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.”