PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!

“Jesus of the Scars”

by Edward Shillito

If we have never sought you, we seek you now; 

Your eyes burn through the dark, our only stars; 

We must have sight of thorn-marks on your brow, 

We must have you, O Jesus of the scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm; 

In all the universe we have no place. 

Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm? 

Lord Jesus, by your scars we know your grace.

If, when the doors are shut, you then draw near, 

Only reveal those bloodied feet and hands 

We know today what wounds are, have no fear; 

Show us your scars, we know you understand

The other gods were strong; but you were weak; 

They rode, but Jesus stumbled to a throne; 

But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak, 

And not a god has wounds, but You alone.

I have read this poem over and over again and it really is a comfort to us as a family right now. In all that we are going through in sickness and separation from each other we know that Jesus understands because in a sense He faced a little over 3 decades of separation from the father to dwell among men here on earth. 

In that time of separation from the father He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

His scars brought us salvation - these wounds that were a sour sight to behold today have become for us beauty above all beauty. Our prayer - and please join us in them - is that we too will embody growth, beauty, stillness, patience, silence and hope in these trying time we are going through as a family. The separation seems like centuries - even though it only has been 5 weeks. Our hearts are growing faint and our focus is starting to shift from Jesus...Please pray that we will remain steadfast and TRUST in the LORD with all our hearts...This is what we teach people all the time! God has brought us to a sweet place where we cannot only participate in teaching these truths but in living them as well - please pray that we will excel in living out our faith in this storm! 

Today our lawyer will go to the Judge to seek permission for BJ and I to travel and Allison and in America even before his adoption is finalized. Please pray for favor before the Judge and speedy decision making that is not drawn out too long. Our God is able! 

I am teaching BTCP at SERVE all day this whole week with the help of James and Ben. We have our first Tanzanian BTCP student with us here and praise God for Pastor Kalinga. On Saturday James and I have been invited to minister to the Police fraternity in our community on the issue of marriage. This is a great privilege that we are excited about - Pray that the Lord Jesus will shine through His word as we speak/teach. 

Please continue to pray for Allison for she is still in pain. Today's doctors appointment was not what we wanted to hear either. We thought that the surgery she went through would ease or even get rid of the pain that caused her to have the surgery in the first place but the doctor said that due to the severe nature of the condition she had, the pain may be something that we learn to live with for a long time - they are still investigating options. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors in this regard. 

Last but not least pray that truly the Lord will be our shepherd not only during this time of need but ALWAYS! Pray that we will remember that His Rod and Staff is our comfort and no matter what's at the end of it all, one thing is for sure, that His Goodness and His Mercies will follow us all the days of lives...God is so good! 

Thank you for praying for us and for standing with us during this time of NEED!

Dennis, Allison, BJ and Anjela!