Pain in the Offering

Hello Friends, As many of you know Karen went in to have Jacob on Monday. After attempting to induce her the doctors ended up taking Jacob out by C-Section at 6:04 pm. On Tuesday morning we met with the geneticist who advised us that he believed that Jacob has a genetic disorder known as Trisomy 18. This disorder is found in about 1 in 3000 live births and is the second most common genetic disease behind Down's Syndrome. After waiting for blood tests for the past 48 hours, today it was confirmed that Jacob does in fact have this disorder. This disorder is the cause of all the other problems that we were already aware of with Jacob (ie. his congenital heart disease and his low birth weight). 50% of all babies born with Trisomy 18 die within the first week. Another 25% die with in the first month and almost 95% die within the first year. As you can imagine this has proved very difficult and emotional for us as we attempt to process it for ourselves, for our precious Joshua and Jonathan, for our family and even our friends. We chose not to let most know until today when we had confirmation from the blood test. We continue to value your prayers for our family and our precious little Jacob as we make decisions on whether or not to bring him home and how to care for him. Throughout this we remember that God is the Author and Giver of life and that we are here on this earth to glorify Him. Jacob has already been such a great blessing to us and to many others and it has been amazing to see how he has impacted the lives of so many through the past nine months. The Bible states, "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with You" (Psalm 139:13-18). God knew every detail of Jacob's little body before we even knew we were pregnant and also knows all the days he will share with us here on this earth. And while this is a time that many would ask "Why?" we remain steadfast in the knowledge that God loves us and knows what is best for us. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) Romans 8 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose...What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (28,31-39). Please continue to pray for our new little one - that his time here on earth would be filled with love and comfort and free from pain. Please pray for our family as we celebrate his life. But above all please pray that God be glorified in all of our lives not only in the mountaintop experiences where everything is "as it should be" but also in the valleys and deserts of life marked with suffering. This Matt Redman song keeps playing through my head:
"Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name
Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to sayLord, blessed be Your name"
(- Matt Redman)
May our experience bring you closer to the Savior---
The Fahmer's (Jason, Karen, Joshua, Jonathan, and Jacob!)