update

Just an update on Gage- he is doing fantastic! So much so, that it has been hard keeping him from being the wild boy he is! But, he is totally fine. He is such a trooper. We love him so much! I have been praising God for another day with my child. It could have been really bad if the appendix had ruptured. SO we are just so thankful that it was caught in time!

Life around here is the same old.....just finishing up little un-done projects around the house and waiting for the court date in Kaz!

Still nothing, no court date yet...... ,.... LOL

Love,greta

GAGE!!!

We STILL do not have a court date, BUT we are starting to see maybe why we are not in Kaz right now.....

Saturday morning, Gage woke up throwing up a little and not feeling good. So we went about our day, but Gage kept saying his tummy hurt. I knew that if he would just throw up he would start to feel better. I even helped gag him, but nothing would come up. He was very clingy, sleepy, and just plain ole acting like his tummy hurt. But, I kept thinking it was the nausea.  At about noon, there was just something about him and his pain that didn't seem right to me. I called Ocala Peds, but they were closed. I couldn't call my Dad because he is working out of town. I called our friend, JD Steed (who is a Doctor) and he came straight over. JD checked him and said we needed to go straight to Shands, he thought he had a possible appendicitis. 

We got to Shands ER at 210pm and got into a room at 4pm. He was poked and proded, but its nothing he is not used to already! It took them 3 times to get an IV in. They had to have 4 grown adults hold him down each time. One nurse said she has never seen a child that strong at his age!!!! LOL Thats Gage!

His white blood cell count was high and the CT scan showed a very big and swollen appendix. They wanted to watch him overnight before sending him to surgery, but only an hour later they said they were not going to wait. He went into surgery at 12:45am and came out at 2:30am. 

When he was going into surgery and after we said our goodbyes to Gage, Shane and I looked at each other in awe of the fact they he just went into ANOTHER surgery! This is his 4th surgery in 2 years! He is one tough cookie. 

Shane and I have been marveling at how God's timing is truly amazing and something we will never be able to comprehend! We are so anxious to get to Kaz, but we are so thankful that we are not at this moment because it would have been aweful to be in Kaz while Gage underwent surgery.

Also, the DR's said that appendicitis is "extremely rare" in a child this young (i joked with them and told them it doesn't surprise us, b/c epispadius is "extremely rare" also and he has both!) and even if they do get a child this young then its usually already ruptured. We are so thankful that JD sent us immediately and that I was able to just know as his mommy that something wasn't right with him. Thank you Lord that it wasn't ruptured!

This situation has just grown my faith even more. If you read the last post, you will know that I was struggling with His timing and His will. God restored in me strength to believe Him and to keep the faith. But, NOW, I am able to see just a glimpse at how "HIS ways are better than our ways". He has our best interest in mind. He loves us. He loves Gage. and He loves Selah. He will bring her home in His time. I am starting to realize that in the end I really only want HIS TIME. Sometimes, along the way though, I think my way is the best....until something happens like this that really opens your eyes!

We have been praising Him and thanking Him for this time. Gage is doing awesome! The little guy is walking the halls with Shane right now as I type! We will be discharged tomorrow by noon. Seth is making his rounds with grandparents in Ocala. :)

cute thing: Gage was crying and whining and I said "Whats wrong baby, what do you want?" and Gage says "I wanna call my bruther"......I said ok we can call him. So I called JD and asked for Seth. Seth gets on the phone and I give it to Gage. You should have seen the change in Gage's face and body when he talked to Seth! It was priceless! 

I can't help but feel that Satan tried really hard to get me back into a spiritual depression through this and with God we have conquered him- nani, nani, boo-boo! LOL LOL

I am getting ALL caught up on my snuggle time with Gage. We are sleeping in the same bed and Shane is sleeping on the couch thing. Poor Shane. :) 

Love,

greta

freshness from HIM

We are still praying for a court date to be told to us SOON. 

Every day that goes by is yet another day without one of our children in our arms and in our home. It is very difficult. So much so that Satan has been hard at work on me (greta). Unfortunately I have let him feed me the lies these past two weeks..... Lies such as God is not as powerful as you thought, God doesn't really care about you, God is at the mercy of the Kaz government, etc.... And its embarressing to admit, but I have believed these lies in the past couple of weeks. And by believing these lies, it has made me very down and without the joy that comes from Him.

Today's sermon was exactly what I needed to hear. Pastor Mark talked about how we become "confused"when we are being of little faith. He went on to read John 11 and the story of raising Lazarus from the dead. I have heard and read that story a million times, but TODAY was the day it was fresh to me. Jesus LOVED Lazarus, yet He purposely waited to raise Him from the dead.  And I am like martha when she says, "But Lord, if you would have been here sooner he would not have died". Selah hasn't died, but I have that thought of "But, if you are truly all powerful then You would make her come home sooner".....Then the next lie that comes is "And because He chooses not to make it sooner it just shows that He doesn't care for me".  This is the kind of nonsense that has been floating in my stupid brain for two weeks! I will have times when I think straight and get aligned with the truth, but then I fall back into again. Will you please pray for me on this? Another point in the sermon today was to expose our sins or unbelief so that others can pray for us...... its better to get it out than to hold it in. 

His timing is not always our timing. Even though I may not understand why the court date is taking so long and why it will be even longer before she can come home, I have to trust that HE is ALL powerful and that HIS plan is WAY BETTER than mine! And just like Walter said in SS today, we may never know this side of Earth the reason for His plan or timing.

One more thing that I am learning is to love God for WHO HE IS, not what He can do for me.

Today is the first day I feel refreshed from this "stuff" in my head. God loves me (and you) SOOO much. He has so much Mercy. He has shown me SO much of Who He is (in the past 2 years) and yet I still have bouts of doubt and faithless moments. But the best part is He loves me still. 

Thank you, Father, for Your unending love, grace, and mercy upon us. Help me in my faith. Strengthen me in Your Word! Keep Satan's lies OUT of my head and help me to be aware when they are attacking me, so that I can seek YOUR TRUTH only! amen

In Him,

greta

prayer

If anyone is still reading our blog, please be in prayer that we can go back to Kaz soon and see our daughter. Oh, we miss her terribly. The only thing that is good out of this wait is that we are being comforted by Him.

Please be in prayer that the judge's heart will be softened and will give us favor.

Please pray that we can get a court date soon- we STILL do not have one.

Please pray that our daughter is safe, warm, and being loved.

Thank you!