I thought
you all would like to see some pics from our trip.
There were quite a few more
roads than we're used to seeing where we live.
And LOTS more TALL buildings!
See? I told you!
Over by the beach, it was much
more pleasing to the eye.
They are refurbishing
the hotels in the Art Deco District back to their original glory. Very
pretty!
Could the sky have been
any more beautiful?
All in all, a good trip!
Alesha
Colleen, you guessed it! It is a glass
sculpture! We took Isaac to the St. Louis Children's Hospital last
August and nearby at the Missouri Botanical Gardens they were featuring
the Chihuly Glass Exhibit. It was spectacular! Here are some other
pics from our day.
This
was hanging from beneath a bridge. It was massive.
I
loved these spheres they had floating in nearly every body of water.
You can see that Isaac got really hot while we were there – check out
those rosy cheeks!
This boat was amazing!
This
chandelier was 2 stories high and I could barely fit it into my
viewfinder.
This was my favorite shot
of my trip that didn't have one of "my guys" in it!
This
was the "Chihuly Rose" that they grew just for this exhibit.
And finally, a pic of my hubby and Isaac under a
phenomenal archway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update on Isaac – Praise the Lord, we had
no seizures today. He has eaten well and kept his food down. He has
also been very vocal all day, just complaining about every little thing
that bothered him. I don't like the grumping (with Isaac it all comes
out as "Uh, uhhhhhhhh, UUUUUUUHHHHHHH, Uh…well, you get the idea), but
I am delighted that he knows his own mind today and knows when he's
irritated. Tomorrow we'll work on our "inside voice" and "finding your
hallelujah". 
Thanks
for guessing on my pic! What's your most memorable trip with your
family?
Alesha
An update on my boy – he had a seizure
on the way home from the hospital yesterday and we had to give him
medication. So he slept all day yesterday, all last night and was very
drowsy today. He ate minimally, and drank probably 2/3 of his normal
intake. We'll be seizure free for a little bit while the meds are still
in his system. We'll be taking it easy for a few days, and see if he
can recover his normal energy and personality when the meds wear off.
It's amazing how much one night's sleep can
make you feel almost human again. I feel so much better today.
Let me tell you how good God is to me! I
missed 3 days of work this week with Isaac. When we got back, we had an
"escrow surplus" check in the mail, then today I received my February
bonus check from work. If you add both of those checks together, they
are only $9 short of what I will lose from my check for this week!
Isn't that something? God is so good to me.
There have been so many times that, in MY
opinion, we have been in "need" of financial help from the Lord. Times
that I just knew any day now, I was going to walk out to the mailbox
and there would be an amazingly large check. Many of those times, there
was no check. We survived. We eked by. We walked slowly away from
debt one baby step at a time – paying off each thing at a painfully
slowly rate.
God was
teaching me about grace for each day – making wise financial decisions
one day at a time, being frugal today, just because it's the right thing
today. That $5 not spent wouldn't have paid off anything, but I was
learning to wait on God's provision.
Then, like this week, when I'm so worn to a frazzle caring for
this child of God He has given us, He just pours out His provision. I
was concerned about Isaac's eating, drinking and fluid output, counting
ounces of milk – not dollars in my paycheck. My focus was on my
ministry – my child – not on my bank account. God took care of the
rest.
See? It's like
this to my mind, possibly too simplistic, but it's working for me.
Isaac is God's child. We are God's family. It's God's money, God's
jobs, God's house. None of it's mine. I am accountable for how I use
God's stuff, yes. But ultimately, the care and provision for it are
HIS. No matter how good I may be with making a dollar stretch and
balancing that checkbook, I can never do as good a job as God will do of
taking care of His own money, home, family and child.
Anyway, that's what's on my mind tonight. And
Isaac is already asleep this evening, praise the Lord. I pray he
sleeps through. He and Daddy are going to get out of the house tomorrow
and do something outside. That boy needs to feel the sun on him soon.
He's been inside too much this week.
Thanks for reading my long-winded rambles
tonight. I pray you feel God smiling on your ministry today, too.
Alesha
I love the nickname's
everyone uses for their children and spouses – very interesting and
creative names. So I'm trying to come up with something for my son.
Until then…
I
knew he wasn't feeling quite himself today. Usually hubby and I take
turns going to church if he's not well. This morning was my turn to
go. But I just didn't feel peaceful about that and hubby gave me
freedom of choice about it. (We've been in the ER twice in the past 2
weeks with my son, he hasn't been sleeping all night, and I work
full-time.)
Sure enough we had
seizure # 7 of the past 10 days. Another phone call to the doctor
tomorrow. We've increased his meds twice during the past 2 weeks.
Should not still be having breakthrough seizures.
Very bothersome!
We're
going to a specialist on the 26th. I'm very skeptical that they can
really tell us anything new. I know God can give them wisdom from
above, though. I just hope it's not dependent on MY faith. It is
really lacking that we can/will find a rhyme or reason for these
seizures.
It's a beautiful day,
though pretty cool again for this Southern girl. I'd love to re-pot
some of my outdoors plants, but it's a little early yet. So I guess
I'll wait awhile.
Here's my boy on a
much better day in December.
Here's his list of
challenges:
hydrocephalus,
epilepsy, cerebral palsy, asthma, GERD, delayed gastric emptying,
various eye diagnoses, developmental delays, non-verbal (for the most
part – he can say a few words with great meaning - "more", "hello",
"Ma", "wuv", and his latest accomplishment "hah-ay-ooo-uh"
{hallelujah}), and non-mobile.
Here's
what I think about him:
He's the
joy of my heart and love of my life, second only to my hubby.
We adopted him at 18 months old. Next Thursday will be the 5th
anniversary of his "Gotcha Day".
Here's what I believe about being in this trial:
There is a reason. Some other doctors and nurses
must need to meet my boy. Right now, only beauty is helping me stay
balanced – beauty in God's word, in God's nature, in the pics and
stories on some other's blogs. Those things are helping.
And I am grateful.
Alesha
It was really cold here
(for the South), so we stayed cozy in the house all day.
Remember in the 80's when buttons were all the
rage? My hubby loved them – he's not a very outspoken person, but he
could speak his mind by wearing buttons.
A week before Valentine's Day, he and my son were
out of town for one of my son's doctor's appointments and they dropped
in a large bookstore. Guess what he found! And guess what I received
every morning for a week!
Aren't they cute?
I am so loved.
And
blessed.
Praying for all to have a blessed Sunday,
Alesha
Don't you just love gerber daisies? I think
they are very friendly flowers.
My hubby brought these home on Valentine's Day. I love that
they have to have little plastic sheaths for their slender stems to hold
up those beautiful huge blossoms. It seems so self-sacrificing of them
to blossom so beautifully. Hmmm…
Are there times you feel if you don't take a few moments just
to drink in something beautiful your heart will just wither and dry up?
God's creation holds so
many beauties for us. I am guilty of not taking enough time to stop and
notice. It's as if all at once I realize I'm starving for beauty.
I want to pay attention. I don't want to miss
the beauty. I need the beauty. It feeds my soul.
God's Word holds many beauties.
Zephaniah
3: 19- 20
Behold, at that time I will undo all
that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that
was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where
they have been put to shame.
At that
time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I
will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I
turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.
Isn't that
pretty? Doesn't that just make your heart well up with gratitude for
the loveliness of it?
So many things He has given to make our lives
beautiful. Let's make the time to stop and take them in, let them
linger awhile in the dark corners of our heart, until they begin to
light us up from the inside out.
His beauty –
shining from us.
Hmmm…allowing His sheath of the Holy Spirit
to hold our stems straight while we sacrifice ourselves to show forth
His beauty in the blossoms of our life.
Friend, blossom
and shine for Him today!
Alesha
Isn't it amazing how non-Christians react when they are faced with
their own mortality?
A co-worker today was told of a relative's
diagnosis with a possibly-contagious disease. Immediately she panicked
as she thought of her herself and her own children who had been in
contact with the relative. Her terror was palpable.
She had been
faced with her own mortality – and worse, the mortality of her children.
As
the parent of a special needs child, I face my son's mortality on a
regular basis. It is sobering and freeing all at the same time. I
can't keep my child alive. Neither can doctors, specialists or
medications. Only the Lord can do that.
My child's life is not in
my control. My own life is not in my control either.
So I can
just relax, enjoy, roll with the punches, living each moment AS
it happens. The future is completely out of my hands.
We can
enjoy life and have God's awesome peace throughout everything. Life is
meant to be savored.
One of my best friends says, "Don't forget to
wear your party pants!"
Each day is a joyous celebration of
life, love and God's goodness.
How has God showed His control in
your life today?
Oh, how much He must love you then! Don't
every doubt it!
Alesha
Obtaining Mercy 