News from January 2008 Monday, January 28, 2008, 9:30 a.m. Since I last wrote I have been sick in bed with the flu. It started Wednesday, and I am still not better. I have had a fever, nausea, headache, sore throat, and ache from head to toe. I am not a wimp and usually push through illness, but I have not been able to get out of bed for more than a few minutes, going on six days now. There was only one other time I was this sick, but I didn’t have four children to take care of. Kelly took me to the doctor on Saturday, and we thought I had strep throat, but it was negative. Please pray for my body to recover and my strength to return. I have been isolated in my room away from the family in an attempt to keep everyone else from getting sick. It is so hard not to be able to hold Micah or spend time with the other kids. Kelly has done a great job of taking care of everything. He has slept on the couch for the last five nights with Micah. He would appreciate your prayers for my health as well. Micah has had a good week overall. We pray God will continue to protect him from illness. Wednesday, January 23, 2008, 11:00 a.m. Well I have joined an online parent support group for children with MPEI. This has been a blessing and emotionally overwhelming. To read the stories and questions of other moms is often like reading my own words. There is also great opportunity for me in those conversations to interject hope and salvation. I look forward to the support I can receive and give here. I find my self thinking about and praying for these families all the time. There is also talk of pooling our info to do a research project with a Dr. in England. We are very excited about the opportunity to be a part of the bigger picture and help bring awareness to this disease and possible solutions. We see after being able to compare with a handful of other children that Micah is doing remarkably well. We can only attribute this to God's abundant grace and the faithful prayers of so many. Wouldn't that be exciting to see prayer entered in the study as a factor of the child's condition? We also receive such great help and care for Micah. I think that all the therapy and consistency with teaching and input makes a big difference. We are giving him consistent opportunity to learn and the brain to respond. My prayers this week are not for ourselves but some of these precious families. There are two precious little girls that just passed away from this disease recently. Bianca passed away the week of Christmas, and Molly just passed away on Saturday. (Some of you may have read Molly's story on Harry's Journey.) Please pray for these families as they mourn the loss of their girls. Unfortunately there can be great suffering for these children as their brains aren't able to communicate correctly to the rest of the body. Their body systems begin to shut down or do damage. Please also pray for Harry. We just heard from his mom, and he is not doing well. She said that he has lost so much weight that he is skin and bones. He has chronic vomiting and diarrhea. He sleeps 90% of the time. He is on constant oxygen and pain meds, and they are just awaiting the next attack of pneumonia. He has been a great fighter through much difficulty. Pray for God's covering of grace over these little ones and for their families that there would be those who know and love the Lord to come along side and be an encouragement and give hope. We can all lift them up before the throne of our Heavenly Father who created these special children. He loves them and knows them by name. "Please, Lord, may they have the promise of heaven." Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 11:30 a.m. I apologize for the delay in this update. After our trip to visit family the first week of the month, we started a two-week battle with the stomach flu at our house. After it worked its way through the six of us, we unfortunately passed it on to our three precious and faithful caregivers. I am so sorry for any others we may have shared our germs with. Micah is still struggling with regaining his baseline. Yesterday was the first time in nine days that he was content and happy and alert. Today he is back to being irritable. He has struggled with pain even after the flu symptoms were gone and spent most of those nine days crying. It is so difficult for us to assess what the problem is and are always praying for wisdom and that God would reveal to us the root cause. Please continue to pray for health and protection for our family. I know I say that often, but it truly is one of our biggest concerns and Micah's biggest danger. We sometimes wonder if there is a spiritual attack when it comes to our health and pray that you would join us in praying for a hedge of protection from the arrows of the enemy. On an encouraging note, I received an email from a mom who saw my guest book entry on Harry's Journey (the website with kids with MPEI). She informed me that she too has a son named Micah who has MPEI. They live in Michigan. There is only one other boy that we know of in the U.S. She is a believer, and we are very excited to pursue this new relationship. She also told me about an online parent support group for MPEI. I am looking into it today. We don't know all that God has in store for us, but He has given us a gift that we need to steward for His glory in the world that He has placed us in because of Micah. I am trying to get back into the new year prayerfully considering how I am to be in the center of God's will. I pray the same for you. It is easy to be overwhelmed by life and allow circumstances to dictate our every move. I desire more than anything to be filled with the Spirit of God and be led by the Spirit in all I do. I fall short every day but praise God for His grace and mercy that I can always start afresh.