We're headed to Nova Scotia!

This week Alicia and I accepted a call to pastor a church in Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia. We will be moving in late August. We are thankful, and excited about the Lord's leading in our lives. Please pray for our house in Belgrade to sell in time for our move, and for us to be able to get everything ready! Pray for all of us to have the strength needed for all the tasks before us and for the emotional strains of moving. It is painful to take up roots. We love our Belgrade family very much. But while there are difficulties, we trust that this move is ordained of The Lord, therefore we must follow him in obedience. Thank you for your prayers!

Answered Prayers

God answered all of our prayers for our Mikayla Jean. First, we asked him to heal the cystic hygroma problem that was detected early on. God answered by taking that away. Secondly, we prayed that Alicia would be able to carry Mikayla and that she would be born alive even though there was an extremely high risk of miscarriage. I remember sitting in front of the ultrasound specialist and the high-risk doctor and hearing them say ‘we see no reason she shouldn’t be born alive’. God allowed Alicia to carry her for 31.5 weeks and Mikayla was born alive December 28^th at 6:30 pm. We prayed that the doctors would care for Mikayla despite her trisomy 18 diagnosis. God answered by giving us a team of doctors and nurses that were very thorough and detailed in their care for her. Next, we asked God to give us some time with Mikayla Jean and he said yes by giving us 39 hours with her. We are so thankful to God for his answers to prayer. It has been our prayer in the last couple of weeks that God would sustain us as we live through this difficult experience. He is answering by surrounding us with our family, as well as brothers and sisters in Christ that are so loving and helpful and encouraging. We thank God and give him the glory for everything he has given us. We know that right now Jesus is caring for our little girl in heaven and keeping her safe until we get there too. We will see her in a little while. Alicia and I are grateful for all the cards, the support, the meals from our Belgrade family, and especially the prayers you have offered up on our behalf. Please pray that we would be able to work through this and continue to trust in God’s faithfulness.

Prayer for Alicia

Please keep Alicia in your prayers. On top of all that has transpired with Mikayla, we just found out that Alicia has a blood clot in her leg. Right now it is just a superficial clot, but we are concerned because she is already on blood thinners.

The Lord has carried us through this difficult day by his grace and we trust he will continue to carry us. We appreciate your prayers and all the sharing in our burden. We love you all. You have brought us before the throne of God and we know we have seen him.

We appreciate any verses and thoughts of comfort

-Mark

Update Tuesday : we're going home today.  Alicia is going to need an extra shot of blood thinners for the next six weeks. We found out this morning that Belgrade Bible Church is going to be providing meals for us for the next while. We are so thankful. Thanks to all for your support and love.

Update Tuesday afternoon: I'm writing this from the pharmacy in Augusta. We are just waiting on a couple of prescriptions before we go home. It will be good to hug our girls and get some rest.

Mikayla Jean McKeen

Born today (Saturday) at 31.5 weeks.  She weighs 2 lbs and 1 ounce.  Please pray for her development. We are so thankful for the chance to hold her hand and touch her hair. These are precious moments. There are going to be challenges ahead for all of us.

Thanks be to God for this great gift to us.

Mikayla means 'who is like God' and Jean means 'gift from God'. We are learning those truths more and more with every passing moment.

Update Sunday 9 am : Mikayla is not doing well this morning (Sunday)  her breathing is a serious problem..  There are many complications to fight at this point. We are praying for miracles.

Update Sunday 12:45 pm : We are waiting on some test results on brain and lung function. The machines are doing everything for Mikayla right now. Her heart has some normal premie issues that are secondary at this point, but could become a bigger problem down the road. Thanks to all for your continued prayers and support.

Update Sunday 5pm: Mikayla desperately needs to show some response. Please pray for her development. Most recent tests show some underdevelopment in the brain. We don't know what the effects of that are. Again, thanks for the showering of love and prayers. The Lord is sustaining us. We need a miracle.

Update Sunday 8:30 pm : they're giving Mikayla a steroid shot to help her blood pressure. She is maxed out on two other medications for blood pressure. God is giving great grace as we wait. We love you all and can sense your prayers for us. Thanks for all you are doing.

Update Monday 5 am : the nurse let us know this morning that Mikayla is maxed out on a fourth blood pressure medicine. She is still having a hard time maintaining her blood pressure. We will be seeing her shortly. Pray for our courage today. Also pray that Jodie, Kendra, and my parents make it down here to see Mikayla.

Update Monday 6:30: Mikayla is not coming home. Her blood pressure is not good and she is maxed out on all her medication. We are thankful for some time with her this morning. We will get to hold her and love her after we take her off her medicines and breathing machine. Thanks for your prayers.

Mikayla passed away this morning at 9:25. She is with Jesus. We got to hold her for her last minutes with us. Thanks for your prayers.

A Very Jodie Christmas