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A Birthday present from my husband. Ain't she pretty? :)

Before:


After:

Feels Like Spring

A glorious day.
For the first time in months I throw open the windows and doors.
Deep breaths of nourishing spring air.

Samuel catches a spring breeze and rushes to the door.

"Mama I like this"

He gives me an extra cute look and we head outside.
This is exactly what we needed after being cooped up with the flu for 4 days.

Henry splashes in puddles.
Samuel wriggles in my arms and giggles as he loses his breath against the gusts of wind.

I am too Canadian to believe for a moment that the weather will stay this way,
but please come to stay soon, Spring.

For My Sons

My boys. Henry and Samuel.

They will want to know someday. About our God. About who He is. Where He is. Why we love Him.

Henry, already asking questions. Sam, I see it in his eyes. They want to know. The were created to know.

I had better know. I had better search far and long and deep. The furthest stone? I will turn it.

I will turn it for them. For Him.

God himself has assigned me to teach them. To show them.

So that they can rejoice and praise Him for how He has lavishes them with good things.

So that they will know Him in the night. In their dark hours. For my precious boys those dark hours will come. This mama heart does not want to imagine. But dark hours come upon us all.

Cling to JESUS my sons! He is your only hope!

But now, this is what the LORD says—

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—

. . .

You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
Return to me, for I have redeemed you."
Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.
Isaiah 43-44

Please Father -- keep these wee ones. Remember your covenant. Give Cory and I the grace and mercy to raise them to love you. Change our hearts. Change theirs. I echo this plea in The Valley of Vision:

Sanctify and prosper my domestic devotion,
instruction, discipline, example,
that my house may be a nursery for heaven,
my church the garden of the Lord,
enriched with trees of righteousness of thy planting,
for thy glory

Only because of Jesus.

A Miracle

My friend's little one did not end up having a CT scan, but they decided to have an MRI. I cannot begin to tell you the miracle that the Lord has worked so that the little one's Daddy could post the following message on facebook. . . (J=Daddy, K=Mommy, L=little man)

MRI Results...

by J on Monday, February 7, 2011 at 5:17pm

This is what the doctors have told us:

The brain swelling in L’s left side of the brain has subsided which means they were able to see more black spots which is a very positive sign. The swelling around the brain stem was also reduced which is also a VERY positive thing. Pending any secondary injuries, the doctors said L will LIVE and we should be talking about his rehabilitation process. As to what extent his brain injuries are at, we don’t know, but the doctors said the injured areas are significantly affected meaning that we will only know with time what they are in detail. He is able to completely breath on his own which is very encouraging. They are talking about months of rehabilitation and are realistically saying he will be at (our local children's Hospital) for a year. His ability to speak, see, walk, etc. we do not know at the moment. He will remember and do everything with the parts of his brain which are healthy. For the damaged areas of his brain, he will adapt with those areas, but they cannot be healed.

K & I will embrace the new journey we will have with L and aside from what the doctors said, we know we serve an all powerful God that can heal and bring L to full health as he was before. L chose to live and now and I KNOW a large part of that was because of your prayers. Do we stop praying? No, this is a time to press in even more, every day making him a focus. L is a fighter and will NOT give up. There will be many ups and downs for the next while for K & I, but this is where we will need all of you more and more. You have all been so amazing standing with us during this time, and we look forward to you all standing with us day by day as we continue to walk through this.

We so appreciate all of you—we feel you are all FAMILY!!!

Blessings,

J.

-------

Isn't that amazing?

THE LORD GIVES AND THE LORD TAKES AWAY

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD

Please Pray

**UPDATE** Luca is not having a CT scan today as they want to ensure he gets the most and best treatment for as long as is helpful before the CT scan. The scan will likely happen sometime on Wednesday. PLEASE continue to pray for this precious boy!

My dear friends have a very sober day today. Today their son gets a CT scan on which hangs life or death. God is great and is capable of doing the impossible, despite the odds. PLEASE pray for this precious little man. Please pray that the swelling has gone done in his brain. Please pray for his Mommy and Daddy who adore him. For his grandparents and aunts and uncles. Please pray for the doctors, that they would have wisdom. Please pray for the boy that hit them. But above all, pray for this sweet baby boy.

A Special Saturday -- January 22nd

Recently we had a very special Saturday. It started with a first Birthday for this special little nephew of mine . Does it get any cuter? It was so much fun to see Henry partaking in the Birthday fun. I remember LOVING Birthday parties as a child!

Next we had lunch at another friend's house. This friend of mine has a two year old daughter, Heidi, and Henry and Heidi play quite well together. After lunch we took them to see Sesame Street Live! What a joy it was to see them get SO excited! Henry, Heidi and Samuel enjoyed it so much -- it was definitely worth it to see them so thrilled at the experience. Henry did get a little bored at the end, but otherwise loved it! Sam sat well, amazed at the colours, lights and songs the entire time. Heidi was just in awe. Such fun!!



When we got home we admired all the beautiful work that Cory and Pake did while Henry, Samuel and I were out and about. They laid the new hardwood in the nursery and moved the light fixture. Henry loved pretending to wear a belt and help Pake. He emptied Pake's tool chest.

Can you tell how much the boys love their Pake? Henry and Samuel are so blessed with adoring grandparents on both sides.

This one isn't crying over spilt milk.

Mischief Maker?

Does this look like the face of a mischief maker to you?

Note the evidence. . .


Our play room sofa has been embellished with brown marker. Good thing it is washable. What does it say about Henry when we were relieved to see him making some mischief? He has his own issues but so far mischief hadn't been one of them. Guess I can't say that anymore!

Cory got new soccer socks. The orange matches splendidly with their yellow jerseys!

But he was only allowed to wear one. . . .


. . .good thing he has two pairs!

That most dreaded phone call.

On Sunday evening, around 10pm I received a phone call letting me know that one of my best friends, 8 months pregnant, got into a terrible car accident with her husband and 2.5 year old son. Since then it has been an avalanche of prayer, phone calls, prayer, meals, and more prayer.

An hour after that first call I knew: My dear friend and her husband have been rushed to one hospital. She is in labour. Their son was air lifted to another and that is was 'really really bad'.

Later that evening: our dear little boy had been rushed into emergency surgery due to severe head trauma.

In the wee hours: The surgery had gone well. He is in ICU in critical condition. My friend is still in labour.

Over the next few days we learn that my friend's labour stopped and that unborn baby is the picture of health (praise God!) but for our precious little man there is good news and bad news and good news and bad news. Up and down. We are all told this is what one can expect. It is truly a miracle that this little one is still with us. We are praying for him. Praying that God would cause the brain swelling to go down. That the Lord would let him live. That God would heal him. That he could come and play trains with Henry soon.

As I blog over the next few days I will keep you posted on his condition. The few readers that are here PLEASE pray for a little one who is still clinging to life, all the while in God's good hands.

We have also been asked by the family to pray for the 17 year old boy who ran a red and hit their car. We don't know if he has thousands praying for him, as this precious family does, or if He knows the comfort of our heavenly Father -- so pray for him, also.