Ok

 "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27

The x-rays from today's appointment showed that Mary Graham's cast was not correcting the curve in her back, it is still very rigid and stiff, and at about 50 degrees. So, they took off the cast. These were not the results we were hoping for, but I am thankful that I can hold and enjoy her again for the next few months "cast free," at least until her hip surgery. Already, she is SO much happier without it on. She is scheduled to have hip surgery January 19th and will be in a cast for about 8 weeks after that. We hope that this will improve the quality of her hips. We could have done it sooner, but decided to take a few months off to enjoy the holidays.

We are now faced with some tough decisions about her treatment for her scoliosis. First we will go to our pulmonologist to see how her lungs are developing and then get his opinion on whether to put a growth rod on her ribs or fuse the 4-5 vertebrae on her spine that are curved. The lung growth and development is most important right now. We plan to research these options and seek other opinions too. Because of the difficulty of her type of congenital scoliosis, the progressiveness, and her stiff back, it will be hard to ever have a straight back and grow normally.  But we remain hopeful in our God that can move mountains.

The book Jesus Calling today said, "If you focus on the obstacle and trying to remove it, you will probably go off course....instead focus on Me, the Shepherd." Then, the verse above was the verse of the day on biblegateway. I read this verse while sitting in the waiting room at the orthopedist office today for Mary Graham's follow up appointment and I knew......God prepared my heart then for what we were going to hear. This was one of the first verses I read when this journey with our then 8 week old baby began. Then, I thought it to mean, wait for test results....wait for healing...wait for appointments...wait for surgeries....wait for peace. Now, it still means those things but also it means much, much more....wait for Jesus. He really is the only thing worth waiting for and we hope to remain confident in His goodness. We have already seen it throughout this journey.

It was a very long day yesterday, a lot more to process and comprehend about MG's future. Honestly, I had not really known what to pray at that point. But later in the night, when I had some time to process my thoughts. The only word that I could really speak to God was "ok." Acceptance. No matter what. This is hard. But we will strive to just accept what God has laid before us and move forward. I am truly just focusing on the present. The future is where the fear lies, but the "dailyness" is much easier to tackle, because of the grace given.....daily grace. When I truly am focusing on Him and his light, this world and all of Mary Graham's issues seem to grow dim. These words were on my mind all day...

Turn your Eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

There is much to be thankful for....please continue to pray for wisdom with decisions, her growth, upcoming surgeries and for our focus to remain in Him alone.
Thank you again for coming along in this ever-changing journey, as I know your lives are very full as well. We are always grateful for those of you praying for us and Mary Graham.