Bear with me......

"Bear one another's burdens."  That is a powerful statement.  It comes from a verse in Galatians 6:2 that says, "Bear one another burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."  While this is a verse that comes from the bible, whether the bible is something you believe in or not, the implications of this single statement are monumental in the human life.  How counter cultural is this idea that we should remove the focus from ourselves and put it on another human being.  Now hear me correctly in I do not think or believe that bearing each other burdens means that we fix everyone's problems for them or take on the weight and responsibility of their life.  Quite the contrary.  I believe this concept should direct us to bear up behind those around us and help propel them forward.  There is not a human in existence that can fix what is broken about another humans life.  Even the most skilled surgeon in the world when he goes to repair a broken body leaves behind a scar.  Evidence of the fact that things are not new, they are not perfect, they are broken.  No one this side of heaven can fix what is and has broken in Teagan's body.  No one can remove the scars that Mark and I bear not only on this journey, but from our entire walk through parenthood.  And the truth is we don't need people to fix it.  Truth is we don't "need" people in this journey at all.  We need Jesus.  It is as simple as that.  If it were not for the love of a Holy God who sent his son to die a gruesome death to quite literally bear the burden of all the sin and evil in this world we would not be able to walk this road.  We don't need people in this journey, no one does, but there in lies a beautiful picture of love.  God knew that while we were on this earth there would be trouble, there would be grief, there would be pain, and sometimes we would need tangible evidence of Himself and the love He has for us in this life.

Every single time someone has sent us a simple reminder that they are praying, brought us a meal, loved on our children, prayed, or just stood there beside us has helped to bear our burdens.  Just sometimes the simple presence of a person in the right moment is all that is needed to give someone the strength to keep fighting the battle that is in front of them.  I can't even begin to explain what strength came for me in those early days, when we didn't know if Teagan would ever leave the walls of that hospital, when her nurses would stay by the bedside with me while I cried countless tears and sometimes would sit and cry with me.  There is a story in the bible where the Israelites have gone into battle and Moses stands on a hill and raises his staff in the air, and the soldiers would see it and they prevailed, but everytime Moses grew weary and lowered his staff then they began to lose the battle.  So alongside him came his brother and a friend and they held his arms up for him because he had grown so weary.  There is so much grief and sorry in the world around us.  Just the week alone has been wrought with horrible atrocities to countless people all.  They and we need people to stand there and help hold there arms up when they have grown too weary.  You all have faithfully beared our burdens whether that was your intent or not these last seven weeks, and we still need it .  We are growing tired often and struggle to keep our focus moving forward.  But I also would challenge everyone as we all stumble through this life together, because let's face it very seldom do we do any of this gracefully, bear one another's burdens.  Pray in the wings and shadows of someone's battle and someone else's grief.  We can not fix or change another humans beings struggle, we were never supposed to, but we can faithfully follow what we are called to in Galatians and bear with one another.  The Lord has used everyone of you in ways you and I can not even begin to fathom right now, because as you have beared up for us, it has equipped us to do the same for our children but also others we have come into contact with on this journey.  

All that being said we still have a long way to go with Teagan, but we have come so far.  Since my last post she has continued to try a bottle once a day and has successfully taken very small amounts.  She is continuing to be more alert each and every day.  We are planning to have a surgical feeding tube placed next Wednesday.  This will enable us to make sure she is able to get the nutrition she needs, so she can go at her own pace until she can successfully eat on her own.  God has done some mighty healing in that little girl and we are continuing to see more and more each day.  We are in the marathon portion of this journey, and we continue to covet your prayers as we move forward, that we would have wisdom and grace to handle all of this the best we possibly can.  

I mentioned before that my mom always taught me that when someone is brought to your mind, don't let the moment pass without at the very least praying for that person.  Just as you have done for our family so faithfully I pray we all continue to find was to bear up for one another, and in turn maybe we all can be tangible evidence to each other of a love that is bigger and greater than we could ever understand or comprehend.  

I would like to dedicate this post to Jennamarie Haven.  Even though her life was short on this earth, her impact was huge and a blessing to even those of us who never met her.  June 9, 2016

Immediate Prayer Requests are:
For Teagan as she goes in for another surgery next week that everything would go as planned and that her body would recover quickly.  Also that all of the chemical levels in her body would continue to improve and stabilize. 

For Mark and I as we have both been battling trying to stay well amidst the difficult schedules right now. Also that we could continue to keep focused on the task at hand and not get clogged up by the little stuff. 

For the kids as they are all struggling with the schedule, being away from Mark and I most of the time, and the desire to have Teagan home. 
There are no words to describe what you all mean to us.
The Strattons