4/16/07 9:30 p.m.

I'm so tired all I want to do is go to bed. So this will be short and sweet. Josh had a very busy day today. He spent about 3 hours in a power chair called the I-bot. The I-bot climbs stairs, can roll around on 2 wheels, is 4-wheel drive, and is your typical man's man power wheel chair. It's more expensive than a typical power chair, but allows for a lot more freedom for Josh, which is important when taking the kids to the beach or on a wooded trail...things that aren't possible with a regular chair. Right now we're more concerned with the loss of freedom than the extra dollars such a chair might cost.

Josh helped make dinner tonight in the apartment kitchen in MFB--basic things like stirring, cutting (with a very very interesting looking knife), etc.  It was a good experience but it makes him realize again how difficult "normal" things are for him to do.

Tonight Josh's blood pressure went up, which is know in spinal cord injuries as disreflexia. It happens when something is going on in his body that he can't feel and deal with normally. He got extremely flushed and we figured something was wrong. We figured out what the problem was and by the time I left tonight it was going down.

The visit with the kids tonight was approximately 2 minutes--no exaggeration--because of the problem. But they seemed OK anyway.

Everyone is now going to bed early, including me! Nighty-night. 

Prayer Requests:

--TOTAL HEALING!!

--Smooth transition when Josh comes home--in four days!

--Better understanding of disreflexia and its causes and that it doesn't happen often!

4/15/07 11:30 a.m.

Sorry about the lack of posting yesterday. We will not have internet hook up until Tuesday at the new house. The move went amazingly well. Over 50 people showed up to help, there was enough yummy food for an army, Two Men and a Truck guys never stopped running, and everything is put away in the house. Can you believe it? We were amazed, excited and so blessed.

The morning started at 8:30 when the movers showed up at the house and had a heck of a time figuring out how to manage our steep driveway on our narrow road. This was one of the major concerns with bringing our new van up the driveway- not wanting it to bottom out. Anyway, 9:00 and people started showing up. It sounds like about 30 people showed up at the old house to help pack up the truck. Around 11:00ish they were off to the new house and emptying the truck. There was so much help people had to wait to get boxes to bring inside! Nice problem to have huh? Josh and I showed up around 1:00 and the truck was empty. Josh was sitting here at MFB wanting everyone to know how grateful we were for all the help so he thought it would be a good thing to show up. When we got there, their was a huge group of people in the front yard and I sorta' wanted to hide. :-) We talked to a ton of people, gave a few directions (mostly directed people to my mom so I didn't have to deal with it), and tried to get used to the new place. By about 5:30, everything was unpacked, put into it's place, and most of the people were gone. We want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who came and helped in any way.

Josh and I left back to MFB around 5:30, got Josh changed into some jeans, and we headed back to the house to wait for the kids. They showed up about 7:45 with some friends from Kalamazoo and the kids were soooo excited. They came flying into the house, Zoe's specific words were "It looks the same!", and Noah went straight for the swing. They loved their new bunk beds and the new toys a few people had brought for them. They both especially liked the playroom. Noah's drums are in there (yes, we're crazy but Josh loves to watch Noah so the basement wasn't an option) and he showed daddy all his new skills. Josh was on Cloud 9. He was able to help put the kids to bed, prayed with them, and just had a chance to do normal daddy stuff.

The rest of the evening consisted of talking with friends from church who were still there after all the stuff was put away and just hanging out. All in all, it could not have gone better. Josh feels like he has enough room to move around, I feel like we can contain the kids and lead a decently normal life there. Please be praying for us as we adjust to the move and to daddy coming home. Zoe did not sleep too well last night. She kept waking up being scared and mommy and Zoe do not fit into a twin sized bed very well together! It was her first night so I can't really blame her for being scared.

Everyone woke up around 8 and hit the floor running. Both kids wanted to play with all the toys, ride their scooters in the basement, bounce on their bouncy balls and play outside. Zoe spent a long time with a new Crayola coloring book that she saw on TV that someone bought her. On the commercial it shows kids coloring with markers on the floor because the ink does not show up except on this specific paper. She was convinced she too had to color on the floor! She's such a honey! Noah has already spent a decent amount of time on his swing set and is excited to have a TV in his playroom.

We are now relaxing at the hospital and Josh is getting ready to teach tonight at church. Thank you for all your love and prayers over this move. We were truly blessed!

Prayer Requests:

-TOTAL HEALING!!!

-Josh's fingers and tricpeps

-stability as we get used to our new house and daddy coming home!

4/13/07 11:45 p.m.

Tomorrow is moving day! The house is pretty much ready to go and when 9 a.m. rolls around tomorrow morning, there will be lots of activity around here. I'm excited, anxious, nervous, and a whole lot of other emotions all rolled into one. Josh never got a chance to really say goodbye to the house so we figure he'd better start walking again so we can move back home! :-)

Josh had a good day. He spent time in numerous power chairs, narrowing down the options and getting closer to deciding what he wants in this chair. He also saw our new van for the first time today. I was at the dentist and missed it! I was disappointed but he gave me a pretty complete rundown and was soooo excited. He said it's beautiful, shiny, and going to be a great form of transportation. The interior is khaki which I was very happy about. We did not get to pick that out because the base of the van was completed when it was purchased so I was not sure what color the interior would be. I know, it's a small thing, but I was excited. The conversion van company brought the van over to measure out Josh's chair and see where the locks need to be placed. Only one disappointment and it has nothing to do with the van itself. The chair that Josh has picked as his primary chair cannot be automatically locked down. When he starts to drive he will not be able to buckle the chair to the floor so he has a system called EZ Lock that automatically locks his chair in. We are unsure what we are going to do but it looks like Josh will need another chair when he drives. It seems asinine to need another chair but nobody seems to act like this is a huge deal, just another cost we have to come up with! :-) Please be praying that God helps us make the best decision for the situation and not let it get Josh down too much. He was pretty disappointed about this and I would love an easy answer.  Those easy answers can be hard to come by.

We spent time with friends tonight up in Josh's hospital room. We had some serious church talking and lots of light hearted laughing. Jason was staying to help Josh get in to bed and learn a few things about the bedtime routine he was unfamiliar with. This will be great for him to know so that if he and Josh come home late at night, after I'm asleep, Jason will be able to put Josh to bed. This will be a big help to me and I'm sure I wouldn't be in the best of  moods at 1 a.m. after I've been asleep for 2 hours. Help, like this, from our friends and family, will be a huge help. Josh still wants to be able to go out at night with the boys and not have to be home by 10:00 pm. so I can put him to bed.

Please be in prayer for all the work to be accomplished tomorrow. Although moving is always hard, all the prayers and volunteers will make it much easier to handle. Thank you to all of you who have been such a part of our lives the past three months. You are loved!

Prayer Requests:

-TOTAL HEALING

-The move tomorrow!!!! Please be praying for us and come by if you can! We'd love to see your pretty face!

-Josh's fingers and triceps

4/12/07 11:00 p.m.

Today was a pretty uneventful day for Josh. We like these days where we feel like nothing major happened or that one of us had a nervous breakdown! Josh spent time using the slide board from one chair to the table. Some guys from church came up this afternoon to learn this method of transferring Josh. It seemed to go quite well. One of Josh's friends came up from the Ft. Wayne area to visit Josh and took him out for dinner. He was excited to spend time with him and have some "guy time". Josh really misses this type of interaction. Being at MFB he has an early curfew (8 p.m.) and it does not leave lots of time to hang out. He does not usually end up back this early, but it's always in the back of your head. It will be nice when we get home and he can go back to having time to hang out with the guys. Josh has always been quite the social butterfly and likes little more than just sitting somewhere talking with friends. It's not quite the same sitting in a hospital room talking.

While Josh went out tonight, my sister and I spent a leisurely dinner at On The Border (yes, they know me there!), just the two of us. It was nice to just sit and not be in a rush to head off somewhere else. We then headed to meet some girls at Target and do some shopping for the new house. I never imagined buying tools for myself, but I found myself in the tool aisle at Target. Josh has always been our handyman around the house, but this is not an option right now. His tools are always spread all over the house and garage, but he always seems to know where everything is. I decided I needed some order so I got some big packaged set with most anything I could ever need to fix stuff around the house. Thankfully I will still have him around to teach me verbally how to do the stuff I will need to do. I don't want to have to call my dad every time something goes wrong around the house. I figure I'm a woman of the 21st Century and better start acting like it!

A group of men from Crossroads Bible came up to pray with Josh at lunch today. They were extremely encouraging to us and prayed the fire down! These men are incredible men of God and we know when they say they are praying for us, we know it really means something. We all gathered around Josh and had the opportunity to pray for healing over Josh. I find it such a breath of fresh air to be with people who so firmly believe in the power of God to heal Josh. When I am feeling doubtful or like my faith is waning, God always seems to bring someone to us to remind of he is able. We serve an amazing God who will be glorified- we just plead that it is by way of Josh's healing.

The big move is only about 36 hours away! Please remember us in prayer as this marathon day will be taxing on all involved! There will be free food to feed the hungry so if you're available, your help would be GREATLY appreciated. I am praying that God keeps my spirit calm as the day grows closer. I know that the task will be completed whether I start stressing or not. It is hard for me to know that I need to back off and allow others to help us. It is my job to keep little Ephram safe and sound, not to try and be superwoman and control the whole situation (if you know me personally you know this is a struggle).  Please remember all of us in prayer as the big day draws near.

Prayer Requests:

-TOTAL HEALING IN JOSH'S BODY

-Josh's fingers and triceps

-the big move on Saturday!