Tuesday, 06 March 2007

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Isaac Update

Isaac update:  We upped his seizure meds today, and
so he wanted to sleep the day away.  Of course, we couldn’t let him do
that.  No seizures since Sunday morning, praise the Lord!  He’s eating
well, except that he missed a meal today due to his sleeping.  Silly
boy! 

My precious hubby has been fasting some
meals this week, praying for Isaac, his medical issues and some
equipment needs that we have.  I am so grateful for his Godly leadership
in our home.  I really didn’t appreciate it as I should until I read
“Created to be His Helpmeet” by Debi Pearl.  (excellent book!) 

Now I see what a true Warrior He is for
our family as he leads us in God’s way.  He had to miss a side job last
week, due to Isaac’s stay in the hospital, but yesterday we received a
card from a friend with the exact amount of money that he would have
earned on that job!  It takes a REAL MAN to trust God to do that.  (And a
real FRIEND to be sensitive to God to help meet that need!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, I was able to re-pot some of my
plants on Sunday afternoon.  Nothing special, just a few green things
I’ve managed to keep alive for a little while.  And DH is going to
attempt to grow a yellow bell pepper.  We’ll see… 
Here’s my little babies all green and freshly potted.

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the yellow bell pepper

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a funny little succulent that my hubby’s grandmother gave
me

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a spider plant

Then here’s some shots from our yard.

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I have no idea what this is, but I know it must be a weed.

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I agree with
“purpleamethyst76” when it comes to tree bark!

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And finally a view
from underneath!  Pretty sky, huh?

Well, I guess that’s all for today.  “See”
you tomorrow!

Alesha

Monday, 05 March 2007

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Holiday, Isaac Update

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.

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This
was hanging from beneath a bridge.  It was massive.

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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!

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This boat was amazing!

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This
chandelier was 2 stories high and I could barely fit it into my
viewfinder.

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This was my favorite shot
of my trip that didn't have one of "my guys" in it! 

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This
was the "Chihuly Rose" that they grew just for this exhibit.

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And finally, a pic of my hubby and Isaac under a
phenomenal archway.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Sunday, 04 March 2007

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Isaac Update

Isaac's had 2 grand mal seizures this morning.  We're
trying to avoid giving him the heavy-duty meds, if at all possible,
because we "lose" him for over 48 hours if we administer them.  It's a
fine line to tread.  We constantly pray for wisdom with that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anybody know what the picture is on the right? 

I'd love to hear your guesses. 

I'll
post the answer tomorrow with some other similar pics.

Here
it is in case the one on the right is not clear to you.

golden octopus

Alesha

Saturday, 03 March 2007

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Household, Isaac Update

I have officially

reclaimed

my KITCHEN!

Whew!  These past
few weeks have been hard on my little kitchen.  I have one of those
"galley" kitchens – long and narrow.  If you're standing in front of the
sink, you can just turn around and you're standing in front of the
stove.

My counters are just little bits on
either side of the sink and the stove.  With a microwave and a toaster
oven taking up two of those sections, counter space is at a premium.

It
was time to revamp, reorganize, and clean!

Here's the finished
project – all spic and span!

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My mom always had this saying:

"A place for
everything and everything in its place."

When I can make
that happen in my little kitchen, it's a happy, happy place!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isaac
is doing better today.  He's been awake and alert and has eaten well
all day.  Thank the Lord!

In Him,

Alesha

Saturday, 03 March 2007

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Isaac Update

Update:  Isaac is sleeping way too much and vomited again
yesterday.  We have a call in to the doctor this morning to see if we
need to bring him back in.  We'd appreciate the continued prayers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm
so grateful for prayer this morning.  My pastor's wife prayed with me
over the phone and just ushered me right into God's throne room.  I
sometimes forget how peaceful it feels for someone to pray out loud with
you – FOR you.

I believe we rob ourselves of sweet blessings by
not asking occasionally for a friend, loved one or pastor to "pray with
me".  And just maybe we MISS blessings by not offering "let me pray with
you" to those around us.

A family is our church lost a loved one
this week in a shooting in a nearby town.  The funeral is this morning. 
Please pray for peace for Bro. Tyrone and Sis. Ruth.  I know their
heart's desire is for their family to know Christ.  Pray that their
family will hear and accept the truth of the Gospel this morning as our
pastor, Bro. Holmes, proclaims God's Word at the funeral.

Thanks,

Alesha

Thursday, 01 March 2007

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Household, How Great is Our God, Isaac Update

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

Wednesday, 28 February 2007

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Isaac Update

Another loooooong night, but they are sending us home today.  I'm
sure Isaac will sleep better without someone coming in to take his
vitals every 2 hours.

I'm pretty much loopy from lack of sleep. 
Doug and I have decided we're going to write a joke/encouragement book
from our experiences.  I'll let you know when it hits the shelves.

Isaac's
color is much better and he is definitely hydrated.  We're praying for
no more vomiting once he starts eating full meals again.  His eating is
almost back to normal level.

Have you very noticed – birds look
really big when you're on the 8th floor looking out the window?  So do
the planes and helicopters.  A different point of view, to be sure.

I'll
update later if we have any changes.

Thanks so much for your
words of encouragement and prayer,

Alesha