Spring is coming soon!

Our jasmine is blooming... little purple flowers are springing up all over the yard and my hibiscus has come back from the dead and is wearing (and showing off) three blooms!

We have had three days of amazing weather but I fear the coolness is on her way back in tonight.

I finally have started taking pics of some of my new Spring items. I've got a showing at the store that carries my items this Thursday. After that, I'll be posting more!

I am going to a bone specialist tomorrow. I am still enduring pain and my neck is just not getting better. My chiropractor sent my x-rays off to a radiologist for a second opinion and there are some iffy looking things. I'll spare the details until the specialist looks at them tomorrow.

Until then, I am popping my alieve and taking my magnesium and trying to take it easy... trying!

Weight of Life

The weight of life seems to be bearing down with a vengeance right now. I want to scream, "No more!" It has been crazy, really, since December with Karina's arrival and stay. Then just days after she left, Abby spiraled. Then after that came recovery. Now after two deaths in the family, my body has just had it and has decided to pretty much fall apart.
On several occasions I have woken up and endured much pain to even move. This happened again this past Monday. I tend to have a high tolerance for pain, but when it hurts in several places to walk, it makes daily life a little trying! Wau...wauu..wauuu....

So I struggle to lay it down... lay it down before God and ask for guidance. I am have an appointment with a bone specialist next week and am just hoping to find some sort of answers.
I am also trying to lay my stressors before Him, as they weigh on me and can be having some sort of affect on my muscles.

One of which is our effort to find and adopt Caroline. My heart breaks every night as Abby prays for her to come. Now that Abby's health is so unstable, we can not leave the country with or without her for several weeks... much less six weeks. So we had to stop and cancel our adoption process and we won't be traveling to Kazakhstan after all. This thing has been such a roller coaster and not going now has broken my heart. I feel as if she is there and I have abandoned her. I have to trust that is it God's plan because we have remained faithful in prayer about this situation from the beginning. The hardest part is that all three of us still have a strong desire for another child in our family... that part has never changed. So... here we are... waiting. Abby asks about Caroline almost every day and we have no answers for her. So we are being honest with her and telling her that we can't go to Kazakhstan anymore and we are waiting for God to show us where Caroline is...

SO I am feeling a bit lost and I HATE being in this place. This is where I struggle... when the plan falls apart and I am left empty handed. So I am GUESSING I am in a season of trusting God right now! The only thing that helps me get through this is KNOWING how sovereign my precious God is... even when I don't understand. And so I cling to that... and to Him... and wait.

My Grandmother

1928-2008

My grandmother died last week. She was 79 years old. She'd been not doing well at all for several months, so her death was some what expected. But death is death and it is so final. To bury her youngest daughter just a few weeks ago and now her, death seems more real and final to me than ever before.

The finality of death, of course is just for our body and our life here on earth. However, it is not final at all in the fact that our soul lives on. I should say that the seperation of soul and body is more real to me... and it has impressed on me, even more, the importance of decisions we make in the brief moments of this life we are given.

As I look at this picture of my grandmother at 9 years of age, I see a young girl with a life time ahead of her. Many moments lie ahead to make decisions that will affect the life of herself, her friends, her children and her grandchildren. Decisions that will have affects for generations. Looking at this picture, she doesn't appear to know the magnitude of those choices... what 9 year old does?

The only way to make choices that are good choices is to do it in the presence and with the guidance of a God who has promised to guide us well. Even then we mess up... but God can and does bring beauty from ashes.

My grandmother had a heart that held on to her childhood with clinched fists. Her heart held on to the dreams and to the pain that came from and forever remained there. As an adult, she often talked of her childhood and her room looked like a child's, full of pictures from her childhood, dolls, teddy bears, and small trinkets. When she talked to me about these items, I could see on her face and in her voice that they carried memories of pain... and it broke my heart.

This pain followed her and tormented her. It caused her to lash out at people she loved. It sorrows me to my core to see how pain can cause people such torment. This same pain carries on throughout this family... through many, many family members. The healing hand of God awaits... waits opened and ready. His healing hand is the only source of healing and I pray that this family can embrace the God of the universe who offers such refuge and freedom.

My grandmother's favorite color was blue. Her favorite flowers were tulips and pansies. Her favorite movie as a young girl was "Golden Earrings". She loved my grandfather with her whole heart as he loved her. She had four girls and raised one of her grandsons as her own son. She walked through this life the best way she knew how and she loved the best way she could... and now she is gone.

Venting on Valentine's Day!

Today is the day of love. It should be renamed the "Day of being ripped off!" I have made several calls to some of our favorite restaurants (we are going on a date tonight) and they all have these "packages" for like $80+ per couple... RIP OFF! They know people are going to want to go on dinner dates and so they try and make a quarter's worth of sales in one night. And they don't even give you the option of the package or the menu... if you eat there, you pay $80 to sit in their seat! Oh, and wine is extra! Well, I am not having it! We will not do it... and you shouldn't either! It will be a sushi date or pizza for us tonight and we will still have a wonderful time!!!!!!!!!! I am not even mentioning the rip off the florists pull today... I'll send flowers tomorrow!
Thank you for listening... I feel much better now! :0)

Happy Valentine's Day! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The Good and the Bad of It...

Well, I'll start the with the good, because, well, good is good! :0) ha

Abby is doing GREAT! Oh how my soul leaps with happiness when I see her smile or open her eyes wide with happiness ( a new face she does). Her new diet, minus the eggs and milk and caesin and dairy is much easier than I thought it would be and within a week we could see a difference in her appearance! Amazing. YEE HAAA

She has also adjusted well to the medication and tomorrow will be two weeks without a seizure! PRAISE GOD!
Her teacher told me today that she was seeing a difference in Abby too! YAEHHHH She is more alert at school and is "getting it" much more than she really has all year!!!!!!!!!! :0))))))
Happy... Happy... JOY... JOY... JOY!

On one down side, I have been having major back and neck issues now for over a month. Sometimes it is so bad I can hardly move. Lately, my neck pain has been joined with a very unfestive headache the runs along the entire right side of my head with my eyeball wanting to explode. It's very hard to be cheerful when you feel like this! :0(

I believe in my chiropractor very much and so back I have gone and we took some x-rays this week. I have scoliosis pretty badly... I knew this though. My curve is in the lower region which causes pain down there. I also knew my neck was not curved right. But this time one of my vertebrae doesn't look right...:0( It looks, actually, concave... maybe like it's degenerating... Oh great! Or there could be something going on inside the bone... oh festive! AND the little wing things on each side of it are practically gone... these help balance the spine in the neck... double great. SO the good news here is that I am walking and functioning! Merrrrcyyyyyyyyy.....
So my x-rays are being sent to a radiologist to be reviewed and I should have more info in a week. So we'll see..... yuck!

On an even downer note: you can stop reading if you just can't take anymore!, we have had a very unexpected death in the family. My mother's youngest sister, Kim, who was just 43, died last week of a massive heart attack. My mother's mother could die any day but this was a great shock.

It has caused me grief in my soul to see so many people reeling with regrets and sadness because of things that could and should have been said and forgiven. It has saddened my soul greatly to see some one's life gone and others left still looking to cause drama, looking for someone to blame, and not looking to the Lord. I mean, that's it in a nutshell... the Lord is not present in many of the people's life involved and it is so very evident and it just saddens me to the core.

As I talked with one of my aunt's, she mentioned a friend, Susan I think, who reads this blog everyday. She doesn't know me, but reads this everyday. I pondered that thought on the way back to the hotel. I have been struck by emails from several people I don't know who read this and wanted access to continue reading it when I went private. I realized that people are drawn to this blog. They are drawn to something and the something they are drawn to is the LORD. PRAISE HIM. I was overwhelmed with compassion for people who come here because they can see the Lord alive in our lives and they are drawn to that.

It moved me to just simply state, that anyone reading this blog, and anyone moved by how God moves in our lives can have this same God of the universe moving and active in yours. John 3:16 says, "That Jesus so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." God longs to be active in your life. He longs to have you talk to Him, to cry out to Him, to rely on Him, and to seek Him. He longs to be your Father and He longs to bless you. But you have to seek him daily and call out to him for guidance daily and He will answer... and you will be moved to see the God of the universe be so personal and sovereign.

If you do not belong to God, please do not let another day pass without considering who He is and what He has done and offered to you. Life is temporary and can be gone in a moment.

So there was my moment on the soap box. How I would love to see healing and God's light shinning in the lives of so many. This life is not about us. It's not about stuff. It's not about being seen or standing on our rights. It's not about judging everyone and being hateful and self centered. It's about reflecting the love of our Lord who sent Jesus to die to cover our sins. How simple and how beautiful if we could only stay focused on Him.

BIRTHDAY TOES...

My mom and I had to be out of the house for a while and so we treated ourselves to some birthday pampering... a much needed and over due moment of pampering! We found this new place open on a Sunday and I got the best manicure and pedicure I'd ever gotten.

The whole experience brought back memories of my WORST manicure EVER that oddly enough was last February. I had gone to Winchester for a break because Abby had gotten very ill again that past December. I was in much need for a manicure.

So my mom had an appointment at Merl Norman (sp?) for a stone manicure and it was going to cost over $30. Being the thrifty girl I am... Iwalked down a few doors to "Nails R US" to get mine done for $15. When I walked in, I got the standard... "What can we do for you?" "I'd like a manicure please," I responded with much anticipation. "Pick color." Yes, yes, I know... so I picked my color. I was then directed to a stool that sat in front of a U-shaped table (clue number one) where two other women were sitting.

Well, I must have disrupted the party because my little nail lady was very disgusted I was even there. She slid over on her stool and started looking at my nails. As her nose drew up in judgement, I felt myself justifying my horrid nail condition... I mean my daughter was very ill and I was falling apart... not much more information needed here.

So she starts trimming my nails and is moving in fast rapid fashion. The other women are just watching and I am starting to feel a little hot. She then grabs her cuticle trimmers and starts her work. "You nails are BADDDDDDD," she says LOUDLY in her precious accent. My eyes open wide in disbelief and I get out a meek, "It's been a while since I've been able to do this." She keeps ripping the cuticle off and it's piling up on her tool and then she brings it in close to my face... "Look how much this is." The knot is finding it's way up my throat and I answer with a little distain myself, "Yes... I know... that's... WHY... I... am... HERE."

Now she has just peeved me off and I am getting hotter by the minute. Where is the love? I mean... can't she just talk badly about my nails in her private language that they normally chat in while you get your nails done!

So she SLAPS my polish on and my head is starting to spin. Do I tell her what I think? Do I cry? I mean I just needed 15 minutes of papmering and I got the five minute hateful Jiffy Lube of Nails!

Then... she finishes and takes one of my hands and holds it up in front of my face and says, "Look what I do for you!" Are you kidding me? Am I on candid camera? Have I just been PUNKED? My mouth hangs open and I get out again... "Yes, thank you, THAT'S WHY I CAME HERE!!!!"

Oh... my heart is pounding again just thinking about it.

So, I did what any good girl would do... I PAID HER, tipped her not, and left. I rehashed the story while my mom got her STONE manicure and massage and gave them all a great laugh!

To this day we cry out, "You nails are BADDDDD," anytime we even mention the word manicure! So if your nails need some love... GO... GO and get it done before it's too late!

Happy Birthday To Me!


Oh, my 34th birthday was this past Sunday and it was fun to have a birthday. My parents were here and I had a wonderful afternoon of pampering with my mom! My husband and dad went all out and decorated for my party, while I was gone, with crepe paper and balloons! It was very FESTIVE! We had a nice little party with some Super Bowl action... how lucky am I?

If my cake looks "funny" to you... it WAS! Since Abby has a egg, milk and dairy allergy... I asked Don to try and find a pie or make jello jigglers or something. WELLLLLL, He really wanted me to have a cake and so he and my dad pored over lables in the grocery store for WAY TOO LONG and found a cake mix and some egg substitute. WELLLLL, the cake wasn't "feeling" the substitute and so it rebelled and just didn't stick together! It was a CRUMBLING cake! My precious friend Shelly had the TASK of TRYING to frost it... can you picture it... and needless to say, gave up! So we had chocolate crumble cake (new dish at our house!) with the frosting on the side! :0) The funniest part was that Abby was all upset... yes, upset... because her cake was falling apart and didn't want to it.... GO FIGURE! When she saw that EVERYONE'S cake fell apart... she finally gave in. And I must say, it tastes GREAT!

I am so blessed to have my precious little one rebounding so QUICKLY from her illness! We are over joyed with THANKSGIVING for God's gracious and bountiful blessings upon her!

Helmet Day!

Abby returned to school this Wednesday for half days. We have a helmet for Abby to wear at school when walking in the halls and on the playground for protection. Her first day back, her entire class and her teachers (and the school nurse) wore helmets to make her feel welcome. It was precious. I stayed with her this week and was just amazed and touched with how loved she is by her school family and friends. Children were coming up to her with so much concern on their faces and in their hearts... I was blown away. Many children prayed for her and were thrilled to see her back.

It was a great week for Abby. We found out some wonderful things from her blood work with brain balance. I say wonderful because they are big things we can go after that are already making a difference. The huge one is that she is allergic (very much so!) to caesin, milk, eggs and dairy. Caesin is a dairy product found in may foods and her numbers were off the charts... 900 being high of the high and she scored 1800! So immediately we have removed those things from her diet and I am thrilled to be doing something that can make her feel so much better.

We also saw that her body is not eliminating toxins very well and really has just been in crisis mode. We have increased her Co Q-10 intake by doubling it and are awaiting suppliments made specifically for her results and her body needs! I am thrilled about this. There were lots of other things it showed that just gives us so much hope to see definate things we can address... which is a gift with Abby.

She is also on a rotation diet right now where she doesn't get the same food more than once in a four day period! I have become a meal planner (like my sweet friend Karen) for the first time. I am planning all three meals for four days and it's actually nice to know what the next meal is going to be! Who knew!? (Karen did! :0) So our fridge is FULL of food. It is hard to have fresh fruits and vegetable each day and not repeat them in a four day period! If it's a fruit... we've got it!

Her seizures also seem to be ALMOST under control... PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!! THANK YOU.

She was down to one a night. My parents are here for the weekend and my mom has slept with her the past two nights to give me a break... THANK YOU!!!!!!... and hasn't heard/seen any. So I am sleeping with her tonight to see. We are THRILLED and so very THANKFUL for the quick rebound she has had from this. She has gained back most of her balance and strength in her legs. She remains a bit weak on the right side but is VERY GOOD about her daily therapy routine!

So for now, she'll go to school next week for half days again to work her endurance back up. I'll be going with her and staying with her again and it has been such a blessing to be at school with her.

I can't thank you all enough for the HUGE outpore of love and support and PRAYER we have received from you all. PLEASE KNOW You have been a HUGE part of this precious child's recovery because of your faithfulness to prayer! We love you all.

Making a snowman...

We were blessed with snow again and this precious little one wanted to make a snowman before we went to the hospital. After being outisde for just a tiny moment, she had a seizure and hit the sidewalk face first. She had two burst lips, a scratched chin, two teeth knocked loose and bloody gums. She still wanted to play in the snow and so this is her with her "snow fort" right before we went to the hospital. So very sad...

Abby Grace

Oh I am just overwhelmed with the love I have for this precious child from God. She was such a trooper in the hospital. Our worst day was Sunday as we reached 26 seizures. I found myself going to that survival place of "handle it". Then the Lord shone His Light on us and she was given some relief.

"He will cover you with His feathers and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day..." Psalm 91: 4 & 5

A CAT scan revealed some infection and so we started antibiotics. Her fever she'd had since Saturday started to settle down and she was able to get some more rest. The seizures also started going down in number and we even had a 26 hour period without any.

Don and I had prayed about changing her medication and had decided not to since her seizures were under "control". Since we lost that, we decided to change her to Keppra. So she is going up on that and we are weaning her off the valium she has been on since Sunday while the Topamax stay the same. Once the Keppra is at a good level, we will try and wean her off the Topamax. Our desire and prayer is that one medication will hold her and we won't need her to be on two which is not good for her over time.

She has now been seizure free during waking hours since Tuesday. She is having about two a night but they are smaller than normal and only lasting 5 to 10 seconds. Our prayer is that God will take these away as well and she will again be seizure free.

Her MRI came back normal... PRAISE THE LORD!

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. KNOW THAT THE LORD IS GOD. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100

So we are in a holding pattern to see how this week goes. We'll keep you posted. And of course we still covet your prayers!

Spa Time!


One of my sweet girlfriends, Shelly, came to visit with her family and brought me a goody bag. It contained chocolate, bath goodies and some facial cloths and a tea and spearmint mask! Well, that night I was all about some refreshing of my face and so I put my mask on. Of course my precious little one wanted a mask too. So the technician, Debbie (whom we had also had there in 2004) suggested we do a baby lotion mask for her.

And here she is, with her first of many baby lotion masks! It's amazing what a small amount of pampering can do for the soul!!!

Refreshing the Spirit

We were so blessed by all of you during our stay in the hospital, and just during this time. Abby had several visitors who came to play and love on her. We've also had so many people come to pray with her. She knows what the prayers mean and that is something special about this time around. In the past, she really didn't understand. Now, she asks for people to pray over her and knows we are going to God for Him to make her better... that is really beautiful.

I've had several people let me know they fasted for her and I want you all to know that we are so moved by that, and so was our God in heaven. I am just humbled to my knees over the love God has pored out upon us, tangibly, through you. "For they refreshed my spirit and yours also." 1 Cor. 16:18

Teachers Party

Four of Abby's teachers and therapists came to visit her yesterday! We just had a little party in the floor of the playroom! We are SO BLESSED with her Oak Grove family. We have been so blown away by the care and love they give her and us. Her teacher is just a TREASURE and it was totally a GOD THING that we got to have her again this year.

They brought her a banner that her friends and classmates made for her. They signed their names, wrote little messages and drew pictures on it. There were pictures of her and Dusty... it is just ADORABLE and as you can see... VERY LONG! It is something we will treasure always and will be in her "keeping box"! We love you guys!!!!!!

WE ARE HOME

This is the short version. We are home! Abby is MUCH MORE STABLE... PRAISE OUR LORD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!!!!!!!
We LOVE you all and have just been blown away and so lifted up by all of your phone calls, emails and messages and cards. THANK YOU. YOU have been God's love to us during this time of darkness and we are so BLESSED to have you in our lives and support group! I will try and sneak away tonight and write more!!!!

Going to the Hospital

After Abby has had 22 seizures today, Don and I have decided to have her admitted into the hospital tomorrow morning. I will update when I can. We will be at Scottish Rite in Atlanta. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Heavy Heart

I write today with the heaviest of heart so far. My precious Abigail Grace slips further and further into sickness each day. Every day, without fail, the seizures are increasing in number with longer lasting side affects. Yesterday she had 13.

Today, she was having trouble walking with her right leg. It took my breath away to see that so soon. I asked her to raise her arms and the left one flew up and the right one continued to hang. Upon repeating my request for the right to be raised, she got it up halfway with much effort.

Moments later she went into another cluster of three seizures, making 9 for the day and it is only 1 p.m.

We have increased Keppra and Topamax as of yesterday. We are eagerly awaiting blood and urine test results from last Monday and PRAY that they will show us SOMETHING. Her neurologist has us coming in on the 30th and I am going to politely request on Monday that we come in sooner... as in early this coming week. I also feel we need a MRI to see if there is anything there.

My heart is desperate. It is torture that I hate to relive to watch her slip further down every day. The helplessness of it all is overwhelming... choking.

We are keeping a journal of her days and everything in them, and I was adding scripture to it this morning and the first passage I looked up was in Mark 9. The disciples had tried to heal a man's son who was possessed with a demon of seizures. They could not do it. Jesus did heal the man. When the discples asked why they could not heal him (as they had healed others), Jesus responded, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." Mark 9:29

I was struck that that was the passage I read first. And so I have decided to fast tomorrow. I am declaring a day of fasting and prayer for Abby tomorrow. Fasting is a very personal thing and so I wil let the Holy Spirit speak to you on that one. But I do ask with a desperate heart that you pray tomorrow for Abby and ask boldly in confidence for her healing. Matthew 21:21

We are opening our home all day for anyone to come and lay hands on her and pray. Since Wednesday, we have had people everyday come and lay hands on her in prayer and I am so thankful and grateful.

God gave us the sweet gift of snow again today. Abby was able to go out for 30 minutes and play in it. She had a seizure just 10 minutes after being back inside. She loved it and was thrilled with the falling of it.

Thank you God for such a sweet sign of your presence today, falling on us sweetly, softly and causing delight.

Abby Update

Abby has continued to get worse this week... having seven seizures yesterday and eight so far today. We continue to try and "tweak" things to get this under control. Please continue to pray and lift her before the Lord. We thank you all so much for your faithfulness in this... it gives us strength and so much encouragement.

God is so sweet, even in the darkest of times. Three of Abby's seizures today were at school. I was horrified that I wasn't there and heart broken to think of her class watching this happen to her. Well, the Lord is so sweet... sovereign and even cares about the "small things". Her class was having reading time and were all on the floor facing the wall. Abby was in the back of the classroom with her teacher who was just about to take her to the nurses office. Abby fell into her teachers lap and started to seize. Her teacher calmly laid her down in the back of the class and none of the children saw it happening! Praise to our Lord who is GOOD and THOUGHTFUL.

Her precious teacher also told me today that she has not felt well for several days. Her husband suggested she stay home this morning and she said, "No, I need to be at school today." PRAISE GOD WHO KNOWS ALL OUR DAYS and who IS SOVEREIGN!

God has also given us the sweet gift and surprise of snow today... yes, fluffy beautiful flakes that fell from heaven to shower us with sweetness! Precious is our Lord!

Medication Change

After several discussions and prayer, Don and I have decided that since we don't have seizure control anymore, we are going to try a medication change. We are changing from Topamax to Keppra. In order to do this, levels of Keppra have to be up before we can start lowering her Topamax. We HATE she will be on three medications and pray that her little body can handle this transition. We are supposed to increase her dosage again in four more days. We also have an appointment with the neurologist later in the month to discuss this and other things.

Your prayers for guidance, strength and rest are appreciated. Abby has increased to an average of three seizures a day since Saturday. They are almost always at 12:15ish a.m., 3:15ish a.m. and 5:15ish a.m. SO if you happen to be up at any of those times and want to hit your knees for some intercessory prayer... GO FOR IT!

Thank you for your love and prayers and kind words of encouragement. We love and appreciate you all.

Request for Prayers

Our precious girl seems to be falling into a seizure pattern again and it is happening rather quickly. About two weeks ago, we saw some signs she might be having seizures again and we started monitoring them by having her sleep in our room for almost a week now. She's had seizures all those nights between 5:15 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. except one. Today, we decided to try and restructure her sleep pattern by giving her a nap. The thought was we could put her to bed at 9 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. and get her up at 6 a.m. and possibly miss that faithful and very timely seizure. Well... she had two... one during the nap and one right after... while awake.
This is very alarming and twenty steps backward instead of just a couple.
So we are asking for serious prayers on her and our behalf. Please feel free to put her on your churches prayer list as well. We ask for HEALING for her once more. God has stopped these seizures before and we CALL ON HIM HUMBLY YET BOLDLY to do it AGAIN! Don and I pray for courage and GUIDANCE. There is NO ONE ANSWER to stop these things and so we find ourselves in a VERY hard place to be... with numerous options and the clock ticking.

We are having a very large panel of blood work done Monday morning. It's a test that will give us a TON of information on her digestive system, her metabolic system, any food allergies, any imbalances, and much more. After we get the results, there is a company that creates a specific formula of vitamin supplements for her specific needs... on top of any food changes we'll need to make. We pray this may give us insight to what her body may need or have too much of.

We have been considering changing medications and have been praying about it off and on for months now. We decided since her seizures were under control, that we didn't want to upset the apple cart. Now that they are back... DO WE TRY CHANGING now? (prayer request) TRYING could actually make things worse OR it could help.

We are pretty maxed out on glyconutrients but do we increase those as well? (prayer request)

Do we just increase the drug she is on now and see if it helps? (prayer request)

We also pray for patience and faith and peace. It is SO HARD to keep her at the feet of Jesus when this happens. My instinct is to go into "handle it, fix it, figure it out" mode and I become a bit panicked... very angry and anxious... and overwhelmed.

We pray for that Abby does not develop fear and can handle having seizures again and that we can help her through this time. We pray she is able to continue in school and can get through the days. We pray she is able to get enough rest. We pray for her heart.

We start Brain Balance Tuesday. We pray that this brain therapy can help her develop more and can also help her brain produce healthier cells and brain pathways. We pray it gives her the ability to process and learn more, the ability to process and handle and communicate her emotions, and that it could lead to the stopping of her seizures!

THANK YOU. THANK YOU for your hearts, your love and your prayers and friendship. THANK YOU for being there whenever we call upon you and for being God's love to us and our precious Abby. Thank you for believing in the Lord and the POWER OF PRAYER. THANK YOU for being our support group.

We will keep you posted and I won't be going private yet due to some prayer warriors who have not given me their email addresses yet!

Moments

As I prepare mentally to pack "Fragile" today and prepare her for a long journey home... I am overwhelmed by a thought I had right before Christmas.

I have come to understand, more than ever before, that life is made up of precious and particular moments. Moments that are linked and shape the path of your life journey. Moments that are small and almost go unnoticed by most... moments that are big and draw many in. Moments that change relationships, perspectives, and presents and futures. Moments that can never be repeated or changed... moments that can be recreated with thought and care.

But whatever the moment is... it is so very important. God has planned and sees all our moments. He's promised that they will all come together for good for those who love Him. When you walk in His moments... you are aware of how beautiful each and every one is... even those that bring about tears, sadness, or even regret. When you seek and pray to walk in His moments... you hear His whisper in your soul... a deep quiet part that moves you with peace. And when you walk in His moments... You are blessed more than your mind or heart could ever have imagined. God is so very good and soveriegn. When you walk in our the Lord's moments He has prepared for you... you walk with Him and it is a precious moment.

We Praise God for leading us into the moment we decided to take in this precious child. We Praise God for how He has shown HIMSELF over and over and over again during this time. We Praise Him for allowing us to BE HIS love to a child we would have never known and to be a small part of her new little path of life. We Praise Him for being God and for ALL that HE IS!