August 2014

8/20/14 (Rachel Hanson) We were able to enjoy a wonderful week at a Christian camp last week. I had lots of help from the Hanson family in making it possible for us. It's so unbelievably wonderful to be surrounded by Christians and awesome ministry for a whole week! It was challenging but still enjoyable and I was able to sneak away by myself a couple times to relax kayaking around the lake. David surprised us by stepping up 2-1/2 steps up to the sauna with my help! He used to love the sauna ...and was so determined to get up in that sauna that he did the unthinkable! Unfortunately there were more than 2 steps...so maybe next year. Please pray for us in the next couple months as to some big decision-making. We had a family/therapist/doctor meeting today. Some big things came up in the meeting. David has made a lot of progress but I think we are of one mind that his therapy needs to stepped up to see if we can speed up his progress. The thinking is to have him spend a few months in an intensive inpatient rehab setting a couple hours away from our home. David is surprisingly willing to do this. We are, Lord willing, planning a trip to California in about a month. Please pray that the Lord would either expedite the process of getting his new, smaller, lighter wheelchair before the trip or provide a chair to rent or something. Pray also about details to be worked out with David's insurance funding. I think it should be ok but the two-year "temporary disability" status is over and needs to be changed to a percentage of permanent disability to determine funding. Pray that there would be an appointment opening in the time frame that we're in CA so David can be seen by the "medical examiner". "For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death." Psalms 48:14

8/29/14 (Rachel Hanson) Just a little update: two of my prayer requests have been answered...we got a trial wheelchair that the wheelchair company is letting us use for free on our trip to CA and the medical examiner doctor was able to shuffle things around and squeeze David in during our stay in CA. I love when God answers specific prayer requests! "LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?" Psalms 144:3 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31

9/4/14 (Rachel Hanson) We got two pieces of news today that kind of made my heart sink a bit. We went over David's psychometric testing results. They were not good. It doesn't really change what we do, it just spells out what we've been seeing lately, in black and white. I find myself fearing when David stops making progress, the point when we just live with what is. There's a certain comfort in the forward progress, but it becomes my hope ("something better around the corner"), a greed of hea...rt, a discontentment of the circumstances of here and now. The testing was limited and probably not 100% accurate because of the way we had to do it because of David's speech deficits, but there was also a lot of truth in the assessment. David didn't want to know the results at first and wanted me to speak privately with the doctor but later he was overcome with curiosity and had to know. He was very quiet after hearing the results. It's disheartening but I reassured him he's come so far, especially in the last year and he is still progressing. It's just test results, it doesn't have to dictate our lives or change how I see my husband. The second piece of news is that David is not a candidate for the intensive rehab facility. I guess we are doing too good of a job here at home. Since he is doing a good job reintegrating back into the community and still making progress with seeing his therapists a couple times a week, they somehow can't justify the intensive rehab. In a way, it's a relief, but I'll always wonder what he could have done with that opportunity. I have to trust that this is God's will for us and it is good. "Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." I Timothy 6:6-12 I am challenged by these verses in my lack of contentment. It's not riches I seek, but a whole husband that leads. But I see evidence of God's work in him to begin to lead and it's beautiful to see!