Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Finally a long awaited update, Mexico was awesome and Luke is doing great once again!

I want to begin by apologizing for not taking time to sit down to blog sooner. Tonight I spoke at a home school meeting and one of the mother's there informed me that she checks the blog almost daily and that I had not updated since May 10th. I've actually sat down a few times to blog, but I get distracted with other things that come up. I am extremely grateful to report that Luke did great while I was in Mexico, thank you for your prayers.

On Monday we took the kids to the Zoo for a fun day, Luke kept falling asleep, which he normally doesn't do, which should of been the first clue that he was getting sick, by night he was running a high temperature. The next morning he was really sick, he couldn't keep anything down, including the medicine I was giving to get his very high fever which kept going up to 104, under control. His heart rate was soaring and it did not come down below 150 until about 6:30 that night, he started out doing o.k. with his oxygen levels but that started to change in the early afternoon and before we knew it he was on a mask with 5 liters going. Amy thought I should take him into the Dr. but I just knew that the Dr. wouldn't find anything wrong with him, I can't explain how I knew that , I just did.

I called some prayer warriors to lift Luke up in prayer and continued my prayers for him. I had to run a few errands in the afternoon, as we were out of diapers and a few other essential items, when I came home Luke was doing worse and I knew that I needed to get on my knees and cry out for a supernatural touch from Jesus, or we would be on our way to the Hospital. Gordy came home from work and anointed him with oil and prayed that God would heal him. God is faithful and heard our cries and at around 6:30 his fever went completely away, his heart rate started coming down very slowly, his oxygen levels began to get better, he was on his way to being healthy again. That night I kept going back to his room to check on him and his heart rate was back to normal along with his oxygen levels doing great, there is no explanation for this except to know that God heard our cries and healed Luke. THANK YOU JESUS!!

I kept thinking during that day how I had just shared a testimony at the church down in Mexico about how I believe in miracles, wondering if this sickness was a test of my faith. That day I was discouraged at times, but kept crying out to God to renew my faith. He is so faithful as that is exactly what He did for me. When I cried out to God, I let Him know that it doesn't matter what my eyes see I will not stop believing in a miracle, it was hard but not impossible to do this. I'm thankful to God that He used the testimony that I shared about Luke's journey on both Friday night and Sunday morning to infuse new hope into the people down there in Mexico. The altars where filled up those wanting a touch from God, it was so exciting to lay hands on the sick, praying that they would be healed. I was humbled to hear testimonies of how God is using Luke's story to touch peoples hearts.

Our team had a wonderful time in Mexico, we felt God's presence the whole time we were gone. We not only painted the outside of the church, but the team also painted two Sunday school rooms inside the church. Our team ministered at a children's outreach on Saturday and did two human video's that ministered to the people there. On Tuesday night we went out to the Rehabilitation Center they have there for men who lives are being transformed by God's saving grace, as they give up drugs and alcohol for a new way of Christ centered living. Some of the men from the rehab helped us paint the church and we were blessed by their servants hearts.

While we were at the rehab center God begin to birth a new dream in my heart for going back to bless the men there. The rehab center is there serving these men without asking for a penny from them, they work on complete faith in knowing that God will feed, clothe and provide for these men. Many of the men that go there are at the end of their rope, they show up with only the clothes on their backs and if they were asked for money would not be able to go. Therefore I would like to fill up our van and a trailer with much needed clothing, dishes and food to bless the men there. I hope to plan a clothing drive sometime in the fall. I was thinking as we were being blessed by a delicious meal that the men cooked on huge open fires, thank you Darcy, how many Americans could donate some of their dishes or mugs to bless these men. Some of the dishes we ate off of were very used and in bad shape. Please be praying with me if this is God's will and not just my big heart, that He will put together this missions trip for His glory.

One last note, I took Luke into the rehabilitation Dr. today to talk about him getting some new orthodic's for his knees. He was pleased that though his x-rays showed that his legs are inverted, which you can tell just by looking at his legs, that he does not show any break down of the muscle or any arthritis, which is a huge answer to prayer. He was talking about the future as he sees it, as knowing that we can only make Luke comfortable for the rest of his life and it will probably mean surgery sometime in his future. I told the Dr. that though I wish to make Luke comfortable right now, I put my hope in God, as I am a Christian and believe that God is going to heal Luke and that I believe that Luke is going to walk again someday. He mentioned that it is not his desire to steal hope away from parents he only wants to let them know what is available, which I thought was a nice thing to say. I look forward to the day that I take Luke walking into visit all his good Dr.'s at the Children Specialty Center. I know this going to happen, as I know that all things are possible with God.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

P.S. I will try to post some of the pictures we took from Mexico soon.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all of the Mothers out there had a great day! My day began with my children bringing me breakfast in bed, as they sang "Happy Mother's Day to you", I was blessed immensely, though they went a bit overboard on the syrup and I ended up having to wash my whole bedding, as I spilled syrup on the sheets, blanket and bedspread. Isaiah who is now 8 kept telling me all week that he had a present for me, so I was anxious to see what it was, it ended up being a pot holder he made me, along with a card and all the change out of his piggy bank, I am now .45 cents richer than I was yesterday.

Luke has been doing great! He was sick a week ago and I ended up taking him into the Dr., I knew he had a sinus infection as he sounded like a freight engine breathing so loud at night, making it impossible for me to sleep a few nights. The Dr. put him on an antibiotic and that has done the trick along with lots of prayers, he is sounding great now. I asked the Dr. to order a blood test, I was curious to know if he was still anemic, as he had struggled with that last year. I was disappointed to learn that his iron levels were very low, so we began him on iron again. The biggest praise of the week though is that he has not needed any extra oxygen this week, I can't remember the last time he has gone a whole week without extra oxygen. I walk into his room at night and look at his awesome numbers and want to sing and shout praises the Lord each time I see them. Gordy mentioned to me on Friday morning that he has not heard Luke alarm once all week, to say that we are both feeling much more rested is an understatement.

Luke also had a good report from his eye Dr. The Dr. said that his left eye is now tracking and moving with his right eye. The last time we went in he had gone from not tracking at all to where he was tracking 70% of the time. This time he is not only tracking but looking at the Dr. when he tells him to and following him as he moves. The Dr. was very pleased with his progress and sent us home with some exercises to do with him to help him get even better at moving his eyes and not just his head to see things. He wants him to come back in about 2 months again. I really enjoy going to a Dr. that sees Luke progress, just as we are seeing him make so much amazing progress. Daniel was commenting last night at how well Luke seems to look right at you now when you just walk up to him, you don't always need to say something to get his attention, he just knows you are there and will look at you, quite often giving smiles.

I mentioned at the end of my last entry that Gordy and I were going to a Marriage Retreat, we did go last weekend and it was awesome. I would like to encourage you that if you are married to do this, Gordy and I will be married 24 years in July and we've been blessed with a good marriage. But even good marriages can become better by investing time and effort into them. One of the things that we heard this weekend is that 70% of marriages fail after the death of a child, even though Luke did not die, the stresses that has been put on our marriage have been significant at times. I am so thankful to God that has kept us together and with His help we can really be blessed with a continued good marriage. If you hear of a Weekend to Remember conference coming your way sign up and enjoy the time together, your marriage will be blessed.

I know that I say this almost every time I blog, but life here has been extremely busy. I have been getting together the details to take a team of 10 people down to Mexico to paint a church. We will going back to the church that our family painted the Sunday school rooms at last summer, only this time we are painting the outside of the building. We leave this Wednesday night May 16th and return on May 27th. We will also be ministering in their services and at their children's outreach on Saturday. I am very excited about going down there, but also a bit apprehensive as I will be leaving most of my family at home, the only ones going in our family are Natalie and myself. I would really appreciate your prayers for the team as we drive down there, while we are there ministering and painting the church and for everyone to stay healthy. Also for Gordy and Amy as they hold down the home front, especially that Luke will continue to stay healthy, I know it will be so much easier for me to be down there if Luke stays healthy.

I could continue on with more news but I realize this post has gotten entirely too long, I guess that's what happens when I wait so long to write. May God bless you today with His amazing love and peace. If you have a prayer request please leave a comment and we will pray for you today.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue