The next few weeks will be challenging for us and an opportunity for great blessing! All the more reason to ask for prayer!
As we write, we are waiting for results from a blood test Colby had this morning. He has to have blood drawn about 3 weeks after starting each cycle of chemotherapy (at least once a month). The blood test helps Colby’s oncologist determine if the dose of chemo is hurting his body too much and needs to be adjusted down. Today’s blood test will reflect his body’s response to the highest dose of temozolomide he has been on yet. Pray that Colby’s blood counts will not have dropped at all!
We will also have our next MRI scan this Friday morning, Feb 3rd. Because Colby’s health insurance changed, this MRI will be done at a different hospital where neither of us can look up the images ourselves. However, Emily knows the radiologist that will be reading the scans. We hope to be able to sit down with him immediately after the scan is done to look at it together and compare it to prior exams. Pray that the tumor would be even smaller, or would disappear completely!
There is the challenge. So how about the blessing? Blessing will come through watching Christ glorify Himself in us as He sustains us. He has also blessed both of us with unique opportunities for ministry recently. This is a specific answer to our prayers. Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer for us!
Emily has been asked to lead a retreat for medical student women in the Christian Medical and Dental Associations (CMDA) at the OU an OSU medical schools. Praise God for this opportunity! The retreat will be Friday and Saturday, March 9th-10th. It will probably be held in our home. Please pray for Emily and for the student leadership at both campuses as they prepare for this retreat together!
On Saturday Feb 4th Colby will be traveling to Nicaragua for a medical/evangelistic mission trip with a team from our church. This was a last minute opportunity that we feel was provided by the Lord. Colby has also been asked to preach (with translation) at the church in Nicaragua with which we partner in ministry. That service will be Sunday night, Feb 5th. In addition to sharing his testimony Colby is preparing to share from a passage of scripture that has blessed him enormously since his diagnosis: 1 Peter 4:12-19. It also happens to be the passage that our church in OK, Henderson Hills, will be covering that weekend as a part of an ongoing series on 1 Peter. Colby hopes this will bless not only the Nicaraguan’s present but also his American team members. Please pray for mercy in Colby’s preparation and travel and that God would prepare the hearts of the people with whom his team will interact.
As you can see, we will be getting a lot of potentially life-altering information this week. And should we be surprised that our faith would be tested at this exact moment in time, when we are on the verge of wonderful opportunities to glorify the Lord? Should we worry? Can God be trusted even with this?
[12] Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. [13] But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
(1 Peter 4:12-13 ESV)
God can be trusted, and He will glorify himself. That is certain. There is, however, another spiritual power at work that the Bible calls “our adversary.” He wants nothing more than for these trials to turn us away from faith in Christ...and be “devoured:”
[8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [9] Resist him, firm in your faith
(1 Peter 5:8-9 ESV)
God is faithful. He is worthy of our trust. Prepare to rejoice!
[19] Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
(1 Peter 4:19 ESV)
A recap of prayer requests:
1. Pray for Colby’s blood test result and MRI this week. We will give you the update on these as soon as we know it.
2. Pray for Emily and CMDA student leaders as they prepare for the women’s retreat in March.
3. Pray for the team from HHBC that will be traveling to Nicaragua this weekend, and for all of the Nicaraguans that will be touched through this ministry. Pray for Colby as he prepares to share with our partner church in Nicaragua this Sunday evening.
4. Continue to pray for clarity on Colby’s future in work and ministry. This is the area of his life that is the most emotionally challenging these days. Pray that whatever Colby does, it be effective for the Kingdom and bring glory to Christ.
Thank you for laboring in prayer for us!
Because He first loved us,
Colby, Emily, and Jireh McLaurin
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