God’s love for Kelsey

“Now a man was sick, Lazarus, from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent a message to Him: ‘Lord, the one You love is sick.’” – John 11:1-3

I read a devotional a few days ago which brought me to tears – it was based on the previous passage of Scripture. The devotional went in depth into the nature of God’s love and how Mary and Martha did not appeal to Lazarus’ good deeds, the number of children he had (we don’t even know if he did have children), or the ways he would be able to bless others if he was healed, they appealed to Jesus’ love for Lazarus. The devotional is beautifully written (if you’d like to read it, here is the link: http://goo.gl/EAbclA), but I walked away realizing that I can make this same appeal to God about Kelsey, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” And oh, how great his love for Kelsey is. Because of God’s love, He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay for the wrong things that Kelsey has done in life and provide for her to come to salvation. Because of God’s love, He is preparing a place in heaven for her. Because of His love, He enabled her to choose to make Jesus the Lord of her life, acknowledging that she did not measure up to God’s standard and needed to rely on the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. Because of God’s love, she, like Jesus, will be raised to life in heaven. It is an extravagant love, which means before time began, God had a plan about how He would draw Kelsey to Himself.

I love Kelsey, Alexa loves her mommy, Kelsey’s family loves her, all of her warriors love her, but all of our love for her combined does not add up to God’s love for her. Can I trust His love for her? As I continually plead with God for her healing, I know that every action God takes toward her is motivated out of His love. Thank you all for joining in petitioning God, because, “the one He loves is sick.” Can I trust His love for her?

If you’d like to get a warrior T-shirt, we are planning to place another order tomorrow morning. You can visit http://thekennedycrew.com/t-shirts/ if you’d like to get one.

Two very special girls, who are incredibly dear to my heart! Check out the colorful and special necklace that Rylen (Alexa’s cousin) and Alexa made for Kelsey.

By way of a brief update, the meeting with Dr. Keefer was a challenging one for Kelsey to hear on Monday. He shared with her that the nutrition IV would not be helpful for her. He said if he had even a glimmer of hope that it would be beneficial for her, that he would start it for her immediately. He has seen patients at a similar stage who have requested the IV nutrition and it really made no difference at all (other than it adds to the already constant monitoring). It is always hard to hear that in the world’s eyes there is no hope. Since then, Kelsey has managed to eat about half of a Krispy Kreme donut, 1/3 of a McDonald’s cheeseburger, and some cheese sticks from Stars & Stripes.

We continue to covet your prayers:

-- Pray for good rest for Kelsey, for minimal pain, for wonderful times of alertness, for strength, for the ability to enjoy some more tasty foods if they sound good.

-- Pray for continued special times with family and friends. Thanks to all who have come by.

-- Pray we can continue to bring God glory. We had a hymn singing session with several gals from our church in Norman this evening. The nurse came in and said that they had received several calls from other people on the floor who said it was so encouraging to hear the singing. Whether Kelsey’s days are many (as we pray), or few, that each moment she lives would bring Him glory.

-- Pray for Kelsey’s complete and total earthly healing.

“Lord, the one who you love is sick.” You do what is best for her out of your great love, but my heart pleads for You to bless her with a full healing of her body here on earth!