This Blog is for the purpose of keeping family, friends and prayer warriors informed on the status of our son Luke. It is a journal of the Searles family journey after the drowning accident of their 17 month old son Luke, who drowned in their back yard pool on August 30, 2004. He was dead for at least 40 minutes before God brought him back to life. Please continue to join with us in prayer for the complete restoration of his brain and body.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Finally a long awaited update, Mexico was awesome and Luke is doing great once again!
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!
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
Thursday, April 12, 2007
We are excited to announce that Luke has not been in the Hospital for a whole year!
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
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Luke is a big 4 year old boy!
I can hardly believe Luke turned 4 years old on Saturday. We celebrated his birthday in the evening, since we had a wedding to go to that day. I was so thankful that he was healthy for his special day, he had been riding a roller coaster ride of one day being fine and the next day needing a bit of oxygen all last week. I think that we’ve finally turned the corner. He has been doing great since Sunday evening and hasn’t needed a bit of oxygen all week.
Luke seems to be showing us more emotions all the time, he now smiles all the time, without needing to be played with. We will just walk up to him and he will show a beautiful smile. I was playing with him today and he was looking me right in the eyes, it brought a few tears to my eyes, to think how thankful I am for his sweet precious smile to be here each day. He has also becoming more verbal with his needs, each time he fills his pants lately he will moan until we change him. I took him in for a hyperbaric dive today and Jim was amazed at his expressions while he was in the chamber and the second we pulled him out he gave us a huge smile.
He also seems to be putting on some much needed weight, I weighed him yesterday and I think that he has finally hit the 30-pound mark. He is looking a lot healthier with a little fat on his skinny bones. He also seems to be getting stronger, yesterday Auntie Cindy was playing with him and he basically lifted his whole body up for a few seconds, and to say that she was excited is putting it mildly.
Last week was challenging for me at times. There are times on this journey when sadness for Luke’s condition can basically overwhelm me. It seems that around Christmas and his birthday it really hits me hard when I think about what I should be getting a normal 4 year old for his birthday. To say I cried a few tears last week would be putting it mildly. I tried not to let others see my sadness, because I do not want them to feel bad or put a damper on their day. Don’t get me wrong I am extremely thankful for the progress that Luke has made and I thank the Lord all the time that he has not been back to the hospital in almost a year. That said there are times that I wish with all my heart I was chasing Luke around the house, listening to his sweet little laugh and picking up his toys, though I know it will happen again some day, I just wish it was today.
Here’s a little update on Amy and Natalie. We have been blessed, at least we feel that way now before we get our cell phone bill, that we have been able to talk with the girls often. Even though they are a bit homesick they are really enjoying their time ministering in Romania. God is really doing some great things there and many women’s lives are being changed as they are being given a message of hope and God’s love. The girls leave Romania early Friday morning, they will go to Amsterdam to meet their Uncle Ray, Aunt Lis and Daniel in Amsterdam. They will spend one day in Holland, going to the Hiding place and some other wonderful places there, then on to Denmark to spend time at my brother’s home. I know that they will be spoiled, which I’m very excited about!
We have been extremely blessed by having many wonderful people helping us here at home, Tessa a sweet young lady, has graciously volunteered to help us out this week. My sister Lori took Lily home with her to Eastern Washington, Gordy, myself, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Luke will be heading that way on Friday, we will spend the weekend at Lonnie and Lori’s home, coming home on Monday. Please be praying that God will keep Luke healthy and this will be a special time for all of us as we take a little retreat, I always call Lonnie and Lori’s home my private retreat center, it is situated right on the Columbia River, they live right next to a wild life animal reserve, so we are blessed with seeing all kinds of wonderful creatures, while we are there.
Just remember with GOD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!
Love in Christ,
Luke’s Mommy SueMonday, March 05, 2007
How can I thank you enough?
Just to give you an little glimpse into our crazy weekend. Gordy had told me a while back that he was going to have to work on Saturday during the day and all night. He ended up working from 10 a.m. Saturday morning and pretty much continued until Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m. went to bed when he got home at 6:00 a.m. and was up at 8:00 a.m. because their were problems with the implementations they had made the night before. He ended up solving problems all day and was not off the phone until 6:00 p.m. that night. He worked close to 28 straight hours. So he was unable to help with Luke or the other children during that time, I'm once again very thankful that my sister Lori is here to help, and for Daniel and Josh, who helped keep the house picked up, it makes me realize that I really am unable to get through these days alone.
I wanted Gordy to get a good sleep on Sunday night, so I ended up sleeping on the couch with Luke, so that I would be right by his side if he alarmed at all during the night. I did get a bit of sleep, but by morning I was exhausted, so my sister Cindy came over and said go get some sleep, I thought I would lay down for an hour and ended up waking up at 12:15, needless to say I jumped out of bed running, because Luke had a PT appt. at 1:00, I was actually able to make it there by 1:15, I thought we did pretty good, we went from there to the Hyperbaric chamber, I knew after being on oxygen the last few days it would be good for Luke to get a dive. He did great and the turn around that he has made has been nothing less than miraculous, tonight when we hooked him up to the oxymeter his numbers were great and he has only been on a 1/4 a liter for a short time tonight.
Just to give you an update on the girls, they actually called on their cell phone and they are doing great, the conditions in the village that they have been staying in are a bit better than they expected. The home that Amy and Natalie are staying in is actually one of the few homes that has a shower and toilet, to say they are blessed is an understatement. They leave the village tomorrow to go into Bucharest, where conditions will be a lot better. They both were very excited about the reception the team is having and that they have been able to minister to the people there, with the clinic they set up with the team nurse. The girls collected over 200 toothbrushes, from their Dentist and Orthodontist, the goal for the team was to take 400 toothbrushes to pass out, the nurse is teaching a few classes on good hygiene and trying to raise the awareness of preventive medicine.
We continue to appreciate your prayers for our family, for Luke's complete restoration and for Amy and Natalie while they are gone. I end this by saying, "How can I thank you enough??"
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Once again I'm requesting prayer for Luke, he is sick again and needs a touch from God
Amy and Natalie flew to Romania on Thursday afternoon, they will be there until the 16th, then they will be picked up in Amsterdam by my brother and his wife to spend two weeks with them in Denmark, they won't get home until April 1st. Please be praying for them to stay healthy and that God will bless their trip many great memories. I'm so happy they are able to go, I just wish I could be with them. Needless to say without them here I've been praying that God would keep Luke and the rest of us healthy, they are such wonderful helpers when Luke gets sick, I can't imagine going through a lengthy sickness without their help. I have been blessed with my sister Lori coming over to stay with us for the next week and others that have volunteered to help.
The scripture the Lord gave me the day before they left is so comforting to me, The Lord gives strength to his people, The Lord blesses his people with peace. Psalm 29:11, I know that I have been ministered to by this scripture in the past and am once again relying on God's strength to get me through this month. I have been singing a little song that I learned from one of the children's tapes we used to listen to all the time. It goes: I can do all things, all things, all things, I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens me, Phillipians 4:13. I'm so thankful that God's word brings me such comfort and help in my time of need.
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Faith that moves forward ALWAYS triumphs!
By Sunday morning I was wiped out, I got up to get Isaiah and Ezekiel ready for church, Amy, Lily and Luke were not feeling too well so I stayed home with them. While I was getting ready for the day, I cried out to God and asked Him to give me wisdom. I was thinking that if Luke did not get better that day we should probably take him to the Hospital, as he had been on lots of oxygen for 5 days. God in His gracious way answered my prayers by allowing Luke to make a turn for the better, within an hour his heart rate was coming down to normal, his oxygen levels were beginning to get better and he was looking a whole lot better. I knew that God had answered my prayer by showing me that Luke would be better soon, therefore we would not have to go to the Hospital. That night I feel asleep on the couch at around 9:00, Gordy woke me up a few times to say go to bed before I finally could get up, I went to bed and had my first night of really good uninterrupted sleep until about 5:30, at which time I had to get up to change Luke since his food had overflowed and he was freezing cold and a mess from it. Once I got him changed he settled down and went back to sleep for another few hours.
I really wanted to get him into the Hyperbaric chamber right away, since he had been on so much oxygen, I knew he would need the boost from the chamber to help sped up his recovery, therefore I took him for a dive on Monday and Tuesday and am hoping to get him in once more this week. I know it really did help him because today when we went into PT he was actually not as tense as he's been this past week. It also helped his heart rate even out and his oxygen levels to get up to close to normal. I can not even begin to tell you how thankful I am that he is recovering, it was an extremely stressful week, there were many times that I wondered if we should be in the Hospital, my greatest reluctance, other then the disruption to the family, in going to the Hospital is there is so many flu's and sicknesses going around right now I did not want to introduce him to any other kinds of bugs.
The scripture that I've been meditating on today is: Psalm 26:1 I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. I want to say this is true but there are many times that I have wavered in my trusting the Lord, to know He is going to bring us through this journey that we never chose to go on. I realize and am thankful that I can trust God even when the road seems to go on for ever and at times never seems to give us a break. Tonight in church I was once again reminded of the importance of speaking aloud the Word of God and claiming his promises for my life, it is a powerful exercise that I need to do on a daily basis. I recently read and wrote down this quote from the devotional, Streams in the Desert, FAITH THAT MOVES FORWARD ALWAYS TRIUMPHS! I have hung it up on the mirror in my bathroom, realizing that as we continue to have complete faith in God, he is faithful to fill us up with His hope and has promised us we will be triumphant in the end. Hallelujah!
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Friday, February 09, 2007
Luke doing better
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Luke still needs your prayers, please don't stop!
Thank you once again for your prayers, they make all the difference in the world!
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Lily and Luke need your prayers
I have one other prayer request for the Maki family, they are very dear friends to us. They had a fire in their home last Thursday morning and the damage was quite extensive. Praise God no one was hurt, but they are going to have be out of their home for at least 4 - 6 months while they do repairs. Please be praying that God will direct them to where they should stay during this time and help them get over the shock of losing their home right now.
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
We hope you take a close look at these beautiful Romanian bowls

If you go to Amy's blog you will be able to see all the bowls that she is selling. We appreciate your prayers more than anything you could donate, as we know that God will supply all of their needs according to His great riches. They leave on March 1st and will not be home until April 1st, they are also going to visit their Uncle Ray and Aunt Lis in Denmark along with Daniel, who will meet them in Amsterdam after they go to Romania for two weeks. Their Uncle has generously volunteered to pay for all their expenses during their visit to Denmark, what a great blessing from God! I'm going to need a lot of prayer, during the time they will be gone, as I have mentioned before the girls are my right and left arms, they do more for me than you can possibly imagine, though I know I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.Just a quick update on Luke, he is doing better, he did end up having a few rough nights last week, but he was fine during the day. Please pray that we will figure out what is causing him to have these fevers at night, they do not come every night, but often enough lately to be of some concern. We are currently increasing his feedings so that we can get some weight on him, please pray that this will go smoothly and he will begin to gain the much needed weight that he needs to keep healthy.
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
PS I have another prayer request: Last night I went up to Seattle Children's Hospital to visit Zack again, who is doing great by the way. While I was there Zack's mom, Ruth introduced me to a family who have little Elijah who is 7 months old in the PICU, he was born with Downs Syndrome and has had two heart surgeries since his birth. He has been in the Hospital since November 20th and is currently not doing very well. Please be praying that God will work a miracle and raise this little one up for the glory of God. It was so hard walking into his room, the emotions that flooded me were very strong, but I also felt God's presence surrounding the little guy as I was able to pray for him.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Double blessings to report on knee bends and vision tests
Today I took Luke to his Optometrist, he specializes in child with brain injuries. I left there shouting Hallelujah. Luke did an awesome job on his eye tests, the Dr. was very impressed with his progress. Last February when I took him in he was not even looking at the wheel to test his tracking abilities and today not only did he look at it he was able to measure his progress at a 60 - 70 percent success rate. His vision has also improved 50 percent. Once again a double blessing in his progress. The Dr. also talked a bit about his startle reflex, he is going to look into some information from another Dr. and get back to me on some exercises he thinks would be beneficial for Luke. He told me he would like to see him again in about 3 weeks.
Even though we've hit some new major milestones, my heart is feeling very confused tonight. One on side I'm rejoicing with his accomplishments and on the other side, I'm concerned because he is not feeling well once again tonight. He is running a high fever and he is on lots of oxygen right now. It just kind of hit him all of the sudden tonight. My heart is also sad with some news that we found out tonight, that little guy Joel that I asked you to pray for went home to Heaven today. I realize that he is in a much better place, but my heart is so heavy for his parents and siblings that are left behind to mourn his death. Please be praying for his family as they go through this tough time.
Once again I am humbled by the fact that so many people are still faithfully praying for Luke's complete recovery. I was looking at Teena's blog tonight and she had Luke's picture up with a little story about taking his picture to church this last Sunday to have others in her Sunday School pray for him. I also ran into a friend that I haven't seen for a couple years the other night and she told me that she reads Luke's blog often, it's amazing to me that people are so interested in our family, at times it makes me feel uncomfortable, but at other times it brings such great joy into my heart just knowing that so many of you are still praying for Luke and our family. THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR YOUR PRAYERS, THEY ARE MAKING A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN LUKE'S LIFE!
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Monday, January 22, 2007
I've been reminded once again that it is easy for Jesus to heal and forgive sins!
Luke and Lily had a wonderful time at Tio Juan's and Tia Yoli's home. Lily got her appetite back after a week of eating close to nothing, she made up over the weekend by eating more then you could imagine. Luke did so well that Yoli called me late Saturday night to see how low Luke's heart rate should be before being concerned, it was at 95 and she thought that was low, I told her that if it gets below 60 then I would be concerned. It's interesting that his heart rate has been lower at nights lately, just showing us that he is so much more relaxed and feeling good lately. He has also hardly had to have any extra oxygen at night which has been awesome.
As you know I could go on and on with too many details of this past week, but I will try to narrow it down to Friday. To say that Friday was a stressful day would be putting it mildly. I began the day by getting up early so that I could get the kids fed and dressed before Luke and I went to what I knew would be a full day of appointments. We began with our first appt. with a physiatrist, which is a rehabilitation Dr. He usually helps people get the equipment they need to get kids on the road to recovery. I had heard great reports about him from a few other people, so I was thinking it would be a good appointment. It went okay I guess, he requested x-rays of Luke's knees to see if there is any structural damage, since his legs are so twisted, they have a scissor look to them. I know that I've mentioned time and again about the problem we've had bending his knees. He is the third Dr. I've seen that has mentioned that Luke's tone is opposite of most kids like him. He told us to come back in 3 months that he would try to get some information on some things that would possibly help him out, he suggested new leg splints, like the ones he had a long time ago, I told him that they were very expensive, they cost us close to $1,000 after insurance paid there part. He said he would check to see if they have any grants to help out, I guess we are going to just have to wait and see at his next appointment in April. I was a bit disappointed in the fact that he didn't want to see us back a bit sooner, but I guess if you look at Luke from his standpoint, what is the hurry he will be like he is the rest of his life. I was a bit discouraged when I left his office.
I went from his office to sit in the x-ray sitting room for 30 minutes got the x-rays done and went straight from there to the Dietitian's office, where I was very disappointed once again. I guess that Luke lost a pound when he was sick last week, he has basically not gained any weight for the last year. Though he looks healthy, he is very skinny. The Dietitian said we need to keep a close eye on him to be sure he gains some weight in the next two weeks. Please be praying that God will help me to know what to feed him, his diet is very healthy, but we are just not able to get enough calories in him to make a difference.
On my way home after being gone for 4 hours, I got a call from home saying that one of Luke's pillows had been dryed in the dryer and had basically burst open filling the dryer with millions of tiny balls of Styrofoam, Natalie had been vacuuming it out for over an hour and had not even come close to getting it all. I told her to try to start the dryer to see if it would collect in the lint area, needless to say about an hour later of cleaning it up I heard Natalie yell in a panicked voice, "MOM, THERE IS A FIRE IN THE DRYER," sure enough I ran down the stairs and we had a fire. I knew that we keep a fire extinguisher in the closet so Natalie ran up to get it, while Amy is yelling should I call the fire department, I told her not yet. I sprayed the extinguisher into the dryer and thankfully it went out easily. Needless to say our home smelled horrible for awhile. We were blessed to find another used dryer on Saturday for only $75, we've been using it today trying to get caught up on our massive laundry, since we've not had a dryer for a few days.
Last Sunday I went to my sister's church and the pastor that day had an excellent sermon. He told us a story from the Bible about the sick man who could not walk and was put down through the roof of a home on a bed, for Jesus to pray for, the room was so crowded they couldn't get him through the door. Well, Jesus said to him your sins are forgiven, he rose up and walked out of there healed. The pastor made this statement, it used to be in Jesus' day people could not understand how Jesus could forgive anyone's sin, It was hard for them to believe that He could do that, but it was easy for Him to be able to heal someone, in there eyes. Today it is just the opposite in many churches today, people believe that it is easy for Jesus to forgive sins, but it is not easy for him to heal people. He died on the cross to do both forgive us for our sins and to heal us of our sicknesses. It's easy to get discouraged, as I have been many times, to continue to believe when we don't see the results that we want right away, but I know that I can't quit believing because, I know that Jesus died for me and He loves us all the same. He is just waiting to forgive sins and heal people, all they need to do is ask. If you've never done this before it is easy to do and you will be amazed at the peace and joy you will feel, you will never be the same again.
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
PS Please continue to pray for Melissa and her family as she is near the end, without a miracle. Also for a little guy named Joel he needs a miracle too, his web site is http://www.weloveyoujoel.blogspot.com. I know that I asked for prayer for Zach also, he is a little guy that is battling Leukemia, I've had the opportunity to go up to Seattle to visit with him and his mom Ruth a few times and have really enjoyed getting to know them both, he is actually doing great and is home right now, but will be going back to the Hospital for another 5 months sometime next week, his site is http://www.prayerservant.org/zack/gallery.shtml
Friday, January 12, 2007
Luke and Lily have been bit by the flu bug
Lord willing, I'm taking Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amy and my Mom to go visit my sister Lori and her husband Lonnie, this weekend. She lives about 5 hours away on the Eastern side of Washington and is usually blessed with lots of snow, so we like to go visit her so the kids can play in the snow. Though we were treated to some days of snow ourselves the past two days. Please be praying that we will be able to go, that Luke and Lily will wake up feeling great in the morning, that the roads will not be too icy and that all the other little details will fall into perfect place. Once again my friends, Yoli and Juan are volunteering to take Luke and Lily for a few days, they enjoy having them and the kids love going to their home. Gordy is unable to take off any time from work right now so he, Daniel and Natalie will be holding down the home front. I am hoping to have some wonderful full nights of sleep, I am needing to get caught up in that area of my life. I call Lonnie and Lori's home my retreat center, as it is usually very relaxing and peaceful there.
That's all for now. I will write again next week to let you know all the little details of what is going on in Luke's life. He has some big appointments coming up. Be blessed today.
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Monday, January 01, 2007
Happy New Year, I can't wait to see what God will do in 2007!
Luke has been doing absolutely great lately. He is becoming so much more limber all the time, today as I was holding him Natalie was playing with his hands and commented on the fact that he is so loose, then when we put him in the car on the way home from Grandpa and Grandma's home, Gordy thought something had happened to his shoulder, he was so loose and flexible. I have been able to get in 8 HBOT dives the last 3 weeks, it has made things a bit more crazy, but the time and money has been well spent as we are seeing great results from them. My dad also commented today on how much more expressive he is getting all the time. He seems to have more pleasant and happy expressions than bad ones, which is such a change from last year at this time.
I mentioned to someone the other day we have hit a huge milestone in Luke's journey, it almost makes me a bit nervous to mention this, but I will, he has gone 8 full months without any visits to the hospital, the longest he has ever gone in the past was 4 months. PRAISE GOD, I know that God is making the difference. He's actually also only been on one antibiotic during that time. There have been a few times that we probably could of taken him in, but God has ALWAYS been faithful in healing Him in record time.
One more absolutely great thing to share is that he has finally stopped throwing up all the time. I can not even begin to let you know what a relief and absolute joy this brings to my heart. It is stressful enough going through this journey with all it's challenges, but the fact that your child throws up almost every time you feed him is almost beyond what one can handle. I'm not really sure exactly why it has stopped, except to say that we've tweaked his diet a bit more and the digestion supplements we've added finally seem to be doing their job, along with of course the wonderful touch of God on his life.
We've finally decided it's time to get Luke a wheelchair, to say this was a huge and hard decision is to put it mildly. We have been able to get away with using a stroller, but Luke has finally out grown his stroller and we've noticed recently that we actually have to pick his feet up to move the front wheel at times, as his legs have gotten too long. I actually carry him most of the time, so we don't really use his stroller much, but the times that we need it is important to have one available. I do believe that he is finally putting on a little weight, which is a great thing, therefore he is getting heavier to carry, which is can be taxing at times. I just thank the Lord that He has made me strong and that He continues to keep my back healthy.
I would like to ask for prayer for, Melissa Snow, her site, Pray for Melissa has been under one of Luke's links for about a year now, she is dying of a brain tumor. She is a precious Mama to 7 children, they along with her sweet husband is in much need for prayer, as she is near the end, without a miraculous touch from God she will be gone soon. One other prayer request is for a little guy name Zack, he is currently suffering from Leukemia. He is in Children's Hospital in Seattle for 6 months of treatments. I am hoping to go up there to meet him and him Mom this week, we have talked on the phone but not met in person. He and his family have been in my prayers a lot lately, he is also from a family of 7 children, just like our family and the Snow family. I hope to add his site to our list soon, it is http://prayerservant.org/zack/blog/index.shtml.
May God richly bless you this year, I pray it will be a year filled with His goodness, that God will do a new and wonderful thing in your life today.
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
We thank the Lord for Electricity
We along with one and half million others lost our power on Thursday night. I was sitting holding Luke, as he was having a rough night and all the sudden everything went black. It was challenging to say the least. The machines that we rely on most run all through the night, but they only have a battery capacity of a few hours. Needless to say I had to wake up about every hour to check Luke's oximeter machine to make sure his oxygen levels were okay, since he was having a bad night. We didn't get our power back until Saturday afternoon, which we were very thankful for as my sister still is without power. Gordy went out and bought a propane heater, we do have two fireplaces but they don't put out enough heat to warm our entire home. We talked about going to a hotel, but decided we could rough it out at home. When we woke up on Saturday morning it was down to 29 degrees outside and 50 degrees in our home. I got Gordy up to get the propane heater going and woke up Daniel and Josh, who was spending the night to get a fire going downstairs. I guess a little excitement is kind of fun, but I'm hoping that we don't lose power again for a very long time.
I want to share a wonderful testimony of God's goodness and provision in our lives. I have been wanting to get Luke back into the Hyperbaric chamber for a long time now, but because of time and money it has been challenging. I finally decided since we are taking a Christmas break from most of our normal activities that the next three weeks I can get him in at least 3 times a week. As I was mentioning this to Daniel on Saturday, he worked that day making extra money, I said I wish there was a way I could make some extra cash so that I could get Luke into HBOT again. The great news is the next day after church he came up to give me a tithing envelope with this written on the front "Please give this to Sue Searles for Luke to get a Hyperbaric treatment," and it said "Merry Christmas", I began to cry knowing this was a gift from God. I took this envelope into the HBOT place and handed it to pay them and the next day when we went for another dive, Doug the owner said that he too would like to bless us with a Christmas free dive. GOD IS SO GOOD!
I am hoping to get our Christmas card out this week, we actually had them finished before the beginning of December, but have been too busy to get them into the mail, along with finishing up my shopping, doing some Christmas baking, wrapping presents, keeping the house picked up, taking Luke to HBOT and getting ready for family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I really don't have much to do this week, HA HA. Once again I am extremely grateful for my precious daughters, who without there help I would be going crazy. I am hoping to post our Christmas card next time I blog. Thank you for all your Christmas cards and letters, we love receiving them.
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Luke gets a good report from the Orthopedic Dr.
All the children did great at home. Luke seemed to enjoy his time at the Rodriguez's home and his day spent at Aunt Cindy's home. He did struggle a little bit with a low grade fever, but nothing too bad. I noticed the morning after I got home he is really struggling with his muscle tone, I'm not sure if he is tense because he is still getting over his bit of flu or what is going on. I do know that I really need to get him back into the Hyperbaric chamber, it really helps with his muscle tone. I'm praying that I will be able to fit in some dives during our Christmas break and that God will provide the money for them as well, since this is a tight time of the year.
I really struggled with whether I should take him into his Orthopedic appt. on Friday because I knew that his muscle tone was so high we'd probably not get a good report. I'm glad I did take him, I really liked his Dr., he basically was looking at three different area's his back, hips and feet. He said his back is looking good, quite often with kids like Luke they have scoliosis, but Luke's back is perfectly straight. At first when he was checking out his knee's he thought they were dislocated, but after straighting out his legs he said they were fine. He said his hips are doing fine and that his feet look good too. He said that he is sitting up nicely and looks great overall, that he could tell that he has great care, because he could not see any skin break down or problem area's. I left there with a huge sigh of relief, telling Luke that even though the Dr. basically said numerous times that Luke would be this way forever, we know different, that we know God will heal him and then he can give God the glory for his healing, knowing that once again we were told that it would be impossible for Luke to walk without a miracle.
I know it's easy to get distracted from the real reason for the season by becoming too busy and distracted by our crazy busy schedules, but I hope you are able to slow down and enjoy this Christmas season. We would love to hear from you and enjoy putting faces with those that are praying for Luke's healing and for our family. If you would like our address or want to get a Christmas picture from us, just e-mail us at howslukedoing@yahoo.com.
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue
Friday, December 01, 2006
Wow! All I can say is Wow, Luke is doing great!
Today he slept most of the day and was on just a little bit of oxygen. By this evening he was completely off the oxygen. I just went to check on him and he was showing 100% oxygen and 100 heart rate. I can not remember the last time I've seen such awesome numbers. I can not even tell you what relief I feel, I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes at God's goodness to our family. I know without a shadow of a doubt the only reason that Luke is doing so well is because people are praying for Luke. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your faithful prayers.
Last night I sat and listened to a sermon by Pastor Bill Johnson, on the computer from Bethel Church in Redding,CA. It is an excellent message and he ended it with the song, "I Need You More," it's a powerful song it says, I need you more, need you more than yesterday, I need you more, more than words can say, I need you more, than ever before I need you Lord, I need you Lord, I need you more, need you more than yesterday, I need you more, more than words can say, I need you more than ever before, I need you Lord, I need you Lord, More than the air I breath, more than the song I sing, more than the next heart beat, I need you more than anything, though as time goes by, I'll be by your side, cause I never want to go back to my old life, I need you more, more than yesterday, I need you more, more than words can say, I need you more, than ever before, I need you Lord, I need you Lord. After singing this song I ended up on my face before God, letting Him know that I need Him more than I need anything else in my life, that means I need Him more than I need to see Luke healed, more than I need sleep, more than I need any other thing in my life. Needless to say I went to sleep as I was praying and woke up knowing I needed to get to bed, I woke up this morning with a song and prayer on my heart. I've said it time and time again God's peace means more than anything in my life, without His strength, I would be a basket case. My prayer for you is that you realize that you need God, I know many of you are Christ followers, but for those of you that read this blog that are not, I pray that you will find that wonderful peace that you can have when you reach out to a relationship with my precious Saviour Jesus Christ.
Love in Christ,
Luke's Mommy Sue


