I want to thank all of those who serve(d) for our country! Tomorrow is a great day to celebrate the sacrifice that has been made for our freedom. Thank you!
Kyara is doing well. She continues to become more aware of her environment and has moments that she appears to be answering questions with small head nods or shakes of her head. They seem to be appropriae to answers of "yes/no" questions, but we are not really sure. It is so hard to tell what you are seeing. I like to think that these "conincidences" are coming more frequently and consistently and that I will soon be able to say..."without a doubt, she is responding!" This week she has had serial casting done on her right arm. She was ok with the first cast which stopped at her wrist. The more recent cast comes down into her hand and she has not been so thrilled with this one. It will come off on Tuesday, and they will start casting the left arm. This is suppose to help with her range of motion in her elbows, wrists, and fingers. I hope it works. Right now she is still pulling her left arm up. She pulls her hand up to her chin at times. In fact the other day, I thought she was sucking on her fingers. Oh, that must be comforting to her... well, then she started to cry. Don't you know, she had clamped down on her pinky finger with her teeth! So much for comforting!
In speech, Kyara is working on cognitive skills and on moving her tongue. They are having her click her tongue and asking her to stick her tongue out. The speech therapist uses a sucker to entice Kyara and to give her some tastes. Speaking of taste, they wanted to start trying to feed Kyara by mouth a little, so the doctors ordered a saliva test to make sure she was swallowing her saliva and that it was not going into her lungs before allowing the therapist to give her any food. They did the test on Thursday. We got results on Friday. Well, Kyara did not pass the test. Her saliva ended up in her lungs. I feel it was an unfair test because she was flat on her back during and after the test. Well, in reality, she is almost NEVER flat on her back. Because of her gastric pullup, we always have her propped up to some degree. Also, she is not going to be fed lying down, so I think the test was unfair in her situation. Of course, I don't want them to do anything that would be dangerous for Kyara, but I would be interested to see if the results were different if she was sitting up instead of lying flat. My understanding is that we will do some more tests this week, so please pray for success.
Waiting was the subject in church this morning. Seems appropriate. I think I have heard enough about waiting in the past 5 months to drive me crazy. My job and my goal is to wait patiently for God to decided the perfect time to allow Kyara to come out. It says in the bible that Jesus tells his disciples something along the lines of.... it is not for you to know when, only that it will happen.~ I am working on releasing my frustrations, anger, and concern, and putting my trust in God and His promise.
5 comments:
Genie,
Great to hear from you again! We are still praying and checking-in
on Kyara daily. God does have a plan and we will continue to lift Kyara and your sweet family before Him. We all need to get to the place in our relationship with God, so that all that matters is to glorify Him. We can ask and have confidence that Christ hears us and will work things out according to His plan. We love you guys! Spokane
Genie,
I was excited to hear from you on Kyara, I have missed your updates. I understand where you are and I pray daily for you and your little girl. I will continue to check and pray and I hope you have a great holiday with your family.
God bless,
Lori Gray
Genie,
Thanks for the update. It tells us what to pray for. God is in control, but don't you just want to scream!!! I decided that we will do FAITH words for a while. So, the FAITH word for today is ADVICE! Wouldn't you love to just give God some advice as to how he should handle your situation!! But, as we all know, His advice is the best! An old friend shared this with me years ago--Write out the word DISAPPOINTMENT. Now strike through the "D" and make it an H. Draw aline after the S.----What you have is HIS/Appointment! God does things in his time not ours! I love you. Wink
Encouragement for today: Hope it helps...
Do the Next Thing
Marybeth Whalen
"Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways.'"
Haggai 1:5 (NIV)
Devotion:
When I was a new mom, I often felt overwhelmed by my circumstances. The crying, the whining, the mess. I would look around at it all and just want to sit down and have a good cry. At some point during that time, I heard Elisabeth Elliot speak on the concept of "do the next thing." She talked about how, after her husband Jim died, she would have been overcome if not for this simple concept. When her emotions would start to run away with her, she would simply ask herself what the next thing she needed to do was. And then she would do it. And then she would do the next thing, and the next, and the next. And all those little "next things" made up her days.
I adopted this principle and began to whisper to myself, "Just do the next thing." Sometimes the next thing was to change a diaper, or start dinner, or return a phone call. Even now I move through my day doing the next thing. Sometimes my next thing is to homeschool my children. Sometimes it's to tidy the house. Sometimes it's to sit down and hammer out an article I have due. Whatever it is, I focus on that one task until it's done. And then I ask myself what's to be done next.
I always knew I learned this concept from a godly woman, but I never thought about this concept being from God. My reading in Oswald Chamber's timeless devotional, My Utmost For His Highest has helped me see that it is indeed a spiritual truth that God wants us to learn. Consider these two quotes:
"We look for visions from heaven, for earthquakes and thunders of God's power... and we never dream that all the time God is in the commonplace things and people around us. If we will do the duty that lies nearest, we shall see Him."
"When the Spirit of God comes, He does not give us visions, He tells us to do the most ordinary things conceivable... whenever God comes, the inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things--the things we would never have imagined God was in, and as we do them we find He is there."
Chambers referenced the scene in I Kings where Elijah is running from King Ahab. He is hungry and tired and very depressed. (Ever been there?) In that scene God sends an angel to him who says simply, "Arise and eat" (I Kings 19:5). What was Elijah's "next thing" he needed to do? Get up and eat something! Sometimes just moving forward in the most basic way is all God needs from us. With our obedience comes the solution we are seeking.
I hope this thought will help you or someone else who is feeling overwhelmed and even depressed. What "next thing" is God asking you to do? Get up, do whatever it is, and find Him there.
Dear Lord, help me to do the next thing when I feel overwhelmed. Help me to remember that You are right there waiting in that next thing. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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Application Steps:
Make a list of things you need to accomplish today. Now, instead of getting overwhelmed by your list, pray over it and ask God, What is the next thing I need to do? It might just be to cross some of those things off your list!
Reflections:
What is a "next thing" you can do right now?
Power Verses:
Jeremiah 10:23, "I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps." (NIV)
Proverbs 20:24, "A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?" (NIV)
© 2009 by Marybeth Whalen. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.proverbs31.org
still checking daily and more importantly, PRAYING daily for all of you daily...
The Lopers
Genie,
Thank you for putting up an update about Kyara and the family. We saw precious Skylar and Kassey today...Kassey is SO much bigger!! She blew lots of kisses and said "bye" to use about 100 times! What great girls you and Gunnars have!
We are still praying daily for Kyara and we wanted you to know that you guys are all on our minds and in our prayers. We love your whole family so much!
Allison, Orlando & Gracie
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