Elijah Update (June 22)

Dear Elijah Warriors,

Yippee! We are HOME! We stand amazed at the power of God, but why? We know the things that God can do. So why do we seem so surprised? We should expect miracles.

In March when we were in Kansas City, we had sent out a message about the impending earthly death of Elijah. We asked everyone to pray for the Lord to take him quickly and without much pain. I had a friend write to me after and she said she was praying this when God "spoke" to her and said, "Why are you not praying for his total healing?" So, she changed her prayer. We are grateful for all of you who have believed in Elijah's healing. Like Shadrack, Meshack and Abednigo in the Bible, we know that God is able and if he chooses not to heal (or in the case of S, M and A... to save them from the fiery furnace), we will not stop believing in Almighty God. We chose Elijah's name because we loved the meaning: Yahweh is God. During the trials that the real prophet Elijah faced, every time the evil King Ahab called his name, he was saying exactly what Elijah was trying to tell the people: Yahweh is God. For us today as we see Elijah improving, we too are saying, "Yahweh is God". ELIJAH!

God chooses different means to work His miracles. We know that God could have healed Elijah without even working hard. We know that He raised people from the dead and even raised himself. My goodness, after that feat, healing Elijah would have been a piece of cake. :) God chose to work through doctors and modern medicine to work the healing balm on our little boy. Every day he improves. We are excited to watch the process and the lives that Elijah has touched. Wow! What a boy. We heard today that he has a prayer warrior in India. Our map continues to fill up.

We finally got out of the hospital around 4 p.m. So, Joel was right. There was a lot to do and many things to get together. We arrived in Wichita in March with nothing more than a baby, a car seat and a change of clothes. Going home 4 months later we there was no room in the car for Joel and me! We had so many things for our boy that you would think we had the hospital with us. We should have just taken his hospital crib as well. Elijah handled the ride in his car seat well. We stopped once on the side of the road to take him out of his seat and let him cuddle with us. This was the longest that he has ever had to sit up.

The first day home was rough for Elijah. A lot of changes and trying to figure things out. Joel and I are tired. The great thing is that Elijah loves to sleep at night. So we are not having a problem with him wanting to play at night. We get up and set up his feeding pump, then turn it off, then give him medicines, ect. It gets very tiring to have our sleep broken up so much, but Elijah sleeps through it all. Praise the Lord!

Each day, hour, moment gets better with being home. Elijah has started taking his bottle again and woke us up last night with a demanding cry for some drink. So, he is excited about eating. He does not seem to have the stamina yet to drink it all, but he is doing very well. We continue to move his oxygen up and down to try to wean him off of the tank. At times he does great without it, but other times he still needs the help.

Please pray with us that his lungs will heal up and be stronger then ever. Pray for protection from infection with this feeding tube. For protection of his nasal passages and throat. For rest for his mom and dad. For physical strength and mental growth.

We received his Factor IX supplies yesterday. I just stare at them and wonder how in the world we are going to treat this boy for Hemophilia B. Please pray with us for wisdom. His veins are hard to find, and he is what the nurses call "a hard stick". We are a little worried about having anyone give him an injection who does not know him well. (Tomas! Want to come to Ness City?)

Thank you for your continued prayers and support of our family.
ELIJAH! Yahweh is God!