7/23/07 11:15 p.m.

Wow, two blogs in two days! Is anyone out there impressed? :-) I know I have dropped off some as things are not changing as quickly as they were earlier in our journey. I write today to let you know that God answers prayer. Today we received a check from Blue Cross for our med flight from Cancun to Miami!!!! God is good and he hears our prayers! When we got the call today that they would covering the flight, my mom and I were screaming. I called PT Kristy and her first word was "Hallelujah!". We are so thankful.

Another reason to be thankful: God has put us in touch with some amazing men and women of God. We met with them at length in regards to building. We will be having another meeting on Thursday when many more details will be coming. Know this- God is providing for us beyond what we could ever dream. Even when I am so frustrated I could just sit down and cry, God is still there.  He is orchestrating so much in our lives. For those of you who may doubt the goodness of God's people, you need only look at our situation. The people of God continue to be used by God and amaze and bless us beyond measure. God is good.

So all these great things are happening so why did I have such a hard day? I don't know. I called my mom tonight and said of all these great things that are happening, why do I feel so poopy? Maybe it's because we're getting close to 2 years since we lost Ava, maybe it's because Josh is still not walking, maybe it's because Ephram is being a fussy-pants, maybe it's because I'm sleep deprived. Hmmmm.  I guess that I'll just have to accept not knowing and be thankful for the many blessings  in my life and not the struggles.

Prayer Requests:

-TOTAL HEALING!!!

-meeting on Thursday regarding building

-emotional stability for all

7/22/07 11:05 p.m.

We had a nice weekend with lots of friends and had an amazing time at the golf outing. All in all, it was a good weekend.  The golf outing started out bright and early, but we didn't go until lunchtime. The weather could not have been more amazing and I could never have dreamed of all the people who would come out and support us. My uncle put in an amazing amount of work and (as far as I could tell) it went off without a hitch. Josh was so encouraged by it and his feeling encouraged is hard to come by!

We had friends over on Friday night and had some deep discussions about life. The guy who came over experienced the death of his mother just a hair over a month ago. It was very unexpected and has been very difficult. It got us talking about how, until something like this happens in your life, you always feel like you're invincible and nothing bad will ever happen to you. You also think that if it happens to someone close to you, you're chances are greatly decreased. It was a really screwed up conversation, fatalistic to say the least, yet a very real conversation. It's great to have friends that you can talk with about the very real things in life, even when they're difficult to talk about.

Last night was another night with friends. We had sushi around the table together and enjoyed each other's company. Things were light and carefree all night. We had a lot of good laughs and didn't want the night to end, so they spent the night. The morning was a lazy morning of coffee, gorgeous weather, and laid back conversation. We had a great late afternoon lunch and then headed off to church together. The service was great and Ephram stayed in the nursery the entire service. This is nice to feel like a part of the service again after spending the last few months in the nursery with him. We sang "Amazing Grace" and it had a great extra part I had never heard before. This song always speaks so strongly to my heart and makes me more aware of how we truly have to trust God with everything. When I sing "it is well with my soul", do I truly mean this or is this just what I was raised to sing? It definitely challenges me and causes me to take what I sing more seriously.

We have a meeting tomorrow in regards to building a new house. We are praying that God makes his will clear during this meeting. More info to come later.

Wednesday, Josh went to the Y and did end up going swimming. He felt like a spectacle, getting into the water, and he said that was very difficult. We used a flotation device around his neck and another around his waist. After a while we put a swim noodle under his knees and he worked on putting his arms above his head. Towards the end of the session, the OT and PT decided to turn Josh over, face down, in the water. After the experience of nearly drowning in the water, you can imagine Josh's trepidation. They turned him over and he tried to get back over. He quickly started shaking his head NO and we turned him back over. He was pretty shaken up but went right back at it. After a few minutes of coaching and strategizing, they turned him over a few more times. He never got himself back over independently, but he did make progress. After we were finished, he said how "crazy" (his words, not mine) it is that if someone put him in the water and didn't help him, he would die. Pretty scary stuff but we're glad that the first water experience is now under our belt.

I am now heading off to bed and pray that Ephram sleeps well tonight. We has had the pukies and so he has been out of sorts. He seems much better today.

Prayer Requests:

-TOTAL HEALING

-our building meeting tomorrow at 3:30

-emotional well-being as a family