Daddy's Girl #1

It was not a good time. Darla had been having some issues and so I went with her to the Dr. in Evansville on a Wednesday in 1996. We had been married for a little over a year and had talked about having a child and made preparations for that to happen soon. Evidently soon was now because her issues were due to the fact that we were expecting our first child! We were elated to say the least and couldn't wait to tell the world!

Hannah Lin (named after Darla’s sister, Johnna’s middle name) was born at 11:17am on August 2, 1997 and it was definitely love at first sight! When the nurse at St. Mary’s hospital in Evansville laid her in my arms I was so overcome with emotion…it was beautiful, scary, love all at once.

We were attached from the beginning. I remember taking Hannah to the sporting events of the kids in our youth group and I loved just the two of us hanging out on my day off. We had so much fun together…and still do! My favorite times were the times we would take naps together…she would lay on my chest in my recliner and I would fall asleep too and sometimes our drool spots would join together!! Must be love!

When Hannah was two months old she was not tracking objects so at the advice of our pediatrician we went to an eye specialist in Evansville. The news was sobering to say the least. We were told that Hannah would never be able to see, that we needed to check into schools for the blind, etc… because Hannah had an eye disorder called “coloboma” which basically means that there is a part of her retina or optic nerve did not fully develop. We were crushed to say the least. We spent hours praying, asking our church at Little Prairie to pray (which they did on a Sunday night in one of the most wonderful prayer services I have ever been a part of), and asking our friends to pray.

We moved from Albion to Centralia in the summer of 2001 where we met a friend from our church, Lori Edson, who worked for an eye doctor and she gave us a name of a doctor who she met at a seminar in St. Louis. Dr. Oscar Cruz works for Cardinal Glennon Children’s hospital in St. Louis and we met with him and Hannah had eye surgery to correct her nystagmus (eye jiggling) in 2002.

During that eye surgery the doctor came in to tell us some news that would literally change my life. We were told that while he had Hannah out he got to look closely at Hannah’s eyes and could not believe what he saw! We were informed that her coloboma was so bad that he could literally not detect an optic nerve in her eyes! There is no medial or scientific reason why Hannah has sight!! The doctor informed us that if we told him that all Hannah could see what light that he would believe it, anything more than that he would not believe it! We have a walking miracle in our midst!

We got to see pictures of Hannah’s eyes yesterday and it is just amazing to look and see her eyes compared to what a “normal” eye should look like. Over half of her eye on each side is totally covered by scar tissue or not developed!

Why do I write this? I write this for a couple reasons…

1) So you can know that God truly does answer prayers – We prayed for healing, that is true, but we also prayed for God to help us deal with whatever setbacks that this eye condition will have on Hannah. She does have some limitations with visual field and depth perception and we are not sure how she will be affected as she grows up and learns to drive or other adult activities as she matures. All we know is that we have a 13 year old that is not supposed to be able to see but can do pretty much anything else that a teenager can do visually! One cannot look at her eyes and not give glory to her Creator for working His touch on her!

2) So you can know that God is real – God is still working today! God cares about you and your situation. I know of so many people who have given up on God and tossed him aside for the sake of convenience or priorities, God is so real and wants a relationship with you and a chance to show himself to you if you will just let him! God is real and good and faithful!

3) So God can be glorified by helping someone else -- He gets all the honor and glory forever for his work in Hannah's life. My sharing this story is to tell God's story to help someone who may be struggling with their relationship with God to help them know that our God is still living and active!

I do not write this to brag about anything…because I, nor any other human, did anything. I write so you can know that God is still working today and wants to work in your life too. I realize He doesn’t answer all of our prayers the way we want him to, but that does not change his faithfulness and love for you. Give him a shot…you will so not be disappointed!

Thanks for reading and listening!

Get the most of your church's youth program

It’s been awhile! I haven’t written a blog in some time, apparently! Well…I am attempting to write one here today. Actually, I have been thinking about this issue for awhile, but am just now at a point where I have my thoughts completed to put on paper (I think! Ha)

Most church leaders would probably agree that a successful church has an effective youth/children’s program. But how can you, as a parent, make sure your son/daughter gets the most out of what your church offers?

1. Support with your time – Contrary to what you may think, most kids don’t mind if their parents are involved in some way in the youth ministry. Whether it is volunteering to help with crowd control, serve snacks, clean up or set up, or go on a trip there is a sense of connection that helps them see that you value what is important to them.

2. Know what is going on – For the most part, gone are the days of a youth group being a bunch of food and fun and games with a 10-minute “devotion” and call it church. Youth ministries have “grown up” and realized that if they are going to train the next elders, deacons, missionaries, and senior ministers that they must lay a solid foundation in their ministries to help make that happen. Realize that most of the time you see the fun and crazy stuff that happens at the beginning of a service and at the end of the service, then your kid only talks about the silly game or crazy fun that they had. Did you ask what the lesson was about? Do you ask what adults they are connecting with? Those are important questions to ask each and every week your child attends. Sometime stick around and hang out and observe what happens at a typical Sunday, Wednesday or small group Bible Study that your child attends.

** As a side note…if your church’s youth program is not serving your child spiritually, talk to your youth pastor, senior pastor, or church leaders about it. A youth program must have the focus on your kids relationship with God, not just entertainment…it’s just that important! **

3. Refrain from using youth group as a form of punishment – Think about the logic. If you punish your child for doing something wrong by making them miss youth group you could be punishing them from hearing the very Biblical truth that they need to hear to make better choices. Talk to your youth pastor or youth leader about a discipline and they can help you decide together what might be ok to miss (for example: missing the next youth group laser tag outing might be better than missing the midweek worship service).

4. Make the youth program a priority by making church a priority – We wouldn’t think of missing sports practice or games or other club activity because of homework, but we sometimes don’t think twice about missing church or youth group for such things. If there is soccer and youth group that night and your child can only attend one…what is the BEST option spiritually? What a great example you set as a parent when you set the non-negotiable boundary for Sunday & Wednesday (or whenever your youth meet) as a non-negotiable/emergency only night, and schedule the other 5 nights with other things.

5. Pray for and support your church’s youth leaders – Don’t just say you will or tell them you are going to, why don’t you this Sunday grab one of your kids Sunday School, youth group leaders, or youth pastor and actually pray for them. Out loud. And let them know you appreciate what they are doing in your kids’ lives.

Lastly, if you are not involved in a church that has a youth ministry program or children’s program…help start one. If you have any questions about the youth program @ Mt. Gilead where I attend, let me know. We don’t do it right every time…but we try our best to help make a difference in the lives of kids by helping them seek a relationship with Christ, share Christ with others, and shine for Christ in how they live. As always, I appreciate your feedback.

Matt