Steps of Faith - Simon

(please forgive my typos)

Another week has gone by and it is time to provide an update to all of you who have been so faithful to pray for Sonya over the years and especially over the past two weeks as Sonya's journey has took a turn for the worse 2 weeks ago today.  Last Sunday, the Lord encouraged / directed me to bring Sonya home fast, not to accept the medical assessment that there was nothing that could be done, and to fight for her life.  In fact the direction from God's came in during a time of prayer asking God why he was allowing this all to happen. Why he had allowed her to come to point where the Dr was ready to send her home to be with her Lord…

The thought the Lord gave me was the following: "Who told you to stop fighting me for her? I might give her back."  I spent the better part of last Sunday trying to understand 2 things about that though:

1. Was it me trying to create hope?
2. If it was from God, what did it mean?

As the day went on, God reminded me that 4+ years ago, the very first place of treatment we went to was Health Quarters Ministries in Colorado Springs. In fact God provided all the finances to attend the week long program with them at that time.  With that reminder in my heart, it seemed as if God was asking me to use the tools he had shown to Sonya and I way back then.

The next battle for me was to keep my faith on God and not on the tools or method of fighting for ones health we had learned at Heath Quarters.  After all, the Lord has blessed me with one of these minds that tends to try and understand how things work.  And once it does understand it takes comfort in the "logic" of the understanding.  And all the techniques we learned at Health Quarters make sense at some level.  Again God answered with a thought, that all soldiers have weapons and learn to use them and to be efficient with them, and indeed He had provided these tools, and I was to use them and the logic of them was to serve as a reassurance that it was His leading.  But more importantly, that while solders use those weapons, the Battle itself belongs to the Lord.   With that in my heart, I no longer battled with were my faith was being placed.  It was ok for me to have/to know that the tools themselves could provide some benefit without removing my faith for God.

The rest of Sunday was spent seeking counsel from men of God. Men I trust to be honest and to respond with their perspective of God's Word, even if it might not be what I want to hear.  With each discussion, God confirmed that this was the right choice - a choice and step of faith.  

We were able to bring Sonya home mid-day Tuesday, and began to fight for her life via the simple tools we had available to us.  Nutrition, detoxification and diet.  

When Sonya came home her liver was on the verge of failure from cirrhosis.  Her legs in particular had begun to swell and she was retaining fluid in her abdomen at an alarming rate.  The medical community estimated day to max of two months before she would succumb to the liver failing and the trickle down effect that would have.

Beginning on Tuesday evening we began to provide nutrition in line with what we had learned, but were limited by her ability to hold down anything in her stomach.  We provided her small amounts of food and meal replacements when she was able to hold it down.  We also begin to adminster cleanses to help her body clean out the toxic load in her body.

Each day we could see the bilirubin level decrease and then build back up.  And with each day she regained a bit of strength and each night became harder for her.  On Wednesday evening, she was ready to go home to be with the Lord and frankly knocked on heaven's door asking to be allowed to enter.  

During this whole week, God was also working on my dart to show me that He had provided tools not only in the physical realm but also in the Spiritual realm.  Tools He showed to use were prayer (which so many around the world are already doing and continue to do… Please keep praying for Sonya) and fasting.  With that revelation we decided as a family to fast.

Thursday was a day of fasting by the members of the McLaren and Wessberg families as we sought God and asked for healing and that above all, He would be glorified in whatever his decision would be regarding Sonya's life.  We were amazed by the response via Facebook, where so many of our friends, and friends of the family stated that they would join us in fasting on Friday for Sonya's life.  I pray that each of you who were willing and able to join us, were met by your Lord and Savior in a unique way.  Again on Saturday, a few of us here in the home fasted again, continuing to seek God's help and healing.

His response:

Last night we administered a liver cleanse.  And it did not go so well.  While she was able to hold down a part of the cleansing ingredients (oil and lemon juice - sound so much easier to drink than it is!) for a couple of hours, by 9:30 pm she had thrown up most of that and the second ingredient as well.  Her pain level was extremely high and we stood by helpless to do anything other than pray for her.  In my mind, I thought there was no way she had retained enough of the cleanse ingredients to actually perform the liver cleanse and even now I am not convinced she did.  And with her pain level as high as it was - again. it looked like last night could have been the night she joined her Savior in Eternal rest.

This morning we awoke to a WOW! - PRAISE GOD! sight.  She was sleeping. Sleeping well ! - Sleep has not been easy for her to find and the swell in her legs from the thighs down was gone! Her heart rate has slowed a bit (This is a good thing as it had been working extremely hard for the past few weeks.)

We continue to allow her to rest today, trying to honor the concept of a day of rest.  And I continue to seek the Lord on the next step(s).  We don't know how complete the healing was from last night.  If it was directly from God, I suspect it is a complete healing.  If this is from the cleanse itself having had a positive effect, we still have a ways to go and continue to ask the Lord for a complete healing.

Regardless of where we are - we are praising Him this morning in the organized chaos that is the the McLaren / Wessberg household.  Along with what we have see God do in Sonya's life and with her health, He has also provided us all with so many sweet memories and joined two families in way that might not otherwise have been possible.  We stand in awe of our God and his continuing love for us!

In Christ,

Simon