Perspective

Well... many have been asking what the latest is with our precious little Brylee. In a nut shell, it is by and large a wait and see game. Last week, our world was shattered by a few phrases from a doctor. As all of you know, that is when we found out that something was causing Brylee's brain problems. This week, the doctors performed a few follow up scans and tests in an attempt to confirm or deny the findings last week. We would be lying if we said we weren't hoping for the, "Well... it looks like what we saw last week was just an anomalies." However, what the doctors said yesterday was far from the hopeful thinking I have to believe every parent has regarding their kiddo's health and wellbeing. What we heard from the doctors is that Brylee's brain is suffering and that part of the brain tissue will die and has already died. What that means for Brylee is that nobody really knows what in the world is going to pan out with this.

When we really stop and think about the situation, how often do we really ever know what is going to happen to us anyways. As long as our perception of how our life is playing out matches up with what we have envisioned in our minds, then we perceive that we "know" things will be OK and are going "correctly." When did we begin to have a say in what out future looks like?? I know that we all like to think that we can control out own outcome, and I don't mean to imply that if you sit on your butt and do nothing that God will alter your course. However, we have been convicted today about how our opinion of, "How Brylee is doing" has been skewed by our own sense of what we think God should do. Medically, Brylee is happy and healthy. She has a condition that will affect how she functions and interacts with others, learns, and governs her ability to be independent. Nothing is threatening her life. I'm sure there are a lot of parents who would trade places with us in a heart beat so they could continue to spend time with their kids. Just this week, we have found out about several families who have just had kiddos diagnosed with cancer, all of them with a form that is known to be fatal. I know they would swap with us. This does not mean that everything is hunky dory. Our hope is to clarify and put into perspective what Brylee is facing.

So, after Mark drilled on the developmental therapist Thursday for an hour and a half just trying to get some clarity about what we could expect, talking to the pediatric neurologist, and Brylee's other nurses and doctors... we are still faced with trying to drive down a road with a blind fold on, but we at least know where the edges of the road are. There are 2 extremes: 1) Brylee has no long term issues and can be totally normal (not at all the expected case by the doctors), 2) Brylee suffers from cerebral palsy symptoms and cannot function at all. We know that God is able to do exceedingly more than what we could ever imagine. While our prayers are still for a little girl who can run around with Maddox and Adaline and function on the same level as them, we have to trust that God will give us the strength, grace, and ability to deal with whatever trials come our way with this. God never promises that he will equip us before the trial, but instead, just in time for the trial.

So while we don't yet know what will happen (and we most likely won't know all of the issues surrounding this for many years to come), we trust that God has a plan for this. We trust that it is a plan to prosper our family and Brylee. A plan full of hope and one with a future that will bring glory to the Kingdom of Heaven. Not necessarily a future that would be envious by all the world.

Thank you again to all of you who are praying and have been praying for our family through this. We would ask that you all settle in for a marathon race instead of the 100 yd dash and remain steadfast in your prayers! We love all of ya’ll and cannot put into words how much all of you mean to our family.
The Stratton's
(Written by Mark)