Daily Worship Strength through Prayer Community Group
Welcome to the "second room" of the Daily Worship Strength group. This group "room" is devoted to personal and public prayer. Here we ask that prayer requests and praise reports are posted. Because we know that prayers are answered! We have a God who personally cares for and about us, His children.
My older brother Jake recently wrote about me and I thought I would share it with you here.
I’m the third of four kids. Being in a big family is never boring. My little sister Anna is beautiful. We have the same dark hair but her eyes are dark blue, while mine are green. She’s tiny, her features thin and doll-like. But, wow, her inner beauty is the incredible part. She’s compassionate empathetic, thoughtful and smart. She’s funny, too, but in such a quiet, subtle kind of way you really have to listen to get it.
We’re both the quiet kids of the family, so we’re best friends. I love her so much.
Anna is also very strong. See, when I was six and she was three, Annie was diagnosed with something called Common Variable Immunodeficiency. Basically, Anna is missing somewhere between one-third and one-half of her immune system. She gets sick easily and heals slowly. Everything seems to hit her. I was three the first time she was in the hospital and it was terrifying. She also has a lot of complications from infections
Anna has had asthma since she was a baby and she also has non-reversible lung damage from frequent lung infections when she was little. One of her infections crept into her heart when she was five and now her heart is too weak and sometimes goes into an irregular rhythm. When she enters an episode of rapid heart rate, she gets dizzy, chest pains and sometimes trouble breathing. That’s a lot to deal with when you’re five and six years old.
Now, Anna is sixteen. I’m nineteen. My sister Mollie is almost twenty-one and my brother Will is twenty-two.
Even eleven years later, we still treasure one day as one of the best days ever. Funny thing is, it happened right before one of the toughest times of our lives. It was just four days before Anna was admitted to the hospital with myocarditis. She wasn’t even sick yet. Mollie was still sick and Will was still a little sick. I was already over it. Mom had a migraine and Dad was just tired from a long week of classes. So we declared it pajama day. I played seven games of Chutes and Ladders with Will and Anna. Mollie and I taught Anna to play Hearts. All four of us built a tent in the playroom and had an Uno tournament in it, and then we fell asleep in it. The whole family watched Back to the Future. We gave each other piggyback rides and played Mario Kart (I beat Will and Mollie beat me). Mollie’s fever broke that afternoon. Anna dressed up as Sleeping Beauty half the day and the other half she ran around in a tee shirt and underpants. We all had mac and cheese and hot chocolate for dinner. Then we watched Shrek and everyone was asleep by ten. It was one of the most fun, most relaxing days ever.
There were probably some bad things that happened that day. I know Mollie still had a headache, and Will was probably feeling bad. Maybe Anna had a low blood sugar in the middle of our Uno tournament. Maybe I got upset Mollie kicked my butt at Mario Kart. Maybe Mom got frustrated and yelled at us. I don’t remember. None of us do now. We just know it was a great day.
Just a week after that, I went to see Anna in the hospital. She was looking and feeling horrible. She was still on oxygen, and a million other monitors and IVs. I couldn’t believe this was all caused by one simple fever…one simple virus anyone could’ve picked up…the same thing that we all had. I was only eight, and while I was scared of her being in the hospital, she was still my baby sister and it was my job as her big brother to cheer her up. I climbed up beside her in that big scary hospital bed and we watched Lady and The Tramp and played Uno. It was almost like that perfect Saturday. Of course, it’s hard to have a perfect time when your companion is coughing up a lung every hand, or your movie marathon is interrupted by a nurse murmuring about how high her fever is. But it’s amazing how normal this is to all of us.
Even when she wasn’t in the hospital, there were and are plenty of times that Anna just isn’t feeling well. Even with her aggressive treatment fatigue, stomach upsets, headaches, joint and muscle pain, and coughing are issues that still plague her on and off, especially if she’s been pushing herself too hard.
When we were younger and Anna was sick much more often, Mollie, Will and I learned patience. We could handle the same episode of “Big Comfy Couch” over and over if it made her feel better. All four of us were expert players of Candyland, Chutes and Ladders and Clue. We loved Go Fish, Uno and Hearts. After Anna got out of the hospital, she was on restricted activity for two months to rest her heart. In that time, we all learned to love playing quietly. The rest of us still enjoyed sports and Anna still enjoyed cheering us on from the bleachers. But those two and a half months (and the last sixteen and a half years!) shaped us as people and as siblings. How many sixth grade boys do you know willing to give his all at Candyland to make his little sister smile?
Anna often worries that we didn’t get enough attention, missed out because of her, crap like that. But we love her. WE want her to feel good and hate it when she doesn’t. The little things don’t matter so much in the long run. So, Anna had a fever and Mom didn’t see my thirty seconds of lines in the fourth grade play. That’s okay. I missed movie night with Dad because she was having trouble breathing. I’ll get over it, she’s really more important.
My mom and dad absolutely rocked at giving us a “normal childhood”. But growing up with Anna, my life has a much deeper meaning. Watching her struggle makes me count my blessings and realize how lucky I am to be healthy. Seeing her strength through it all is inspiring. Being her best friend and her big brother has taught me so much about life and love. We laugh together and we cry together and we pray together. We have great memories together when she’s feeling well, and important lessons learned from when she’s feeling bad.
I could talk forever about Anna’s health and how it’s affected our family and how proud I am of her for dealing with EVERYTHING with such grace and strength. But I want to talk about what makes my sister Anna—Anna Faith.
Anna is sixteen. She plays four different instruments and dances (lyrical and ballet/jazz fusion). She rides horseback, volunteers, babysits, practices yoga, takes honors classes and works in our church. She has a wonderful boyfriend and a great group of friends. All stuff she wasn’t healthy enough to do when we were younger. I’m so proud of her and I'm blessed to be her brother.
So…here’s to Sibs, to PIDD patients, to family and to never giving up. Here’s to laughter and prayer. and our loving God that gets us through so much. Here’s to my sister.
I love you Annie Fay.
--J-Bear
I’m the third of four kids. Being in a big family is never boring. My little sister Anna is beautiful. We have the same dark hair but her eyes are dark blue, while mine are green. She’s tiny, her features thin and doll-like. But, wow, her inner beauty is the incredible part. She’s compassionate empathetic, thoughtful and smart. She’s funny, too, but in such a quiet, subtle kind of way you really have to listen to get it.
We’re both the quiet kids of the family, so we’re best friends. I love her so much.
Anna is also very strong. See, when I was six and she was three, Annie was diagnosed with something called Common Variable Immunodeficiency. Basically, Anna is missing somewhere between one-third and one-half of her immune system. She gets sick easily and heals slowly. Everything seems to hit her. I was three the first time she was in the hospital and it was terrifying. She also has a lot of complications from infections
Anna has had asthma since she was a baby and she also has non-reversible lung damage from frequent lung infections when she was little. One of her infections crept into her heart when she was five and now her heart is too weak and sometimes goes into an irregular rhythm. When she enters an episode of rapid heart rate, she gets dizzy, chest pains and sometimes trouble breathing. That’s a lot to deal with when you’re five and six years old.
Now, Anna is sixteen. I’m nineteen. My sister Mollie is almost twenty-one and my brother Will is twenty-two.
Even eleven years later, we still treasure one day as one of the best days ever. Funny thing is, it happened right before one of the toughest times of our lives. It was just four days before Anna was admitted to the hospital with myocarditis. She wasn’t even sick yet. Mollie was still sick and Will was still a little sick. I was already over it. Mom had a migraine and Dad was just tired from a long week of classes. So we declared it pajama day. I played seven games of Chutes and Ladders with Will and Anna. Mollie and I taught Anna to play Hearts. All four of us built a tent in the playroom and had an Uno tournament in it, and then we fell asleep in it. The whole family watched Back to the Future. We gave each other piggyback rides and played Mario Kart (I beat Will and Mollie beat me). Mollie’s fever broke that afternoon. Anna dressed up as Sleeping Beauty half the day and the other half she ran around in a tee shirt and underpants. We all had mac and cheese and hot chocolate for dinner. Then we watched Shrek and everyone was asleep by ten. It was one of the most fun, most relaxing days ever.
There were probably some bad things that happened that day. I know Mollie still had a headache, and Will was probably feeling bad. Maybe Anna had a low blood sugar in the middle of our Uno tournament. Maybe I got upset Mollie kicked my butt at Mario Kart. Maybe Mom got frustrated and yelled at us. I don’t remember. None of us do now. We just know it was a great day.
Just a week after that, I went to see Anna in the hospital. She was looking and feeling horrible. She was still on oxygen, and a million other monitors and IVs. I couldn’t believe this was all caused by one simple fever…one simple virus anyone could’ve picked up…the same thing that we all had. I was only eight, and while I was scared of her being in the hospital, she was still my baby sister and it was my job as her big brother to cheer her up. I climbed up beside her in that big scary hospital bed and we watched Lady and The Tramp and played Uno. It was almost like that perfect Saturday. Of course, it’s hard to have a perfect time when your companion is coughing up a lung every hand, or your movie marathon is interrupted by a nurse murmuring about how high her fever is. But it’s amazing how normal this is to all of us.
Even when she wasn’t in the hospital, there were and are plenty of times that Anna just isn’t feeling well. Even with her aggressive treatment fatigue, stomach upsets, headaches, joint and muscle pain, and coughing are issues that still plague her on and off, especially if she’s been pushing herself too hard.
When we were younger and Anna was sick much more often, Mollie, Will and I learned patience. We could handle the same episode of “Big Comfy Couch” over and over if it made her feel better. All four of us were expert players of Candyland, Chutes and Ladders and Clue. We loved Go Fish, Uno and Hearts. After Anna got out of the hospital, she was on restricted activity for two months to rest her heart. In that time, we all learned to love playing quietly. The rest of us still enjoyed sports and Anna still enjoyed cheering us on from the bleachers. But those two and a half months (and the last sixteen and a half years!) shaped us as people and as siblings. How many sixth grade boys do you know willing to give his all at Candyland to make his little sister smile?
Anna often worries that we didn’t get enough attention, missed out because of her, crap like that. But we love her. WE want her to feel good and hate it when she doesn’t. The little things don’t matter so much in the long run. So, Anna had a fever and Mom didn’t see my thirty seconds of lines in the fourth grade play. That’s okay. I missed movie night with Dad because she was having trouble breathing. I’ll get over it, she’s really more important.
My mom and dad absolutely rocked at giving us a “normal childhood”. But growing up with Anna, my life has a much deeper meaning. Watching her struggle makes me count my blessings and realize how lucky I am to be healthy. Seeing her strength through it all is inspiring. Being her best friend and her big brother has taught me so much about life and love. We laugh together and we cry together and we pray together. We have great memories together when she’s feeling well, and important lessons learned from when she’s feeling bad.
I could talk forever about Anna’s health and how it’s affected our family and how proud I am of her for dealing with EVERYTHING with such grace and strength. But I want to talk about what makes my sister Anna—Anna Faith.
Anna is sixteen. She plays four different instruments and dances (lyrical and ballet/jazz fusion). She rides horseback, volunteers, babysits, practices yoga, takes honors classes and works in our church. She has a wonderful boyfriend and a great group of friends. All stuff she wasn’t healthy enough to do when we were younger. I’m so proud of her and I'm blessed to be her brother.
So…here’s to Sibs, to PIDD patients, to family and to never giving up. Here’s to laughter and prayer. and our loving God that gets us through so much. Here’s to my sister.
I love you Annie Fay.
--J-Bear
Hannah