Protection

     The past few days have been good for Riley.  He has maintained acceptable urine output and blood pressure levels.  The docs have made a few minor changes on his oscillator settings, other than that no changes have been made to his care.  He is still really swollen, that is what our prayers have been focused on recently.  I pray that he will either pee out the fluid or absorb it back into his body.  He has done this before, we just need to keep praying and believing that he can do this again.
     When I am away from Riley, I picture Jesus standing next to his incubator with his hands on Riley.  I have a picture of Jesus in my head I guess from the movies.  I picture a man with shoulder length brown hair and a beard wearing a long colorful robe over a white tunic (I guess tunic is the right word, not sure).  Anyway, this comforts me and I feel like Riley is protected while Craig and I are not there. 
     Speaking of protection, have you ever heard of the armor of God?  When I was little, my Dad bought me and my brothers the armor of God.  Turns out, Craig had the armor of God as a child too.  The armor came complete with the breast plate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the belt of truth, the sword of the Spirit, and the shoes of peace.  It also came with a video I think...but that's not mentioned in the bible.  A few days ago, I came across the scriptures where the armor is mentioned and I immedieatley imagined Riley wearing the armor of God.  He needs all the protection he can get!  Of course, I am imagining Riley wearing the kid plastic version my brothers and I had, but that's ok.  He's our little soldier fighting for his life wearing the armor of God.  We are so very proud of him. 
     Here are the scriptures I found that mention the armor, it's Ephesians 6:12-17, NIV

¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 

I may no longer have the physical "armor of God", but I do have a close relationship with God and the ability to wear the armor proudly.