So many hurting people

That's what Luke and I feel right now. Not us, but people we love dearly, who are going through enormous struggles.

There's my friend, Lorelei, who's daughter, Maia, suffered a brain aneurysm almost 6 months ago. Maia was 20 months old when it happened and her survival at the beginning was very uncertain. She survived, thanks to thousands of prayers and medical advances. Now she is going through the long road of rehab. She has vision deficits, has problems with muscle tone, is unable to communicate, doesn't have control of her movements, and cries often (from pain, frustration, etc). Maia is currently in intensive rehab at a hospital here in Grand Rapids, and please pray that all of the issues just mentioned can be resolved. The therapists all feel that if Maia's tone could be better (she's very stiff and rigid all the time--hypertonic), she'd made huge progress. Pray for her parents, too--that their marriage would be strengthened and that they would continue to seek after the Lord. Pray also for her big sister as life has been very different for her the last few months.

Then there are our friends, Jessica and Jonah. They are in our small group Bible study and are a couple that love the Lord passionately! They have a very run romance story (it involves thousands of miles of separation and a lot of patience with immigration here in the US!) and the two of them together have spiritual gifts that complement each other perfectly. It is very clear that the Lord put them together to rock His kingdom! Jess is currently 22.5 weeks pregnant (pregnancy is 40 weeks) and is on bedrest at the hospital fighting to stay pregant. PLEASE PRAY that her body can stay pregnant for many, many more weeks! Jess is 1000% committed to doing anything needed to have a healthy baby, and please pray that she and Jonah can have this. Pray also that the Lord will sustain their marriage as they deal with all the hardships of this high-risk pregnancy. Oh yeah...if you could pray that we, as their friends, can find ways to encourage them and keep them company, that would be awesome, too!