Last week, my six-year-old son got sick.  More sick than I’ve ever seen any of my kids.  For six days he would get extremely painful headaches and vomit everything he ate.  I’m sure you could imagine how awful it is to watch the most energetic, fun, happy little boy become tired, dehydrated, and unable to play because of the pain he was in.

Our family physician was out of town so we took him to another doctor in the same office.  She was absolutely no help what-so-ever.  She ignored my wife’s concerns about the headaches and vomiting, made a crack about the fact that we home school, wrote him a prescription for an antibiotic, and sent him home without so much as a blood test.

The next day, he got so bad that we decided to take him to the emergency room.  He was in extreme pain, was lethargic, and hadn’t been able to hold down any food or liquid.  There he received great care from the hospital staff.  They were very concerned about his condition and the looks on their faces made me realize this was more than simply an ear infection or the flu.  They did a spinal tap to rule out meningitis and a CT scan to check for abnormalities in his brain.  It was so difficult to see my little guy laying there with an IV, barely conscious from the powerful pain medication.  We were scared!

So what does all of this have to do with the Body of Christ?  They prayed.  Our good friends at the Quad Cities Prayer Center sprang into action by notifying their network of hundreds of prayer warriors.  Our small group leader came to the hospital to bring some balloons for Hudson.  Our good friends watched our other two boys so that my wife and I could stay by our youngest’s side until he could go home.  Friends called, texted, and Facebook messaged us to get updates and let us know they were praying.

It didn’t stop with people we know though.  Great people from my Twitter community made it a point to re-tweet my situation to get more people interceding.  They left me messages to let me know they were praying.  These are people I’ve never met face to face, but care enough to take my cares to Jesus.  AMAZING!  I’m totally honored to belong to a Body like that, and extremely grateful for all of their prayers.

It doesn’t end with my son’s illness either.  God has used His people to be there for us in so many ways and on so many occasions.  Seven months ago, our ministry took an unexpected turn and, rather than running for security, we decided to take a step of faith and launch something new.  Time after time He has used his people to bless us when we didn’t know how we’d make it another week.  Even the computer I’m writing this post with was a blessing from a brother in Jesus.

It makes me think about the picture on this post.  Life is such a challenge sometimes.  We never know when we’re going to hit rapids, rocks, or other dangers as we navigate through it.  It’s such a comfort to know that there are others in the boat with you and, as we paddle together, we can look out for each other, work together, and lend each other strength when we need it.  What a great picture of the Body of Christ! (Romans 12:4-8)

As for my son, he’s home now and feeling much better.  He has kept everything down for the last two days and the headaches are becoming less frequent and less severe.  A little while ago I saw him dragging large sheets of cardboard up from the basement.  He said he wants to turn his bedroom door into a drawbridge.  I love that kid!

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