Houston Schmouston

Today was Houston day. Today was the appointment with the Dr who wrote the book on Scleroderma. Literally. She wrote a book called The Scleroderma Book.
With LOTS of prayer and a fabulously persistent family member, we got into see THE lady who has dedicated her medical career to studying systemic sclerosis. We left the village to care for our kids and drove in last night. We prayed for her by name. We prayed over the city of Houston. We prayed over the parking garage. I prayed over her waiting room and every member of her staff that I could see. I have been trying SO hard to keep my eyes on the prize...which of course is Jesus. NOT a doctor, not a magic pill, not a clinical trial, not any tiny earthly thing. But, my precious husband had a lot of hope. He felt rejuvenated at the idea of fresh eyes finding a fix. She was going to tell him something new that we didn't know about...and then he would shout from the rooftops that through her, God had completely healed him.
Before I get to the point here, I want to say that this day ended with a bit of defeat. HOWEVER, the incredible and AWESOME God that we serve provided a little gift last week that will see us through this day and all the rest of the days we have here on earth.
Some sweet spirit led friends suggested that I encourage Justin to read James 5. Justin falls asleep every night listening to his Bible, so last week I made the suggestion. God kept him awake until he finally got up and went to read James 5. Except, my husband is a man. So....he "accidentally" read John 5. When Justin forgets what I ask him to do and does something else...I usually think it was because he was not listening to me. If you are a wife you just get what I am saying. He loves me, but sometimes when I talk I think he hears the Charlie Brown WAH WAH WAH. But, this night when I asked him to specifically do something...he HEARD. He HEARD from the Holy Spirit, and that trumps me any day of the week. He HEARD what he was supposed to hear and he read what he was supposed to read. Because God is the real deal, ya'll. God revealed some stuff to Justin through John 5 that could NEVER be considered a coincidence. He read that and felt a presence and a healing that he needed to feel in preparation for today. (Interesting fact: Justin was in our church Christmas drive through thingy...because he is like part super hero...and his part was in the scene of the pool of bethesda. Neat)
So, back to the point. Dr. Scleroderma did not have the magic wand that Justin had hoped for. It must be out of order :( He does not qualify for any of her trials and she really doesn't even feel like she is the specialist that needs to manage him closest. She was vague on who that should be, but gave us something to work with.
She changed up some meds and will see her again in a few months. She wanted him to see a special dermatologist while we were here. Her nurse sat on the phone for 30 minutes trying to get us in....we got the thumbs up to go and then on the way there (it was like 5 blocks away) a little tiny hybrid granola car rear ended Justin while we were parked at a red light. Her car was completely STUCK on Justin's trailer hitch and we had to wait an hour for police to show up, then tow truck driver to lift her car off and then another hour for police to make a report and blah blah blah we missed the appointment and the Derm isn't in clinic the rest of the week. So #whatever to that. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!
We got out of the medical center just in the nick of time for Houston rush hour traffic. We finally got back to my aunts at 7 and decided to stay here tonight and head home in the morning.
God is going to heal Justin. Through a Doctor or in the middle of the night on a Tuesday. It's going to happen. We have two types of Doctors to look for. We need the TOP GI motility specialist in the country and the TOP D.O. specializing in autoimmune therapy. Pray specifically for them to ring our doorbell tomorrow. Ok ok, not that, but please be praying for discernment as we sift through the options.
We have both had many moments of being DONE. I am ready for this miracle to get its show on the road. Justin is sick of being sick. It is wearing on Bryce. It's getting old.
 But, David waited. Job waited. Abraham waited. Noah waited. The Israelites waited.
By faith, the Macs can wait. We need a day of not thinking about any of this (which is easier said that done for J...because well he can FEEL it) and then I need to get my detective pants on....which are similar to prayer pants.

You know the drill. Pray.

Oh and side note....we have some pretty great friends. Probably the best ever. We sold these QUICK so that I could surprise Justin with the video before we came to Houston, but we are going to sell these to everyone in the next few days as a tiny fundraiser to cover some upcoming medical travel costs. Watch the video...it will surely make you smile! And if you don't "get it" then you should hang out with Justin more...because then you would :)

TEAM JMAC