9 Months!

Thought I better get this done while it was still September :) 9 months along! Addie is about 15lbs which is tiny!! She is much more active and desiring to interact with others. She has always been a little busy body but now even more so! She is able to sit up, which she enjoys immensely! She is her left arm more and more which is exciting. It is common place now for her to lift it up straight out and by her head when laying on her side or back! Addie is also becoming stronger with her fingers in the left hand. We know this is all from God. I was discussing Addie's improvement with her occupational therapist and she said that you could see the prayer was working! She said Addie was already further along then Angie anticipated without surgery! We are amazed at some of the results we have seen already. We are preparing now for her follow-up appointment in Cincinnati next week. We are going on Oct. 7th for and EMG and meeting with the doctor. That meeting will decide whether surgery is necessary at this point or not. If it is we will have surgery Oct 9th. Mike and I know the importance of prayer. We are learning that even when you don't see the answers the way you anticipate or as quickly as you anticipating it does not mean God is not working. It also doesn't give you a reason to quit praying! Matthew 7:7 "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." (NLT). With this verse in mind we have asked to have Addie anointed again this Sunday. We have seen God answer prayers immediately after anointing her like with her heart and slowly like last time we did it for her arm. But we have seen God answer! We know that James 5:15-16 tells us "And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." The prayer in faith by a righteous person (a person right with God & right with others) will be answered. God has been opening my eyes more and more to the need to immediately make things right with Him and others when I realize I have offended or handle a situation wrong. I want to live a life where my prayers are answered, even if I feel silly apologizing for something or it seems small to me. I would rather be over cautious than allow something to fester between me and others that then comes between God and I.  My heart's desire is to live a life pleasing to God and that means I have to swallow my pride and my desires to work toward my biggest goal of pleasing God. I have had to confess speaking out of turn to some and speaking harshly to others. I have had to confess to God not sticking to the fast He had called me to. I want to live my life as an open book that points toward Him! That leaves no room for silly selfishness but it  is impossible to live like that without God. It is a learning process and I am far from perfect, but I want to continue trying because I know by confessing my sins He cleanses me and I am perfect in His sight! I am learning though I must keep short accounts to do that! 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." What a mighty God we serve that is so able and willing to confess our sins if only we can swallow our pride in order to confess them! So I ask you now to continue praying with me for my sweet Addie, but pray from a righteous heart, one that is right with God and right with others. And pray anticipating to see the miraculous! Our God is a miracle working God! As for me if I have done something to offend or upset you please let me know so that I can make it right, I truly want to live out a life of love and want to have nothing between me and those in my life! Let me end with this song with sang on Sunday "I Will Look Up" by Elevation Worship. One of the verses really hit me "
'I will look back and see that You are faithful
I look ahead believing You are able
Jesus Lord of all, Jesus Lord of all' 
As we head into Addie's appointment and potential surgery we look back at the answers we have seen: her heart, movement in both arms & hands, and no genetic disorder! Then we look ahead into next week with her arm knowing how able and capable our God is and so we don't fear we praise, pray, and anticipate!!

What a Week!!!!

We have had an awesome week here! We started on Tuesday with a new occupational therapist. She has more experience with brachial plexus injuries and we thought that while our last therapist was good that Angie would end up being a better fit for Addie. On Tuesday also we were able to schedule Addie's follow up appointment for her arm. She will have an EMG and meet with the doctor on October 7th if surgery is necessary they scheduled it for October 9th. But on Wednesday Addie started lifting up her left arm!!! She has had good elbow movement but not much on her shoulder. Now she is able to bring it all the way up to the top of her head! It really was a miracle. She has been doing it continually ever since! Now that she is able to move it on her own we see that the nerves are working and she may just need to continue therapy instead of surgery!! The week continued on a positive note after meeting with her feeding therapist, Megan, the first time on Thursday. Megan thought we were right on track with Addie and is hopefully that as she continues to eat more solid foods her jaw will stretch and open more on her own. Then, today we finished the week with an appointment with Dr. Akeson, her orthopedic doctor here. It went even better than I could have imagined. He was pleased with her feet and we are just continuing to wear her braces at nap and bed time. I also was needing to talk to him about treating her hip in St. Louis instead of with him. He was very encouraging about the doctor there and agreed that would be the best place to have her treated. He also said he was more than willing to work with the doctor there and do some of the follow-up or casting after her hip surgery here if St. Louis is okay with the idea. It could not have gone any better! We have been blessed by wonderful doctors here who are willing to say that others can handle some of her issues better than them and then working with them to get Addie the best treatment! It has been such an exciting week. It is always so encouraging to my faith to see my prayers answered. We have had Addie anointed multiple times for complete healing and then specifically for her arm before our last appointment and we had not seen big improvements and then the day after we schedule her follow up appointment and potential surgery she begins to move it! God is giving her an awesome testimony of His healing power and His faithfulness. Even though things may not happen on our timeline He hears and He answers in a way that brings about His glory and His good! So we praise through it all!
            Psalms 100

¹ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
²     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his^[a];
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

We will be telling her story for years to come sharing with others because we are His and He has been faithful to us!