Update – 11/30/12

We continue to press on each day and thankful that God’s mercies are new every day. We are staying steady with school work for the kids.  Rob has been a great help to me during this season of school.  There is much work to be done.  We are starting to catch up on things that have been neglected during the time period in which we were away from the house.  We have finally been able to go through the mounds of paperwork that piled up from insurance statements, bills, etc and have put them away.  There have been some offers to help out around the house and I am looking forward to the help that we will be getting in a couple of weeks to get caught up on the house chores.

Rob’s therapy is going well.  He continues to get stronger every day as he strives to build up the muscles that he still has in his arms and shoulders.  He had lost most of his muscles from being in the hospital for that 1 1/2 – 2 months.  It definitely takes longer to build muscle than to lose them.  Right now, Rob goes to therapy 3 days a week but due to the number of days that insurance will pay for he will switch to 2 days a week in January.  Rob has also been getting in the standing frame at home.  He has been doing a lot more transferring into his wheelchair from the bed without the hoyer lift with minimum help from me or the boys.   He is also trying to get things worked out with his employer to slowly get back to work.  They are supposed to set him up from home which will be a tremendous help and blessing especially with the new baby coming in less than 9 weeks.  We will probably set his office up in our guest bedroom for now since his original office was upstairs.  I will probably take him to the office for a few hours at least once a week.  He is looking forward to get back to work. 

Besides school, therapy, normal daily activities, we are working on getting the “little people” room (Emma, Sarah, Asa, and Isaac) ready for their new baby sister.  Finding enough storage space for clothes for 5 people in a room is a little bit challenging but we think we have it figured out. 

This month our homeschool group had their annual Thanksgiving Celebration where the children rotate through different stations learning and doing hands-on activities about different aspects dealing with Thanksgiving.   Afterwards, we enjoy a Thanksgiving feast together.  We enjoyed having daddy with us this year.  You can see in the pictures above where Rob was talking to another dad at the celebration and where he is watching the children as they partake in each station.  I plan on doing a post from this day but not sure when I will get around to it. 

Praise Report: Rob finished his antibiotics for his bladder infection. The new urinalysis showed NO infection!!! Thank you for your continued prayers.

Some new and continued prayer requests:

1.  Continue to pray for Rob’s strength and healing.  He has been having a lot more issues with muscle spasms due to the temperature changes.  This makes it more difficult for him because it wears him out more quickly.  Also, he hasn’t had any other new movement in his body for a several weeks since his fingers in his left hand. 

2.  Pray that the Lord would guide us and help us to accomplish all that needs to be done each day regarding school, the home, training up our children in the ways they should go, chores, and normal daily tasks.

3.  Pray that the Lord would continue to show himself through our family and that He would continue to receive all of the praise and glory through this journey that He has purposed for us to walk.  He continues to open up opportunities for our family to exalt the name of Christ Jesus.

4.  Pray for baby girl Shelby and this pregnancy.  We have about 8 1/2 weeks left until my due date.  My babies have come anywhere from 2 weeks early to one day after the due date.  We are getting excited for her arrival.  Please pray for a safe and quick delivery.

5.  Pray for me as I continue to care for Rob, the children, and all of the additional and regular daily tasks.  Help me not to murmur or complain but to do it lovingly.  Pray that I would be patience with the children and learn to speak softer instead of louder.  I struggle each and every day and continue to be a work in progress. May the Lord grant me strength to be a godly wife and mother each day!  Thankful that even when I fail, He is there, grants me forgiveness, and a new day to try again. 

6.  Pray for Isaac (our one year old) as he will be having surgery on Dec. 11th to remove a cyst that has been growing close to his left eye since he was a baby. 

We would like to continue to thank all of you who have or are still bringing meals to us, provided financial gifts, prayers, and notes of encouragements.  The Lord continues to bless and provide for us in so many ways.

For those of you who continue asked how you can help, you can go to www.shelbyfamilyfund.com.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!  Ps 115:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:1-2

Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.

Psalms 25:4