Valentine's Heart/Cardiac

Tomorrow Jonathan has his cardiac check up. If the whole in his heart hasn't closed they will have to put a coil in to close it. It's not as extensive as open heart surgery, they would go up through the groin, but still, surgery is surgery and the heart isn't one of those organs you can live without. So, we pray for our son's heart, that the hole will have closed, but if not, we also know that God is in control.

Jonathan also has to have surgery on his ears again on Wens. We went to the ENT doc. on Friday and she said his ears are totally occluded with wax. That might not be such a big deal for most kids, but my darling little guy has EXTREMELY narrow ear canals and it is almost impossible for them to get instruments into his canals to clean them. Even IF they can, him staying still for that length of time is almost impossible, plus they said it would be painful :o( . That means general anesthesia to get his ears cleaned. It's not just a matter of cleaning, the left tube needs replaced since it is not working, that's why he can't hear out of that ear. They may have to replace the right one while they are at it too. I pray this isn't a every six to nine month thing....ugh.

Yesterday Anah was invited to her first birthday party! As a Mom to a child with DS, I was very touched. She was invited by a girl in our homeschool co-op who also happens to be blessed with a little something extra :o) . Of course Anah didn't know what was going on, but I did and I was so happy that someone thought enough of her to invite her. I told the Mom of the birthday girl how touched and thankful I was for the invitation for Anah, she said she knew. That's how she had felt when her dtr. had received her first invitation (which had only been two years before when she was 14). She told me of all the years her dtr. had NOT received invitations to parties that her siblings had been invited to and how her dtr. did not understand why she wasn't invited to parties too. Of course it broke my heart! And this was HER first nonfamily birthday party, she was 16. It was so much fun and the girls really seemed to enjoy themselves. The other little girls were typical girls, there were 3 others besides Anah and the birthday girl, they also attend the homeschool co-op. It was really a blessing to see the acceptance that was given our girls who are blessed with a little bit extra. I know that we should accept others, but the reality is that not everyone does. I was so happy to see that three families had raised such lovely young ladies that truely shine the light of God and His unconditional love.

Praying you all had a blessed day, we did. We had our church's Valentine's Social last night. It was just adults, the children were cared for by the teens in the church annex. That in itself is a blessing, to know that our children are being cared for near by, but being able to be with other christian adults for a time of food, fun and fellowship. We are planning on having a "Fireproof" movie night at the church along with studying the devotional that goes along with it. It will be a blessing I am sure.

I must say, we have a wonderful church family. We are a small church, everyone knows everyone. If ever there is a need, all you have to do is call someone and they'll be there to help. We have service on Sunday mornings, Sunday School afterwards for all ages, Wens. night discipleship night for all ages and several other Bible studies throughout the week. There is a Thurs. night prayer night at one home and a new believers Bible study at another home, Friday night family/parenting Bible study and Sat. night different Bible study depending on need/desire. We have special events through out the year and are just blessed beyond words to have a Pastor and Leaders that are so dedicated to helping the body grow spiritually.

I'm going to add a pic of Anah at her first birthday party!