Fearless and Helpless

My 2-1/2 year old grandson's name is Gavin. He lives with my wife and me as he has since his birth. We have legally adopted him, prompting me on more than one occasion to quip; "Now I am a true southerner. I am the father of my grandson." That makes too light of a difficult situation. It is a situation with difficult choices made by everyone concerned. Each of us (my wife, my daughter and me) wrestled with the right thing to do and the right reason to do it.

I have one other grandson Gideon who lives in Knoxville, TN with his dad Richard, my son, and his mother Priscilla. Gideon is six weeks old. There will be a third grandchild in August. I am too young for this stuff, but that is beside the point.

Gavin is fearless. He will jump anywhere, climb anything and tell you to "go way" if you try to assist. This happened when I was swimming with him for the first time in his young life on vacation a couple of weeks ago and the past Monday when he was climbing at a playground near our home. I love this little guy more than I could ever truly tell you. I will love my other grandchildren just as much, but something will always be unique about this first one and the fact that he lives in a lot in life he did not ask for.

In most every way Gavin is a normal two year old. There is one exception. Gavin is very small for his age. He is only 22 pounds and 32 inches tall. (I think those numbers are correct. If they are not my wife or daughter will post a correction in the comments section.) He was very small even at birth, 5 pounds 1-1/2 ounces. He was premature by a month. Because of his small size and no embryonic fluid they took him at eight months. Trauma was expected, so when he was born the room had specialists swarming all over. Thanks to the grace of God, he was perfectly healthy and they just wandered out of the room.

As I said, he remains small. He is below all charts on his weight and height. Gavin has a small appetite. Because he is not growing, he only needs to eat enough to live and do normal two year old running and playing sort of things. This size issue has troubled pediatricians his entire life. It has not bothered us as much because I was always small when young. In the eighth grade, I was next to the smallest kid in the entire school. Today I am 6'1". But they are very concerned for Gavin.

Tomorrow medical personnel are going to attempt to intervene. Shortly after 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, June 22, 2005 the physicians at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh are going to do a 2-1/2 hour intravenous procedure to attempt to stimulate his pituitary gland and hopefully cause growth. This procedure requires him to not eat or drink anything in the morning and to be still for the entire 2-1/2 hours. That is asking a lot for a kid his age.

Tomorrow morning, this fearless little boy who is loved dearly by everyone in the family will be helpless while medical procedures are performed on him in his best interest. There is a lump in my throat as I write this late on Tuesday evening. Or should I say early Wednesday morning? I have a lot of love for a lot of people, some incredibly so, but tonight my love for Gavin surpasses almost everyone. I am headed upstairs in a moment to kneel by his bed while he sleeps and beg God to heal my precious Grandson and to be with him tomorrow as he undergoes pain and discomfort that a two year old simply cannot understand. We are planning on selling our home soon to among other things, help pay for the anticipated non-insurance covered cost for this procedure. They promise to be quite high. But you know what, it does not matter. Gavin is far more important.

In addition to being fearless, Gavin is one of, if not the, cutest little boy you will ever meet. But his being cute and fearless tomorrow morning will do him no good. He needs God to heal his little body.

Do you realize that in God's eyes, we his children are cute and helpless? We are destroyed and dying from a disease. The disease is sin and we cannot cure it alone. We need the intervention of someone far greater, someone whom we often call the Great Physician. That person is Jesus. Your Heavenly Father cares for you in a manner that far exceeds my love for my grandson Gavin.

As you read this, I ask that you would breathe a prayer for Gavin James Mann. Even if you read this after the procedure is over, pray for God's will and healing. God still heals. Usually he does it with the aid of MDs and medicine, but it is God who heals. I also ask you to pray for yourself if you have never received this wonderful gift of spiritual healing. God offers it freely. As Gavin receives injections that may cure his body, is today the day you could accept the injection of life that could cure your entire being . . . body and soul?

I now am headed to ask God to do what I cannot. I fully trust in the outcome. But I must wait for some time to see the result. So my prayer will also be for me and my family during these difficult days, weeks and months of waiting.