Invisible

"Many of our prayers are directed toward the quick and easy solution. Long-suffering is sometimes the only means by which the greater glory of God will be served, and this is, for the moment, invisible. We must persist in faith. God has a splendid purpose. Believe in order to see it." ~Elisabeth Elliot

I love this quote above and it seems to describe our circumstances with MG....one minute I look at her and see how much of a struggle it is for her to just sit or stand up and the next minute I see how far she has come in her little lifetime. Persisting in faith is hard when things seem to be moving in slow motion....but thankfully it's not on my own and I believe in Him and His plan. One day it will all be more clear, less invisible. Most days God gives me such peace about her and her life ahead and then other times, even when she's doing so well, I'm thankful, but also worried about what's just around the corner for her. God is meeting me in these places. And even in the midst of these places, life goes on and we have had so much joy after the darker days, like when she was sick at Children's. School is off to a great start for Loftin and Lucy and we were able to go to the beach a couple weeks ago. Things have been so normal lately and it's been wonderful.

Right now MG is just full of personality, talking tons and feeling really good these days. And her appetite has improved. This is a huge praise. I think she must have heard the doctors discussing putting in a feeding tube and decided it was time to eat more :) Her weight has leveled off on the charts and they are still concerned. She needs to grow and be strong, especially her bones and with the rods in her body and to make better progress-everything is connected. We continue to pray that she keeps eating and growing. We do not want a feeding tube that involves more surgeries, more issues. She is also enjoying the Bell Center where she goes for therapy, this was a rough start, she cried all the time. But now she seems to love it. Also, she's gone to Mother's Day Out some so that has been a huge blessing for me. Her teachers are so sweet and loving to her and accommodating to her needs. She seems to be wanting to move more, can stand a little longer and take a tiny step with her left foot if I'm supporting her. Our PT is in the process of assessing her to see if she could be ready for a gait trainer, this is a walker with a seat for added support. I know she would love to be able to move and explore on her own. Every child with MD is different....we pray that she continues to progress and gain strength.

So what's next? Right now she is still on the mega antibiotics for her infection. She may come off of them just before we go up for her surgery. Please pray for no infection to return or resurface. We are going to CHOP in Philly for her next expansion surgery November 13th, it's just around the corner. This is where is gets kind of complicated, it seems like we may not have seen the end of the infection. Hopefully, that will be all it is, an expansion surgery. Back in July, it was so quick and easy. However, once she is in surgery they may discover the infection and it could result in rod removal, a wash out of the infection, more antibiotics, etc. But we are praying that the antibiotics have knocked out this infection for good and that her broken ribs have healed well. Please pray for a successful surgery, wisdom for Dr. Campbell and for God to go before us and give us peace no matter what direction this takes.

Thank you for your faithfulness to pray and love our family and we pray that God is glorified through it all.