Romans 12:10 (ESV): 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Romans 13:8 (ESV): 8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

1 Thessalonians 3:11–12 (ESV): 11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you…

Where are we at with Ela? In essence…still waiting. Ela has some issues and doctors talk through suggestions but the conversation always ends the same way: Ela needs a new heart. The current conversation is that it is highly likely that Ela’s collaterals are back. Collaterals make up this web of veins and arteries  that our bodies grow to compensate for lack of oxygen flow. Collaterals will save your life…but in Ela’s case, they put a lot of pressure and stress on the only half of her heart that is working. This lack of oxygen flow might be connected to some of the neuro issues she’s been having. The brain is not getting the amount of oxygen it should be getting and that is affecting her in various ways. The team is conferencing on her extensively over the next month as to next steps and what timing might look like for those steps. The band-aid fix for collaterals is another heart cath, but Ela’s already had 3 in the last year and a half and the risks can be high. She’s already high risk anyways and her last 2 caths have unexpectedly landed her in the CICU.  Part of the discussion will be if the cath Dr.  is willing to do another one after weighing the risk/benefit for Ela knowing that collaterals will keep coming back until she gets a new, good heart. But not doing anything and allowing the collaterals to continue to worsen could also be detrimental. 

We are waiting and attempting to trust the Lord, knowing that a new heart might or might not be part of His plan…in the mean time we look to men like Jacob and Moses. Jacob contended with an angel all day and would not let go apart from receiving a blessing from him (Gen. 32). We see this principle in the NT where Jesus teaches us that the consistency of our prayers should match the widow who kept going back to the unjust judge for justice (Lk. 18:1–8). We ought to pray without losing heart. Moses is also an encouragement. Here is a man who did not let God’s holy anger keep him from asking God to spare Israel from complete annihilation (Exod. 32). Like Moses, we are to be confident in our prayers, knowing that we are appealing to a God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.