October Update

Hello Friends and Family,

I come again with a very much delayed update on my grandson, Micah. Thank you to all who have continued to pray for him and also for those of you who so unselfishly and lovingly volunteer each week to help Stephanie pattern him.

We celebrated Micah’s first birthday this past September! Can you believe it’s already been one year? It was a special day with friends and family and a time of reflection and celebration of the precious life that the Lord has gifted all of us with. Micah has truly been a joy to know and to love. I cannot imagine our lives without him. I finally “get” what grandparents say about how wonderful and different and special the love for a grandchild is. I dream of kissing him all of the time and even find myself daydreaming about the next time I can hold him and kiss him. Oh, it truly is love of epic proportions!!!

These past few months (and more notably since Micah’s patterning has become more consistent), Micah has shown so much positive cognitive development. He smiles so much more than ever and he is purposefully communicating more all the time. Now, when you talk directly to him, he often begins cooing back to you as if in response to your communication. Sometimes, you can talk and ask him questions and you can see his little eyes light up and he makes a cooing response right back! As you can imagine, it is a precious and priceless gift to be on the receiving end of his “little talks”. I can only believe that with more time and healing, and more hours spent patterning him and helping his brain to “rewire”, that Micah’s “talks” will become more frequent and more and more intentional on his part. Micah loves his sensory balls in bright, primary colors. It is so neat to watch him focus in on one and then see his arm reach out towards it. He does the same thing to the family Chihuahua, Bowie. Micah LOVES Bowie and will hear Bowie’s nails on the hard floor and slowly turn his head towards the sound as if looking to find the dog. These are all such wonderful developments! It proves that Micah’s brain is registering information and sending messages and impulses to other parts of his body.

With the assistance of her wonderful volunteers, Stephanie has been working very hard with Micah every day. Her hard work is paying off. Micah’s body is getting stronger and his muscle tone and mass is really increasing. Even though his body weight is still very low (not sure what it is at this time), the tightness and spasticity in his legs and arms is much less than it has ever been. He finally looks like he has some meat on his little bones!

Oh, and in the pictures, take note of Micah’s first four teeth! Gosh, that little man has a strong jaw! Beware!!!

Thank you for continuing to pray for Micah’s health and for protection from illnesses. Micah still seems to be one of the healthiest babies I have ever seen – and I’ve been mothering for 23 years! We had a little scare a month ago when he was taken to the emergency room for a high fever for days. They took x-rays and thought that he was in the early stages of pneumonia. Then, a few days later, Micah broke out with a rash which was diagnosed as Roseola (which is a common childhood disease). With a healthy dose of prayer, antibiotics and loving from his mommy and daddy, Micah was better and back to his cute little self.

If you remember, last April we took a second trip to the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential in Pennsylvania with Micah. That is where they assessed Micah’s health and development and then prescribed specific therapies for him. Chris and Stephanie also attended courses to educate them on the methods used and overall understanding of brain injuries.

Well, we are returning to the Institutes in a couple of weeks. Chris and Stephanie will again attend two days of training and education, Micah’s development will again be assessed to see the progress he’s made, and a specific course of therapies will be given to be done over the course of the next six months. We will be taking Micah to see a Pediatric Ophthalmologist who specializes in brain-injured children. We are really excited to see where Micah’s visual abilities are at this time.

On another note, Chris will be finished with school next Tuesday and will be sending in his application to take the State Board test. Once he takes and passes the test, he can then work full-time doing hair. He is very gifted and talented at doing hair, and has a great personality to go along with it. He really enjoys being creative in this way and is looking forward to starting to build his career. In the past there have been some pretty exclusive salons that have expressed interest in having him work for them. Thank you for praying for him and we ask for continued prayers for this season in his life.

Thank you for continuing to love and pray for Micah, and for Chris and Stephanie. I have to say that you would be so proud of both of them. They’ve grown so much since Micah’s birth. Chris is really beginning to grow into the man I know he was created to become. Recently, he went to our church men’s retreat with Gary and the Lord really touched him. He met and connected with several Godly, young men who will be great friends for him once he begins cultivating the relationships. The Lord brought an awareness to Chris of His love and we are seeing some pretty amazing changes in him already. He’s been going to a young adult group fairly frequently and has been going to church more often. Stephanie is proving to be a very good, strong, loving and committed mother. Micah is very fortunate to have her for a mommy. She is fighting for him daily and will never give up.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FOLLOWING:

PRAY FOR OUR UPCOMING TRIP TO THE INSTITUTES ON OCT. 21^st thru OCT. 27^th.

PRAY FOR CONTINUED PROTECTION OVER MICAH AGAINST ANY INFECTIONS OR ILLNESSES.

THAT MICAH WOULD GAIN WEIGHT.

PRAY FOR A COMPLETE HEALING OF MICAH’S SIGHT.

PRAY FOR HEALING OF MICAH’S BODY & MUSCLES. THAT ALL SPASTICITY IN ALL PARTS OF HIS BODY WOULD BE HEALED AND THAT HE WOULD HAVE FULL, PURPOSEFUL FUNCTION OF HIS ARMS, HANDS, LEGS & FEET.

PRAY FOR A COMPLETE HEALING & RESTORATION OF HIS BRAIN.

PRAY THAT CHRIS WILL GET A TEST DATE SOON AND THAT THE LORD WOULD BE PREPARING A GREAT JOB FOR HIM.

PRAY FOR CONTINUED STRENGTH FOR STEPHANIE TO DO ALL THAT SHE HAS TO DO WITH MICAH.

PRAY FOR ALL THE VOLUNTEERS WHO HELP WITH MICAH’S PATTERNING THAT THE LORD WOULD BLESS & PROTECT THEIR FAMILIES.

ALSO, PRAY THAT GOD WILL CONTINUE TO USE MICAH TO TOUCH PEOPLE’S LIVES & HEARTS AS HE HAS DONE SO ALREADY.

I know this journey has been made so much easier because of you, your prayers, support and encouragement, and your love. We appreciate your letters of encouragement and hope you will continue to battle in prayer for Micah’s healing. May your rewards in heaven be more vast than anything you can imagine for all you have sown into our family.

With love,

Grandma Teri