Still hanging on for Dear Life to what seems like a never ending Roller Coaster Ride

I continue to be amazed at how last week could be so very awesome and this week so very hard. Luke has been doing so well, making huge steps toward recovery. I was just saying today to the Speech Therapist he has eaten more orally in the last week, then in the total of the last 3 years. I realize that sounds like he is eating a lot, but for Luke a lot is 3 whole jars of baby food, plus some other tastes. But to be honest I wish he was eating all his food by himself.

Tuesday was a hard day for me. It began with Physical therapy, then on to Occupational therapy, took Luke grocery shopping, got home just in time to help get the home ready for company that night, Luke's old nurse Mary came over for dinner. Then we were off to his Pediatrician appt. I decided after hearing his alarms going off every night for weeks, because of his heart rate dropping I better ask the Dr. just how low should we let his heart rate get before we become concerned. It has been getting down in the low 50's some nights. He requested a EKG to be sure his heart is okay, which turned out normal. The Dr. said as long as Luke's oxygen numbers are good, we shouldn't be too concerned about his low heart rate.

I guess what made this day so hard was the fact that everyone that day felt like they had to give me a reality check on Luke's life. Letting me know once again, that I really should be thinking about ordering him a wheelchair. Also discussing the fact that they don't think knee orthodics would benefit Luke, in fact they could cause him to break a bone, because children like Luke are prone to broken bones. Thinking about the future of communication devices for Luke. Then his Dr. told me that Luke doesn't qualify for a Make a Wish trip, I guess there was a small part of me still thinking because I know of so many other children just like Luke that have gotten to go that perhaps he would get a "Wish". I don't know why, but that really devastated me. None of these things are negative things I realize, except for the fact I left those appts. wondering if I'm just living in a dream world about thinking that God is going to heal Luke someday.

Here's some real honesty for you, Tuesday night I spent about an hour on my knee's literally crying out to God letting him know how tired I am, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Asking God for forgiveness because there are days when I'm just not sure if I have the stamina to continue on this journey we are on, wondering if I really have the faith to believe that Luke is going to be healed. Usually I go to bed with some resolve to know God has heard my cries, but this night I finally fell into bed around 3:00 a.m. not feeling any better after my time of great pleading to God. I woke up Wednesday morning not wanting to get out of bed, can you say great depression had set in? I finally dragged myself out of bed knowing that I needed to get Luke into the tub and fed, as I was already running way behind on the day's schedule.

Halloween has been very hard these last few years. I don't have any stamina to get my children dressed up in costumes for our yearly harvest party at church. Once again if not for my wonderful girls this year would of been a total flop for our family. The girls not only fed the kids breakfast, but made sure they were all dressed and did school with the boys, when they finished with school, they carved the pumpkins that we got a few weeks ago. They got the kids ready for the party, then ran over to the church to help get the last minutes details done before the children arrived. I did end up going with Luke, who was dressed in a lion costume, I know that he really enjoyed himself as did the rest of the family.

The pictures tell a story about a Lady named Natalie who thought she was a princess for the night, Luke her Lion pet growled to scare off her Jester Isaiah and Clown Ezekiel. Lily who spent the evening as a little "Lily Bug" was the cutest little bug, you ever did see. Daniel's girl friend Kristin saved the day dressed up like Super Girl and then last but certainly not least Amy helped plan and put together the entire party with her Aunt Cindy. A good time was had by all!


Ezekiel was very persistent in bobbing for apples and as you can see it paid off in the end.

Today was a bit better, I woke to an e-mail from Luke's PT saying that someone she knew was giving away an Adult size special needs jogging stroller. That was great news as I was just pricing them the other night at over a thousand dollars, thank you Lord for your provision. The night ended celebrating Ezekiel' s 7th Birthday, with a party at Chuck E Chesses. A good time was had by all, though Luke seemed to be congested the entire evening and came home with his first fever in over two month's. I'm praying that it will be gone when he wakes up in the morning.

I'm so encouraged by your sweet comments and often don't feel worthy to live up to some of them. Thank you for your continued prayers and support, I'm confident to know that God will renew my strength once again and encourage me as He always does, please join with me in prayer that it will happen quickly.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

What a Great Day!

Just wanted to let everyone know we had an awesome day. The Starlight Starbright Luncheon was so much fun. Luke had a great day, along with his brothers and sisters. They passed out flyers, welcomed the people and Isaiah and Ezekiel got to demonstrate the Nintendo game stations. I'm pretty sure there were about 400 people in attendance. We met some wonderful people and were so blessed to know that Starlight was able to raise thousands of dollars. I hope that sharing what Starlight has meant to our family made a difference today.

After we were done with the Luncheon we went to the Seattle Science Center, it was a gorgeous day in Seattle, I think it got up to 74 degree's which normally doesn't happen at the end of October. Gordy's sister Pam and her husband Hal live in Seattle with their boys, we were blessed to be invited over for dinner, it was a perfect ending to a wonderful day.







I thought I would post one more picture of Luke going to a football game. The amazing thing is he never would of been able to go to an outdoor night game in the past for fear of getting sick. We bundled him up and he did great. We all had a fun time cheering on the Lake's Lancers JV team as they won 56 to 0, way to go Spencer, great kicking.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

PS Please take a minute to say "Hi,", we would love to hear from you.

Still Clinging to my Heavenly Father's Hand

I'm so grateful to say that Luke is doing great! I was just telling someone today I could get used to having a healthy child. Luke went to see Matt, the Rolfer again today and I'm so excited to say that he is responding great to these treatments. He has also been getting into the Hyperbaric chamber once a week, which has been great for his tone, though he still has a long way to go. He has been doing great with his new foot orthodics, they thought that he would only be able to tolerate them for a few minutes a day, but he has been wearing them for a couple hours a day. His Vital stim therapy is also going very well, he is doing a great job of swallowing and I've been trying to feed him orally more often through out the day, but to be honest this is extremely challenging since I haven't had to do this for so long, it is very time consuming, to say the least.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day. Our family is going up to Seattle to the Starlight Starbright 15th Anniversary Benefit Luncheon. They asked me if I would be willing to be interviewed by John Curley, who is the host for a local TV show here in Washington called Evening Magazine. I will be sharing Luke's story, how it has effected our family and letting the people know how Starlight has been a blessing in our lives. I would appreciate your prayers that I will be able to convey a positive message of hope and faith during these past few years.

This past week was challenging at times, I am still working on our application for Extreme Home Makeover. I thought it would be good for them to see a video of Luke before the accident and then after. Looking at all those picture last week brought many tears to my eyes, one of the days I cried out to God to ease the pain and He reminded me of all the blessings that have come out of Luke's accident. It's so good to have a Heavenly Father that comforts and reminds us of our blessings. I will try to post a copy of the video once we get it done.

I have to share one more brief statement from my favorite devotional, Streams in the Desert: Difficulty is actually the atmosphere surrounding a miracle, or a miracle in it's initial stage. Yet if it is to be a great miracle, the surrounding condition will not be simply a difficulty but an utter impossibility. And it is the clinging hand of His child that makes a desperate situation a delight to God. This has ministered to me on many days, I hope you too will find it comforting.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

Please take notice of changes to our Prayer Links

You might of noticed a few changes in the layout of the Luke's blog page. I've added some new people to our Prayer Link, here is a brief description of each link:

• Pray Abbie, is a little girl who had a near drowning accident 3 months prior to Luke, her mom Tiffany has been a huge help and encouragement to me over these past few years.

• Pray for Brett Jr, is a little guy who had a near drowning accident February 4, 2006.

• Pray for Caleb, is another little boy who had a near drowning accident in March 2007.

• Pray for Gail is a precious mother to 7 children who has a brain tumor.

• Pray for Izzy is a little girl who had a near drowning accident in May 2004, I love visiting her web site as she is making great progress and always has great pictures to show.

• Pray for Klinton is a young father of two child struggling with cancer, his dad and mom go to our church.

• Pray for Madeline is a little girl who was born with a heart defect, she has had many major surgeries in her short 3 year life span. She is currently in the Hospital very ill and desperately needs our prayers.

• Pray for Madison is another little girl who had a near drowning accident March 2006.

• Pray for Melissa is a mother of seven children, who has a brain tumor. God has really done wonderful things in her life as she was not expected to live as long as she has.

• Pray for Nolan is a little baby boy born just last week, he is in the NICU struggling with some oxygen and eating issues.

• Pray for Parker, is for a little guy who was born with Downs Syndrome, along with a hole in his heart and many other huge health problems.

• Pray for Sadie Belle, is for a little girl that has Rasmussen Syndrome, which is basically a disorder in the brain that causes massive seizure problems. She has already had brain surgery and is going in again soon for more brain surgery, she is in desperate needs of prayer right now.

Visiting these websites have become almost a daily ritual for me as I check up on these precious people to see how they are doing. I know I've mentioned this a thousand times, but it bears repeating I believe in miracles and as I've followed these websites I've been awed by God's healing power in so many of these lives. I pray that you too will begin to pray for these ones that so desperately need our prayers. If you go to their sites leave a little note for them, the encouragement of knowing that people are praying for them is huge. Please let me know if you need prayer or know of someone else needing prayer.

One last prayer request, our son Daniel left today to go to Denmark, he will be gone for two weeks. As I've mentioned in the past my brother and his wife live there. They asked Daniel to come and tile their bathroom floor and tub area. Please be praying that God will surround Daniel with a hedge of protection while he is gone and that he will be able to get the get the job done quickly and beautifully.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

Busy, Busy, Busy we are probably too BUSY!

We have lots of exciting news to share today. Last Friday Luke began Vital Stim therapy, which is swallow therapy to help him eat through his mouth once again. His speech therapist said that she heard a good swallow and thinks that we will have great success with this therapy. I'm finding that he doesn't like putting things in his mouth, but once he tastes the food he chews and swallows it. One of the nice things about this therapy is that I don't have to leave the home for another appt. the therapist comes twice a week to our home. I'm so excited about Luke eating orally once again but am also a bit apprehensive about how time consuming feeding him will be. For the last 3 years all we've had to do is hook up a syringe to his g-tube and pour in his food, now I will have to feed him like a baby. I'm comforted to know that this won't last forever, I know one day he will be feeding himself.

Luke also began seeing a Rolfer massager on Monday. I found about Rolfing through Abbie's mom Tiffany, she was so impressed with how Abbie was responding that I decided if I could find a Rolfer in the area we would try it out. I'm excited to say that Luke responded great, he would let Matt know when he was uncomfortable and Matt took it real slow. But the greatest thing that came out of the day was that afterward I put Luke into the Hyperbaric chamber, which happens to be in the same building and Luke was very verbal the whole time he was in the chamber, he also seemed to be more alert, I think that he was actually seeing the TV for the first time. The TV is real high so I don't think his sight was good enough in the past, though this time he seemed to really be looking at the picture.

Luke came home with a new pair of ankle/foot orthodics on Monday. His feet have begun to get worse so we decided it was time to get a new pair. He was also fitted for a new pair of knee orthodics, though the OT thought he needed to be re casted as the pair that they casted last week did not seem to give enough bend. She realized that next time they cast I will need to hold Luke on my lap so that they can get better bend. Luke bends his knees so much better when he is sitting up. They are hoping that the knee orthodics will help him during the night when he doesn't have as much muscle tone going on, therefore while he is relaxed we hope to train his leg to bend more.

I praise the Lord that our insurance is covering the cost of the Vital Stim therapy, I just wish they would pay for his massage therapy and HBOT treatments. I know that some moms have fought their insurance companies to pay for these treatments and a few of them have won. I just wish I had more time in my day to be able to fight our Insurance Company. I'm very thankful for that recent donation from the Zander Fund as it is making the Rolfing and HBOT treatments doable. I really wanted to take Luke to Dallas, TX, but am realizing that we have to spend our money wisely. I know so many people with special needs children have fund raisers and have thought seriously about doing one, but once again time is a huge issue for me right now. I realize that God will supply what He wants for Luke, I just have to continue to trust Him at all times.

I know that I mentioned in my last post that I was hoping that life would slow down a bit this year. This has not been the case. I struggle at times knowing that I need to stay home more often, but also realize that Luke's needs along with the rest of my children are my priority right now. I cracked a tooth and had to make two visits to the Dentist office, along with Amy's glasses broke a long time ago and needed to be replaced. Natalie had a hole in her ear from tubes when she was 2 years old, the Dr. had told us to bring her back about 3 years ago and I finally got her into the ENT Dr., good news the hole is completely gone, this is an answer to prayer. I also took Isaiah in for a eye check up, good news they are fine. Add to all the medical appts, Luke's PT/OT, massage, HBOT, orthodic fittings appts., Natalie's piano lessons, Amy's voice lessons, the YMCA twice a week, home school choir once a week and you can see what I mean by life not slowing down. I'm so thankful that God is my strength!

I probably could go on, but realize if you are still reading this blog you are amazing, as it is so long already. Thank you for your continued prayers. I say it often but this journey we are on is much easier because of your faithfulness to remember us in your prayers.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

Good News, Good News, Luke's Dr. has given us some good news!

I have some great news to share with y'all. I took Luke into the Dr. on Friday for some blood work, I wanted to be sure that his iron levels were good, last time we had his blood work done he was very anemic, we got the results back today and he is doing great. But, that is not the good news I wanted to share, though it is definitely good.

Let me start at the beginning. I've had a few friends I know go on Make a Wish trips with their children. I have been told recently that we should apply for Luke to get a "Wish trip," well I finally went on line the other night and put in an application stating that we were interested. I received an e-mail back stating that in order to get a "wish" the child's condition must be degenerative, progressive or malignant. Gordy and I talked about whether we thought this is how you would describe Luke and both felt that we did not necessarily see him this way, though we know that anytime he gets really sick his respiratory system puts his life in danger at times.

Now to the good news, as I mentioned I took Luke into the Dr. and was asking him whether he would be willing to fill out a referral for Luke to get a Make a wish trip, I told him what the application said, and that other children like Luke have applied and got a trip. He told me that he does not see Luke as degenerative, progressive or malignant. He said that he sees that Luke is making new neuron connections in the brain and he is definitely getting healthier all the time, and will continue to make good progress as time goes by. He also said that Luke's respiratory system is still not always stable, but is getting better all the time. He volunteered to refer Luke for a Make a Wish, if he could come along. To say I left there wanting to shout Praise the Lord, is an extreme understatement. This is the first time we've heard from a Dr. that Luke's brain is improving and that he getting healthier. This is the same Dr. that told us 2 years ago that Luke would be in and out of the Hospital for the rest of his life. Every time I think about this I want to cry tears of joy. I know God is healing Luke, there is no doubt in my mind, I know this is just the beginning of good reports we are going to be hearing, because I serve a Mighty God who is in the miracle business. Each one of you that have continued to pray for Luke's miracle can take part of the credit for Luke's miracle, your faith has made a difference, thank you!

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

PS I wanted to answer a few questions from our comment page: Alesha asked how to get on the list for the Zander fund donations, I will be honest, I am not sure as we did not ask for a donation they just sent us one. Cindy asked if our life would be easier if we put our kids in school, I would say perhaps and then again perhaps not, right now with Amy and Natalie helping it is going good. Homeschooling is something we feel the Lord has directed our family to do, so until we get a release from God we will continue on, but thank you for asking.

I am just counting my blessings!

We got back from our wonderful camping trip late Sunday night. We were very blessed in the fact that Luke did awesome. He only had to have a little bit of oxygen the last night we were there. He has been so smiley lately, it seems that he is more relaxed and comfortable, which is a huge blessing. The only bad thing about our trip is that Natalie caught the bug for a few days, beside that we were blessed with good weather, great camping sites, the gorgeous ocean to look at, fun times around the campfires, good times playing card games at night, Gordy & Amy went golfing a few days, the girls learned how to do one stroke painting, to say we had a great time would be putting it mildly. God is so good to have blessed us with this wonderful time after our stressful sick summer.

We were blessed to receive a donation from the Zander fund, http://www.thezanderfund.com. The Zander Fund was established in order to benefit other children in memory of Alexander after his death in May of 2003. Alexander died from a drowning accident. I got to know his mom on-line, shortly after Luke's accident. This is the second time they've chosen to bless Luke. To say this was a huge blessing would be a understatement, as I've mentioned before having a child like Luke is very expensive, not only with his regular medical bills, but with the extra treatments and supplements that we give him it adds up to be huge at times. I was just praying to God recently to bring in some extra cash for Luke as we've just about come to the end of the money we can spend on him and God is so faithful to answer my prayers. Now I need wisdom in how to spend the money as there are so many ways that it could be spent. Some of the things that we are praying about is Hippo therapy, which is Horse riding for special needs child, more HBOT treatments that have really helped Luke in the past, going to either to Dallas, TX to see Dr. Tennant and take advantage of the treatments he has to offer or going to FL to visit a Dr. Cralle who has had amazing results with children's tone issues. Please be praying with us that God will continue to supply our needs and also for wisdom in how to spend the money we've been blessed with.

We began our school schedule on Tuesday. This year I'm putting Luke's PT and OT appointments together on Tuesday mornings, then in the afternoon is the Homeschool PE program at the YMCA, then off to choir after that is done. Amy and Natalie have really stepped up to the plate this year as they are homeschooling the boys in the morning and then both of them are volunteering at the YMCA, Amy will be in the pool giving lessons and Natalie will be helping to teach the Racquetball class, both are looking forward to helping out. I will be teaching the boys in the afternoons on the non-YMCA days. I'm hoping to be able to be at home more often this year, as the last few years have been so busy with appts for Luke, though I do have quite a few appts. scheduled soon for some of the other kids.

May God's blessings be poured out on you today!

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

Luke seems to be doing a little better

Just a quick update on Luke. He is finally doing better today, he seems to be more alert and have a bit more energy than the last few days. This flu as I've mentioned before really knocks you out for at least a week or more. Gordy is just now beginning to feel better after being sick for close to 2 weeks. We hope to leave tomorrow when Gordy gets off work for the Oregon Coast. We will spend 4 nights at Ft. Stevens one of the most beautiful parks in Oregon and then go down to Newport once again for 4 more nights. Please pray that God will allow us to go on this trip as I really feel after this summer of sickness we could all use a few days of rest and recreation. I would also like prayer for sleep for me as I've had a few nights of no sleep recently, I know I need to get my clock turned back around. Thank you for your constant prayers!

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

It's been 3 years since Luke's drowning accident and we are so thankful for your continued support and prayers

Can you believe it's been 3 years since Luke's drowning accident? There are days that it seems like it just happened yesterday and other days that I can't remember what life was life before that horrible day. We are very thankful for the progress that Luke has made and feel blessed by the fact that so many people are still praying for his complete healing to come. It would be so wonderful to hear from those of you that are still following Luke's progress, your comments are very special and each one of them makes my day.

Here's some pictures from the Torchlight Parade, Luke did such an awesome job that night, below is the kids, plus Karlos at the Zoo, then the Railroad Museum with the Starlight, Starbright group, ending with the beautiful waterfall at Mt. Rainier.

Luke came down with the horrible flu on Saturday, by that night I had to change his diaper many times. Yesterday he kept throwing up or having diarrhea each time we would feed him. Last night I was up all night watching him, I didn't want him to aspirate his throw up so I held him until this morning. This morning he has kept down his food, please be praying that this will pass quickly, as he just can't afford to lose any weight.

We had actually planned to go camping today until the 15th, we always love to go when school has started the campgrounds are empty and the weather is still wonderful. It's gotten to the place lately though where I almost dread making any plans as they seem to always get changed. I'm hoping that Luke will be better by tomorrow and we can get out tomorrow evening. We have had a good summer filled with trips to the Zoo, hikes on Mt. Rainier, free tickets from Starlight, Starbright for a tour on the USS Turner Joy, to go Putt Putt Golfing, to attend a Mariner's game and go to a Train Museum with a ride on an old steam train.

As I mentioned on Tuesday night we received 15 free tickets to go to a Mariners Game, so we filled up our 12 passenger van and went to have some fun. I invited a young gentleman that we met awhile back, he is Ukrainian, this was his first baseball game, so I had the fun task of explaining the game to him. The Mariners lost but we still had a great time. Then on Thursday the anniversary day of Luke drowning accident I decided I needed to get away from the home so Natalie, Isaiah, Ezekiel and I went on a beautiful hike up one of Mt. Ranier's many trails. We went up 2 miles, about 2,000 feet to see some of the most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen. To say this was challenging would be a understatement. There were many times the boys wanted to quit, but I would say we Searles are not quitters and we would plug on, they both thought it was worth it when we got there. The hike down was a whole lot easier.

On Saturday we went to Seattle, Gordy dropped Natalie, Isaiah, Ezekiel and myself off at the Seattle Science Center, where we saw the IMAX movie the Eruption of Mt. St. Helens, which is a very good movie. We then walked 2 miles to QWEST Field, I really enjoyed walking through Seattle it is a beautiful city and we were blessed with beautiful weather. We went to see our good friend Spencer play football at QWEST Field. He plays for the Lake Lancers High School Football team. He is the only home schooler on the team and though he is only a sophomore he is on the second string for the varsity. He did not get to play but we had a great time cheering the team on to victory.

May God richly bless you today! Once again thank you for your continued support and prayers, we have gotten to know so many new friends through this blog and it would be good to hear how you are doing.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

We've been hit with a Huge Whammy!

I am happy to report that Luke is still doing great, I wish that was so for the rest of the family. I was talking to Amy tonight and realized that since the beginning of July at least one person, if not two have been very sick in our family. It started with Luke getting pneumonia. Luke finally got better after being on an antibiotic for a month, then Lily got very sick, Lily was finally getting better when Ezekiel came down with a horrible flu. Zeke was actually sick for a whole week, I've never seen him sick that long, he would actually go take naps and go to bed early without being told. He finally got better last weekend only to pass it on to me, I got sick on Friday, by Sunday I was unable to get out of bed, it was the worst flu I've ever experienced in my life, today is Thursday and I'm finally able to get back to somewhat of a schedule, though my stomach is still in pain and I don't have any appetite yet. Isaiah came down with this stomach flu on Sunday and I thought he was doing better yesterday only to be hit again with it today. Then to top it all off Gordy came home from work yesterday miserable, he has it now and has been running high fevers along with all the stomach cramps, etc. Last night Lily got up around 3:00 a.m. to throw up, she was crying tonight of stomach pains and has the diarrhea, we've all experienced.

I keep praying that it will end now, TODAY! I keep praying that no one else will get this horrible flu, especially Luke. I don't know if he could handle not eating or drinking for a week, for that is how this flu is, nothing stays in your stomach for long. PLEASE pray with us that this will end today!

I'm thankful that Daniel has been staying down in Olympia at my parent's home while they are still in Denmark. He has been getting tile jobs left and right, keeping so busy that he is working nonstop, which is good that he's not been home to catch this horrible flu.

I was hoping that my next blog could be about something positive to report, please forgive me for always asking for more prayers. I know many of you are mighty prayer warriors, we need you to go to God on our behalf today. Thank you in advance for your support and prayers, it's good to know that people around the world are still praying for Luke's miracle.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

Good News, Luke was at 100% oxygen last night, Praise God, he's finally getting better!

Luke is doing better. He's been off oxygen since Thursday, except for a 1/4 liter at night. In fact when I hooked him up to his machine last night he was at 100%, I can not remember the last time I've seen 100%. I took Lily back to the Dr. on Thursday, she was just not getting better. Her gums were swollen and bleeding, he put her on an antibiotic she is finally eating once again, though still not sleeping through the night yet. Please be praying that her mouth will be completely healed and that she will start sleeping again.

I've decided to start up some school next week just 3 days a week. I figure since we are not going to camp again until September or really have any big plans, we might as well get some school going. The boys seem to be bored lately, I think getting them on a schedule will be a good thing for all of us. Amy and Natalie have volunteered to help with our home school this year, Amy is going to teach writing and Bible and Natalie is going to teach math and piano lessons. I'm hoping that we can also get a few major projects done around the house during the next few weeks.

We are once again talking about applying for an Extreme Home Makeover, I know that we've mentioned this before but we are getting to a place where we either really need one or we will need to move. Luke is getting more awkward to carry around since his body doesn't bend too good. The application is quite a process, but Amy said that she will help get it together. I realize that it's a one in a million chance, but figure they have to pick someone, therefore maybe we will get a chance.

Gordy has been very busy at work lately, working lots of extra hours, plus not getting the sleep he's needed lately has been taxing. Please be praying that God will renew his strength and bless both of us with some much needed sleep. Daniel started his own tiling business, it's called Searles Marble and Tile, he worked at tiling for a year, decided to try electrical work for a year, then decided he much rather tile, so he started his own business two weeks ago. If you know of anyone who needs some tile work done, please e-mail us. He has been working on contacting Contractors in the Olympia area, that is where is wants to move some day.

August has been a challenging month for me since Luke's accident 3 years ago. At times the grief still overwhelms me, remembering back to what Luke was like before the accident and just thinking about our life since that day. I realize that I have so much to be thankful for, but it is still so hard. Please be praying that God will help us to get through this month and that our hope and joy will be renewed.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

Luke is doing a bit better, PTL!

I am very happy to announce that the Dr. said Luke does not have pneumonia anymore. The x-ray still shows a bit of cloudiness in his right lung, but it looks like the pneumonia is gone. I will know for sure tomorrow when the radiologist has had a chance to confirm the Dr.'s report. Luke is still sick with a ear infection and he has the same virus in his mouth that Lily has been dealing with all week. That explains why his heart rate has been so high all week, he has been in pain, Lily has been absolutely miserable, so I can only imagine Luke has been feeling the same way.

Between Lily and Luke this week I think the longest stretch of sleep I've had has been maybe 3 hours. I thank the Lord for his strength and help as I've been able to keep up with my busy schedule on such little sleep. The scripture God gave me to meditate on yesterday is: He gives power to the weak. And to those who have no might He increases strength. Isaiah 40:29 I'm so thankful to God for his strength.

Please continue to pray that God will heal Luke and Lily of this horrible virus and that it won't spread to others in the family. I've also been thinking about taking him back to the pulmonologist, this is a hard decision as he is the one always suggesting putting back in the trach. Though I'm hoping that perhaps he would have some suggestions on ways to help Luke when is having difficulties in breathing. We continue to need wisdom in Luke's journey, always so many decisions.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

Luke still needs prayer as he is sick again

Luke is sick again, oh how I hate typing those words. This past week we decided we would try to camp again. We took the trailer up on Monday night, Gordy had to go to work late that night so he left Natalie and I up there with Isaiah, Ezekiel, Luke and Lily, he was not able to come back up until Friday night because of his very busy work schedule. Luke was doing fine until Thursday, we went for a walk down to look at the Snoqualamie Falls, which is very beautiful. Well the walk and day ended up being too much for Luke and late in the afternoon I decided to check his oxygen levels because he was struggling to breath, sure enough he needed oxygen.

Thursday night ended up being a very difficult night, with his alarms going off basically all night long. Friday though he seemed to be doing a bit better, not needing the oxygen, so I decided to take him to OT and then brought him home so that I could do a few loads of laundry. By the time we got back up to camp he was in need of some oxygen again, but nothing compared to Thursday night so I thought he was getting better, but not so. Both Natalie and Lily went to bed that night complaining of having a stomach ache and Lily was also crying that her mouth hurt. The next morning their stomachs both felt better, but Lily was still complaining of her mouth hurting, I thought she might be teething, but after a closer look it appears she somehow got a infection in her upper gums.

Saturday we had planned to take the children to a local Train Museum and to ride on a train, but I knew that after giving Luke a bath and having him throw up his food that he needed a day of rest and relaxation, so Gordy ended up taking Natalie, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Lily. They all had a great time. We had originally planned to come home Sunday afternoon, but decided that with Luke not doing so hot and Lily complaining that her mouth hurt we'd better pack it up and come home. Isaiah and Zeke were crushed as they had planned to sleep in the tent with Dad that night.

Here we are Sunday morning, I stayed home from church with Luke and Lily while the rest of the family took off. I am debating whether I should take Lily in to have her mouth looked at as she is still in a lot of pain and running a fever. Today is Luke's last day on his antibiotic so if he is not better by tomorrow I will take him in also.

Last Sunday the little devotional that I read each day really ministered to my heart, so I thought I would share a bit of it with you all. The title was God's Delays, though I could probably rewrite the whole thing, I will just share this part of it: Faith never gives up. It knows that despite appearances, all is well. It can wait without signs or significant indications that God is at work, because it is sure of Him. "Each delay is perfectly fine, for we are within the safe hands of God," said Madame Guyon (1648-1717) We too must learn to view each delay as if it were "perfectly fine." Postponements are reasons to pray rather than grow anxious, impatient, and annoyed. They're opportunities for God to build those imperishable but hard to acquire qualities of humility, patience, serenity, and strength. God never says, "Wait awhile," unless He is planning to do something in our situation - or in us. He waits to be gracious. So take heart! God's answer tarries, "Wait for it; because it will surely come." The scripture that went along with it was Habukkuk 1:12-2:3, I have clung to this scripture for almost 3 years, knowing as it says, "the vision will be fulfilled and not losing hope, for it will not be overdue a single day, my paraphrase."

Please keep praying with us for Luke's miracle, it is going to happen!

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

We found out today that Luke still has pneumonia

Here is a picture of Luke from our recent trip to the Oregon coast, before he came down with pneumonia. As you can tell by the winter coat he is wearing it was a very cold day. We hiked down a beautiful paved trail to find a new beach area to enjoy our lunch. Though it was cold and windy we all had a wonderful time.




I was surprised to hear today from the Radiologist that Luke still has pneumonia. I took him into the Dr. yesterday for a follow-up appt and x-ray, the Dr. didn't think he still had pneumonia, though he did realize from the x-ray his lungs had not completely cleared up. So he is back on an antibiotic, I'm thankful that it is only every 8 hours instead of every 6 hours, which means more sleep for me, since I don't have to stay up so late for his last dose each night.

Luke has been doing surprisingly well for having pneumonia, I guess that is why I was so shocked to hear this news today. He was at 100% oxygen level when I took off his oximeter probe this morning, though he did need a little oxygen last night. He's done great for the busy week that we've had.

On Tuesday I took the kids to the Hands on Museum in Olympia, one of my children's most favorite places to visit, Luke seemed to really enjoy himself as the children went racing around finding all sorts of fun things to do. On Wednesday he and Lily stayed home with our most wonderful babysitter Tessa, while Natalie, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Josh and I went to tour the USS Turner Joy, a Destroyer Naval Ship. Then on Thursday Luke and I were out the door by 9:45 to have his casting done for new ankle orthodics, they were hoping to get both his ankles and knees done but ended up having to do the right foot twice, so needless to say we go back again in two weeks to have his knee's done. After that appt. we met Natalie, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Lily, Yoli and Karlos at the Zoo for a few hours of fun before his follow-up Dr. appt.

Friday was busy for me again as I had to get up to take Isaiah to his Speech Therapy appt in the morning down in Olympia, after that I came home to take Luke to his OT appt in Puyallup. That appt. went rather well, since his OT has been experimenting with different switch toys for him to use to communicate with, she taped "I love Mommy" on the toy and Luke could touch it to say that he loves me. She was excited, as was I as we both saw Luke purposefully touch the button switch time and again to say that he loves me. We both saw him also use his fingers to push down. She is hoping that our insurance company will ok buying two the theses switches so that Luke can really begin to communicate with his family once again. After coming home from that appt. I left immediately to drive two hours to pick up Amy and the 10 children that went our church kids camp this past week. It ended up being a crazy busy day!

Tomorrow night we are going to be in the Torchlight parade in Seattle. We will be one of the families representing the Starlight, Starbright Children's Foundation, there motto is, "Helping seriously ill children and their families cope with pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities." They have blessed us numerous times over the past few years with gifts while Luke is in the Hospital, free shopping trips for all the toys, books and games we want from there packed warehouse, fun trips to the Sonics game and the tickets for our tour on the USS Turner Joy was complements from them. They are expecting more than 300,000 people to be watching the parade, so I'm praying that all will go smoothly for our family as we walk to the 2-3 miles through Seattle. Well I better wrap this blog up, as it is too long already!

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

May God grant me the faith to continue to completely trust Him

What a week! Since the last time I wrote saying that Luke was doing better we've been on a roller coaster ride. He was doing better, then last Sunday he took a step backwards for a few days, on oxygen most of the days. Now once again he is doing good, he has not been on any oxygen during the day anymore and just a little at night.

For me it was an extremely trying week, one of very late nights and early mornings. The antibiotic Luke was put on needed to be given every 6 hours. I choose that over a hospital stay with an IV of antibiotics, but it was not an easy journey to say the least. On top of that Isaiah and Ezekiel went to a wonderful Vacation Bible School at a church just down the road from us, so I had to not only get up early to give Luke his meds I also had to stay up to get the boys ready and out the door by 8:30 every morning.

I have to say the hardest day this week was Tuesday, I hadn't got a lot of sleep but knew I had a lot to do so I started my day early, getting the ingredients for Luke's food. When I got home from picking up the boys I found out our big freezer had been left open all night, therefore we had a big mess on our hands. Thankfully we did not lose all our meat, as we buy fresh beef and pork and therefore have lots of meat in our freezer, but we did have to cook up about 10 pounds of hamburger and 6 pounds of chicken. That day was a crazy as Natalie dropped a full can of tomato sauce, which splattered all over the kitchen, needless to say we were in the kitchen for about 7 hours that day, making Luke's food and cooking up meat.

God is so faithful, yesterday as I was reading my favorite devotional book, called Streams in the Desert, the reading ministered greatly to me, here is a little excerpt: May God grant us faith to completely trust His Word, even when every other sign points the other way. The scripture that I plan to memorize this week is: Acts 27:25 Keep up your courage men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. I decided to personalize that scripture for my sake, it goes like this: Keep up your courage "SUE" for you have faith in God that Luke's healing will happen just as God told you. To keep on believing in Luke's miracle is by far the hardest thing that I've ever had to do, but I know without a doubt that I can not give up hope as it is the only thing that I hold on too, there is no other way!

Last but not least, Gordy and I are celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary today. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. We are taking Amy to camp, as she is going to be a camp counselor for the next two weeks at our church camp, which is in about 2 hours away in a little town named Sequim, WA. After we drop her off we are going to spend the night at the beach, I'm hoping that perhaps we can catch up on some of the sleep that we missed out on the past few weeks. Please be praying for Natalie and Daniel as they will be watching the children at home.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

Luke is doing great, thank you for your prayers

Luke is doing absolutely great, this is by far the quickest he has ever recovered from having pneumonia. He is completely off oxygen and his numbers tonight are in the high 90's which is awesome for him. Thank you for your prayers they do make all the difference in the world. The only thing that he really needs now is to relax his very tense muscles, his legs have become even more rigid then they were before.

Please be praying for my parents they took off today on a military flight to South Carolina. They will be flying out tomorrow sometime for Germany, where my brother and his wife will be picking them up to take them to Denmark. My father found out that he has prostate cancer a few months ago, so my brother is going to be putting him on a strict diet hoping that he will not only lose some extra pounds but also help him to do a body cleanse. Please be praying that God will give them great traveling mercies and also that they will both stay strong and healthy while they are there. They are thinking they will be there for about 6 weeks. We will miss them very much, but are thankful that they are able to make this trip over to see my brother and his wife.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

Luke has pneumonia again, but Praise God he is not in the Hospital

I took Luke into the Dr. yesterday and found out that he has pneumonia in his right lung. The Dr. prescribed a strong shot of antibiotic into his leg muscles, then sent us home with a dose of antibiotic every 4 hours for 10 days. We have to go back today at 10 a.m. for another shot and to be sure that he is making progress toward getting better. Which I know that he is already doing a little better.

I'm thanking the Lord that Luke is doing so well this time with his pneumonia, as this is the first time that he has come down with it and not gone to the Hospital. I told his Dr. that he is doing so much better on his oxygen levels, though he has had to go on the mask a few times, it is nothing compared to his past needs. He is also moaning when he is uncomfortable, which is a new thing for him to do, it is difficult to hear him in agony, but good to know that part of his brain is waking up. I have been very faithful in doing chest PT every 3 hours and making sure that I get him up right so that he is getting the junk cleared out of his lungs.

Please be praying that Luke continues to make positive improvements. Gordy and I are torn about him taking off these precious vacation hours, while we are unable to do anything as a family, he is thinking about going back to work so that he doesn't lose all his hours. I continue to pray against a strong spirit of discouragement and depression as this is not how I was looking forward to spending this week. It's weeks like this that I'm tempted to lose all hope, but I know that I must press on toward keeping my faith strong, this is only a small set back in Luke's journey, please keep us in your prayers.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

We are home with two sick kids, we need more prayer

Just an update to let you know that we had to cut our vacation short. We decided to come home today, the decision was heartrendering to say the least. Luke and Lily are both sick, running fevers and Luke is just not able to keep his oxygen levels up without lots of oxygen. Though he is doing a bit better tonight, he is on a mask with the oxygenator going at 5 liters. We just tried to put the nasal cannula back in his nose and to cut back on his oxygen, we were able to finally get him down to 1 liter, which is a first today, but he was very uncomfortable, so we decided to put the mask back on him. I'm sure his nose is sore from the oxygen going constantly for 2 days.

Please be praying that God will heal both Lily and Luke tonight, so that perhaps we can go again, as Gordy still has the rest of the week off. It's times like today I wonder if our lives will ever be "normal" again.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

As you all know we are in Newport, OR camping. We have been having an absolutely wonderful time, the weather has been great and we were all healthy until 2 days ago when Zeke came down with a croupy cough. I began to pray and try not to panic, knowing that the last two times Zeke has had croup, Luke has gotten very very sick. Well last night it hit him, he is very sick. Not only him but last night Natalie threw up, though she is doing better today and Lily was running a low grade fever last night, once again she is doing okay today.

Luke began to get real congested last evening and I had a feeling that he was getting sick, sure enough when I hooked him up to his oximeter his oxygen numbers were not doing too well and his heart rate was high. We've seen this enough times to know that he was probably running a fever and sure enough he did have a fever. Needless to say I was up until 4 a.m. when Gordy took over until 8 a.m. and then I took over again. He is still not doing well and he needs prayer. We are praying that we will not have to cut our vacation short.

Bottom line is we need PRAYER and lots of it. Please pray that Luke will get better quickly as we've seen this happen so often and also that the rest of the family will stay healthy. Thank you for your prayers, I know that you are faithful in holding up Luke and our family in your prayers. We will let you know how things are going.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

I ask myself sometimes, "Why oh, why, can you not be satisfied?"

Luke has been doing so well lately and tonight I began to ask myself, why I can't be satisfied with how great he is doing. It was amazing yesterday when the oxygen man came, as he does every other week, to only exchange 2 small tanks of oxygen. We used to have to exchange up to 12 some weeks. Luke's oxygen levels have been absolutely phenomenal lately, I checked him earlier today because he sounded a bit "junky" or you might say congested, but his oxygen level was at 100%. I remember when I used to cry out to the Lord to heal his lungs, I remember saying "Lord if you would just heal his lungs and make him breathe easier life would be so much better". It is better not having to worry about his oxygen levels at night or listening to his alarms going off all night long, but I guess I want more.

I so desire for Luke to start communicating with his voice again, just to hear him say Mommy, would be heavenly. I would love to see his legs bending, his muscle tone has gotten worse lately. I was hoping that putting him in the Hyperbaric chamber more often would help it, but after 5 dives in the last week and a half there doesn't seem to be much change. Bottom line is I would love to see Luke back to the way he was before this whole journey began. I know it is coming but I get so impatient for it to be today.

The Lord has been really dealing with me to be content where I'm at right now. Our Pastor, which also happens to be my brother in law, spoke an awesome word last Sunday about being in God's perfect will even at times there doesn't seem to be any progress made in your life and finding peace at being there. I have decided that I need to take it a step farther, not just being at peace where I'm at, but finding the joy of Lord in this place I find myself to be in. I know this is possible, because God's word is true and does not lie, therefore when it says I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me this includes of course finding his joy in times of frustration at what appears to be His slow timing.

Would you please join me in praying for the following prayer requests:

• Continue to pray with me that Luke's legs will limber up and begin to bend. That all his muscle tone will begin to loosen up and that he will relax in our arms again.
• For Luke to begin to use his voice in communicating, specifically that he will say mommy and daddy, along with all his siblings names again.
• That he will pass his swallow test on July 20th, so that we can begin to feed him with confidence in knowing that he will not aspirate. Also for me that I will not feel anxious about having to go the Hospital for this procedure.
• That he will stay healthy during our camping trip.

As I just mentioned above, we leave tomorrow for the Oregon coast for 2 1/2 weeks, to say I'm excited about going would be putting it mildly. My life gets so busy with Luke's appointments and so many other important things I need to do each day, I need a few weeks to just take it easy. My parents have blessed us with sharing their membership at Leisure Time Resorts, which are some beautiful campgrounds in Washington and Oregon, they are free for us to stay at, a huge blessing to say the least. Our favorite resort is just south of Newport, OR right across the Highway from the Pacific Ocean. I look forward to sitting by the ocean, even if the weather is not always great, playing games with the family, reading and listening to books and watching sunsets. I know that Daniel is looking forward to surfing, Gordy and Amy are excited to go golfing a few times, Natalie is looks forward to reading and relaxing, Isaiah and Ezekiel just want play for hours on the beach, in the indoor pool and at the playground. Luke looks forward to not having any appointments, swimming in the pool and flying the kite at the beach and Lily will love having all the family together in one place, as this is her most favorite thing in the world, Josh will be joining us for the week that Daniel is coming and I hope my parents can come for a few days.

I will try to post while we are gone, if we have a computer available. Thank you once again for your continued prayers, I have mentioned this many times, but it bears repeating, without the prayer support that we receive this journey that we've been on for sooo long would be impossible to bear. May God richly bless you today!

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

We heard Luke cry again last night for the first time since his accident

Luke cried last night for the first time since before his accident. We had gone to a park to play and swim all day and as we were driving into the driveway, I guess that he had been in his car seat too long, so he cried. Everyone in the car was amazed to hear him cry, as he has not done that in such a long time. He has moaned before but never actually cried. It got me to crying and I've been teary ever since. I was amazed that as soon as I took him out of his car seat he smiled, so it really meant that he was just uncomfortable. Luke had a great time yesterday swimming, I hope that we will be able to get him into a pool often this summer as he really seemed to enjoy himself.

Luke has also been following more commands lately. The other day when he was in the Hyperbaric chamber I asked him to put up his hand up and touch his nose, which he did and then I asked him to put his arm down and he did that also, he didn't just do it once but at least 3 times after that. Doug the man who owns the chambers was amazed to hear that he is following commands.

As I mentioned above his crying has got me to crying, I've been extremely emotional since last night. My friend had asked me awhile back to share a testimony tonight in her women's bible study group, about our journey these past few years. So needless to say I'm looking forward to sharing tonight, but I'm praying that I won't be a emotional wreck. I'm excited that God has been opening up doors for me to share our testimony of His healing power and constant care in our lives since Luke's accident. Please be praying that God will continue to open doors for me to share about His faithfulness and healing power in our lives, I want more people to realize that God is the same yesterday, today and forever and just as He healed and touched lives thousands of years ago when He walked on the earth, He is still in the healing business today.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

Luke is eating peanut butter and loves it!

Guess what? Luke started chewing this week, which is a huge answer to prayer. On Monday I decided to try and give him some bites of food, he really seems to like peanut butter. He is actually chewing and swallowing, which is the first time I've seen him move his mouth when we've given him a bite of food, since his accident. He has continued to chew everyday we've given him food. Yesterday at church Yoli gave him some bites of chocolate cake and he seemed to love it. Also yesterday he went to a birthday party and each time I would ask him to stick his tongue out to taste the sucker I was giving him he would do it. It's so exciting to see these changes in him, though it would seem that when we are feeding him it does cause him to be more congested, I guess his silvia glands are working overtime which he has not been used to, therefore he has been coughing more. Please pray that he will be able to eat by mouth all the time and we will be able to get rid of the g-tube feeding tube in his stomach, that would be the greatest thing in the world.

We had a busy day on Friday, Luke had a speech therapy evaluation in the morning and then in the afternoon an Occupational therapy evaluation. We have put these therapies off because when he began Physical therapy, it seemed that would be the thing that he could benefit from the most. Both therapists seemed to be positive in their belief's that Luke is ready to make some progress in his speech, eating and making sounds. The OT also gave us a little brush to use on Luke's arms and legs, Luke is hypersensitive to touch on his right hand and arm, so much so that if you touch his hand or arm he will get extremely tense. If you tell him you are going to touch his hand he seems to be able to take it a little better. The OT said by using this brush on all his limbs he will become less sensitive in on his right arm and hand. We are blessed in the fact that the OT is skilled in both OT and Speech therapy, so she will be able to help us in both therapies.

Friday was kind of a hard day for me as I listened to these ladies tell me all the things that Luke will be able to do in upcoming days. They are not looking through "God's glasses of faith" as I do each day. I know that God is healing Luke and he is not going to be dependent on using switches and his eyes to communicate to us for the rest of his life. This faith walk is so challenging at times, but I know that is where God wants me to be, in a place of trusting Him and not what others say, or what my eyes see. I think that I've shared this scripture before, but it is so good I will share it again. Blessed are they that do not see, but still believe John 20:29b. I believe that God's word is true and therefore I feel blessed to know to know that God has called me blessed, I don't see Luke's complete healing, but I know without a shadow of a doubt it's coming.

Some other news to report, Natalie graduated on Saturday. About 80 people came to celebrate and congratulate Natalie on her success. Natalie played two beautiful piano pieces and we had a grand time visiting and eating, with lots of loving family members and dear friends sharing in the joy we had on her special day. It's so hard for me to believe that we've had three kids graduate from our Home school. I mentioned to a few people the next big celebration we will have in our family will be a wedding, not that I'm announcing anything, it's just that we have a ten year gap before Isaiah will graduate. I am daily reminded as I look upon my children of God's goodness in our lives, He has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams to give us with such wonderful children.

This next week we are hosting our wonderful friends, the Hurtado's as they visit us from Nebraska, we are looking forward to a week filled with great and busy times. Please be praying with us that Luke will stay healthy as we are going camping over the weekend. The weather in our area has not always been so wonderful at this time of the year, therefore we are praying that we will be blessed with a little bit of warmth and no rain.

May God richly bless you today!

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue

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.

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

Here are some pictures from Easter, Luke's 4th Birthday and Christmas

We are excited to announce that Luke has not been in the Hospital for a whole year!

I hope and pray that you all had a blessed Easter Sunday. We had a blessed day, as our family was once again all together at church, celebrating Christ's resurrection Day. It was at this time last year that Luke spent his last week in the Hospital. Praise God he has not been back since then. I look back on that week spent in the Hospital and remember what a difficult time it was, the hopelessness of the Dr.'s and time spent in the PICU was excruciatingly hard. But God was so faithful in bringing so much joy to our lives as it was after that stay that Luke began to smile again, we had waited a long time for that first smile and now we see it daily, what a difference a smile can make.

Daniel, Amy and Natalie all arrived home on April 1st. What a huge blessing it is to have them home again, they were ready to come home for the most part, though Daniel thought it would've been wonderful to spend some more time exploring Denmark and The Netherlands. Our schedules have pretty much gotten back to our old routine, with Daniel back to work full time, Amy back working at the church a few days a week and Natalie finishing up her senior year of high school. It's hard to believe that we have 3 children who will have graduated from High School soon.

Luke has been doing pretty good, though he has struggled a few days with a bit of a mystery sickness. He seems to be doing ok during the day, but at night he will run a fever and be on some oxygen. Good Friday was a hard night, I really had to battle with fear as it was that day last year that we ended up in the Hospital. I kept saying that God has not given me a spirit of fear, but He has given unto me a spirit of power, a spirit of love and a sound mind, which was a song that we used to sing in church. Luke had a high fever that night and was really struggling to breath, but I knew it was a battle against evil spiritual forces, the Bible says: in Ephesians 6:10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. There have been times during these past few years that I've known that we are battling for Luke's life and this past week we have had to go to battle a few nights.

On Monday night Gordy, Isaiah, Daniel, Natalie, Josh, Skye and myself went to a Sonics game and when we came home Luke was struggling again with a high heart rate and low oxygen numbers. When he is like that he breathes very hard, I began praying and while I had my hand on his chest God heard my prayers and I could actually feel the healing power of Jesus flow through my hands and Luke's breathing immediately slowed down and his heart rate started coming down to where it was normal within a short amount of time. I can not even begin to explain how wonderful it was to see God at work before my very eyes. I know that God is able to do abundantly above what we can ever imagine. We just need to believe, in faith knowing that He will answer our prayers. Once again tonight it was the same scenario with the high heart rate and fever, I began to pray and God heard my prayers and Luke is now sleeping comfortably, Praise God. Please be praying with us that this will be our last night that we will have to deal with this mystery sickness.

We have lots of exciting things coming up in the future, but this blog has already gotten entirely too long. Next time I will write about the upcoming Missions trip I'm leading in May, about the Homeschool convention we are attending this weekend and Gordy's trip to Eastern Washington to have some much needed fun time golfing. Please pray that all will go well this weekend as we are going to be leaving the little ones behind, we will be home at night time, but will be gone all day Friday and Saturday. I'm extremely grateful that Tessa learned how to care for Luke while the girls were gone, she is babysitting and Auntie Cindy will be coming over to help in the mornings with getting all the kids ready for the day.

Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue