Friday, November 20, 2009

Update 11/20/09

Dear friends,

I keep hearing this: "It's a marathon, not a sprint".  I always wanted to run a marathon.  26 miles looks like nothing about now.  "Let us run with endurance the race marked out before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith..."  I'll keep running because God is able to help me put one foot in front of the other.  You are all the ones cheering me on, passing me the water cup, reminding me of the absolute awesome power of God.  What a company - I am in awe of it all.

On the Hannah front, today was a better day.  What a sweet child she is!  She talked to Laurie on the phone and told her she was sorry Laurie had the swine flu!  She's always thinking of others.  It is not possible for me to comprehend that God will not bring her all the way back.  I'm depending on all of you to take up the shield of faith for her.  I'm not going to read anything about brain injuries on the internet.  Not because I have buried my head in the sand, but because I am not dealing with an ordinary girl or some pagan God.  We're talking Hannah Mary Rejoice (that really is her full name) and Jesus Christ.  I want her to not only recover, but get double for her trouble.  Like Job, who received more from God after his suffering.  Like Joseph, who went from pit to prison to palace.  Remember what Joseph said?  "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, for the saving of many..."  There was no pacing the floor tonite, just snuggling with a movie with momma and talking with her "big girl" girlfriends.  Pray for Hannah to be able to experience the full range of human emotion.  She smiled tonite!  And her incredible wit made a couple of appearances.  It's a marathon, not a sprint, but mile markers are encouraging.

As for Stephen, he is improving beautifully.  His family is up from Virginia til Sunday afternoon and have visited with him frequently.  I took David up to see him this morning.  It was very emotional for my little guy.  Dad's are invincible to kids, and it's hard to see him stuck in bed.  We reassured David as best as we could that Daddy would be fine, we just need patience.  Please pray for my dear baby boy to have strength and courage through this.  It's a big load for a 12 year old. Steve will most likely go back for more surgery early next week.  After that it's 8 weeks of bone healing before he can begin weight bearing rehab.  That means probably 2 months in a nursing home before Sunnyview.  Now once this guy can begin working toward recovery there will be no stopping him.  But sitting for 2 months could be worse for him than standing on hot coals watching the Yankees win the world series.  So how about we plan to pray for him through all that, and play chess with him, and cards, and access a computer for him and DVD's and any other cerebral exercises we can imagine?  (Does anyone know about some newfangled electronic book thing so he doesn't have to turn pages?) He' s going to need lots of visitors then, and lots of encouragement.  I promise he will keep you amused with his terrific sense of humor.  I only wish I could be with him every minute.  

You can't even grip the blessing of your comments.  Thank you for your kind words.  Something good has to come out of this mess.  Your love is one of those good things.  I'm amazed to be honored to walk with the likes of all of you.

Your friend on the pilgrim road,


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loriann, there is a thing called a Kindle at Amazon, it is an electric backlit book that you wirelessly download your books onto. They are very similar to reading the real thing, but no page turning! Look into it. I will pray for Gods provision! And we will continue to pray for you and your amazing family.
Ann

Anonymous said...

Loriann - Thank you for your updates so we can hear of Steve and Hannah's progress. You are all in our hearts and our prayers constantly! I was so happy to hear you got a little sleep at your friend's house. Please take care of yourself. We are holding you up in our prayers and I know we're going to hear of so many testimonies of God's faithfulness through all of this. We love you and your precious family! Ginny

Anonymous said...

Loriann,
I'm so blessed to hear about the progress that Hannah's made. I so believed she's moved on and is so on her way to COMPLETE healing! Steve's progress is awesome too! David is so precious and in my prayers also. I love you.
Connie

Paulette said...

Paulette said.......

Please take care of yourself, my friend. Your entire family is in our prayers. The news of Hannah and Stephen is very encouraging. Again, if you need anything, you know where to find me.

In love and faith,

Paulette

Anonymous said...

Its great that they are all recovering (although it may be awhile to recover fully) About an electronic book, Of he has an iphone, you can download and read books on there, or any ipod can download audiobooks. Then there is the Kindle from amazon, Although it may be a bit expensive. It is a large hunk of plastic with well spaced keyboard and a large display and turn page buttons. It can download a ton of books, I think they cost around a normal book price from 9.99- what ever.
May God be with you and have a great day
Greg Mager

Anonymous said...

Lorianne,
We pray for you and your family daily. If you need anythig at all please let me know. Christy has my numbers.
Love, Kim Flory
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
WE LOVE YOU

Jane U. Austin said...

Hi Loriann,

We all pray for you constantly...as soon as we can visit and it is OK we will visit Steve and Hannah!! I want to share how God works things out for good..I just started a new job and my coworkers were also concerned and praying..which I thought was awesome..they saw me praying...they asked questions..when they heard Steve and Hannah were improving..they were amazed..they began to ask questions and one of my coworkers asked how she could be saved..Yes God does work evil For GOOD. Praise God. We love you very much and are praying for you around the clock..and Steve and Hannah as well. The Lord give you his strength and peace and grace.

Jane Unright

sarajofina said...

hey loriann!
i'm not sure if you can follow links from this page, but you can always copy and paste it if not...this is the kindle that people have mentioned. i have heard great things about it. i'll ask peter if there is anything else like it or if anyone is having a good sale for black friday.

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reading-Display-Generation/dp/B0015T963C/ref=amb_link_86130611_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1VZ5WR46M6AJ6F18KWKP&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=500847591&pf_rd_i=507846

love you guys!

The Rudolphs said...

I am amazed and honored to walk with the likes of you! We pray for Stephen and Hannah and also for your whole family, for healing, strength and peace. Kay Arthur, in our ladies bible study, says, "If you are alive, there is a future; there is hope because there is God.".... and He is good!

Love ya'
Terri

wanderlust said...

I love you all and miss you so much! Tell Hannah that i love her SOOOOOOOO much and ask her what she wants that i could get or give to her!!! I am praying for your family..and so is my school. Get better soon all of ya!

Love you mucho!
Becky <3

Daniel and Tiffany said...

I am praying for victory and perseverance. Our God is truly an awesome God and His Way is perfect. He will deliver you from the hands of your enemies. I love you guys!

Barrie said...

Loriann:

Just want you to know you all are being prayed for at our house and even as I travel which you know I never do!

there is software which will scan reading material and speak it to you through a computer.

I do not know the cost but the advantage over Kindle may be it can take what one has and read it. You do not have to buy the book.

I can look into this further if you like.

Also there are many books out in audio format now. Some may be loaned from the library.

WMHT has a service which can be accesesed to read the daily newspaper over a radio band as well.

My friend Bill F is a wealth of information on these things.

I will talk to him and see what he might have as well.

With Steve's love for old movies getting a portable TV DVD player in his room might be helpful; as well.

I bet these things can be accessed at little or no out of pocket charge in a rehab setting.

You are right on schedule for God's plans for healing and restoration in your family.

Roberta and I want to remind you that you are loved grealy.

Barrie

Posterfix said...

Loriann,

How wonderful to hear of Stevens progress, though there is a long road ahead. Okhee and I are praying very hard for hannahs full restoration. We wouldnt expect anything less. Larry T spoke to me - we both think your blog writing is very inspired beautiful and prayerful. Hope you are hanging in there. When the time is right we'll come up to see Steven.

D Bell said...

Loriann,
We have been praying for miracles and, God has already come through.
We will continue to pray for more miracles.
Love to Hannah and Steve.
Doreen