This post is all about great news and greater news!
First of all, Tanner's headaches are improving! They are still occurring on and off, but, they're not constant anymore! Praise the Lord! Please join us in praying that the medication will continue working.
Secondly, the best news. We had a nice day playing, shopping, Tanner helped Jon repair a leaking shower and went swimming with his friend Matt. In the evening, I found Tanner reading books in his closet (one of his favorite morning activities :)) and told him it was time for dinner. He signed "I love Jesus. I want to pray to Jesus to live with me." I called Jon into the room and we sat together while Tanner copied Jon and prayed to ask Jesus into his heart! After praying Tanner clapped and was really excited, he said he was making music (by clapping) and we told him he was making music with the angels who were rejoicing that Jesus is now living in Tanner's heart. He was also thrilled that he will be going to heaven with Jesus.
What a joyful, memorable day!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Our 2nd Grader!
Here are a few pictures from Tanner's first day of 2nd grade. He was extremely excited to get on the bus and ready to see his friends again. He did well his first day and was proud of himself for not hurting anyone (as were we). He's also happy that he's able to go to school every day for a whole week.
Enjoying an after school snack
Ready for the bus!
Enjoying an after school snack
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Schlitterbahn!
So, we decided at 10:30pm Friday night that if the weather looked good Saturday we were going to head to Schlitterbahn! Then, at 8:30am Saturday morning, we spontaneously left for Galveston. The weather looked good, it was the last weekend before school started, and thanks to the kind generosity of a friend, we had free tickets, so, off we went!
We had a fabulous, memorable day and Tanner LOVED it! He was not at all afraid and was amazingly patient while waiting in line. Here are a few pictures.
Riding the Whitewater River!
Tanner and Mom waiting for more waves on the Torrent River
Tanner is near the top of the slide, this was his favorite ride (and the one I wouldn't attempt!)
Enjoying the last ride of the day
We had a fabulous, memorable day and Tanner LOVED it! He was not at all afraid and was amazingly patient while waiting in line. Here are a few pictures.
Tanner on the Boogie Board. He received applause from the crowd!
Jon and Tanner getting ready for whitewater!
Riding the Whitewater River!
Tanner and Mom waiting for more waves on the Torrent River
Tanner is near the top of the slide, this was his favorite ride (and the one I wouldn't attempt!)
Enjoying the last ride of the day
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Worry and Fear
So, this isn't a cheerful post. I decided I think people want to know what's really going on, so, here you go! People often ask how we're doing and I normally say fine, or ok, which is typically true - last week, that was not the case. For some reason it was an overwhelming week of anxiety. I'm not sure why, nothing specific had occurred. Tanner's headaches continued, his behavior seemed to be getting worse (which may have just been due to my worries), and his attention span was pretty much nil. I began worrying about what we're going to do when these things happen at school? How are we going to help him if this is due to the leukodystrophy, how are we going to deal with this as it continues to worsen?
On Monday of last week, I could barely function, I couldn't do anything without crying. I was crying for his pain, his anxiety, my frustrations, and his lack of control. I was crying for his lost future, for myself and our family. I realized at one point that my sadness for what he won't experience is MY loss. My loss of dreams and ideas I had for his future. He will never know what he's missed out on! That seemed to help a bit. The rest of the week was not so hard, but, still more difficult than usual.
I've been reading several of Corrie ten Boom's book lately. The most recent one is "Jesus is Victor." Many of the chapters discuss anxiety, worry and fear. Corrie wrote "Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow - it empties today of its strength." WOW! I love that she's not saying we won't have sorrow.
This helped me today as I started to worry again about how we're going to handle him at school when he gets upset over small things, or if his exhaustion is too much and he needs naps at school. I realized there's nothing I can do about that now, so, we'll just wait until tomorrow comes and go from there!
In another chapter Corrie said "if we do not see as much as we need or want to see, then we must tell it to the Lord. He will heal our eyes so that we see that the love of God is far greater than anything else." Amazing! I was expecting (or hoping) she would say he will heal our eyes so that we would see things more clearly, or see things in a different way but, no. She said, we will see that all we really need is the love of God! Now, I'm not trying to say that this gets rid of all the fears, anxiety, worry, etc., because if so, we'd be in Heaven :) but, it is very reassuring! I wish I could be more like her. (If you don't know her story, you should read "The Hiding Place." It tells a part of her life in which she and her family were hiding Jews and then imprisoned in concentration camps during WWII.)
So, this week is much better. I feel the Lord is providing me with peace and calm right now. I know those days of worry and fear will be back, the tears will fall, the anger will rise, the frustrations will boil over, but, I know in God's sovereignty He will help me through those times. I'm also holding onto Jude 24 "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy."
So far, the new medication has not decreased the headaches. On Monday evening, he said he didn't have a headache, we realized it had been a great day, his emotions, behavior, etc. were much better than they had been, and were excited that finally the medicine was working. But, Tuesday morning, the headaches had returned. Just a few minutes ago, he woke up and came out to tell me "my head still hurts." That's one of the hardest things, seeing him hurting and not being able to help.
So, we're looking forward to an exciting first week of 2nd grade starting Monday. Tanner has been counting down for a couple of weeks and is thrilled to go back to school. I'm praying that it goes smoothly and is manageable for everyone (including the teachers!) So, I'll end with this picture of Tanner signing I love you when we were at Isaiah's Place a couple of weeks ago.
On Monday of last week, I could barely function, I couldn't do anything without crying. I was crying for his pain, his anxiety, my frustrations, and his lack of control. I was crying for his lost future, for myself and our family. I realized at one point that my sadness for what he won't experience is MY loss. My loss of dreams and ideas I had for his future. He will never know what he's missed out on! That seemed to help a bit. The rest of the week was not so hard, but, still more difficult than usual.
I've been reading several of Corrie ten Boom's book lately. The most recent one is "Jesus is Victor." Many of the chapters discuss anxiety, worry and fear. Corrie wrote "Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow - it empties today of its strength." WOW! I love that she's not saying we won't have sorrow.
This helped me today as I started to worry again about how we're going to handle him at school when he gets upset over small things, or if his exhaustion is too much and he needs naps at school. I realized there's nothing I can do about that now, so, we'll just wait until tomorrow comes and go from there!
In another chapter Corrie said "if we do not see as much as we need or want to see, then we must tell it to the Lord. He will heal our eyes so that we see that the love of God is far greater than anything else." Amazing! I was expecting (or hoping) she would say he will heal our eyes so that we would see things more clearly, or see things in a different way but, no. She said, we will see that all we really need is the love of God! Now, I'm not trying to say that this gets rid of all the fears, anxiety, worry, etc., because if so, we'd be in Heaven :) but, it is very reassuring! I wish I could be more like her. (If you don't know her story, you should read "The Hiding Place." It tells a part of her life in which she and her family were hiding Jews and then imprisoned in concentration camps during WWII.)
So, this week is much better. I feel the Lord is providing me with peace and calm right now. I know those days of worry and fear will be back, the tears will fall, the anger will rise, the frustrations will boil over, but, I know in God's sovereignty He will help me through those times. I'm also holding onto Jude 24 "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy."
So far, the new medication has not decreased the headaches. On Monday evening, he said he didn't have a headache, we realized it had been a great day, his emotions, behavior, etc. were much better than they had been, and were excited that finally the medicine was working. But, Tuesday morning, the headaches had returned. Just a few minutes ago, he woke up and came out to tell me "my head still hurts." That's one of the hardest things, seeing him hurting and not being able to help.
So, we're looking forward to an exciting first week of 2nd grade starting Monday. Tanner has been counting down for a couple of weeks and is thrilled to go back to school. I'm praying that it goes smoothly and is manageable for everyone (including the teachers!) So, I'll end with this picture of Tanner signing I love you when we were at Isaiah's Place a couple of weeks ago.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Take Me Out to the Ballgame!
We are back home from a fun & busy week in Whitney with Jon's family and at Isaiah's Place (deaf retreat center). I will update about that later, but, wanted to post pictures from Tanner throwing out the first pitch for the Bombers a couple of weeks ago. Our friend Igor took these great pictures. This is my favorite!A quick update:Tanner's headaches are persisting but the back and side pain have subsided (praise the Lord). The medicine changes will be complete this week so, hopefully within the next few weeks the headaches will begin to subside. Thank you again for your continued prayers that help to sustain all of us!
See the pitch at the top of the picture on the left? It didn't quite make it to the catcher!
Waving to his fans!
Intrigued with his new autographed ball!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Our Weekend
Well, we had a busy weekend, but, it was nice to be home! On Saturday we had a visit with Tanner's biological family. We had a fun time bowling, miniature golfing (indoors, of course) and eating pizza. The kids had a good time playing together and it was nice to have something to do inside (since the temperatures have been consistently over 100).
This afternoon Tanner and I will be heading to Isaiah's Place for a few days of VBS (Vacation Bible School) in ASL (American Sign Language). We will be staying in Whitney, TX with Jon's family where Tanner is looking forward to spending time with cousins. I will update more when we return. Hopefully we'll be able to have more consistent updates once school starts again :).
Here is a picture of Alexis, Tanner and Keith while bowling.
Tanner had a hard weekend physically. His headaches have not yet subsided (probably due to decreasing one medication while increasing the other, neither are at full strength), and he has some new back and side pain he's been complaining about this weekend. We would appreciate your continued prayers for these things to subside, it's hard to see him hurting, and it causes him to be much more emotional and hard for him to handle things. We're a little concerned about what will happen if these things continue once school starts.
This afternoon Tanner and I will be heading to Isaiah's Place for a few days of VBS (Vacation Bible School) in ASL (American Sign Language). We will be staying in Whitney, TX with Jon's family where Tanner is looking forward to spending time with cousins. I will update more when we return. Hopefully we'll be able to have more consistent updates once school starts again :).
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