Once again I have to say a BIG thank you for your prayers, they are so powerful!!

Here is our family in front of the new church they are bulding in LaGloria, Mexico. Gordy, Amy and Isaiah went on a missions trip at the end of June, Ezekiel, Luke, Lily and I joined them on Sunday morning for church. It was so wonderful to be back there worshipping with our wonderful Mexican friends who are just like family.

I'm so grateful for your faithful prayers, I often tell people the only thing and I mean the only thing that get's me through this journey that I'm on is all the prayers of those that are so faithful to lift up Luke and our family to God on a daily basis.

I woke up this morning after only about 3 hours of sleep, for Luke had a very terrible night again last night, wondering if I had the strength and stamina to take Luke to his appointment today. But after realizing that if I put it off I would have to wait an even longer time to hear what the Pulmonologist had to say about how he felt Luke is doing.

Here is Luke bundled up sitting by the fire on the last part of our trip on the cold Oregon coast.

I'm here to say that I'm happy that I decided to take him in, we actually got a good report, yes oh me of little faith wondered what he would say, dreading this day for a few months. After the Dr. listened to Luke's lungs he actually said that they sounded good, no crackles, no wheezing and only a little bit of coarseness in his upper air way, he also said that Luke looks good and that we don't need to go back for another 6 months if his lungs continue to stay healthy. WOOHOO, not one word was mentioned about a trache, that is what I was dreading. He also went over his chest CT and said that Luke has a very mild case of bronchialectis, this was music to my ears, I had orginally heard the Dr. say that Luke was doing terrible and that perhaps one day he might have to take out part of his lower lung, that he would never do that without a trache in place. Thank goodness Luke is no where near that possibility right now.

I also talked to the Dr. about the possibility of Luke suffering from allergies and how his Pediatrician had put him on a decongestant a few months ago and that was helping him out with his congestion. I will be honest to say the last week nights have been a nightmare, seems that Luke must be allergic to something in his room, because he get's so stuffed up at night that we end up having to suction him most of the night long and he is not like that during the day. Once again I'm asking you to pray for Luke at night, that God will help us to know what he is allergic to in his room, that we will know exactly how much decongestant to give to him, that he will begin to breath better at night, that he would stop alarming and that I will be able to get some sleep, I'm exhausted! Thank you.

Here is Mary with 3 of her children, Jeff, Rachel and Michelle

Here's a update on my friend Mary. I went up to Seattle to see her tonight, she is doing ok, they have her pain levels pretty much under control. She goes back into surgery tomorrow, they will be seeing how much skin they will be able to work with on her lower leg. PLEASE be praying that her leg and foot will be saved, that she will stay pneumonia free, as she has two broken ribs and it is painful for her to cough, that she will get her appetite back to keep her strong, that she will stay infection free, that she will not have to worry about her children, that she will not have to worry about her financial situation at home since she is a single mom and the sole provider for her family and for a miraculous touch from Jesus.

Would you also pray for Jerry, he had a kidney transplant last November, during the surgery he suffered an anoxic brain injury. The Dr.'s said he would be a vegetable for the rest of his life, but God the Mighty Healer is slowly healing Jerry, he is now talking, eating, had his trache removed many months ago, basically doing great until this past week when he ended up back in the hospital for surgery. He's been struggling with an infection on his stomach in the wound from his surgery many months ago and his finger has had a very bad infection. They will be doing surgery to open up the wound on his stomach to get out all the infection along with, the wound on his finger, in fact his finger is so bad they aren't sure if he will keep it. Please pray for the infection to go away and heal up. Also keep his wife Brenda in your prayers, she is trying to juggle so many things in her life lately, not only the constant care of her husband, but her 5 children also need her attention, along with her job as she is the sole provider for her family of 7.

Thank you once again my faithful friends, your prayers are so powerful and appreciated.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

I love this picture of Luke and Lily in the van on the ride home from Seattle last week, Lily was holding his hand and Luke was loving every second of her attention.

PS I am really wanting to go to Atlanta, GA in September to the MOBILE conference, MOBILE stands for Moms Of Brain Injured (children) Loving Evermore. I was able to go a couple of years ago and it was spurred me on to plan a retreat for mom's with children that have had near drowning accidents. Anyway I was thinking about ways to try to earn money for a plane ticket to get there and I thought that perhaps one of our faithful blog followers may have some airline miles that they are not going to use and they would like to donate them to me so that I could go to the conference??? If I am able to go I will speaking at the conference about Keeping on, Keeping strong a short inspirational talk on why it is so important for our sake and for our children's sake not to lose our hope during what can at times seem like a very hopeless situation. I feel uncomfortable about asking for help, but I'm trying to take the advice that I give to so many of my friends which is, how will we know how to help you or pray for you if you don't let us know your needs? So there you go, if you want to help please let me know, if you are unable to help that is fine to, I know that if God wants me to go He will provide a way for me to go.