My Brother - in - Law

My brother-in-law, Chris, has been a part of my family for about 3/4 of my entire life. I met him when I was 7. My sister was in 9th grade and she met Chris at Youth Camp in Weeping Water, NE. At the time I thought he was the cutest boy on earth. He was strong, muscular, had a great smile and looked at my sister as if she was the queen of the world. I remember when he came to take her to her Jr. Prom...he drove a Nova then, and it was jacked up in the back (because that was cool in the 70's!). He painted the axle black and in red paint he wrote "Chris loves Tami" in a big heart. I thought it was the most romantic thing ever ~ like proclaiming his love for my sister (who, being 7 years older than me, was worthy of it all in my book) wherever he went. He wanted the whole world to know how lucky he was to marry Tami.

The cool thing was, Tami felt the same way about Chris. When she'd talk about him she'd get this silly little grin on her face...and her eyes would twinkle. We used to tease her because it was all so sappy and wonderful. I remember sitting in our living room on New Year's morning watching the parade on TV surrounded by pink, blue, white and green petals and leaves that we were attaching to little buds to make the flowers for the bouquets that would be used in Tami & Chris's wedding just over a month away on February 21, 1981. At 11 years old I couldn't help but want what they had when I got married.

Flash forward 26 years ~ Tami & Chris are still very much in love. I am amazed when I'm around them with the love, the honest-to-goodness love, that shines in their eyes when they look at each other. They don't have the starry-eyed kind of look anymore. No, now they have the look that says "I fell in love with you for all the right reasons and they still stand today."

That's why it's so hard to be 1500 miles away from the hospital where my sister sits by Chris's bedside and prays for the infection that is in his leg to stop proceeding up to his bum and beyond. The doctors are confused. The infectious disease specialist is confused. The surgeons are confused. They are all concerned and preparing for the worst. Nothing is touching the infection ~ they have no idea what started it, they have no idea what the strain is, they have no idea about anything at all except that the red streaks that are going up his leg are obviously putting him in more and more danger everyday. And Tami stands there, sits there, reclines there in the almost-an-open-taco chair they've brought in for her to rest in and she prays and she cries and she prays some more.

The picture above is from last summer when we were in South Dakota. That is their family except for Joshua, their oldest son, and his wife Andrea with their son, Isaiah. (Andrea is pregnant and due in May sometime) Chris is an outdoors-kinda guy. He loves to bow-hunt, ride his motocross bikes with his sons, and has a career in construction. He's active, strong and muscular. Losing his leg is not something he ever thought would happen. None of us ever do.

I would appreciate your prayers for Chris & Tami. We all know our hope isn't in a healthy leg, although we're praying for it, but our hope is in the God who made the leg in the first place. our faith isn't in a "favorable outcome" according to what we would want, but our faith is in the Lord who has given us the ultimate in favorable outcomes through His Son's death & resurrection. We are safe and secure in the arms of God ~ and our hope remains in Him. With that said, our prayers are that He, being the Great Physician, would heal Chris from this weird infection that no one but He knows the details of.

Chris really is more like a brother to me than a brother-in-law. It is he to whom I owe the greatest amount of gratitude for helping me through the dark parts of my pregnancy with Sophie. It was Chris who introduced me to a singer by the name of Steven Curtis Chapman and told me to listen to "The Treasure of You" over and over again until it sunk in. It was from Chris I received the inspiration to play that CD in my CD player with the headphones on my belly so Sophie would know she is precious, loved, wanted and beautiful despite the circumstances of her birth. (and I can say with confidence that was the case for both of her biological parents...we just all handle life differently when we're young and stupid.)

Treasure Of You by Steven Curtis Chapman
(warning, this will take you away from this page ~ I suggest right clicking and then clicking "open in new window" to listen to this song...)

I can thank Chris for that, too...the grace to forgive the pain of being abandoned. It was his perspective of a father, and the desire for her biological father to experience the joy that comes from freedom in Christ, that encouraged forgiveness in my own heart. Yes, Chris really is more of a brother to me than a guy who's married to my sister.

My heart is weary knowing all they've gone through in the past 12 months. This infection is not the first "issue" that has tested their faith. Not even close. And, to be honest, if only the other issues could simply be opened up, removed and patched back up.....they'd be a whole lot easier to handle. Thank God we don't have to carry them!

I'm rambling because my heart is so weary ~ I desperately want to be flying to Nebraska right now and not sitting in my loft in Vancouver writing about the people I long to be putting my arms around. Thank you for praying for all of us ~ and thank you for praying for God's healing power in Chris's leg, but mostly in their family.

with a great big sigh and prayer of surrender,
Trayc

here's a picture of my grand-nephew, Chris & Tami's first grandchild, Isaiah Tate. He's Josh & Andrea's son, and about to become a big brother!



Here's a picture of my second nephew, Josiah, and his (then) girlfriend, Emily from last summer...



And here's Bethany, my neice, who is now a Freshman at University of Nebraska, Lincoln ~ yup! She's a Husker!!!



And finally, here's Jacob, the baby of the family. He's a High School student anxiously awaiting his 16th birthday on June 19th. The boys loved hanging out with him a couple of years ago....