Here is an update on Josiah as of 7:30 PM on Friday night.  Once again, we would like to thank you for the outpouring of kindness and love that you have shown us.  It is amazing to know that God has placed each and every one of you in our lives for such a time as this.  So, here is where we are at today:

• The day started early for Josiah as they did another CT scan of his brain.  The bruise that he has on his brain did get a little larger, but not so much that it has caused any concern.  Again, the neurosurgeon says that as of now, there will be no need for any surgery.  This is a huge answer to prayer!
• Because there was no significant increase in the bruise size, they were able to start weaning him off of the ventilator.  This is a slow process, but he is responding pretty well.  They will need to reduce the level of sedation that he is under starting tomorrow to continue the process.  This is the first step to getting everything out of his mouth/chest so that they can begin to wake him up.
• After he wakes up, they will have rehab consultants come in to assess him and give a plan for his recovery.  I am really looking forward to this part, but it is a ways off as of now.

Some great things happened today:

• He was much more active today.  He moved around a lot more.  This is a very good sign.
• The ophthalmologist visited Josiah today to take a look at his eyes, Of special concern was the right eye because the right eye socket has a fracture.  The Dr. said there was no apparent damage and that all looked good!
• During one of the times when he was active, I asked Josiah to squeeze my hand… and he did!  He actually did this two different times.  This made my day!  My boy is in there!  I cannot wait to talk with him and not just to him! (Edit: he just did this for the third time as I was posting this!)

Some things to pray for over the next 24 hours:

• Pray that the CT scan in the morning comes back with positive results.  This will be a key step in getting the breathing machine reduced/removed.
• Pray that Josiah takes over the breathing on his own.  He has responded so well in other areas.  He body is naturally taking over things that were being externally controlled by medicine.  This is a huge step!
• Pray that as he wakes up that confusion and irritation will be minimal, and instead that he will be filled with a peaceful and quiet spirit.  Many times a head trauma patient will be irrational and very irritated.
• Pray that we will be patient.  We want our boy back as he was, and as quickly as possible, but this takes time.  It is hard to sit here and watch him like this.  As a parent you want to make it all better, but we know that God is the only one capable of this.  This fact reminds me of a verse found in the book of Psalms:

Psalm 70:5  “I am poor and needy, but you, the Lord God, care about me. You are the one who saves me. Please hurry and help!”

Again, we thank you for all you have done.  We are grateful to God and His grace, power and love at a time like this.  It is amazing to see the body work as it restores and heals itself.  We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made!

As many of you may already know from facebook, our son Josiah was in a terrible car accident last night around 11:45PM.  He has suffered a brain injury, and the following is where we are at as of Thursday at 8:15PM.

We are so grateful for the calls, texts, notes, tweets and facebook posts throughout the day today.  I know we have not been able to respond to all of you, and for that I apologize.  It has been a very hectic, emotional day for us as you can imagine.  I want to give everyone an update for where Josiah is at as of Thursday evening.  I am doing my best to remember everything, but today is a huge blur.

• First off, the next 12-18 hours are very important for him.  As the Dr. put it, we are really still taking this hour by hour.  After a few things tomorrow morning, we can start to talk 6 hours at a time, and so forth.
• He was upgraded from critical condition to serious condition this afternoon. This is an answer to prayer in itself.  It does not mean that he is out of the woods, as mentioned above.
• He has a bruise on his brain, a fractured skull and an orbital fracture (eye socket basically).  His Dr.s told us that as of now, there is no surgery needed.  Again, another huge answer to prayer!  Again, this could still change.  The important thing we are looking for is that the bruise does not get any better.
• If everything remains the same as they look at the new CT scan in the morning, then they will take out the breathing tube and check for ligament damage around his neck.  As long as he has none, they will then begin to wake him up and see how he does.  From there, we see what he will need as far as therapy is concerned. Still a very long road ahead for him.
• He has been responsive at times, including trying to beat up his nurse as she was changing bandages.  He squeezed her hand when asked, and then when she tried to take tape off of him, he hit her.  Then she tried again and he brought up his leg and kicked her. Believe it or not, that was a good sign!

There are a few of many positive signs that have been shared with us today.  We continue to believe that God has a great plan for Josiah, and that this is but a small part of what God has in store for him.

The love we have felt from our friends and family all over the world has been a huge lift to us today.  We hold to God’s Word in the book of Job regarding Josiah

Job 23:13-14 “But he alone is God, and who can oppose him? God does as he pleases, and he will do exactly what he intends with me (Josiah).”

PS – Give your kids a hug tonight.  NEVER take that for-granted.