Brock and Tina, this post is especially for you... remember when Dave and I called you from Uganda? We were beside ourselves with stress, fear, and sorrow. We could barely breathe, and hardly groan - and you prayed us through. Joseph had been inconsolable since two days after we met him, and his screaming, flailing, clawing, and screeching had us at the end of our ropes. After ten days, we wondered if things would ever get better. We couldn't see past the end of our noses, and we needed trusted friends to tell us that God had a plan for this little boy, and even if his healing doesn't come for many months (or years) we could trust that God knew what He was doing.See this photo? Yesterday after changing Joshua's diaper, I started playing trucks with him. A few minutes later it occured to me that Joseph wasn't climbing on my back...huh, that's weird, I wonder where he is. I stood up and looked behind the couch - and there he was sitting at the "activity table" looking at a book by himself. Huge. friends, you know how huge this is! He was totally content to self-entertain.
Then this evening I was alone in the house with the boys. Dinner was in the oven, and we were sitting on the kitchen floor: Joseph, my little sensory-kid, is snuggling his ultra plush blankie that my mom gave him. He's caressing his cheek with the blankie and cooing with the softest little voice, and he turned to caress my cheek as gentle as he could - lifting his eyebrows with this eager look, and I start laughing, and crying happy tears. The new Kutless song Carry Me to the Cross is playing on the radio, and I can't hold back the sobs. And the boys look at me with a confused expression, and then decide to charge my lap and tackle Momma with giggles and snuggles. I'm undone. I think back to six weeks ago. I couldn't see this day from back there. But, Tina, Brock, Sarah H and many others, you prayed that God would sustain us and empower us by His grace...and He did.