Madilyn is doing so much better, but we still need your prayers!

Hey guys, it's been about a month since our last post, so this one is a little longer than usual...

This week I've been reading through 2 Kings, and I came across an interesting passage regarding King Josiah.  Josiah was the product of two of the worst kings in the history of the Jewish people.  In fact, his father Amon was so evil and corrupt that his own people assassinated him and installed his son Josiah as King at the tender age of 8.  These kings were so evil that God made this promise through the prophet Isaiah in 2 Kings 21: 

26 "I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down." 

Think about that, things are so bad in the nation that God is going to pour out his wrath on these people, wiping them off the face of the earth like you or I would wipe leftover food off a dirty dish...

Therefore, Josiah reigned during a time of complete turmoil and adversity.  What's amazing about Josiah is that even in those circumstances, he turned to the Lord and served him with such zeal and fervor that a spiritual awakening broke out throughout the nation.  After Josiah died, God's wrath would still be carried out as Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonian Empire.  However, because of Josiah's leadership, the people of Israel would never struggle with idolatry again.  Even in their captivity, the people held fast to the Lord, and placed their hope in God's redemption.

Here's what I learned from Josiah - I need to go hard after the Lord in whatever circumstance I'm facing.  I may never know how God will use this season for His Glory, but that's not the point, I'm called to serve Him, and let God take care of what happens next! 


How is she doing?

Since our last post, Madilyn's Creatinine level slowly moved down to .6 which means that her kidneys are now functioning at 75%.  We are very thankful for the improvement, especially when we look back and remember when she left the hospital 8 weeks ago she was functioning at 20%!!

Since that day we have been praying for her Creatinine to drop down to .5, and we continue to pray to that end. After the kidney doctor did some calculations based on her height, he actually said that .4 is normal for her, and .5 would be 90%.  

This week, the Kidney doctor let us know that he believes .6 is likely where Madilyn is going to stay. 

That news has been hard to take...mainly because we have been looking forward to a time when this disease would be gone, and we could look back on all of this. So, we are doing two things.  First, we're praying that Dr. Simon is wrong and her number moves down again before her next blood draw on Friday 11/11.  Second, we're praying that the rest of her numbers continue to improve so that more of her medications can be reduced or removed. 

Here are the things we need you to pray for:

1. Pray for Creatinine level of 0.4 on her next blood draw 11/11.
2. Pray for her Potassium count to improve more.  She is still taking a small dose of a medicine called Kayexalate to keep her potassium down.  We pray she'll be able to stop taking that medicine soon.
3. Pray for her Red Blood Cell count to improve. Right now, she is in the 9 - 10 range on her red blood cells, normal would be 12.  Pray for Madilyn to get back to a normal red blood cell level.
4. Praise God for normal blood pressure! Madilyn has stopped taking medicine for this, and her blood pressure has been normal.
5. Next week, the doctor is going to look at the long term numbers for Madilyn, please pray for these to be in the normal range - things like Para-thyroid hormone, vitamin D, Calcium, and more.
6. Pray for our family as we continue to care for Madilyn. Pray that we don't attach our hope to these results.  We want to give everything we have to Christ, regardless of blood tests!

Thank you again for praying, please keep it up!! 

Here are pictures from our camping trip to Jellystone Park!  We had a blast getting away for our first vacation since the summer!

For His Glory,

The Rascos