Quick Update

There are Christmas cards to write, clean sheets to go on a bed, gifts to be wrapped, and kids to be picked up from school soon; but I wanted to update the friends and family who have been so faithful in prayer for our family, especially for Caleb.

Last Friday, Caleb and I went to the hospital for him to receive an ear tube in his left ear (the ear that had undergone surgery already).  The new eardrum had unfortunately not stood up well to the poor pressure from Caleb's Eustachian tubes and was already retracting into his inner ear.  To equalize this pressure, the surgeon wanted to place an ear tube.  This is a quick, easy surgery that takes about 10 minutes.  Unless, you're Caleb.

The surgeon came out of the operating room after 20 minutes and said that Caleb was not hearing well due to a build up of scar tissue in his ear.  The scar tissue also prevented him from inserting the tube in the ear drum to equalize the pressure.  The way forward?  Another identical surgery to the one he went through in September. Plus, two weeks of recovery time after the surgery is redone to remove some of the scar tissue and give the eardrum room to respond to sound.

Caleb was devastated when I told him and we are not excited about this either, but we're trusting the Lord and hoping that something redemptively beautiful will come of this harder road we are on.  On Wednesday, the surgeon will make a plan with Caleb and me as to how we go forward.  For starters, he said that Caleb has a lot of inflammation in the ear that needs to go down before a future surgery so we're looking at 2 months without surgery to begin with.

With eternity in mind but a 10 year old's heart before me, I'm selfishly hoping that we can get the left ear's surgery done well before baseball season and that we can find some way to allow Caleb to swim this summer.  Regardless of whether or not this happens, would you pray that our responses (Dave's, mine, Caleb's) reflect the hope that we have in Jesus?  That, in light of eternity, the next year or so of treatment is but a breath.

In other family news, Ben continues to plug away at his vision therapy.  We now make weekly trips to Fort Wayne Monday evenings for a meeting with his therapist to go over the week's exercises and learn how to do the next week's exercises.  Every morning Ben does 20 minutes of infant reflex, vision focus, and depth perception exercises before even leaving for school.  He has had SUCH a good attitude, and I'm grateful for the discipline of spending this one-on-one time with my son both daily and weekly.

In all these things, we feel pressed but not crushed, and I know that is due in large part to the prayers of God's people for strength, grace, and joy in each new day.  We love you!  And thanks for taking time the time to read and remember us.  It means so much!