It's been 3 months and you are asking for updates! We are grateful that there is not much to tell… We’ve continued to go to orthopedic appointments where they take x-rays and monitor Charlie’s hip’s healing. There is one spot/hole they’ve been watching in particular (which they assume was the source of the infection) that hadn’t shown much change. But, at the last appointment the doctor said they were “marveling” at Charlie’s x-ray as it is bright white with so much new bone growth filling holes from the 3 surgeries, including the spot they were keeping an eye on. The joint spaces match on his “good leg” and “bad leg” (Charlie’s way of referencing.) Thus, they cleared Charlie for all activity and he started back at baseball today! With osteomyelitis, a tiny amount of bacteria can lie dormant in the bone for years and pop back up later so they encourage us to watch for increased pain or a symptom-free fever but are also optimistic it won’t ever recur. Charlie woke up one night this week complaining of pain in his “bad leg” for the first time in several months – this can be very normal from his burst of bike riding, trampoline jumping, and overall flurry of activity on a joint/bone that is weak and still recovering. And, it’s also something we’re paying attention to. So overall, we thank God that Charlie’s hip is continuing to heal from the infection and 3 surgeries in an ideal way. We’ll continue to do regular x-rays this year. We’ve also been working with a functional medicine doctor to consider why Charlie’s immune system was overrun by the original bacteria. Those answers haven’t been as clear, and while the doctor has suspicions we’re simply focusing on the classic things of gut health and reducing internal inflammation. We recognize that any and all good that comes to us is directly by the hand and intention of God, and we are humbled and grateful by God’s kindness in how seamless Charlie’s recovery has been. Just a few months later, we’re largely back to normal life…Amazing.

Thank you for how you have prayed for us and have been faithful friends through this. What an incredible gift to have people bring your needs before God, who promises to listen and work through prayer! Having just experienced the weight of what it’s like to be so prayed for, I’ve thought often about how much we all need people who regularly pray for us when we’re not in crisis. Who is praying for you today? Truly, as you sit and think about it, who knows your heart-level needs enough and is in your life and committed enough to actually be praying to God about you today? And, who are YOU regularly praying for? We don’t build these relationships when we’re in crisis, we build them on average days like today as we reach out to think of others and also invite others in. We build them by committing to people and staying put long enough to be known and seen both in our strengths and in our weaknesses. We build them by continuing to show up when we don’t feel instant connection, repeatedly over a long time, and by showing up not just to receive when we feel like it but because the person next to us might need us to show up for their sake. I find it's easy to talk about prayer or say we’ll pray but not actually pray for people in the privacy of my own heart. You all have loved us so well in this way. Let’s press on in joining God in his work by being people who regularly pray for at least a handful of people, persevering both at letting others in and persevering in truly praying for others. Not because we “should” but because in this labor of love we get to be a part of Gods good work in each others lives and share in the joy as we see God at work.

And, a final thought… Some of you reading this are walking through the trenches of suffering without this kind of good news. I have been struck recently that Jesus himself was described as a “man of sorrows,” experientially knowing great grief. (Isaiah 53) Which means that when we’re crying out Him feeling ‘this is not the way it should be!’ we are crying out to someone who really, really gets it. The Isaiah passage goes on to say that Jesus “carried our sorrows,” that he “was crushed for our iniquities” and “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Can you imagine the burden He bore in love for us? When Jesus says “Come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden” He is inviting us to come to Himself, someone who knew great grief in this world, who carries our sorrows, who reaches out to us with mercy and a sure hope at great cost to Himself. He is a good refuge.