Though Joyanna hasn’t been sick, she had to miss one day of school last week. She developed a sore on her heel from a pressure spot in her braces. It started looking a little angry so we took her to the doctor that day. Thankfully, he said it wasn’t infected and gave us a good ointment to place on it daily. After we started the wound care for that, Joyanna ended up with three days off school, which were not our decision—one for winter weather, two for teacher development. She ended up with a mini spring break. It was perfectly timed. She needed to keep that brace off for a few days for it to be adjusted and to let the wound heal. If those days hadn’t been factored in, we would have had to keep her home. We wanted to baby that spot for a few days. I’m glad to say that there is an obvious difference in the wound and it is healing nicely. Such a blessing! With lower circulation in her feet, you never know if a wound will heal properly.
She is maintaining and we are thankful for that but the little plus referred to in the title is referring to a few times when she has been able to take some steps. Three weeks ago in physical therapy, her PT wanted to put her in a gait trainer just to see if she would push down on the floor through her legs—basically, try to stand. She did stand but when the PT went to adjust her right foot, she picked up her left foot and took a step. I don’t think any of us (me, PT and assistants) expected that so we didn’t quite know what to think of it. She took several steps that day, slowly, clumsily and with many stops in between but it was very incredible to watch. She hasn’t walked in over a year and a half. Then again, yesterday at school, she took some more steps in a gait trainer with her school physical therapist helping her. We’re not sure how far God will let her go but we are happy to wait and see as she gets more opportunities to try. Getting the right equipment is key because she still can’t even hold her head up so she has to have lots of support. It’s not something we can even practice every day so the patience only provided by the Lord is definitely needed here. As of right now, the plan is for her to return to TCC for two months this summer. Since we couldn’t even get equipment ordered and delivered by then, we will wait for her to have practice time while at TCC to see if ordering the equipment is appropriate. Please pray for wisdom for us to have patience and make correct decisions regarding Joy.
Ethan will be 5 next week. It’s hard to believe. He is excited. Of all the cakes he could pick, he has asked for a Southwest airplane cake. Wow! We’ll see how I can pull that one off. We’re back to doing some preschool work with him three days a week, mostly just working on task orientation and concentration. He’s a smart boy but he has a HARD time sitting still and focusing. Well, he is 4—almost 5! We’ll keep working on it.
Recently, our church’s missionaries to another country, Micah and Sarah Reasoner, shared with us that Sarah was struggling with her salvation and after she watched Philip’s funeral service, she fully trusted in Christ as her Savior to settle her doubts. Praise the Lord! Many others watched and attended Philip’s funeral service. We pray that God can use even the celebration of Philip’s life to bring more eternal impact on others. In fact, the neat thing about this particular decision is that years ago, Ben and I felt we would be missionaries in that country ourselves. At that time, we felt we would raise our children there and our whole family would be able to minister to the people there. Philip never made it there, but in a way, his life still ministered to the people there including our missionary and now through her for an even more eternal impact. God uses all of our lives beyond belief if we are only surrendered to him.
Praise the Lord for the threads God is weaving through all of our lives that work out His eternal purposes. Some of those threads are light with happy times and some are dark with sorrow but that’s the only way we’ll be able to see a clear picture of the glory of God.
I may have included the words to this song before but my friend, Monica, and I were just able to sing it at church so it has been on my mind again. Maybe it will encourage you today with God’s sovereignty.
The Perfect Wisdom
The perfect wisdom of our God,
Revealed in all the universe:
All things created by His hand,
And held together at His command.
He knows the mysteries of the seas,
The secrets of the stars are His;
He guides the planets on their way,
And turns the earth through another day.
The perfect timing of His ways,
Along the path of righteousness;
His word a lamp unto my feet,
His Spirit teaching and guiding me.
And oh, the mystery of the cross,
To save the helpless and the lost
He chose the fool to shame the wise,
That all the glory might go to Christ!
Oh, grant me wisdom from above,
To pray for peace and cling to love,
And teach me humbly to receive
The sun and rain of Your sovereignty.
Each strand of sorrow has a place
Within this tapestry of grace;
So through the trials I choose to say:
Your Perfect Will in Your Perfect Way!