You are the Body of Christ

Hello Church Family,

We can't tell you how incredibly blessed we are by all of the ways God has loved us through you. I say it this way intentionally because we are the body of Christ, and so Christ's loving presence has been communicated to us through the various ways you have loved us. We see you as God's gift to us, and so we thank God for blessing us with you, and we thank you for the various ways you have communicated God's love. First of all, to receive a financial gift from you has helped greatly with the burden of hotel and food - especially now that we've been told our stay is likely another 2-3 weeks instead of what we were originally told would be 5-7 days. We have had some of the body with us here, and so many more praying and communicating prayers and encouraging words and the precious Word of God. God is sustaining us through the gift of His body, and so we are grateful to God for you all. Pastor Jim and his wonderful wife, Pat, visited us yesterday. It was good to visit and read Scripture and pray with them, but then they unrolled all of you into the waiting room. We didn't realize they brought you with them. This is what it felt like reading the banner you made for Devynne. What a treasure! We can't contain the smiles and tears as we see your names and read your love to Devynne. Some of you (those who are following what's going on by facebook) may have already read my post, "All Things For Good," but I wanted to share it with this thank you as an example of how blessed we are through you. We can't thank you enough, and can hardly wait for Devynne to open her eyes and focus on this beautiful gift of love hanging above her bed. We love you and look forward to seeing you all some coming Sunday ... Lord willing.

In Christ,

The Phelps Family

"It may be said, How do afflictions make us happy? We reply that, being sanctified, they bring us nearer to God. The moon in the full is furthest off from the sun: so are many further off from God in the full-moon of prosperity; afflictions bring them nearer to God. The magnet of mercy does not draw us so near to God as the cords of affliction. When Absalom set Joab's corn on fire, then he came running to Absalom (2 Sam. 14:30). When God sets our worldly comforts on fire, then we run to Him, and make our peace with Him. When the prodigal was pinched with want, then he returned home to his father (Luke 15:13). When the dove could not find any rest for the sole of her foot, then she flew to the ark. When God brings a deluge of affliction upon us, then we fly to the ark of Christ. Thus affliction makes us happy, in bringing us nearer to God. Faith can make use of the waters of affliction, to swim faster to Christ." - Thomas Watson, All Things for Good

Jennifer came across this yesterday and wanted to post it but didn't get around to it. She appreciated it then, but last night experienced this all the more - feeling extreme anxiety with nowhere to land (not comforted by nurses and doctors, or my words) but flying to the ark of Christ. That ark was the Word of God, and my only help was to point her to it, and the many verses you supplied. As she read your posts and worked through each scripture to remind herself over and over again who God is, she finally made it through the night. It's amazing how alone you can feel in the night and when the day breaks you feel God's mercies anew. Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers and continuing to send places for us to land that bring us nearer to God.

We have such a long way to go. Devynne has come a long way and is looking more and more like herself, but she's still asleep, still on a ventilator, still trying to pull fluids off her body with the dialysis machine, still having some irregular heart rhythms, still needs her kidneys and liver to kick in, needs to avoid infection and pneumonia, and hopefully avoid damage to her brain. It's strange to both have her and not have her. She's alive, and those first 48 hours were filled with moments where we thought we were losing her. Before going in to close her, the anesthesiologist said those first two surgeries (the heart surgery and then the decision to place stents by cardiac catheter surgery, and the 5 cardiac arrests) were the most stressful moments he's ever had. So ... we have her, and we're grateful to be where we are, but it's so strange to also not have her as she remains unconscious. God is good and faithful and merciful, and He is pulling us to Himself, which is a very precious gift. And as He uses you in this process for our blessing I suspect He is also blessing many of you as well as you function as a part of Christ's body. Amazing. It's truly an amazing time here. We would never plan this or even want it, but this affliction is giving us joy that could not be gained any other way, and for this we are thankful.

Devynne's main thought going into this was 1 Thess 5:18, which says, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." We don't know the outcome, but this affliction is God's will for us, and it is good, and for this we give thanks. We have seen this affliction work good in those who have been physically with us through this storm, and we pray God is blessing you who are with us in spirit as well. Thank you for being the body of Christ.

In Him,