Jaydon's Lab Work Results

After I returned home from grocery shopping this morning, I remembered that it had been a bit since I had checked caller id and our voicemails.  I saw that I had missed a call from the clinic yesterday when I had gone to pick up the kids from the bus.  I knew right away that it must be about  Jaydon's lab work.  So I listened to the voice mail and the message left was that I needed to call the clinic back.  After the stressful week we have had, it didn't take long for panic to set in.  In the past, they had told me that they would only call if the lab work showed something and that if everything was ok, they would just sent me the results.  I quickly went to call the doctor back, trying to brace myself for what they would tell me.  Unfortunately, they couldn't reach the doctor and had to leave a message for them to call me back.  They asked if it was alright that they gave the doctor my land line and my cell phone numbers.  Of course!!  So I began the wait....which allowed my mind to go to places that it should not have been going.  I just "knew" something was wrong with my little boy, and now I had to wait to find out what it was.  Even though it was less than an hour later that they called, it seemed like forever.  It wasn't even my doctor that called but a doctor on call -- the lab results were ALL NORMAL!!!!  Praise the Lord!  They had mailed us the results yesterday.  Tears of relief flowed quickly as I was so grateful for some good news.  I went to peek on Jaydon who was napping, and told him, with tears, "Jesus protected you, little boy!"  When he woke up shortly after, he gave me a smile, which sent the tears coming again, and we just snuggled for a little bit.  So thankful that our little boy has been saved from a lifelong illness that can come with hepatitis.  I can't wait to look at the lab results with my own eyes and be able to show Jaydon later how God has been protecting him since he was conceived!  Thank you so much for praying and rejoicing with us!

Jaydon's 1 Year Doctor Appointment

Where has the past year gone?  I can't believe Jaydon is already a year old!  His turning one was definitely bittersweet for me!  As we reflect on how Jaydon has grown and changed over the past year it is so amazing and miraculous.  Jaydon continues to serve as a great reminder of how great our God is!

He has gone from being in the 40% in length and the 2% in weight to a whopping 89% in length at 31 inches and a 93% in weight at 25.1 lbs.  We are so thankful for how healthy he continues to be.

Today was his one year checkup.  Sadly for him that meant he had to have bloodwork done, which required more than just a prick to the finger or heel. :(  He did amazingly well, and is a tough trooper!  We hope to find out the results next week.  It was finally time to run his hepatitis panel, test for sickle cell, and check some other basic levels.  He was thoroughly exposed to hepatitis when he was born.  He swallowed a lot of Mommy D's blood when she had her abruption.  We pray that God will have protected him from any type of disease he may have been exposed to.  The last time he had a sickle cell test done, he tested positive for being a carrier of the disease.  Mommy D is a carrier, so we are hoping that since the test on Jaydon was run so early, that it will have been a false positive.  I have learned that a mommy's blood runs through the baby for quite a long time after the birth, and that it takes time for the baby to develop their own blood cells. When he was tested, he hadn't yet started making his own blood cells as he was tested right after birth.  No matter the outcome of the test results, this little guy is a miracle, as are all babies!!  However, we do pray that all the tests will come back negative! :)

Here We Go On Another Adventure

Wow!  Its been about a month since I last posted.  Skeeter returned safely from Mexico with a renewed and stronger passion towards ministry.   We had about a week's break before Anne and I hit the ground running to help teach a class at our church's VBS.  It was a lot of fun working together.

At the end of that week, on July 25, Jonathan made a decision to trust Jesus as His Savior.  Praise the Lord!  He was in the van with Skeeter and Adia, so I was not able to share in witnessing so the details are a bit sketchy.  But God knows them!  However, from what I understand Adia was being a missionary and telling Jonathan that he needed to be a part of God's family.  Skeeter of course asked Jonathan some questions and then before he knew it the back was quiet, and Jonathan was praying and then he said he was a part of God's family.  His story is very similar to Anne's....she talked to Jesus in the vehicle and did it all on her own as well. 

The next week, the last week of July, Anne headed off to Jr. High Camp in Roach, MO.  She really enjoyed her time there and was able to have a time of spiritual growth.  While she was attending camp, we worked like crazy to get her room made over.  We got done just in time and she loved it!

Following Anne's diagnosis of pre-diabetes, we have chosen to not put her on the prescription, but work on controlling her blood sugars through diet and exercise.  We have also taken her to another doctor who has put her on some supplements to help her with that as well as help with her thyroid levels, as they were a bit low as well.  It has been amazing to see how much better she has been feeling.  We pray this continues! :) 

It now seems the Lord is getting ready to take us on another journey.  In June or July, I don't remember which, we read in a newsletter from the school that the kids will be attending, that they were looking for some host families so that some foreign exchange students would be able to attend the Christian school for the coming year.  Skeeter and I talked about it and decided to call and get some more information.  I called the school and they gave me a number to call to get some more details.  I "dropped the ball" and didn't call.  With the health issues Anne was having, I decided we had enough on our plates to keep us busy so we didn't do anything else to pursue getting more information.

We continued on with life, completely forgetting about the foreign exchange opportunity.....until yesterday.  Yesterday afternoon the school called to see if we were still interested as we were the only ones that had expressed any kind of interest at all in the program.  There was a 15 year old girl from Korea who was interested in coming to school, but she didn't have a host family and the deadline to get a host family so that she could arrive on time was today (8/7/14) by midnight.  We felt absolutely no pressure from the school, but we took down the information again to call the lady who had more details about the program.  Of course one of my concerns was whether or not this would be something we could afford.  So I called and after speaking with her, we learned that all we needed to do was to share our home and some food with her.  All of the tuition and medical expenses would be covered.  How could we say no to a girl who has a desire to come clear across the world to attend a Christian school?  This home is not ours, and belongs to the Lord, so why should we not share it?  Why couldn't God provide the extra money it might take to feed another person?  Skeeter's response was if this is what God wanted us to do, then He would provide what we need!

So we stepped out in faith and last night filled out the background check forms as well as the application to continue to proceed pursuing this amazing ministry opportunity.  This girl is supposed to be an active Christian so the opportunity to help her grow in her relationship with Christ is exciting!  Not only that, but it will be fun to learn about another culture!

Where will she stay?  Part of this dilemma is that all of our bedrooms are currently being used.  This would affect the entire family!  Without batting an eye, Anne offered to share her room!  How convenient that her room was just fixed up!! :)  So now we have a room, but we need to find a bed.  Our preference would be to find a bunk bed, but if necessary a twin bed will do.  Will you help us pray about this?  Will you help spread the word that we are looking for a bunk bed? 

We will have a home visit this coming Saturday at 3:00 p.m.  The goal is to see if our home will be adequate and to touch base with each family member to see if everyone is on board with this plan.  Adia is so excited to have another "brown/tan" person come to join us!  If all the details continue to fall into place our "new daughter" could arrive next Friday!  We don't have much time, but God will work out all the details!

In the meantime, we will be busy cleaning and switching Jonathan's room from the downstairs to upstairs in Adia's old room, and Adia will then go downstairs.  There are specific pictures of the house that they are needing so cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, will be what we do so that we can take some nice pictures! :)

Thank you so much for continuing to pray for our family!  God sometimes works in mysterious ways, and sometimes takes us on journeys that literally flip us inside and out....sometimes without much advance notice! :)  Will keep you posted as things progress!