Prayers for Autumn

Autumn Grace (photo by Rachel Thomas)

Dear Friends of InFaith: Northwest Oregon,

One of the benefits of being your area missionary is that I know we have an army of prayer warriors interceding for us as we serve Jesus together in our communities.  I am writing today with a personal request for that army:  please pray for my three-year-old granddaughter Autumn Grace this week.  Autumn was hospitalized Saturday with lethargy and dangerously low oxygen levels, after catching one of the many viruses that are going around.  Many of you already know that Autumn was born with Down Syndrome and a defective heart that had to be surgically rebuilt when she was only five months old.  So little bugs can cause big problems.

Today Autumn has perked up a bit, praise God, but the doctors say she will be staying at least a couple more days.  A cardiologist has been called in to make sure her little heart is still working right, and we have been advised that Autumn will need supplemental oxygen, at least at night, even after she is sent home.  This is a setback for Autumn and our family.  We had been rejoicing as she hit several developmental milestones along the way.

Although Autumn is still mostly non-verbal, she communicates some things very well.  She communicates joy and excitement, affection, empathy and compassion often with just smile or a look or a touch.  She communicates gratitude and love with unreserved hugs for every doctor, nurse, clinician, friend or family member who comes near. 

We know this is not the last prayer request we will be sending out on Autumn’s behalf.  The life of a child with Down Syndrome is a series of serious ups and downs, times of health and time of illnesses that bring unsettling hospital stays.  But in between, the Lord gives Autumn Grace the most effervescent personality that radiates His love to all those around.  Thank you for praying for her, for her parents Rachel and Robert, and for her big sisters, Catherine and Felicity.

May God bless you all!

Tom Hiscox, NW Oregon Area Missionary  thiscox@infaith.org