I have been enormously supported by the many friends and colleagues who have assured me they are praying for Mark and the rest of us. Thank you! But for what should you or I be praying?
Thankfully I start with the absolute conviction that God knows what he is doing so the big picture is his problem. My responsibility is to work out what to do day-by-day and week-by-week. I don't think this is just me escaping from the situation by focusing on my comfort zone of doing and planning - though I could be deluding myself! I am praying for wisdom for us to decide what to do in the next few weeks. Elisabeth had been due to visit me in Sydney leaving a week on Monday. I am due at a national panel meeting in Australia on 3rd April. Rowena is wonderfully independent and competent but she does need to focus on her A-levels not running a house. She definitely doesn't want anyone to make a fuss in that she is so like Mark. Do we go, do we stay? If we go when and for how long? I had been due to fly on 24th which feels a bit soon even if I go. Meantime I am trying to do some of the house sorting and tidying that had been on Mark's agenda for the next few weeks and which only I can do. I am convinced that our path will end up with us in Sydney, but like my wonderful Mr Tom (the SatNav) I keep recalculating the route.
This a special prayer a friend (who has been through his own set of awful family troubles) sent us:
Dear Lord,
Your son, Mark Rodger, is in trouble with a stroke, probably mostly unconscious.
Your daughters, Alison, Rowena and Elisabeth are worried and frightened.
Their life is complicated due to moving countries and the sale of their home.
Planning is risky.
Be with them all, Lord, as they sleep, as they wake, and as they wait. Give them rest. Give Mark, Alison, Elisabeth and Rowena every day some special joy, so that they will know you love them.
Lord, please heal Mark completely. And as you do heal him, may he see you afresh and return with new joys.
Amen.