Overcoming "Noise"

On the night of January 25, my world was turned upside down when we brought my one and only son “Air” to the hospital. He is just 10 months old and we took him to the emergency room because he was vomiting and having diarrhea. He was confined in the hospital for intestinal flu and mild dehydration. I was holding him when the nurse inserted the dextrose needle in his right hand, Air’s excessive crying filled up the room. The people around us were saying negative things and giving their unsolicited ideas on what had happened to my son. My wife and I considered every negative comment as “noise” because all it did was add to the already anxious moment. I wouldn’t forget the way my son looked at me as if asking me to save him. I was going to stop the nurse but I knew the infusion would help him recover better from his sickness. It was chaos in the emergency room because of the noise of the environment. When I stooped down to whisper to Air “Listen only to Daddy’s Voice, everything will be alright, Mommy and Daddy are here with you”, Air’s cry suddenly turned from a frightened cry to a calm one. Great is the connection between father and son. Air was discharged from the hospital 2 days later and he is now back to his laughing, eating and playing normal self. I thank the Lord for his immediate help in our time of need.

The way Air dealt with all the “noise” in the emergency room reminded me of the story in Matthew 14:22-31 when Jesus invited Peter to walk on water. Peter heard Jesus’ voice to do the impossible… walk on water, and he did, for a time at least. “Come.” Jesus told Peter and he then went off the boat. The bible described that the disciples were terrified. Imagine them looking at each other astonished, surprised and “noisy” when Peter tried to walk on water! Peter focused on the right voice… Jesus’ voice.

When my family and I heard God’s voice to come here to the Philippines to help out in the orphanage, there was a lot of negative reasons that we heard for us not to go, we considered it as “noise”. Amidst all the noise we heard, I thank God that we focused on the right voice. Currently, a lot of positive things have been happening in our efforts here to build the orphanage. We have chosen the final location for Babyanne’s Mansion. We are now having talks with our lawyers and land owners and hopefully the final sale would be done within the next two weeks. Please continue to pray for the processing of the necessary paper works for the completion of the sale. I will keep you guys updated about the progress of this transaction. Furthermore, we are also meeting with the architects to finalize the plans for construction so please do pray for that too. We need all the support we can get as we continue to push forth this dream to make a difference in a child’s life. Help us to focus on God’s voice and continue to cancel the “noise” around us. We are all believers that if only we would hear, listen and follow God’s voice, we will do the impossible.