Dear Loved Ones:
We realize it has been a long time since we sent an update. However,
we can tell we are still being upheld by your prayers. We certainly
had much to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving holiday. We were
reminded so clearly by this passage of scripture that we studied
beforehand with a group of brothers and sisters from church:
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
(1 Thess 5:16-18)
We have so much to thank our heavenly Father for, despite what our
circumstances may look like. Emily’s work pressures have been more
difficult and time-consuming than ever as she is learning to use a
new electronic health record while trying to continue to provide
excellent care for her patients and for our family. Colby has also in
the last few weeks frequently battled disappointment and uncertainty
about his own job. But we know prayer is different from “hoping for”
something or “positive thinking.” It is different, because the object
of prayer is God, not me, and:
“The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the
earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is
unsearchable. He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might
he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and
young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall
renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they
shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah
40:28-31)
Yes, this is God who does not grow weary as we do. His understanding
is not limited as ours is. And those who wait for Him and depend on
Him, He rewards with renewal of strength. Keep praying! Yes, this is
God who sent his only Son to be born a human baby on that first
Christmas, live perfectly, and die innocently to take our just
punishment so that we could be forgiven and restored to fellowship
with Him.
We were also reminded of each of you who, on our behalf, “pray without
ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17). Thank you. May our hope continue to rest
in Christ alone, who is the Great Physician.
We continue to be amazed at how the Lord has sustained Colby
physically and our whole family in spirit. Colby finished chemo and
radiation almost 4 weeks ago and has been on a long break since that
time. Praise the Lord that he made it through the entire course with
very minimal side effects and no true complications. Colby continued to
work throughout treatment and is enjoying caring for his patients more
than ever. He did get a little fatigued in the last week of the 7 week course,
We realize it has been a long time since we sent an update. However,
we can tell we are still being upheld by your prayers. We certainly
had much to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving holiday. We were
reminded so clearly by this passage of scripture that we studied
beforehand with a group of brothers and sisters from church:
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
(1 Thess 5:16-18)
We have so much to thank our heavenly Father for, despite what our
circumstances may look like. Emily’s work pressures have been more
difficult and time-consuming than ever as she is learning to use a
new electronic health record while trying to continue to provide
excellent care for her patients and for our family. Colby has also in
the last few weeks frequently battled disappointment and uncertainty
about his own job. But we know prayer is different from “hoping for”
something or “positive thinking.” It is different, because the object
of prayer is God, not me, and:
“The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the
earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is
unsearchable. He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might
he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and
young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall
renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they
shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah
40:28-31)
Yes, this is God who does not grow weary as we do. His understanding
is not limited as ours is. And those who wait for Him and depend on
Him, He rewards with renewal of strength. Keep praying! Yes, this is
God who sent his only Son to be born a human baby on that first
Christmas, live perfectly, and die innocently to take our just
punishment so that we could be forgiven and restored to fellowship
with Him.
We were also reminded of each of you who, on our behalf, “pray without
ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17). Thank you. May our hope continue to rest
in Christ alone, who is the Great Physician.
We continue to be amazed at how the Lord has sustained Colby
physically and our whole family in spirit. Colby finished chemo and
radiation almost 4 weeks ago and has been on a long break since that
time. Praise the Lord that he made it through the entire course with
very minimal side effects and no true complications. Colby continued to
work throughout treatment and is enjoying caring for his patients more
than ever. He did get a little fatigued in the last week of the 7 week course,
but he feels like his energy level almost completely returned to
normal within the first week after completing treatment. He did not
need any steroids, pain medicine, or change to any of his medicines
during the whole course. He has had none of the symptoms which would
be concerning for tumor progression: such as seizures, headache,
vision changes, dizziness, etc. God has been so good to us.
We have nothing to fear…because we have a good and sovereign God.
Remember that, and let’s keep praying! Here’s how:
1) Colby’s first post-treatment MRI is tomorrow morning. Yes, that’s
kind of a big deal. It feels a little silly to pray for an MRI, but we
think we can pray even more expectantly now that we will soon see the
outcome of our prayers for healing! We are praying that the 16% of
tumor that remained would be gone! Certainly that is not what would
be expected from the treatment, but God can do it, and it would
clearly be a miracle if he did! Are you ready to praise Him?
2) Colby will start the next stage of treatment on Monday. This means
monthly cycles of chemotherapy for at least a year. It will be the
same chemo, in pill form, but will be at twice the dose as he took
during his radiation treatments. Please pray that he would have no
side effects, no nausea, no drop in the infection-fighting white blood
cell counts, and no infections.
3) Praise the Lord for SiSi Liu, our new Au Pair. She is from China,
is living with us, and is helping us care for Jireh during the day
while we are working. That keeps Jireh out of day care during the
cold and flu season and keeps her from bringing illness home to Colby
while he is on chemo. SiSi is helping Jireh learn Chinese. She is also
very interested in learning about Christianity, which she has had no
exposure to in China. We spend time together as a family studying the
Bible, and she will attend a Bridges International conference in
Washington D.C. after Christmas to learn more about Christ. Pray that
this will bear fruit for her Joy!
4) Praise the Lord for many opportunities to share our story and
glorify God in the midst of this trial! Colby has had several
opportunities to share his testimony and scripture that has upheld us
with different groups and individuals recently. We are praying for
more opportunities. Please pray with us that Christ would get the
glory through our lives and that we would embrace the words of John
the Baptist, who said: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Come thou long expected Jesus!
For His glory,
Colby, Emily, and Jireh McLaurin
need any steroids, pain medicine, or change to any of his medicines
during the whole course. He has had none of the symptoms which would
be concerning for tumor progression: such as seizures, headache,
vision changes, dizziness, etc. God has been so good to us.
We have nothing to fear…because we have a good and sovereign God.
Remember that, and let’s keep praying! Here’s how:
1) Colby’s first post-treatment MRI is tomorrow morning. Yes, that’s
kind of a big deal. It feels a little silly to pray for an MRI, but we
think we can pray even more expectantly now that we will soon see the
outcome of our prayers for healing! We are praying that the 16% of
tumor that remained would be gone! Certainly that is not what would
be expected from the treatment, but God can do it, and it would
clearly be a miracle if he did! Are you ready to praise Him?
2) Colby will start the next stage of treatment on Monday. This means
monthly cycles of chemotherapy for at least a year. It will be the
same chemo, in pill form, but will be at twice the dose as he took
during his radiation treatments. Please pray that he would have no
side effects, no nausea, no drop in the infection-fighting white blood
cell counts, and no infections.
3) Praise the Lord for SiSi Liu, our new Au Pair. She is from China,
is living with us, and is helping us care for Jireh during the day
while we are working. That keeps Jireh out of day care during the
cold and flu season and keeps her from bringing illness home to Colby
while he is on chemo. SiSi is helping Jireh learn Chinese. She is also
very interested in learning about Christianity, which she has had no
exposure to in China. We spend time together as a family studying the
Bible, and she will attend a Bridges International conference in
Washington D.C. after Christmas to learn more about Christ. Pray that
this will bear fruit for her Joy!
4) Praise the Lord for many opportunities to share our story and
glorify God in the midst of this trial! Colby has had several
opportunities to share his testimony and scripture that has upheld us
with different groups and individuals recently. We are praying for
more opportunities. Please pray with us that Christ would get the
glory through our lives and that we would embrace the words of John
the Baptist, who said: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Come thou long expected Jesus!
For His glory,
Colby, Emily, and Jireh McLaurin
