Healing Place

Wow! It was brought to my attention recently that it has been a long time since our last blog post. It's hard to believe it's almost been a year.

This past year has been a VERY challenging year. I had three surgeries on my right elbow, we moved to Baton Rouge, I started a new job, left the new job and started my own business, changed churches, heard God's voice, responded to God's voice (inspire of being afraid). We've had some Big battles, and some big victories. But most of all, this past year (much like the name of our church) has been a real place of Healing for us!

My elbow is doing as good as I can remember, my new business is a real dream come true, our finances re not great but my faith for it is better, our kids are stronger, my wife is growing, and God sever expanding our relationships, security, and our understanding of Him!!! I guess you could sum it up by saying, we are blessed!

Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your concern, thank you for your tears, thank you for you financial help, and most of all thank you for helping us keep our eyes on Jesus!

More to come....

Being in Today

"This is the day the Lord has made". I've honestly struggled with
that scripture most of my life until now. I've thought so many times,
"That must be some sort of punishment." Most of us have had at least
one day that has been filled with sorrow and pain. We think, "This
can't possibly be credited to the Lord Yes, he caused the sun to
rise, but if I close my eyes maybe it will go away." The
acknowledgement that this IS the day the Lord (and soverign Lord at
that) has made is such a solemn acknowledgement. It's such a trust
issue. It's a moment of truth where we say, "I trust YOU, God. And I
will be IN today - fully and completely. " Some of you may have heard
the song "I will praise You in this storm." I don't have all of the
answes and I have no idea how the details of life will work out, but
in the middle of what feels like a whirlwind sometimes, I can remind
myself, my kids, my friends, what I do know is true. God has given us
unmerritted freedom to walk in, to sing in, to live in, to shout in.

As for us today, it's been a road full of joys and sorrows. It's still
a daily progress for Jonathan's strength and healing. But fight, he
does to walk and stand in freedom. I will walk and stand with him. We
are constantly aware of God's mercy to us, especially when we see
others we love suffer with true pain of death, terminal illness,
divorce..... We know our season of pain will pass. We pray for those
whose losses seem permanent.

Our move to Baton Rouge has been more than we could have possibly
known we needed. We are honored to be part of this Body here and feel
we have SO much to learn. We are digging our heels in for the long-term.

We love you all and miss you.

Carla

Remembering India 1996 when finding a quiet place to escape with the Lord felt impossible. So thankful for the lesson of finding quiet with Him in the middle of noise and chaos.

So the first round of cultures came back Graham positive with rods meaning bacteria. However, that was drawn from his picc line so they took new cultures from his arm and we have to wait 48 hours for those results to see if the bacteria is in his blood or just the picc
If it's just in the picc they'll tale it out and we should be able to go home soon after. If it's in his blood we're gonna be here for a long time. His blood / factor levels are looking better though.

Jon's Update: We're still in the hospital. Jon's blood levels kept dropping so they have really upped his factor levels. That seems to be a bit more stable. However, this morning, the nurse came rushing in and began two new very strong antibiotics usually used for treating staph and took 4 more bottles of blood cultures. When we asked her about it, she said she couldn't talk to us about it. No explanation. We could be here a while. Pray for jon, pray for our kids who are with great friends who came in from out of town to help, pray for our finances. We love you all!

Going Home

Day 8: We hope to be going home this afternoon. Jon is doing better
but had a rough afternoon yesterday after his doctors stretched his
arm to capacity and splint it in that position. He is off of all IV
pain meds in hopes they will release him. He is ready to go home. I
think he misses his babies ;-) Its been a bit of a lonely week for me,
wanting to talk with him about anything and everything like we
normally do. I know it's just a season. I'm thankful it's just a
season. I'm thankful he came out of that operating room like I made
him promise he would :-)

We will ne trying to clean and move all the way into our new house
this weekend. We have lots of cleaning, painting and laughing to do if
any of you are interested.

Love you all.... Please remember us in our journey ahead. We now look
forward to much healing and supernatural provision for our family.

Learning A Lot About Hope and The Quiet Nearness of God,

Carla

Day 6 Post - Op:

Its been a long and winding road. Jonathan is doing well, but is of
course in tremendous pain. He has developed a large bruise on the back
of his arm and last night ortho had to come in and loosen the splint
as he was swelling immensely. It was quite the fight to get them back
up here. As of right now, the splint will come off tomorrow to check
for more potential swelling and hematomas. Note to you: don't ever
leave anyone you love alone in the hospital. While we are grateful to
have doctors, they are looking after MANY patients and are spread so
thin, you have to make your loved one a priority to them. Needless to
say, yesterday afternoon was rough. He is resting now. Thank you for
believing.
Carla

Day 2

Watching Jonathan finally sleep for the first time.  Tremendous pain. Bleeding factor levels very low. Adjusting that. Can't get pain under control so going to do a 3 day nerve block. Will prob be in hospital all week. He's in the thick of it. His is a life filled with excruciating pain and completely indescribable joy. Working back towards the laughter.      

Carla

The Details of the Surgery

Hi Everyone,

From the time they wheeled Jonathan away to the time docs came to
talk to us was 11 hours. It's been 13 hours since I've seen him so
far. He's still in recovery

The surgeons had to completely reform his bones because they were
deformed and muscles, cut out his elbow, cut his muscle out, drill
holes in his bones and rethread his muscle back to his bone, drill a
tunnel through the center of the upper part of his bone and lower and
insert rods to hold the new elbow in and try to preserve the nerves.
The doctors and nurses came out completely exhausted.

I don't know how one person can take so much pain.

Love you all. Thank you for standing with us.

Carla, Jonathan and Family

11 hour prep / surgery

Ok, Jonathan is out of surgery. It's been 11 hours. We still haven't
seen him. It was a VERY invasive and complicated surgery. It will be a
very long and painful recovery. Don't even know how to begin to tell
you what they had to do. Thank you for praying! Keep it up!
Carla

How to Pray

For those of you who haven't caught this yet, Jonathan is having his elbow replaced completely this Friday morning, December 11th. It's an attempt to spare his arm from amputation. The surgery will probably be long and begin very early in the morning at Tulane. He will be in the hospital 5-7 days. The biggest requests are: that his bleeding would stay minimal, that the cement will set well within his bone to hold the replacement, that there would not be any infections, that the nursing staff would take proper care of him and that his pain would stay minimal. These types of surgeries and recoveries tend to be extremely long and painful for hemophiliacs. 

Also, while Jonathan's business will remain in Mandeville, we have moved our family to Baton Rouge. This is a huge transition for our family in the midst of his next surgery. While he is in the hospital we will be trying to unpack our new house. 

Thank you so much for bathing us in prayer. 

Love you,
Carla

Carla

Surgery

So this Friday is the big day. Jonathan's elbow will be cut out and a
metal one will be put in. Jonathan watched this surgery being done on
someone else online. Ouch!!! I know that God is with us, still my
stomach is in knots.... Trying to take as many deep breaths as
possible and remember the nearness of God. Please pray. Please believe
with us. Please ask as many people as you possibly can to remember us.
Carla

Address Correction

I originally wrote the wrong city for our new address!  SO SORRY.  Please note the address correction.  Thank you!

Jonathan and Carla James
38187 Monticello Dr.
Prairieville, LA 70769

Moving

Happy Thanksgiving!!

By now many of you know that we are moving to Baton Rouge.

However, your response may be similar to mine... "WHATTTT?"

As many of you know, we have been seeking God for direction for a long time. Well, a couple of months ago we got some direction, quick and bold! I had a dream I was sitting with Pastor Dino Rizzo (Pastor of Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge), and I was telling him that God told me we were to plant a church in three years and we were supposed to come and learn everything we could from him in preparation. I instantly woke up and was freaked out, to say the least: surprised at the timing but not surprised that God knows all of the passions of my heart. The Lord began to speak to me very clearly that this is His heart for us, and we should act on in NOW.

As most of you remember quite well, I was still in a wheelchair 95% of the time when I had this dream. I went back and forth with the Lord after this dream, as if I was in disbelief. I said "Lord, I'm just trying to figure out how to walk! What do you mean you want me to plant a church?". It was like the Lord said "I'm going to take care of that, but I've got something foryou to do!"

Carla and the kids were out of town visiting her ill grandmother during this time and I wasn't sure I wanted to share this with anyone - especially before I talked with her about it. However, I ended up talking to Pastor Dave Degarmo to hear his thoughts on it (thinking he was going to say I was nuts), but he was excited! He encouraged me in it, and said He thought it sounded like God! It was amazing, but honestly frustrated me in some ways, because NOW I was accountable for it AND I had to move forward.

That weekend, my sister invited me to see her re-baptized at Healing Place in Baton Rouge. I was reluctant to go, but thought that I would take the opportunity to support her and feel it out. While sitting in service, I couldn't hear a word Pastor Dino was saying. All I could hear was, "you have to tell him!" over and over in my head. I thought to myself, "There is no way! I'm in a wheelchair, He will be gone by the time I could get to him anyway, etc". My sister, not knowing anything, sent a note down the aisle to me that said, "You need to get to Dino!" then looks at me and shrugs her shoulders!

At this point I'm feeling the pressure.

After service was over, I stayed in the worship center just because I couldn't leave. Before I knew it there was only a handful of people left in the sanctuary and Dino looked at me and said "Hey man, how are you!". I wanted to say, "I feel like throwing up, thank you! How are you?". But, before I knew it I was sputtering out some words that sounded vaguely like the dream I had and what I felt God was showing me.... in a wheelchair. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said he remembered being in bible college and feeling the weight and burden of people. He said that if you would have looked at his life then, it just didn't add up, but if you look at it now, it makes all the sense in the world. Everyone understands now, because he WAS and IS made to carry the burden for people.

It gets better....

That was Saturday night! I went to church the next day in Mandeville, and cried my eyes out like a little girl. It was an encouraging service, but lets just say, I was the only one "bauling like a baby"! When service was over, a group of wonderful people surrounded me and started praying. Most of them were praying for healing, however they had NO idea of the weight of what the healing they were praying for could mean. I thanked them all and left church. I went home and prayed some more, then realized that a lot had happened and I had not even told Carla yet! Keep in mind, we talk about EVERYTHING, immediately whenever possible! We hardly have a day we don't talk about what all has happened or what the Lord is saying to us by the end of that day. But in the craziness of it all, I had forgotten to tell her about all of this!

I wasn't sure what her reaction would be. I was sure she was desperately wanted rest in our home. We have been under intense pressure with surgeries, the new baby and now a very ill grandmother! After I told her, she simply said, "Let's Go!", I said "Well....... lets see how this next year goes and we will start to move in that direction. By that time I will be healing more and hopefully walking again." Her response... "Well, we could do that..... but that wouldn't be obedience!"

My wife... WOW!

One of the lessons God has really been teaching us over the past 5 years or so is that "Delayed obedience, is disobedience!" Unfortunately (pun intended), my wife MUST follow every rule to the T! She began to encourage me that if this was the Lord speaking, that we needed to act now and not delay, EVEN if it is hard! She was willing to put her money where her mouth was too, because this meant a WHOLE LOT of work and stress for her. But, she was SO committed to following the leading of the Lord, that as confirmation came she was more than willing to pay ANY price to follow!

What about what I think?

I still hadn't bought into this whole idea of us moving now! I mean, after all, I'm not making any money, we can't get housing if I'm not making any money, I can't walk..... There were a lot of concerns to overcome! We continued seeking counsel. I talked to Pastor Dave again, and he was still in agreement. Then I talked with Pastor Steve, who I thought for sure wouldn't be supportive because of our natural circumstances. I was WRONG! He was excited! Excited? This is supposed to be the part where he brought up all of the objections I'd been thinking in my head. He said he was excited and that he wasn't sure how it would work out either, but encouraged me to keep pressing into it and let God work out the details. Then he dropped the bomb... "I think you should go NOW! Don't wait, Get over there and start building!"

Almost Done...

I then reconnected with Pastor Dino and he wanted us to connect with some of the other pastors at Healing Place to talk through some logistics. I met with them and we discussed all the different logistics and dreams within what God was speaking to us. They received us like true family! It was a true testament to what the Family of God is like! I was sure I would be rejected or at least encouraged to consider delaying until I got out of the wheelchair! Not these Guys! They said, "lets keep believing and see what God will do! He is the ultimate creative being. Lets see how we can let God be creative in this!"

Surgery...

In the middle of it all, We got word that I had to have surgery by the end of the year. My right elbow has gone too far in its deterioration process and if I want to have a chance at keeping my right arm, I have to have surgery now.

House hunting/renting/selling... Bad Timing...

If you haven't noticed we are in the worst housing market in a VERY long time. We own our house in Mandeville and didn't think we could possibly sell or rent. But, in faith, we started looking in Baton Rouge anyway! I decided that we would try to move before surgery on December 11th. Lofty goal, but if God was going to pull it all together, we might as well go for the gold! We still didn't have anyone to rent our house, but we decided to start packing anyway. No house to go to, no one to rent our house - until last Thursday. We got a call from someone who was looking to rent in our area. They loved the house, but wanted to move by the 1st of December....

God Is So Good, AND NEVER late!!!

We found a house 5 minutes from Healing place on Saturday and one week later we had a lease agreement on our house! We signed the contract and by a COMPLETE miracle and kindness of dear friends, we were packed up and ready to go the very next weekend.

The story will go on...

We still don't know how we are going to make it! We still aren't sure where our income is going to come from. We still don't know how we will handle all of the challenges ahead. But we do know that God is with us! We do know that He will provide! We do know that this is an adventure that we won't have a chance to live again, and we don't want to miss out!

This is only part of a God story, so hang on and stay with us. There's more to come!

Our new address:

38187 Monticello Dr.

Prairieville, LA 70769

Jonathan James

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.

Bennefit Concert....

We are so excited to announce that some amazing friends of ours have gone way out of their way to pull together a great benefit concert for our behalf TOMORROW night near Hammond, LA. I am sorry this is such late notice! Our intent was to post this a week or so ago here on our blog, but in the craziness of it all, forgot too. So we hope that this doesn't reach you too late! However if You are able to join us, we would love to see you all. Here are more details...

There will be a night of music to benefit Jonathan James on September 18 beginning at 7pm at Cornerstone Church in Amite. If you don't know, Jonathan is a good friend to many of us and is battling a rare form of hemophilia. We are hoping to raise funds necessary to offset his growing medical expenses. We are asking for your support and assistance both financially and by helping us get the word out about this event.

It is going to be a night filled with tons of music, worship, and giving. You don't want to miss it.

Scheduled to appear:

Laramie Stevens,
Ben Davis
Ben Manuel
Shanna Barberio
John Hughes
Todd Shockely
Jivka Jeleva
Dillon Morse and the Polyester Ramblers
Out of Brokeness
Crispin Schroeder
Matt Marrs
Heather Ballard

12 BANDS!! It is gonna be AWESOME!

DO NOT FORGET TO INVITE ALL OF YOuR FRIENDS!!!

There have been a few inquiries about where to send donations if you are unable attend. All tax deductible donations should go to:

Make Checks Payable to: Hope for Hemophilia
PO Box 2584
Mandeville, LA, 70470
OR...
now happyjamesgang.blogspot.com is accepting credit and debit.

Also, we are accepting donations large and small at the event.

We hope to see you Friday, September 18th at Cornerstone Church in Amite, (I-55 North to Amite, exit right on Highway 16, left at second red light, Cornerstone is across from Winn-Dixie), doors open at 6pm, the concert starts at 7pm. A donation of ten dollars is requested at the door, however, if you are unable to attend, tax deductible donations may be made to the Hope for Hemophilia Foundation. See the happyjamesgang.blogspot.com or call Ben Manuel at 985-351-7342 for more information.

More Stuff...

This morning was one of those days where you wake up and are completely not prepared for what is about to happen.

Carla's grandmother, who she is VERY close too, has been ill and was rushed to the Hospital a few days ago due to a seizure. They thought she was doing better and sent her home. She then was rushed back by ambulance during the night due to extreme hemorrhaging and is now is in ICU. She is frail and they don't believe she will make it very much longer.

Carla has felt that she needed to go and see her for the past three weeks but we have not been able to afford the tickets to go as they cost approximately $3500 for the family to go. She had even told her dad last week that she felt that something was going to happen soon and she believed her grandmother wasn't going to be around much longer. As soon as this happened this morning she and I both felt that it was important for her to go and be with her if at all possible. Her family said they would help with the plane tickets if she could come, so she found a flight this after noon and her and the four kids left today. They will be there for a couple of weeks.

This presents a couple of dilemma's. I am able to drive myself from point A to point B, but I am not able to load myself in and out of the car. This presents a difficult scenario over the next few weeks. I will be needing extra help to get loaded and to go to doctor appointments. If this is something you would like to help with please let me know. Also, this is going to be an even larger strain on our finances in multiple ways.

Please pray that God would give Carla the words to speak to her Grandmother during this difficult time with the family. They have a very special relationship and I expect for God to use Carla during these next few days to speak life in a way that she can hear. My prayer for her is that she would be able to bring peace to chaos and life to despair. As I told her earlier today, She is like the Levites who Carried the "Arch of the Covenant" to the people. She is Literally carrying the Manifest presence of God with her.

Please pray that He would protect them and keep them safe as they have a long and trying trip ahead of them! Also pray that it will Carla will have an extra dose of Grace, and patients. It takes approximately 12 hours flying, then 2 1/2 hours driving to get to their home town. They are only 20 minutes from Canada. Doing that with two adults is one thing, but making that trip with four children under the age of 6 could drive anyone crazy. Carla is an amazing woman! Brave, confident, and full of the Peace and Power of God, and I have no doubt that she will be fine, but I also know that the enemy will test all of that in her.

Please pray that God will give her grandmother a painless and peaceful experience. We have prayed that God would help her to not be in pain or suffer during this time in any way.

We believe that this is the right thing for Carla to do and the right place for her to be, the next thing is for the provision to follow. So we covet your prayers!

Thank you for standing with us!

The James'

Staying Engaged

My newest revelation is: everyone knows pain; not everyone knows love. We live in a fallen world, so we all face pain, hardship, sorrow, difficulty - its a common thread throughout humanity, but we do NOT all know love, happiness, joy in the midst of that pain. Its funny how the phrase "it's only a season" works two ways. There are many days that reminding myself, "it is what it is (Andrea Haines' famous line)..... and it won't last forever" have helped me through the rough spots. But more often than that, remembering while there ARE really rough moments, there are equally as may beautiful moments, most of which I would miss if I just "checked out" and closed my eyes hoping for the "season" to pass. I don't want to miss this season. There is a country song (sorry for those greatly opposed to it) <> that says "..... I could have missed the pain, but I'd have had to miss the dance...." I'm grateful to know love. I'm grateful to get the chance to experience motherhood, being a soulmate and clinging to the Lord, even when it's hard.

August James Gang Update

Hello Everyone!

We are so sorry it's been so long since our last update. Pleaes forgive us! The days seem to fly by without our permission!!! Our newest arrival, Isaac Benjamin is now nine weeks old and such a gem. The older kids adore him. We can't begin to describe how blessed we are - four beautiful and amazing kids.... Wow.

We have so much to share. We will try to be concise without leaving out important details.

Since our last update:

Another HUGE question has been answered: why the rapid deterioration of Jonathan's bones all of a sudden????? Hemophiliacs take clotting factor intravenously to help replace what their bodies don't make. For most people this treatment should be half gone in about 12 hours. Well, after extensive testing it has been discovered that Jonathan's body metabolizes this replacement twice as fast!!!! This would explain why, although he was taking "shots" four days a week, he was continuing to bleed into his joints and his body was responding almost as though he had had no treatment at all. He will now take treatments everyday. Truly, he needs a miracle in his body. I was praying for him the other night and felt so challenged by God to trust Him for GREAT things. While I am thankful for modern day medicine, it is truly not our source, nor are our doctors, our Makers. It's easy when you have to see doctors SO much to begin relying on them for your wellness. I know God is ABLE to do great things. I know He is WILLING to do great things. I know He has PROMISED to do great things. The question is: will I BELIEVE Him? We cannot even begin to express our gratitude for you standing with us - believing with us and even FOR us when we have struggled to believe.....


How is Jonathan now? It is soon time to try to walk! What???? Yes, it is time. In order for that to happen, the plan is for Jonathan to be admitted into a physical rehabilitation facility in New Orleans where he will stay for one week to one month or however long it takes him to begin walking to some degree. We expect this to all take place at the end of September. Jonathan can't walk on crutches anymore or use a walker. His elbow has deteriorated so much that he cannot bear weight on it. He will require daily help from physical therapists and parallel bars. While the thought of him being gone that long is the last thing either of us wants, it is the next step. We won't be saying goodbye to the wheelchair forever as his other ankle still needs so much repair, but this is definitely a step forward. The therapy will be very painful for Jonathan, so please pray. We will keep you posted when all of this transpires.

Jonathan went to Houston last month to get a second opinion about his elbow. He has to wear a brace to keep it at a 90 degree angle at all times (which is his normal range of motion) in order to keep it from breaking. The kids LOVE to wrestle him and love on him and it has become increasingly risky and tremendously painful to not have it stabilized. Even shaking a few hands is painful. Just as we thought, it is beyond saving - he will have to have it completely replaced sometime in the next few months. Stay tuned for the updates on that - a very complicated scenario.....

Jonathan has also begun working again as much as he can, which is extremely minimal but his faithfulness and determination amaze me. He's so brilliant and never gives less than all. I load him up in the van with his wheelchair, he drives himself to work where his assistant unloads him, he pours himself out - pain and all, then comes back home to be amazing husband and daddy of four. How many of us want to try that one? While he is working, his compensation is complicated, as it is for anyone who runs their own business. Showing up to work doesn't necessarily mean getting a paycheck. I know it goes without saying, but we continue to covet your prayers for our family's financial provision. We still have a very long road ahead of us.

Our sewage situation was resolved - Thank you to Cal and Brandi Shoemake and her dad, Frank, from Lakeside Plumbing.... what a blessing....

Thank you again for all of your amazing friendship, love, encouragement, support, sacrafice and ultimately for believing. Your actions speak so loud....

To make tax deductible donations for those of you who have inquired, you can make checks or money orders payable to Hope for Hemophilia, PO Box 2584, Mandeville, LA 70470. This is the foundation that has been set up on our behalf and in the future will be used on behalf of our vision for a great life for hemophiliacs. It has been amazing to see how many people have given - even those we have never met.

We will definitely be in touch more often. If you would like to email us directly, you may:

Jonathan: jdjinvest@gmail.com
Carla: carlakennedyjames@gmail.com

Love from all of us!

Jonathan, Carla, Hannah, Ezra, Isabella and Isaac James

Hard Few Days...

Its been a hard few days!

We are so blessed by our bundle of joy! Isaac is full of life and yet very laid back. He is definitely as laid back if not more than Isabella. We are really enjoying getting to know our new gift!

Monday 11:00 AM

We have had some tough news over the past few days though. My mom came in town to help with Carla and the new baby, which has been a HUGE blessing! Thanks mom! She even brought her own house (motorhome). We asked a friend to come over to help set it up so it could be wired into our house direct. He did that and also hooked up the sewage as well, so that she wouldn't have to dump it every few days! (Thanks Jonathan Banano!)

But, in the process he found out that ALL of the pipes under our house (Toilet, sinks, tub) are leaking directly under the house! He dug a little further and found that there was NO outflow at all going to the septic. It is completely flooded under the house and there is a severe sewage smell coming from under the house. Basically we are sitting on top of a out door sewage plant!!! He tried to fix, but was at a complete loss of what to do!

Unfortunately, as most of you know, we are living completely on Faith with our finances. With that said, we don't have the resources to have someone come out to fix it. It sounds like this is a MAJOR cost and we are doing everything we can to get someone out to come and look at it. We have a couple of people who have said they may be able to come by this week to examine, but there isn't anyone who we have found yet who can actually fix this week!

4:30PM

Carla calls from the hospital and says that they are going to release her and the baby from the hospital. We were excited except that we had just found out that we are not living in a safe or sanitary environment!

It gets better... I had sent my dad up to the hospital with the infant car seat. I didn't think to check it before it left, but apparently the seat belt harnesses had been removed to be cleaned (you know where this is going). When they got ready to release Carla and baby from the hospital I was at home with my left foot bleeding from the chaos from the morning discovery and my father in law had left to go to the store to pick up something to fix the air conditioner in the house (which was also not working properly).

Carla calls and lets me know that they won't let her or the baby leave the hospital because the Car seat doesn't have any seat belts. So, I get on the phone calling around frantically to try to get someone who can go buy a car seat and pick up my wife and new baby! Thankfully my dear friend Derrick Gill comes to the rescue and was able to get over there in about 25 minutes! Whew!

Then Tuesday...

I had a follow up doctor appointment with my surgeon who did my ankle surgery. He had to do x-rays of everything including my ankle to see how everything is doing.

I have been having quite a bit of pain with the front part of my left foot (bleeding, swelling,burning, etc). He was always confused when I would explain this because this is not the part heoperated on and he thought I was just having some weird pain radiating from the surgery on the heal. Well, he was wrong! Apparently it has been bleeding and now the front part of my foot has had hemophiliac arthritis set it and start deteriorating that area of the foot.

He then did a follow up x-ray on my right elbow and found that my arm bone going from my shoulder to my elbow joint has eaten a hole through the bottom of my elbow joint and the bone in gone through the joint! He explained that this has never happened to his knowledge and that he would report this to medical community as a new phenomenon! Of course I would once again be the pioneer or "guinea pig"

I have to walk on crutches to get into our bathroom due to the fact that it is not handicap accessible! This, over the past three months or so, has caused my left wrist to start bleeding again. So it has been difficult over the past few weeks to transfer from the couch to the wheelchair, from the wheelchair to the bed, and very painful to walk on crutches. He did x-rays on that as well and found that it has started the deterioration process. Fun!

Wednesday

We woke up this morning and were reminded that His Mercy is new this morning! (Lamentations 3:22-23)

We were also reminded that "The Lord IS MY portion... therefore I hope in Him!" (Lam 3:24)

Psalms 40:

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;

And He inclined to me and heard my cry.2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the LORD.4 How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.
11 You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
17 Since I am afflicted and needy,
Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.
I am not sure how we are going to pay for having our house fixed! I don't know how I am going to be able to provide for my family! I am uncertain on how God is going to provide for my physical deterioration and downturn! I am not sure how we are going to navigate the rough waters ahead... BUT, I do know that God is with us! We have chosen to "HOPE IN HIM"!
Please pray for us that God would pour out his abundant grace on us, that He would supply all of our needs according to His supply, not ours? Please pray that He would send help quickly? We are completely trusting in Him!
If you are able to help us financially, you can send a tax deductible contribution to PO BOX 2584, Mandeville, LA 70470, to "Hope for Hemophilia".
Thank you for standing with us, praying for us, and giving to us! Your support spiritually, emotionally, and tangibly has reminded us that we are not alone!
We love you all!