New School Year!

Wow, it's been ages since I've posted here. I'm going to try to use this as part of our composition requirement for school this year. Should be interesting...

Happy New Year - brief update

Well, since most of this blog has been about Isaac in the past, I thought I'd start there. He has recently been diagnosed with bipolar, which helps explain a lot. I think it's something we're all trying to come to grips with in our family--but it is a very real, physiological condition that profoundly affects behavior and thinking. It is very treatable, but patients frequently deny their need for medication, because they do so well in their "good periods" that they truly believe they do not need it.

One thing that has not changed this past year, since we've had such tremendous answers to prayers on Isaac's behalf, is the fact that he has a heart that hungers for God. His thinking is very confused sometimes, but he is on a path to follow the Lord, and that itself gives me hope and a peace that is not "of this world."

Isaac is presently in California. If you are one of my prayer warriors from the past, please continue to pray for Isaac, as the Lord leads. He truly does covet prayers... when I dropped him off, telling him I loved him and would be praying for him, his last words were "I need it."

Ron is doing really well in his new job at Vita-Mix. It's a good place for him, and their benefits and security are excellent. The people there are friendly and outgoing, and always having a party! The president of the company is an amazingly warm and caring person--when we (Aaron and Elisa and I) visited there on a school day, he gave us a personal, impromptu tour of the entire facility! It was fascinating...neat to see how the machine that I've been using for years is actually assembled with such care, professionalism, and precision. The company is much larger than I would have imagined (to be continued....;-)

Merry Christmas!

Ron heard something on the radio today about blogging and encouraged me to start up again, so this is basically just a test to see if I did it right. It's been almost a year since I've posted! So I've got a bit of updating to do...but I certainly won't go over the whole past year.

I do enjoy writing, and it'll be a good exercise for me. Sometimes, when you write stuff down, it takes on a new life, and it really helps to process information and ideas.

Family Montage

Caleb (my 2nd son) put together this really cool montage of the family--bottom row, left to right, is Isaac, Gabe, Elisa, and Ben. Top left corner is my oldest son Josh with his family--his wife Donna, and my beautiful grandchildren Ethan (2) and Merci (6). Far right top corner is my youngest, Aaron, and below him Caleb and his wife Crystal. Caleb can do amazing things with photography. Center is my husband Ron and myself.

Isaac Praise Report

To our faithful friends and fellow prayer-warriors--I wanted to post a thank you--with all my heart-- for your faithful prayers, encouragement and support on behalf of my 18-year-old son, Isaac. GOD HEARS AND ANSWERS PRAYERS!

This precious young man, who had been on a downward spiral for about 6 years, has returned home, in the truest sense of the word. Just six months ago, he was homeless, penniless, delusional, in and out of jail, and using drugs in Miami, Florida. Now, in large part because of the faithful prayers of the saints, he has been released from jail, is living at home, drug-free and in his right mind, and pursuing God with all his heart. The confused, angry, selfish teen that left our home a year ago has been replaced with a sensitive, loving, renewed young man. Every time there's a youth group, church service or Bible study, he wants to be there. He is passionate about the Word of God, hungers to serve Him, and has changed from the very core of his being. He is truly a "new creature in Christ... all things have become new"!

I believe God has great things in store for Isaac; he is praying about which direction of ministry God would have him pursue, while finishing up his final high school year. He has a deep desire to serve God and be used by him in a powerful way. I know my faithful God will honor that desire.
In the process, my own physical healing has been taking leaps and bounds (for those of you who don't know, I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 2000; this illness has been debilitating and its impact on our family devastating). I believe that somehow Isaac's spiritual healing and my physical healing are inextricably entwined. Needless to say, a tremendous burden has been lifted from my shoulders; that emotional heaviness and deep sorrow I have carried for so long has been relieved. I can't wait to see what God brings in 2007!

I am profoundly grateful to each one of you who prayed--I say this with tears in my eyes and immeasurable gratitude in my heart-- THANK YOU.

I'm Ba-a-a-a-ack!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted! I'm going to try to stay brief, and get "caught up" over a period of time... but a LOT has happened since I posted last, in August.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..." (Eph 3:20)

Isaac has come home - the prodigal son has returned - to Ohio, to his family, to the Lord. He has a hunger for the things of God that I could never have begun to imagine or ask in all my prayers for him. When I get it, I'll probably post contact info for him on his blog. But I wanted to say THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU - to each of you who have prayed, cared, and cried with us. God is so good, and has once again proved his faithfulness and his tender care and mercy for us. I am, and will always be, profoundly grateful. Each of my 3 oldest sons now have their own miracle story-- how God protected, healed, restored, and returned them. "I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." (2 Tim 1:12)

I believe Isaac's homecoming is somehow connected to my healing. Interesting thing is, Isaac's downward spiral started the same year that I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - 2000 - and now that he is home and healing spiritually, I believe we're going to see a ripple effect of the Holy Spirit's work in our home.

I have recently changed doctors (not by choice--my CFS doctor left the practice) and, in line with Isaac's constant encouragement and the fact that I had to make changes, have quit taking most of the medications and supplements I had been taking previously (up to about 20-25 pills a day). I'm seeing a different doctor who has an entirely different approach, and has told me that a lot of what the previous doctor diagnosed, such as hypothyroidism, was simply not an issue. I'll post more on this later... But for now, I am simply going to believe that God's Word applies to me, and wait in anticipation for the results I hope for.... "In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." (Ps 5:3)

Home schooling is going well. It's been a rough start, as Isaac came home very suddenly and unexpectedly, we took a camping trip, I was hospitalized, and our entire family performed in One Story (a major production at our church) within the first 3 weeks of September. But I'm starting to feel like I'm getting a handle on it-- this year is especially complicated because I have 4 students (ages 16, 14, 10, and 9) with 3 different curriculum providers, all of which are new to us.

Well, I guess I'd better get to it... but I'm glad I finally managed to carve out a few minutes to get this written and posted! (See Caleb's Blog for info on the exciting developments in employment for the two of them; and Donna's blog has some wonderful, creative family pictures; I think Ron's blog has some pictures of our camping trip and probably some recent photos--oh yeah, Caleb's blog also has a NEW family picture!)

Today was a momentous one for Gabe--we went to the license bureau and got his temporary driving packet. That's step one in the process, but a pretty big one. Gabe's kept himself out of trouble for a good long while, and his attitude has greatly improved. And it's a great incentive!

Standing at the counter, filling out paperwork, Gabe answered questions from the bureau clerk. "What is your height?" "How long have you lived in Ohio?" "Where were you born?" The last question, "Do you want to be an organ donor?" got a quick, "No" in response. Later I told him that they used the organs from automobile accident casualties who might be brain dead but still have internal organs that are viable. "Oh," Gabe replied. "I thought they meant now! I don't have any organs I'm not using."

I laughed 'til I cried over that one.

Visited Isaac the last few days, he is anxious to find out when he will be getting out. I don't blame him, but I feel so powerless to help him get any information. Dad is going to see him tonight, and Chuck (from the Salvation Army) tomorrow.

I finally figured out how to get back the books that he's done with; some of them were library books. His last words, as he was being taken away yesterday, were "Don't let them take Apollyon [#4 in the Left Behind series] or the Bible!" I am so grateful that he is reading the Word. He said he's in Leviticus, but he understands it for the first time. The Bible I gave him was a Living Study Bible, and he appreciates both the things that I highlighted and wrote in the margins, and the extensive explanatory notes that follow the text.

Keep praying... you're participating in a miracle!

Isaac Looking Respectable... :-)

 

Isaac Deep in Thought...

 

Precious Hope

I wanted to give a positive update on Isaac...Isaac just called me this morning. Every time I talk to him, he sounds saner, better, more himself. Last week he asked me for the Left Behind series. I can only bring him a few books at a time, and the last time I visited was Thursday. He has read the first one already, and is asking for the second. He also asked for--get this--a Bible that I used to use that I had marked up, that I'm not using any more. He has a Bible, The Message version, I believe, that he brought home with him from Florida. I wanted to make sure I understood him--"A marked Bible? or a clean one?" He said, "One you have marked."

I don't know about you, but that simple request touched me profoundly. I've been weeping this morning, my heart filled with a mixture of grief over where he is, and hope, because of the changes I've seen in him, and the things he has asked for. Hope because I love a faithful God. Please don't stop praying. God is listening. And thank you, thank you, thank you so much for your prayers and concern on his behalf.

And God answered a prayer already this morning... I will not be able to visit him this afternoon, or tomorrow either. You are only allowed to bring items during visiting hours. But I asked God to give me favor, and then I called the jail and asked if I could bring in these books this morning, outside of visiting hours. She said, "Yes, as long as you understand that normally we only allow items to be brought in during visiting hours." Yes, I do understand that... and I understand that God can go before me and move the heart of the person in authority, who has the power to bend the rules. Thank you, Lord!