Walking and the Next Step

Wow, Jonathan is walking!!!  What a crazy road it's been.  So, many of you are probably wondering if he went to rehab?  Well.......     its a long story, but if you know Jonathan its a simple one - he did it on his own.  That's right, folks, the Powerhouse Himself rehabbed himself.  BIG SMILE.  He's amazing, not that you all need ME to tell you that.  He is still using the wheelchair and a cane periodically, but he forces himself to walk as much as he can.  Thank you, Jesus!

Next fews steps.  It's a lot to swallow, especially after just a couple of weeks of watching Jonathan walk, but it is time to face the next step: his elbow.  Many of you know we have been praying SO hard that our doctor in New Orleans would have a change of heart and be willing to take on Jonathan's arm right away.  Up to this point, he has not been willing to, instead wanting to perform an additional heel surgery on J's other heel.  HOWEVER, Jonathan met with this same doctor this week, deciding he would lay it all out on the table and insist on having his elbow surgery first.  Well, he didn't have to.  After the xrays were complete and discussion began, Jonathan's doctor said, "Well, we are going to have to replace your elbow immediately."  The only two options are amputation or complete elbow replacement - to be done in 5 weeks.  There is not enough bone left in Jonathan's arm to fuse it again.  For us, this is amazing and such an answer to so many of you praying.  It means that he will be able to use his arm again!  It is also very sobering and has already brought with it many tears.  Even after the incisions heal and bleeding stops, he won't be able to use his arm for a whole year. While he still feels pain from this past surgery, it is decreasing.  Another surgery so soon means he will begin the process all over again.  With four children under the age of six, including a now four month old baby, it's a lot to think about, both for Jonathan and for me.

The questions come:  How can we do this?  How will I (Carla) be able to bear the weight of it?  How will I (Jonathan) go through all of this so soon again, make a living, be a daddy and everything else?  We have no answers.....   We have no idea how it will all work, how it will all happen.....  We know God is good.  We know WHO we belong to.  And we know that no matter how much weight and pressure presses against us, the same God who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in us and daily gives us all we need.  Right now, that's all we need to know.  Jonathan and I recently went on a trip to a Hemophilia Convention.  I can't tell you how many times people asked us if we were on our honeymoon, saying, "You seem so in love....."  After hearing our story and that we have been married 8 years and have four children under age 6, all jaws in the room dropped.  We found it quite funny.  We said, "When we got married we decided that when things got hard we would have two choices:  we could either blame each other and run from each other, or we could grab arms, love each other and run through the struggles together.  We made a pact that we would stand by one another and it's made all the difference in the world."  That pact continues to stay true even on the hardest of days when the world seems to be spinning around us.  That same unconditional love, God goes out of His way to show us, will keep us.......

Surgery is tenatively scheduled for the first or second week of December.  We will keep you posted.  Thank you for your love, prayers and support.  You are all amazing.