The Right Perspective

Friday, January 19, 2007

Family Needs Prayer

I just heard today that a young couple who both attended college with me are in serious need of prayers. I know this couple is unknown to 99.9% of those who will read this, but God still hears those prayers too.

Josh and Shelley Buck are youth ministers at a church in Michigan (I think). A little over a year ago, they lost their infant daughter suddenly in an in-home accident. They've slowly but surely been healing from that, and their faith and journey has been amazing. Shelley is pregnant once again (they just found out they are having a little boy) and she and Josh were apparently on vacation in Mexico. Sometime yesterday, Josh was involved in a diving accident in which he very badly damaged the vertebrae in his neck/spine. He nearly drowned and his lungs are very full of water. He is also paralyzed, with little hope of recovering the use of his legs. He has some movement in his arms and the doctors and family are hoping for some feeling in his hands, but the prognosis is pretty bleak. He is not currently breathing on his own and he just underwent major emergency surgery (all of this is taking place in Miami, by the way).

Needless to say, this family desperately needs prayers, so i fyou have a moment and think of them...please pray. They've been through so much already. Both of them are in their late twenties to early thirties. More info can be found at http://www.greenhouseministries.org/.

8 comments:

SkyePuppy said...

Thanks, Christina. They have my prayers.

Jacob said...

Sorry to ruin the fuzzy feeling of prayers fixing their problems, but what they need is better safety measures, not prayer.

SkyePuppy said...

Jacob,

Safety measures won't help Josh now. Only prayer will, and already is.

Beth/Mom2TwoVikings said...

OMgoodness - "jacob" obviously doesn't know Christina very well! LOL "Fuzzy" prayer? Yeah, right!

I'm late to chime in, sweetie, but consider it done! I noticed from their website that their church is only an hour from here.

If you hear any updates, can you pass them along?

Christina said...

Jacob,

There are a lot of responses that come to my mind, but here's what I will say...

Part of becoming a mature adult is understanding when to respond and when to simply abstain. This post was directed to those who who believe in the power of prayer. Obviously, you don't feel the need to pray, nor do you believe it will be of any help in this situation. You are certainly entitled to your opinion. We happen to vastly disagree. That's okay, but no matter what you believe about prayer, sarcasm does no one any good and is simply in poor taste.

I try to treat all who visit here with respect, and that includes you. Please do the same.

Christina said...

Skyepuppy and Beth,

Thank you both for your prayers. I know that it is sometimes hard to remember to pray for those that you really don't know anything about, but if and when this family crosses your mind, any prayers will be appreciated and heard.

Beth, I will be glad to pass along updates. You can also visit the website for updates at
http://www.greenhouseministries.org/

Jacob said...

I'm sorry if I seemed insensitive, but put yourself in my shoes. If I told you that I was trying to heal a cancer patient by merely wishing them to get better, I think your response would have been exactly the same.

Regardless, I retract my statement about prayer being useless. As Skyepuppy pointed out already, I can see that the power of prayer is working for this particular family in abundance.

Christina said...

Jacob,

Thank you for your response.

I understand what you're trying to say. The difference is, I honestly believe that prayer is powerful. I realize many will disagree, and that's okay, but to me, it's like another layer of treatment being applied.

I believe in letting the doctors do all they can to treat an illnes/injury, but since I believe that God is the Creator of all that is, why shouldn't I ask Him to heal one of His most precious creations? Certainly He would know infinitely more than the doctors and be able to heal what they cannot, if He chooses.

Whether Josh is fully healed and able to walk, or spends the rest of his life in a wheelchair, he and his family have already experienced the power of prayer. tens of thousands of people from all over the world are petitioning God all day and night....what a wonderful comfort that alone has provided.

I sincerely hope that someday you will come to recognize the power in prayer and the power of the One to which I pray. Keep track of this family...I think you'll be amazed at what you see.