And He said unto me, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
2 Corinthians 12:9

Thursday, January 12, 2017

What a difference Year Makes....

Greetings to all!  We had a very long hiatus with the blog.  This was not intentional by any means, and as a lot of things go, you start to get so focused on other things and then your to-do list gets back logged.  Thank you to the many that have journeyed with us through 2016.  It truly is hard to believe that we have not sent out a formal update since September of last year regarding Princess.  Therefore, I will proceed to give it a try and yet in a concise and easy to read manner.

Princess is doing well.  Not to read too much into that, we still do face seizures on a weekly basis.  The blessing has been rather than a daily occurrence, the seizures have backed off and allowed Princess to get some time with Critter (who's now in school) and as well time with me.  We have been very blessed to be on Charlotte's Web Hemp Oil and have literally seen daily a positive effect in the reduction of her seizures and it has been tremendous to experiences several days in a row without a seizure.

One particular victory we shared in was not being in a hospital in all of 2016.  This meant and is continuing to mean that in nearly two years we have not been hospitalized due to Princess' seizures.  Additionally, the monthly doctor visits are now quarterly, and they serve more as a check-in than anything else.  While this has all been great news, it doesn't mean that there have not been challenges along the way.  In doing the hemp oil, it has allowed us to slowly reduce the pharmaceuticals and means getting off her seizure meds.  This has certainly proved challenging and yet rewarding all the same time.

A particular analogy that Princess has come up with during this journey has been a great and fitting example.  While neither one of us has ever run a marathon (nor have the desire to ever do), she imagines that when you have trained and trained for a marathon, your body becomes conditioned to the rigors, toll, strain, and agony that your body goes through.  And in the end, all that training paid off and you become accustomed to the running that at some point your body doesn't flinch at mile 26. Now imagine it has been some years since you last ran your marathon and you awake one fine morning and decide to immediately go run a marathon.  Well, being that you have not run that distance for some time, your body is no longer prepared and you struggle in the run.

For Princess, days without seizures are rewarding and freeing; however, as we string more of those days together, it is the days with one or two seizures that suddenly become very difficult, challenging, and deflating.  So in the end, we are grateful for the results we are seeing, and yet, we still ask for your prayers as we journey on in faith down this long road.  Speaking of, this March will be 11 years that Princess has been dealing with this illness.

Keep in mind too, the more progress we make,
the harder the "fall" and so your encouragement is always greatly appreciated!

Overall, we are continuing to rely and trust in the Lord with His plan.  I am reminded of a message that I got to listen to again from our Pastor.  The message title was, "The Risk of Faith."  The main point of the message:  Sometimes we can be in God's will and still feel like the circumstances are against us.  Sometimes we can be doing exactly what God has called us to, and things just aren't working out for us.  And yet, maybe, just maybe, that is exactly God's plan.  You see, He has called us out onto the water.  He has called us to trust him and look solely at Him and not give in to the myriad distractions that try to take over.  And when we do, it isn't always perfect.  However, we can put our complete trust in Him because His very Word tells us that he is working a plan for you and for me.  And His plan is good!

So, please pray for our journey.  We are now in 2017 and it is another year.  Our focus for our family is to be used by God for His Kingdom.  We pray that Princess' journey will be a blessing to others and that lives, just like ours, will be changed for the better, with something that the Lord has created.  We are looking for each month, and each day to be better than before.

Prayer:
My new favorite pic (May 2016,), ISN'T SHE BEAUTIFUL!!!

  • Strength for Princess (this week has actually been a very tough week)
  • That our Journey could be a blessing and encouragement to someone
  • Safety as we continue our wean off all pharmaceuticals.  
  • Guidance and timing for direction