A Theme to Match the Times

All of Abbie's recent changes merited a change on her site, so - voila! Welcome to Abbie's garden of miracles, complete with fluttering butterflies! I can't wait to see the what kind of flowers are going to bloom in the coming months.

We spent a beautiful long weekend out in the country, at a beachouse at Malekahana. Our yearly small group "camping" trip is always much anticipated, but the flavor is different each time. This year it was sweet-and-sour.

The beauty of the raging ocean, the lushness of the open land, and the freedom from all the demands on the homefront are uplifting and rejuvenating...sweet. Being away at a place where all the other kids are running, playing, building an awesome fort, and generally too busy to engage with Abbie...sour. I don't realize how different our life is, how different Abbie is, until we are surrounded by "normal" 24 hours a day. My heart just hurts for her, and I realize that as her brothers, friends and peers grow older, the bridge between them gets longer, and the distractions that keep them from crossing to be with her are multiplied. It just presses me to pray harder, plead more insistently, and believe more fervently for her restoration. I would be so encouraged if you would join me in this effort.

Abbie was more than ready to get back to therapy on Monday, hopeful that she would be able to walk down the hall. Unfortunately, she was encouraged in these hopes by an unwise mother. I did not know the therapy plan for the day, so I talked to her about walking all morning. Oops. The therapists wanted to focus on her arms instead. That will teach me! Despite her disappointment, Abbie worked hard, and was able to bring her head up when laying on her tummy and leaning on her elbows. She would lift and I would hold it until she wanted to lift it higher. I was very impressed, since this is not something we've been working on.

We're still trying to work out the nursing support at school, so we don't have a firm start date yet. But, we did receive another packet of homework, so Abbie is working on the same spelling and vocabulary words, and math problems as her soon-to-be classmates.

I may not get a chance to post again before Thursday, so let me say now how deeply grateful we are to each of you who choose to follow Abbie's journey, pray with and for us, and continue to believe that with God, all things are possible.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!