Here is an update on Josiah as of Saturday, December 18:

Today was a day Josiah and I had been looking forward to all week!  Jennifer got to come and visit today! She got here early enough to be able to see him go through all of his rehab sessions.  He did a great job as he showed off for his mother today!

Here are some highlights of the day:

• Though it is the weekend, there is no rest for those here in Mary Free Bed.  They have sessions scheduled every day of the week, so Josiah got his workout in.
• Josiah started doing his laps without holding on to the handrails today.  The therapist says that likely by the end of next week he will be able to walk on his own!
• Josiah did a great job on some tests that the speech therapist (really more of a “thinking therapist”) gave him today.  There are some things that he has to relearn, but that all will come with time.
• He had a visit today from an eye doctor and had a full blown eye exam.  The doctor said that his eyes can see fine on their own, but the head injury has made it difficult to work together. It will take some time, but the doctor says all should return to normal.
• The boy has been a big show off for his mother today.  He has made us laugh at nearly everything he has done, whether it is in therapy or down in the cafeteria.

Here are some specific things to remember in prayer for Josiah and our family:

• We are still waiting to hear when he will have the test on the nerves on the right side of his face.  Hopefully it will take place in the next day or two.  We are praying that the nerves will heal on their own, and that there will be no need for surgery.
• Jennifer will be traveling back in the morning.  Please pray she has a safe trip.
• We have decided to have Christmas up here in Grand Rapids.  It is the best for Josiah, and will allow the family the most time together during the holiday.  I certainly will enjoy having everyone, including Daniel, Jordan and my grandbaby here for the holiday.  With that in mind, we still have a few details left to finish up.  Pray that Daniel and Jordan as they travel.  And pray we find some time to finish getting the Christmas shopping done.
• Pray that we can live out Matthew 5:14-16 and shine our lights before men here at the hospital.  We would have never chosen this path for us, but God has, and we certainly trust in His sovereignty.

By the way, Josiah wanted to to thank everyone for the prayers and support.  He loves you all very much, and would like for you to continue praying for him as he heals.

Psalm 16:7-8 “I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

Here is an update on Josiah as of Friday evening at 8:00 PM:

We had an early visit from an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor to look at Josiah’s right side of his face.  They are going to schedule a special test that looks at and compares the nerve activity on both sides and will let us know if there is any surgery needed.  Obviously we hope that there is no surgery needed, but we are glad they are doing everything they can to treat him.

Here are some highlights from the day:

• Today Josiah has more strength and stamina than he has had yet.  I can tell each time I help him move into his chair or into the bed that his strength and balance are returning.
• He normally would do one lap and rest in his chair during his physical therapy.  Today, he did up to four laps at a time and kept his left foot up as he walked.
• This kid will NOT stop eating!
• We had a great time visiting with some folks from Cornerstone Church.  It is such a blessing to get to meet people of God that have been praying for you.
• We had a special Christmas dinner in the cafeteria tonight.  Josiah really likes going down the cafeteria to eat, and responds very well to all the stimulation.
• We have enjoyed getting to know some more of the families that are here. They are all special in there own way and each has a story of God’s healing and grace.  We are praying for opportunity to let them know that they matter to God.

We would love it if you would remember these specific requests for our family:

• Pray that the left side of his body will continue to strengthen.  His left side is his dominate side, so getting that strength back will help him to be able to function much better.
• Pray for the testing and results of the nerve tests that will be run here in the next day or so.  We do not want him to have surgery if he does not have to, but we certainly want his healing to continue.
• Pray for our ability to share God’s love to the people we meet each day. We met another family that follows Christ and had a time of prayer tonight for Josiah and their daughter.  It has been a sweet time getting to know them.
• We are supposed to get some snow, so pray Jennifer gets here tomorrow safely.  She will only be able to come for one day, but both Josiah and I are grateful for that and will be thrilled to see her.
• We are still praying about what to do for Christmas, but I think Jennifer and I are both leaning on staying up here in Grand Rapids, as it will be less stressful for everyone.

Psalm 145:1-3 “I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”

Here is an update as of Thursday, December 16th at 8:00 PM:

Another great day of work by Josiah! I have been impressed by my sons work ethic here at the hospital. He has such a good attitude with his therapists and then with me in the evenings as we continue to work his body out. He pushes himself, even when he does not really want to. I am thankful that he has such a strong spirit!

Here are the highlights from the day:
• His walking continues to improve. The therapists even let go of all but the belt around his chest so that he takes control of his balance. He is doing so well! If you did not see the video from last nights’ post, take a look at it here.
• He devours his food! I never knew a kid could put so much food away! I order a little more on his tray for me, and he even takes that away from me! He had 2700 calories yesterday!
• Tonight, he got to go down to the cafeteria to eat a meal. He responded very well to all the stimulation. We are not sure as of yet how long he will be here, but if he continues to make such good progress, they are talking about him getting a pass to come home overnight for Christmas. That would be great!
• They had therapy dogs in the unit tonight. It was so cool to see the eyes of all the children light up as they interacted with these animals. There are some really sad stories of why people are up here, and to see their eyes light up and see smiles on their face is so nice!
• Josiah did get a little sleeping pill last night to help him rest well. And boy did he! I have not seen him so relaxed since his accident!
• Josiah is also amazed at the number of people that have emailed, called, sent letters and posted on facebook and my blog about him. He is so encouraged, and really emotional about the love that everyone has shown to him and to our family at this time. We do not take that for granted.

Here are some specific things you can remember in prayer for us:
• Pray for that left side. His strength is coming back quickly each day!
• Pray for the opportunity to encourage and love on people while we are up here. Josiah has been a source of joy for many families and the medical staff here on the unit. His spirit has brought a lot of laughter as he walks around the floor.
• Pray for the swelling on the right side of his face. As it goes down, we are praying to see the nerves come back to life.
• Pray for our family as we are apart. Jen and the kids have a bug going around, and that may keep her from coming to visit this weekend. A disappointment, yes, but we do not need Josiah sick in bed for two days!
• Pray that the right decision is made about him coming home for Christmas. It would be great, but it also makes me a bit nervous.

Psalm 116:1-7

“I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “Lord, save me!” The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.”

Here is an update on Josiah as of Wednesday, December 15th at 8:45 PM.

I am continually amazed… and please, do not take that as a phrase that I am just throwing out there… I am amazed at the progress that I see in our son from morning until evening each and every day that we are here.  I really do feel as if Josiah is a walking miracle.  I especially can see that as I meet families that are up here that have children that have been here for 4 months already, or another family whose 3 year old daughter was on an accident on the same day as Josiah (December 1st) and yet cannot walk. “When I’m found in the desert place Though I walk through the wilderness Blessed Be Your name.”  I would never have wished this upon my son, and I wish I could have been the one in the accident and facing this, but ultimately, God is in control, He is sovereign and He has a great plan and purpose for Josiah and my family. I am confident of that.

Here are some highlights from the day:

• He started with speech therapy today, and seems to be doing very well with it.  The speech therapy is not really teaching him how to talk.  He has no problems with that.  It does help him to relearn the thinking process and fill in the gaps that he has due to his accident.

• Occupational therapy then came in a supervised him getting himself ready for the day.  He pretty much did it all on his own. In fact, he even tied his own shoes today!

• Physical therapy came in and gave him a special wheel chair today that he hates because he has to use his left arm to crank it to make it move.  This will help continue to strengthen his left arm.  I did see a HUGE increase in strength on his left side today.  In fact, there was a big difference in his strength just from this morning until tonight.

• His therapies just absolutely wear him out!  That is a good thing.  He wants to nap when he has a break, and it puts him in bed early.  He has had some pretty restless nights, so tonight they actually gave him something to help him rest
• Lastly, I just wanted to share this video with you:

Please continue to remember Josiah in your prayers.  Though he is making great progress, I believe it is because people are praying.  It is needed as much right now as day one.

Here are some specific requests that we have as of right now:

• Pray that his left side continues to gain strength.  He is doing so well, and I would expect it to continue, but I do not want to take that for granted.

• Continue to pray for the swelling in the right side of his face to go down so that the nerve that is being pinched will heal and he gets that side of the face working again.

• Pray for his attitude.  That it would remain strong and determined.  He does not like being away from home, and especially his mother, but he knows that he is where he needs to be.

• Pray for our family that we would remain strong during this time.  It is taxing to be here 24/7, but I would have it no other way.  I still have 2 weeks off of work that I can spend here to make sure he gets what he needs, but it does get overwhelming at times.

• Pray that we can minister and encourage some of these hurting families while we are up here. Our faith gives us great strength during this time, and I want to be able to pass that on to others here.

Psalm 77:11-14 “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.  I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”  Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God?  You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.”

Here is an update on Josiah as of Tuesday, December 14^th at 7:30 PM

What an incredible first day of rehab here at the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital! The day started at about 8:00AM with breakfast, and then they worked Josiah pretty good today!  Actually, they wore him out, so much so that he is crashed here at 7PM!  Now, let’s pray for a good nights sleep!

Here are some highlights of the day:

• Today he became mobile!  He got a wheelchair to get around in and he just took right off pulling himself around in it by his feet!  He thinks he is pretty hot stuff now!
• He had a full day of therapy, including speech, physical and occupational therapies.  He did everything from shower and dress himself, to making verbal association lists, to walking around the floor using a bit of help from a handrail and the therapist.  I was really proud of my boy and how hard he worked!
• He already has the staff up here wrapped around his little finger!  He is such a comic and just cracks people up as he walks around the floor.
• The motion in his right eye has increased.  He still has the partial paralysis on the right side of his face from his fracture.
• The coffee is not half bad here, and they have hot water available for my St.Arbucks VIA coffee!  Though I am running out of that now that I found the hot water!
• As a reminder, you can send Josiah and email by going here and following the directions.  I know he would love hear from you all!

Here are some specific and very important things to remember in prayer for Josiah and our family:

• Please pray that he responds well to this new schedule. He seems to really be looking forward to it!
• His confusion and irritation have been very little the last few days.  Pray that he is able to remain like this.
• He does have some emotional times during the day about being separated from his mom, his siblings and his girlfriend.  Please pray that he can experience peace about his condition and situation.
• Michigan Medicaid is his health coverage. With my job loss at the beginning of the year also came the loss of my insurance.  When we got here, the first thing we did is see if they qualified, and they did.  They are giving us issues right now, so please pray that it gets sorted quickly and completely.  This is obviously not as important as his life, but the financial concerns do weigh on me.  Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids gave us some very encouraging news today.  We are not getting the cart before the horse, but we may find out tomorrow how this will all be handled.
• The doctors are still looking at the right side of his face that is not totally doing everything quite right; like raising eyebrows and such. They are leaning towards as a pinched nerve, which will heal as the swelling in his face/head goes down.  Please pray that there will be healing in that area of his face.
• Pray for our family, as we are apart.  Jennifer will visit as she can, but she needs to be at home most of the time for the kids. Pray that the kids will have understanding at this time.
• Pray for Jennifer and I to have patience.  We know God is in control, we count on that, but we want to see him healed!  Also, pray for strength, endurance and the ability to rest, as fatigue is a great enemy right now.
• Pray that God’s Kingdom work will be accomplished through is during this time.  God know exactly where we are headed and what the outcome will be.  We count on that!

Ps 61:1-3 “Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge…”

Here is an update on Josiah as of Monday, December 13, 2010 at 5:15 PM.

Kind of a light day today since it was a travel day.  We left this morning at about 11:30 after a full morning.  He was able to actually get a real shower and put on some real clothes.  He loved this very much.  He had been asking for a shower for many days now.  And the kid is still eating like food will run out tomorrow!

Here are some of the highlights from the day:

• He had a hearing test this morning.  His right eardrum burst in the accident, and they were concerned that he had no hearing at all in that ear.  I am glad to report that he is able to hear out of that ear!  He has a little bit of hearing loss right now, but the Dr. thinks that the hearing will come back after some time
• He was very nervous about the ambulance ride to Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital. He did not want to be in the vehicle at all, let alone on the bad roads.
• He totally loves his new hospital and room.  He is very excited about being here and getting better.  When I walked in the place, I had this overwhelming sense that this is exactly where he belongs. I believe it was God reassuring me that things were going to be fine.
• I found out that there is a coffee maker right down the hall from our new room.  That may not seem to big a deal to you, but for me… well, it is a BIG deal!
• You can send Josiah and email by going here and following the directions.  I know he would love hear from you all!

Here are some specific and very important things to remember in prayer for Josiah and our family:

• He starts an intense rehab schedule tomorrow.  Please pray that he responds well to this new schedule. He seems to really be looking forward to it!
• His confusion and irritation have been very little the last few days.  Pray that he is able to remain like this, even when he starts rehab.
• Michigan Medicaid is his health coverage. With my job loss at the beginning of the year also came the loss of my insurance.  When we got here, the first thing we did is see if they qualified, and they did.  They are giving us issues right now, so please pray that it gets sorted quickly and completely.  This is obviously not as important as his life, but the financial concerns do weigh on me.  Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids gave us some very encouraging news today.  We are not getting the cart before the horse, but we may find out tomorrow how this will all be handled.
• The doctors are still looking at the right side of his face that is not totally doing everything quite right; like raising eyebrows and such. They are leaning towards as a pinched nerve, which will heal as the swelling in his face/head goes down.  Please pray that there will be healing in that area of his face.
• Pray for our family as we are apart.  Jennifer will visit as she can, but she needs to be at home most of the time for the kids. Pray that the kids will be understanding at this time.
• Pray for Jennifer and I to have patience.  We know God is in control, we count on that, but we want to see him healed!  Also, pray for strength, endurance and the ability to rest as fatigue is a great enemy right now.
• Pray that God’s Kingdom work will be accomplished through is during this time.  God know exactly where we are headed and what the outcome will be.  We count on that!

Ps 59:16-17

“But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.”

Here is an update on Josiah as of Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 8:15 PM.

Today was a day of rest and goodbyes for Josiah.  He was able to see a few people to say goodbye before he goes to Grand Rapids in the morning.  He took all of the goodbyes very well, except for his mother.  He was pretty sad to see her go, but was relieved to know that she would be here taking care of his siblings and that she would be visiting him.  He has had a pretty restful day as well since we did not have any therapy other than what we have done with him.  We walked him and sat him up to talk with his visitors and he just seemed to really enjoy the day.

Here are some brief highlights from the day:

• He slept most of the night.  Jennifer stayed with him, and before he went to sleep they must have had some party up here on the floor from what I saw in the videos she sent me!  They were hilarious!  He is such a comedian right now!  She enjoyed every minute of it.  In fact, here is what she posted about it on her facebook page:

“Josiah again had his best night yet. Beings its the weekend he doesn’t have therapy so I think getting to rest from the work of that, and no visitors he got to rest really good. We had a WONDERFUL night together last night. When Jason left Siah said, “Mom we are gonna party!” We listened to Christmas music, he drummed with his drum sticks to the songs a bit, we talked about the future, and the fact that HE HAS ONE!! PTL! The nurses took him for a walk and ride around the floor. I got great video coverage!!! He had the whole floor in stitches. He looked in one persons room and said, “Oh my! there’s someone almost dead like me!” I didn’t realize this boy was sooo funny. (Something what we stop and take the time to notice & appreciate when we have walked so close to deaths door for one of our kids. GULP!) By the time I tucked him in he thanked me for a fun night. And that it was. Pray for me when I tell my boys goodbye tonight or in the morning. Hard to let him go yet I have a peace about it that I cant even explain. Excited to visit him in a few days or next weekend and see his progress.”

• I already have walked with him tonight and experienced some of this hilarity myself.  It is SO good to see my boy having fun.
• We just a real good talk about rehab.  He expressed some fear about it, but then spoke right up and said that he just knew he was going to get better and this was the best place to go.  He is being so strong!

Here are some specific and very important things to remember in prayer for Josiah and our family:

• Pray for our trip tomorrow.  The roads are terrible up here, and it is only suppose to get worse.  If it is to bad I would rather put it off another day.
• His confusion and irritation have been very little the last few days.  Pray that he is able to remain like this, even when he starts rehab.
• Michigan Medicaid is his health coverage. With my job loss at the beginning of the year also came the loss of my insurance.  When we got here, the first thing we did is see if they qualified, and they did.  They are giving us issues right now, so please pray that it gets sorted quickly and completely.  This is obviously not as important as his life, but the financial concerns do weigh on me.  Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids gave us some very encouraging news today.  We are not getting the cart before the horse, but we may find out tomorrow how this will all be handled.
• The doctors are still looking at the right side of his face that is not totally doing everything quite right; like raising eyebrows and such. They are leaning towards as a pinched nerve, which will heal as the swelling in his face/head goes down.  Please pray that there will be healing in that area of his face.
• Pray for our family as we are apart.  Jennifer will visit as she can, but she needs to be here most of the time for the kids. Pray that the kids will be understanding at this time.
• Pray for Jennifer and I to have patience.  We know God is in control, we count on that, but we want to see him healed!  Also, pray for strength, endurance and the ability to rest as fatigue is a great enemy right now.
• Pray that God’s Kingdom work will be accomplished through is during this time.  God know exactly where we are headed and what the outcome will be.  We count on that!

Ps 57:7-11

“My heart, O God, is steadfast,my heart is steadfast;I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul!Awake, harp and lyre!I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;let your glory be over all the earth.”

Here is an update on Josiah as of Saturday, December 11, 2010 at 7:00 PM.

Josiah had one of the best nights of rest yet!  He fell asleep around 9:30 PM and woke up one time for about 20 minutes and then maybe woke of 3-4 times for about 5 minutes each max.  He slept until about 8 AM this morning! This made for a great day for him as well!  At our wishes, and for his best, we have requested that he have no visitors other than immediate family at this time.  He just gets too worked up and over stimulated with visitors coming after having his therapy.  Thank you for understanding.

Here are some highlights from the day:

• Today was a Saturday, and so there were no therapists on duty, so we did our own therapy. After he fed himself breakfast (which he again devoured!) we took a little walk (with assistance) and then we came back and sat in a chair for about an hour.  It must have wore him out, because he went back to sleep for another 3 hours or so.
• After his nap, he ate lunch (again feeding himself) and then he wanted to go for another walk.  He also sat it he chair a bit longer and we had several discussions about things. I really have not found much that he has not remembered about life before the accident. As far as his accident goes, there is not anything in great detail that he has been able to share as of yet.
• He got to see his siblings today, and he was really glad fort hat.  They had a sing-off in the room with him (he has really been singing a lot the last 2 days).  He remembers lyrics with no problem at all.
• He is really enjoying listening to music as well.  He fell asleep last night listening to it, and requested it several times today.
• In fact, as I was getting ready to post this, he is playing the “drums” on his hospital bed to music that he is listening to.  Amazing to see this progress!
• Overall, it seemed to be a much more calm day for him for which we are very thankful.

Here are some specific and very important things to remember in prayer for Josiah and our family:

• Please continue to pray that confusion and irritation will be minimal, and instead that he will keep that peaceful and quiet spirit.  His roughest time is during the night. Pray God gives us wisdom as we try and sort out the things that irritate him. We know that he is healing, but it is in these times that we are really at our weakest.  I hope that is not being overly transparent, but this does weigh on us and it hurts so bad to see him at these times.  We are told it gets better and we are counting on that!  In fact, the conversations we have been able to have with others parents of brain injured children (which God has brought to us through a mutual friend) have been very comforting.
• Michigan Medicaid is his health coverage. With my job loss at the beginning of the year also came the loss of my insurance.  When we got here, the first thing we did is see if they qualified, and they did.  They are giving us issues right now, so please pray that it gets sorted quickly and completely.  This is obviously not as important as his life, but the financial concerns do weigh on me.  Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids gave us some very encouraging news today.  We are not getting the cart before the horse, but we may find out tomorrow how this will all be handled.
• The doctors are still looking at the right side of his face that is not totally doing everything quite right; like raising eyebrows and such. They are leaning towards as a pinched nerve, which will heal as the swelling in his face/head goes down.  Please pray that there will be healing in that area of his face.
• Pray for our family as we are apart.  Jennifer will visit as she can, but she needs to be here most of the time for the kids. Pray that the kids will be understanding at this time.
• Pray for Jennifer and I to have patience.  We know God is in control, we count on that, but we want to see him healed!  Also, pray for strength, endurance and the ability to rest as fatigue is a great enemy right now.
• Pray that God’s Kingdom work will be accomplished through is during this time.  God know exactly where we are headed and what the outcome will be.  We count on that!

Ps 52:9 “For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people.  And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.”