Greetings to all,
Thank you for your continued prayers during this first busy week back home. We especially thank you for your prayers this past Sunday. We believe God answered them in a special way. After getting back home for the hospital Sunday, Robbie was still feeling unwell but better. The hardest thing for us was seeing how “down in the dumps” he was emotionally all day Sunday. He was sad to have missed church after so long. He was sad because he missed all of his “friends” (as he calls all those on the rehab team at ACH). He was sad because it was hard to get around the house and currently not possible to do many of the things he used to do easily. ...and basically, he was sick and tired of being sick and tired. He just laid curled-up in bed throughout the day and we couldn’t get him to do much of anything. He didn’t want to talk or have a book read to him or watch a movie or have the girls play a game with him next to his bed. He ended up going to sleep around 6pm and slept through the night.
Monday morning Robbie woke up and said he was still nauseated a bit but had a smile on his face and his countenance was joyful. He said, “I had a great dream last night” and he pointed to the entry door to our house which is right across from his bedroom door. He continued, “It was dark in the middle of the night and there was a knock on the door but you were all asleep and no one answered it.” Robbie then showed us how, in the dream, he sat up on the side of his bed with his legs hanging off. “I sat up but I couldn’t get to the door, but then the door opened up. It was Jesus who opened it and he had two really huge angels on each side of him.” Now, as Robbie is telling this to us, he has a huge smile across his face and said, “Jesus walked straight to me in my bed and took both my hands and we started walking together. And then the dream ended.” Tanja and I were choking back tears when Robbie said sincerely, “I just REALLY needed a dream like that right now.”
This is what I mean when I say I believe your prayers were answered in a special way. Robbie’s week has been full of new challenges as we work out ways for him to get around and as we go through therapy evaluations and doctor’s appointments - through big challenges like how to get him in and out of cars and ones that maybe aren’t so big but still hard, like when we walked around our neighborhood and he watched boys his age throw a football around and somewhat obviously try not to stare as he buzzed by on his power chair. Through all of this, Robbie continues to be amazingly strong and have a great attitude - a testament to the Spirit inside of him and the prayers of the saints.
Our girls have also been a great help and are glad to be home. Thank you for your prayers for them as well. Today is our Shelby’s sweet 16 birthday and what a wonderful and beautiful young lady she is. Tanja and some of her close friends took Shelby out to a luncheon yesterday and just spoke words of wisdom and encouragement to her. Yesterday evening, I had the privilege of taking her out on her first “date” as we dressed up and went to a nice restaurant. We look forward to doing some special things with her today as well.
Please ask the Lord for strength, patience, and faithfulness for Tanja and I during this time of uncertainty and, once again, major change. We seem to be in a constant state of having to just take one day at a time because there isn’t even the option to try to plan much further ahead than that. Pray that we can be content with what He gives us to do for each day that He give us.
Thank you and God bless you all,
Ken