I've been wondering, so I thought I'd end my own suspense by just asking!
Ok, that's what I need to know for today! Thanks in advance for taking the time to answer – you guys are the best!!! : )
I don't really have much of interest to say today, but I felt the need to just pop in and say "hello." We are all doing fine, and I am feeling a little more hopeful about the whole "surgeries" scenario. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement and for your prayers for us.
I was able to enjoy some quiet time on Saturday. Doug took Isaac with him for a couple of errands and I was able to bask in that beautiful quiet that is my house with no other people in it and no television, radio, music, or movies making noise in the background. My a/c window unit drowned out all the noise from the outside and I rested my ears and my brain for a while.
I was also able to concentrate long enough in one sitting to put up some new jewelry items on Etsy. I love the whole jewelry making and selling process, but the pricing and listing is definitely not my favorite part. However, when you put up new items, it does definitely increase your web site traffic for a few hours, and that is always good and hopefully will eventually result in more sells.
Last night, at church, I was able to join the choir. We have found a small room at church where Isaac can make as much noise as he wants to, and it won't bother anybody. ; ) So Doug is sitting with him there, so that I can be involved with the choir. I enjoyed it so much, and I am so grateful to my good, sweet, thoughtful husband who saw that I had a need, and figured out a way to meet that need. I am so blessed!
Isaac is running a low-grade fever again today. We'll be making an appointment soon to see the orthopedist about his hip. He is really antsy and unsettled today, so I'm wondering if he is having some pain. : ( I did give him some M*trin, just in case.
Well, I guess that's it for today. I will keep you posted! : )
OH, and one more thing I wanted to share with you:
Our church will be taking up a special offering this next Sunday for some things that need to be upgraded in our ministry. We will be
(our old tower was leased, and when the lease was over, it was torn down; so now our radio station's signal is not reaching to places it was reaching before.)
Our goal is $150,000. If you think of us this week, would you pray for our offering? I know that God will be glorified by the way the church uses this money. If you would like to read more about our church and the ministries it supports, you can check out our newly refurbished web site: Landmark Baptist Church
I guess that's it for my rambling today. : )
Blessings to you,
Alesha
Yeah, I know. I'm not really excited about it either. We've been to 4 doctor's offices in the past 2 weeks, and we've seen 5 doctors.
Within the last 3 weeks Isaac has started having an entirely new kind of seizure. He has also run an intermittent low-grade fever.
We've also known for about 7 months that Isaac's hip is dislocating about 50% out of the socket in certain positions.
So two of his doctors have recommended surgery: the neurologist and the orthopedist. The neurologist has recommended an implant that might reduce Isaac's seizures. The orthopedist wants to do hip surgery.
As we told the neurologist about the orthopedist's recommendations, she told us that if he is having a lot of pain in his hip, that could be causing the new seizures and the low-grade fever! Right, so my son is in pain, and I didn't even have a clue. I'm feeling really terrible about that right now!
So, we'll be seeing the orthopedist again soon, to have more x-rays taken, and to hear his recommendations. This surgery is quite invasive, and would mean 6-8 weeks in a full body cast or brace. I told Doug that we would definitely need nursing help following that surgery!
We will not likely do anything about the new seizures until after we have resolved the hip issue. If it is pain that is causing the new seizures, then following corrective surgery, they should stop. Normally. Ideally. In the usual cases. (Yeah…I'm not holding my breath on that one!)
Needless to say, we are not feeling very happy about these situations. We hate to see new seizures, no matter what is causing them. We feel horrible to think that Isaac is hurting all the time. We loathe the thought of another surgery, especially because he did so poorly during the last surgery. We abhor the idea of more equipment and gadgets being implanted in his little body.
I was going to include links to the two surgeries so that you could look at them, but I just got overwhelmed while reading the sites and had to stop. When it's time to go forward with them, I'll give you a better idea of exactly what will be happening.
I know that my God is in control. I know that God has His hand on Isaac's life and ministry. I know that God has allowed us to walk some very difficult paths so that others would see Him in Isaac. I believe that Isaac causes people to think about God, and reconsider what they believe about Him. I have witnessed folks response to the peace that Isaac has, and to the peace that God has poured out on us.
Sometimes I don't like where God leads us, but I know it is for my good and for His glory. So "I will follow, follow, all the way" just like the old hymn says. It will be very interesting to see God work through this next stage of Isaac's life.
We certainly would appreciate your prayers for wisdom as we make the decisions for which procedures to do, especially the one on his hip. There are innovative doctors doing wonderful things for our kiddos, but they are not covered by Isaac's insurance, nor are they in the state of Florida. We need wisdom to choose what is best, while considering all the factors involved.
Thank you, in advance, for carrying us to God's throne in prayer.
Alesha
Romans 12: 18-21
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceable with all men.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
I don't have anything to add to these verses. They are pretty self-explanatory, I think. They make for good preaching and hard living. But if we walk in the light of these verses, we will have peace in our souls, no matter how we may be treated.
I would love to hear comments on how you have lived out these verses in your life. : )
…one of my favorite things in the whole wide world!
This is only the fourth new Bible I've owned as an teen/adult. I
earned my first reference Bible at the age of 16, I think. I spent the
summer painting my dad's workshed in our backyard, and my "pay" was a
brand new green Schofield reference KJV Bible.
I was thrilled to finally have a "grown up" Bible.
I bought a smaller
black Schofield Bible while in college. (I worked in the bookstore, so
I got a discount!) Then several years ago, I bought a generic burgundy
Bible (still KJV) with no references in it. That's the one I've used until now.
I cannot live without a Bible. It is just too important to me. It is not that I am super spiritual…it is because I am super needy! I cannot get through a day without some kind of input from this Book that God has magnified about His Name (Psalm 138:2). If it is that precious to God, then just consider how precious it should be to us.
I am so thankful and thrilled to have a new Bible…but I am even more grateful for the Words in that Bible. They are not new. They are ancient and yet they speak right to my soul today; and I am thrilled to know that when I need something for my day tomorrow, this Book will hold the answers that I need.
Romans 11:33-36
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
There will be things in our lives that we do not understand. In fact, we may go to our grave having never fully grasped what God was doing in a certain situation in our life.
We must, however, remember that God's wisdom and knowledge are so deep that we cannot know them. We could search our entire lives and never understand His ways.
He is that much greater than we are.
So why is it that we try to tell God how He should do a thing?
I find myself constantly informing God of situations that need His intervention. Or I go to Him in prayer, only to begin praying out my plan for how He could solve a problem.
What in the world am I thinking?
Ah…maybe that's the problem: I am only "in the world". I am human. I am not divine. I do not have the tiniest inkling of the understanding and wisdom that God has.
Let's have the faith to stop micromanaging God. Just let Him take care for things. Take our hands off the situation, and with a heart full of hope in His promises, give it to our awesome God.
He has promised that He will work it to our good. Allow this trial to work out a greater faith and trust in your heart as well.
God, help us to leave it in Your hands. Amen.
Romans 8:24-25
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
How do we hope?
The above verses tell us that we "wait patiently for it."
I'll admit that is easier said than done!
But it does give us a goal, doesn't it? Sometimes it helps to simply know how to pray for hope.
Then there are times when we have no idea how to pray. That's ok. God has an answer for that too.
Romans 8:26-27
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
We must remember that God knows the future as well as He does the past. He knows what is in store for us in every situation.
When we have no hope, and we are not able to wait patiently, we can go before His throne and just simply "be" there.
There is no need for us to try to put into words the deepest longings of our hearts. He knows. His Spirit helps us.
He makes intercession for us. (intercede – to mediate between parties with a view to reconcile those who differ or contend.)
He brings our hearts and desires into agreement with the will of God; and He promises that no matter what happens in that circumstance that we are facing, it will work out for our best.
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
We can hope in His promises, and wait patiently for His blessing, knowing that every situation in our lives will bring about His blessing and benefits to us.
God is trustworth, and we can safely place our hope in Him.
Obtaining Mercy 