Here’s a sentence I have heard that I wouldn’t wish on another parent.  

From the doctor’s mouth to our ears:  Your child needs brain surgery.

He was six years old.

Three weeks later, we watched the surgical staff wheel him away, and then began the grueling wait.

Three hours later, the doctor emerged, to then tell us another sentence I would never wish on another parent.

We found a tumor.  Followed by: We THINK we got it all. But only time will tell.

It’s been 10 years since that day, and yes, praise our good God, they DID get it all!  But during those first days of recovery, we didn’t yet know that. 

Looking back at that 3-day hospital stay with the MRI’s, and the waiting for news, and the little boy with the swollen eye and the head bandage. . .

What I treasured most were those who stood with us.

People who visited. Others who sent gifts. Prayers being offered on our behalf. The knowing that we weren’t alone in this. That meant the world.

And for most of the time, I was strong.

Until the day I wasn’t.

On that particular day, the what-ifs clouded my thinking and I wrestled with fear, and I reached out to my tribe for spiritual help.

Because on that difficult day, I needed them to hold me up until I could find my strength again.

I threw out a plea: Please pray for me.

Many did that very thing, and they let me know that.  And that’s what got me through.

But there was one specific response I received that day that really got my attention.

Because this friend’s words were powerful.

She said:  “I will stand FOR you.”

That was exactly what I needed. Someone to stand in my place and do the hard work for me until I could get up and do so myself.

And then I knew that I would be okay because really that’s what all my people were doing.

They were all standing for me, lifting me up, taking my needs to the cross. Being strong when I was weak. And making sure that Jesus held us all.

Which he did.

So I got strong again and trusted Jesus, and loved on my baby, and took pictures to memorialize this crazy event and all the loved ones who physically stood by us.

And in the days that followed, I reflected on my friend’s words over and over again, all the while thanking God for my people.

Knowing that even if everything didn’t turn out okay, it still would because Jesus held us and he loved us and he loved our child. And his plans are always perfect.

That’s when I added more bullet points to my Why I Love God list:

• Because he created us to live in community with one another.
• And he invented prayer for moments just like this.

God, you think of everything. Thank you.

It’s no small thing when we lift each other up in prayer. When we stand for another when they are weak and cannot find their strength.

Because our prayers are powerful.  

In fact, James 5:16 tells us –

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

We find healing through the prayers of others. Healing from sorrow, from fear, from weakness, from sin.

Our prayers can bring hope and courage, build faith, and restore the broken. And when many bind their prayers together, God works in powerful ways.

And that’s one thing that makes the family of God so beautiful.  Because we are in this together. 

And on our strong days, when someone we love is having a moment of weakness, we get to be the ones to help them find their strength again.

It’s a privilege.

So I’m sending a thank you to my tribe.  To those who have held me up on my weak days. 

May God help me to be the blessing you need in return.

Let that be the goal for each of us.

Like Aaron and Hur, who held up the hands of a weary, staff-holding Moses (story in Exodus 17), we too can hold up one another.

Lord, strengthen us to stand for the ones we love.  And teach us to practice Ephesians 6:18 –

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Thank you, God, for the power of prayer.  Teach us to be faithful with it. And help us to honor you and hold up others with this powerful gift.  In your Holy name, Amen.