Dark Dot on the Horizon

This weekend was absolutely glorious - perfect fall weather in Seattle; sunny, crisp in the am but pleasantly warm in the afternoon. I had an early morning bike ride with my traveling partner, Leigh, and I just got back from a 90 minute ride with Ben. So full of life and joy. So why do I feel like Elijah's servant (IKings 18:41ff) looking at the dot on the horizon and anticipating a storm?

Hannah has been feeling tired for a year and complaining that she can't run. I took her to the doctor when she first told me about it and after tests and a preliminary diagnosis of "exercise induced asthma" I thought we'd figured it out. Or that she just couldn't run because she psychs herself out. Fast forward to this season and her coaches tell me that they're really concerned about her. After running 300 miles this summer, they think she should be doing so much better than she is. So back to the doctor we go and this time we ask for blood tests (I'm kicking myself that we didn't have them done last year, but instead I just trusted the doctor to do what's best.) It turns out that she's severely anemic and her red blood cells are low. Since she's not a heavy bleeder, she's now being tested to see if she's bleeding internally. I'm choosing not to give into fear but I do feel that there's a speck I keep wanting to check on. Every time I run to the hill to see if it's getting bigger, I open my hands - trust her to God and remind myself that standing on faith is the only place I want to be found.

Leigh says this happens every time one of the teams gets ready to go overseas. Some sort of crisis pops up and puts the trip into jeopardy or makes the mom think she shouldn't be leaving.

I appreciate your prayers as we prepare and as we watch the dark dot. Elijah was praying for the storms to come. I'm praying that they don't.