruined and would have to be replaced. She would very likely die first. Ann sank, "No, no, no, I'm not receiving that. Those who give mercy are supposed to receive mercy." Ann and Dave had always practiced mercy, and they had often seen God's mercy when man had failed. It was a reasonable request. They continued praying God's promises from The Bible They had assurance as well. While Ann was praying, God had reminded her that "Hannah" means "grace," and told her that He was giving her the grace to get through this. He had also comforted her concerning the number of medications Hannah was taking. He reminded her of the scripture, "If you drink any deadly thing it will not harm you." So, she was put at ease, knowing the medicines would not harm her. Still, she would sit all night with her baby, praying, praying, praying. Then God moved. A week later the Townsend home was filled with unspeakable joy. Little Hannah's liver started working by itself. The doctors said they could do no more, but God who tasted their tears did what the man couldn't. Hannah continued to improve for the next year. Her doctor visits became less frequent and after eighteen months, her name was removed from the transplant list. At her five-year checkup she was off the charts in weight and height. She could stack blocks, pull toys, and feed herself, and walk with one shoe pulled off like normal toddlers do. There were no impairments, and she never had any other sicknesses. She rarely even got a cold. That in itself was a miracle. What God did for Hannah was medically impossible; a completely new experience for her doctors. Ann says, "they were all very surprised and at different points would even credit God. Two nurses told me that she was a miracle, and her surgeon said that God was on our side. They all in their own ways acknowledged that." They remembered that during every office and hospital visit Ann insisted God was healing her. In 1998 she caught a cold that infected her liver. It was easily corrected. To Ann it only meant that the healing is still in progress. "I'm standing in faith that she will not need a new liver. Right now they have a normal healthy child that shouldn't be alive. To look at her you wouldn't know anything was ever wrong. Looking back, there was a financial miracle as well. Ann was 8 months pregnant when Faith Bible Chapel contracted a corporate insurance program and invited Pastor Dave to participate. It covered pre-existing conditions and over a million dollars of treatments! That had to be God's timing. Our dedication and sacrifice for our children is like a flower whose fragrance reaches to heaven, a sweet pleasure to our God. It fulfills a portion of His dedication to us. For as Jesus said, "If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him." Can our dedication to Him ever be sufficient? So, why did God wait so long? Perhaps to refine Ann and Dave's faith to a strength that could never fail, perhaps to demonstrate to many people that Jesus is their salvation and life. The opinion of this writer is that God was building a husband and wife team, able to minister to other people who are going through great difficulty and struggling with doubt. Dedication is part of the pastoral job description. |
