Thursday, December 14, 2006

I love December

This is my favorite time of the year because I love most things associated with December. Many places are decorated festively and Christmas music can be heard almost anywhere you go. Last Sunday Wayne and I had a date night. We had some gracious friends keep Micah while we went to a fun Christmas program at a close friend's church in San Francisco, then headed down to Union Square in downtown SF for the annual Christmas Rock which was a time of singing Christmas carols led by a conglomeration of very talented musicians from churches across the bay area. It was a beautiful thing to walk down the sidewalk (on the way to the Rock) with my coffee in hand and hear "O Holy Night" echoing in downtown San Francisco. I love the music and love the fact that we are celebrating our Saviour's birth. I also love December because it means we get to spend time with our families who we have only seen twice a year since we have lived out here. So, we head off to Oklahoma to be with Wayne's side of the fam on Sunday. We'll be there for a week and then travel down to TX to be with my side. We are looking forward to a restful, peaceful, joyful time.
Some of you know that we are moving 3 days after we return from the holidays. I won't go into a lot of detail about the situation, but I will say that the last 5 months have been quite frustrating and stressful as our downstairs neighbors have not liked us since the day we moved in. So, for our peace of mind and so that Micah can be free to move as much as he wants, we are moving to the next building over on the bottom floor. I have felt much frustration as we have dealt with this. Even in this situation, God has taught me some things. I am almost finished reading "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom. When she and her sister are in prison, Corrie makes reference to one of the stiff-faced, hateful guards. Her sister tells her that people who have been taught to hate can also be taught to love. Corrie says "I saw a gray uniform and visored hat; Betsie saw a wounded human being." We haven't had a great deal of face to face contact with our neighbors, but I feel like they are wounded and have probably only known hate and anger. So, if you think of it, you can pray for our future dealings with them and pray for their hearts to soften.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Our appointment went well last Monday about the Ketogenic diet. We went with the idea that it was a consultation, but soon realized they thought we were ready to start it immediately. They mentioned two dates for early this month and so we quickly told them we want to wait until January. We were quite pleased with the Drs., nurse, and dietician we met with. There wasn't anything new to learn since we have been doing research on this for several months, but we did come to the conclusion that it is something worth pursuing with Micah.

So, the projected start date it January 22 which will include Micah being hospitalized for 4-5 days so that the medical staff can monitor how his body is accepting the diet. We will let you know more details as the time draws nearer.
Thanks for your responses to last week’s blog either through comments here, via email, or in person. I appreciate your affirmation and as always, we all appreciate your continued prayers. We welcome any comments, challenges,etc.
I don’t know that I’ll give a book quote every time I write, but I will this time, again. I do read a lot (one of my friends this week said “How do you have time to read?”); I enjoy it a lot at night (after Micah‘s in bed), and choose it most nights over TV. Anyway, so one of the books I’m reading right now is ‘Uprising’ by Erwin McManus, who happens to be one of my favorite authors. He’s talking about Jesus saying you need to have the faith of a mustard seed and how it’s often interpreted to mean we don’t have enough faith when what he’s actually saying is to have at least a bit of faith. So this is going to be long, but I’m quoting it because it’s good and is right at the heart of our struggle in the last 15 months since Micah’s diagnosis.
“He’s not saying we need to have more faith; He’s actually telling us we just need to have some. It’s not about making your faith bigger. All you need is mustard-seed sized faith. The implication is any less is none at all. Jesus was not calling us to work up our faith. He was calling us to simply put faith in God. It is not our faith in an event that is critical, but our faith in God Himself. It is not about believing in a miracle or believing for a miracle; it is about an unshakable confidence in the character of God.”
When I read that, it was an affirmation to me. Since August of ‘05, we have had many people tell any one of these things “You need to have more faith, God doesn’t want Micah to have Tuberous Sclerosis, he wants him to be healed, you need to pray more, start quoting those scriptures and claim healing for him, etc...” We had people send us material about people who were healed, etc. and that’s fine. We’re still open to hearing those stories and we do pray for his healing. He has been anointed with oil and prayed over during a church service. Yet, I believe God allowed him to have TS for some reason. I believe he is sovereign and has Micah’s life in his hands. While we struggle and question at times, we trust in God’s love and faithfulness daily.
Kelly

Too bad for the Huskers


This is Micah's Husker hat which he isn't crazy about keeping on, especially since they lost to OK last night. Just kidding, he just doesn't like hats on his head.

Daddy's birthday



These pics were taken on Wayne's birthday. Aren't they so cute?!