You may have seen the photo to the right of my blog that reads, "Praying for Olivia."Olivia is the two-year-old daughter of our friends Zac and Julie. Chad and Zac grew up together and went to college together, which is where they met Julie. In Olivia's short life, she's had two open-heart surgeries, been diagnosed with leukemia, and they found out last week that she has heart disease and lung disease, neither caused by the other. She is currently on a ventilator at a Children's Hospital in Illinois.
Julie is an optimist by nature, so it's hard for me to always get a good sense of how everyone is doing. What I do know is that Olivia does not seem to be doing well, and yesterday was a particularly bad day.
What has amazed me the most in this nearly-three-year timeline is how hopeful, sensible, and humbled Julie and Zac remain. I can't imagine how debilitating it would be to have a child who is so, so sick, yet they are still able to keep a perspective that they are part of something bigger.
A comment Julie made on her blog this morning brought me to tears. In describing how they weighed the options of putting Olivia on a heart and lung bypass machine, of which she would likely never be taken off, Julie wrote, "What it ultimately came down to was whether we want to put our trust in technology, which has a higher probability of failing us, or put our trust in God, who never fails us." That type of faith is incredible to me.
Most of us have problems. (And if you don't, please call me. I want to know your secret.) Work is busy, our house isn't clean, our kids or pets or spouses or co-workers are driving us nuts, bills are piling up... But here is a family going through an incredible ordeal unlike any most of us will ever experience. Please pray that Olivia, her parents, and her brother and sister (who are seven and five) find the strength and peace required to deal with this. To know more, visit Julie's blog for an update.
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