Tuesday, April 21, 2009

You heard that right!

Yesterday I took Andon to another follow up appointment at the ear Dr. Yes, you heard that right, another. He had his third set of tubes put in his ears about 3 weeks ago. When we went for a follow up a week ago, Andon was still not hearing very well in his right ear. Due to his condition, he actually was born with a ten decibel loss. I don't really know what that means. It was just explained to us as a very slight directional hearing loss. No big deal.

So when we went in last week it was more than a 20 decibel loss. The Dr. started giving us information about another surgeon he knew who could go in a do a prosthesis for the ear bones. It felt a little overwhelming but he said let's go ahead and do some ear drops in that right ear for another week. He said maybe the tube was blocked. I have to be honest, I figured, it's not blocked and we'll be scheduling another surgery in another week. I hate that I took that on but it seems like that's the way it's gone in the past.

So we started the drops and continued the praying. Every night, either I or Jared along with Andon would pray for complete restoration of Andon's hearing. I would actually hold my hands on his ears while I prayed it. And, you know what. He healed them! When they did the hearing test yesterday, his hearing was perfect! In both ears!! PRAISE GOD for He is GOOD!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Easter Egg Hunt!

So, on Monday I was thinking that Easter was this weekend coming up and we hadn't taken Andon to an Easter Egg Hunt. He did have one at school last week but I wasn't there so I wanted to find one that we could take him to. I got online and researched egg hunts in the area and most of them were last weekend! I finally found one on Thursday at the Brentwood Library so as soon as Jared got home we headed out. It was such a beautiful day with tons of kids there for the Egg Hunt. Here are lots of pics from our afternoon at the library. :)

Headed out with an empty basket...


Hanging with Mom and Dad before the Egg Hunt...




Waiting for the whistle to blow...


And off he went! :)





Headed out with all the eggs...


It was such a fun afternoon. As we were leaving we noticed quite a few families that were late and just getting there. We started talking to some of them and telling them that it was over. So Andon says to a little girl "you can take as many as you want from mine".. So sweet! She, of course, picked out all the pink ones. :) Then he tells another little boy who is about two years old to take some. He handed the little boy two, one for each hand. The little boy put both of them back and then grabbed the handle to take the basket. It was very cute! He was thinking these go in the bucket and if your giving i'm taking! Ha! :)

Sunday, April 5, 2009

How my heart breaks

I was standing in church today before service. Andon and I chose to stand off to the side while Jennifer signed him into his class. The church has a very large body and before each service one to two thousand people are making their way in and out of the halls. As I stood off to the side I watched as a small two year old girl make her way through. Her dad not far behind was watching her every step. As I watched the girl walking she turned slightly to ensure that dad was close by. As they met each others stare the dad let out a small laugh and the girl giggled with excitement. Her pace quickened and she begun to almost run with joy. This brought a smile to my face. I was happy for so many reasons. To see a dad and his little girl sharing a moment, to think back to when Andon was a baby and always needed confirmation on what he was doing. It was a nice moment! One second after this moment I lifted my eyes to meet the mother staring at me. She was four or five steps off the dad and apparently watching me watch them. The look was one of anger or judgement. I felt my entire joy retract. I felt the moment flee and be immediately replaced with uneasiness. I turned away and thought she missed it, she missed the moment in her family that brought a complete stranger joy.
As Jen and I dropped Andon off and walked back to the sanctuary I explained the situation. I tried to explain quickly what was still evolving in me at the moment but failed to convey. As Jen and I were a quarter through service Jen leaned over to me and said "It's like what Andon has to go through at times, The kids and adults stare at him with a question or judgement and lose who he is or what he is saying". My heart sank to the realization of what God was showing me. We often lose sight of truth when God presents us with it. Our perspective is usually defined by the world and its "standards" or our own selfishness and desires. Our father looks not upon the flesh but to our hearts. He is not concerned with our outward appearance but the posture of our heart. It threw me into so many moments when I failed to see past someone's anger to the heart or past someone's judgement to the insecurity they themselves struggle through. I begun to cry thinking what God was accomplishing through Andon for me but my heart broke for the lost, for the needy. Christ is defining my perspective through every moment. He has chosen both Jen and I to steward this gift of Andon and share the realization of that truth. Today was an amazing moment the Father chose to bless me with. It is not to ever sit in the seat of judgement but through humility and service love our God with all of your heart, with all of your soul and all of your mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. Proceeding that portion of scripture you will not find: Unless they meet your visual standard. Unless they have a good attitude. Unless they are first pleasant to you. Unless they fill your requirements as a friend or neighbor.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Changing Seasons

I've lived in Florida my whole life. Except the year I was in 4th grade, we moved to Georgia and then moved back to Florida that same year. I am used to things looking pretty much the same all year long. We moved here to Franklin last August when everything was green and lush. Then we went through the winter and all the trees were bare and the grass was brown. It was pretty strange to see everything like that. Now it is just beautiful watching everything come back to life. The grass is bright green again, the trees are all blooming these pretty pink and white flowers. And there is just amazing color everywhere. I LOVE IT!!

I took a few photos while we were outside playing the other day. Here is the tree right outside our porch.


Sweet Sadie girl enjoying the fresh air and yes eating a stick. :) The dog will eat anything!


Here's a picture Andon drew for me. He said he put a name tag by it so I would know that it was from him. :)


And here is Andon riding his bike. He would do it all day every day if I let him.


We are truly enjoying getting back outside and looking forward to getting into the pool!

I have to add.. I apologize for the lack of substance in the last two posts. I am going through some really hard stuff and would still appreciate your prayers. I am relearning how to trust and rely on Him. I will post about this when I have the words but at this time I do not. Thanks so much ~Jen