Back in the saddle. 

Last Thursday and Friday, we honored Emily's life at her visitation and funeral.  The sheer number of people present at the visitation attested to the far reaching impact of her quiet encouraging spirit.  I was able to be encouraged in the days leading up to the visitation by so many friends from the past that shared stories of how Emily had impacted their lives.  What a blessing it was to see her beautiful spirit attested to as far back as we could remember.  The funeral was the most God honoring, worshipful expression of God's love that I have ever witnessed at a funeral.  The beautiful singing and wonderful message honored God and honored Emily well.  It is bitter sweet having to say goodbye to the most impactful and precious person in your life, but I can't help but praise God and be happy for her, as she is standing before God's thrown worshiping in perfection!

I have to offer another thank you.  I met a number of people in the visitation line that sat with and comforted my children on the day of the accident.  I just want to say a tremendous THANK YOU to them for walking into such a difficult situation, and loving on my children as they waited for EMS to arrive.  I can't express enough the heartfelt gratitude that I have for you for comforting my children when I could not.  Thank You!

The four children at home are doing well.  Samuel has his permanent cast on his arm, and he and Isaac are finding it incredibly difficult to not be boys for another week or so.  Isaac still has, and probably will have a limp for a couple more weeks as his hip fracture heals itself.  All of the children are doing well with mommy's passing, and we have had some really great times with God and with each other sharing memories, and also digging in and talking about difficult things surrounding mommy's abscence, but by God's great grace I truly believe that we are all dealing well with her passing and not just ignoring it.  Again, I would encourage anyone that is willing to share wonderful memories of her life in the "Tributes" or "Well Wishes" section at the bottom of the page so that I can keep her memory alive in the children's minds and my own.

Olivia and Levi have both moved up to the Neuro Rehab floor.  The only thing tethering them both at this point is a feeding tube.  They are being weened off the pain meds so that we can begin to better evaluate their full cognitive levels, and they are both transitioning to "feedings" through the tubes as opposed to continuous feeding which is a typical transition step.  They will both have a time of healing for the next week or so as they try to get strong enough to be moved into the official Neuro Rehab program.  In order to enter the program, they need to be showing continuous and purposeful improvement, and be able to physically and mentally withstand 3 hours of intense rehab each day (1.5 hours at a time).  They each are receiving Occupational, Physical and Speech Therapy daily, but at a lower level than the intense rehab program. 

Levi is fully awake when not sleeping.  His eyes will fixate on you or objects when they are put infront of him, but he is still having trouble "tracking" continuously, but is able to make segmented adjustments when looking at TV or doing speech therapy tests on the iPad.  He spent about 30 minutes in the gym yesterday and was able to grab a block from my hand, with his left hand (praise God he is left-handed) and place it on a peg.  I have no doubt that he will progress into the program.  His right side shows occasional movement, but we would love to see him begin to "remember" how to move this side better. 

Olivia, is making great gains at her current level, but she is quite a ways behind Levi due to the severity of her injuries, and the amount of damage to her brain.  Olivia, needs INTENSE prayer and intersession from our father, please pray as often as you remember.  Olivia will open her eyes, but they are mostly dilated and "float" around as if searching for something to look at without finding it.  I do feel like Monday, she was able to somehow find my hand in space in front of her face, in 3 different positions with no hunting or searching.  We are hoping that she is seeing shadows or something even though her eyes don't seem to be fully operating.  She is making purposeful movements with her left side.  If you are holding her hand, she will let go, and rub her face or head with it, and then is able to go right back to where you left the hand when she let go.  She also loves holding hands, but is very specific about how she wants to hold, "requiring" intertwined fingers in a specific order and she will fuss and fidget with your hand until she achieves her desired position.  So, we know there is something going on inside her head, I just think with her vision not being fully there, and the possibility of not being able to hear and process language as I had spoken of in one of the earlier posts, it makes improving difficult and possibly frustrating for her.  Please pray constantly for her.  She needs to make improvements to be able to enter the rehab program, and I know that with God's great and awesome grace she can do that.

Thank you everyone for praying intently for our spiritual health and healing, and also for the physical needs of Olivia, Levi, Samuel and Isaac.  Please continue to pray.  Now that we are back in the saddle, I plan on updating more frequently.

In the Grip of His Grace,
Bryan