Here is an update on Josiah as of Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 9:45 PM.

What an incredible day we have had so far!  Josiah does not rest very well at night, so we just never know what to expect out of him during the day.  He generally has slept a lot during the day, but today he was very alert and got a lot accomplished!

I have some exciting news! I will be able to take off 4 weeks from work!  This has been made possible because some of my co-workers at Best Buy (where I work, if you did not know) have gifted me a month of their vacation pay. Words cannot even begin to describe how grateful my wife and I are for the generosity and love shown by the people at Best Buy.  This will allow me to be with Josiah through these very intense first weeks.

Here are some highlights from the day:

• I spent the night again at the hospital with Josiah, and in the middle of the night he started singing songs like Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone and Say, Say.  I find it amazing that though that is my weak time, Josiah is strong and sings songs of worship that encourage me.
• He woke up this morning to a great breakfast, which he ate most of.  He has had quite the appetite and seems to almost always be hungry!
• He also had physical therapy today, and was able to not only get out of bed, but with assistance, he walked out of his room and to a window in the hallway!  After that, he sat in a chair for about an hour and did just great.  These sound like such little things, but a week ago he was still fighting for his life!  God has been so good to us to bring him back this far so quick, though Josiah does have quite a journey yet!
• He also had his speech therapy today, and did a whole series of questions.  He did really well on those, and actually made it very comical as his sense of humor has been surfacing more and more.
• He is able to move his body much better today.  Seeing him sit himself up in the bed today was just awesome!
• We also got some encouraging news today from the rehab center that we would like to see him go to.  It looks like he may be able to get in.  One drawback to this is the location is in Grand Rapids.  Mary Free Bed is a highly recommended facility, and I feel it gives Josiah the greatest chance for a full and speedy recovery.  It is an intensive program, so visitors are basically not allowed most of the time, but he will have great care for the type of injury he has.
• As I am typing this up, he is in occupational therapy and put his own socks on today. Again, I know this all sounds so routine, but HE PUT HIS OWN SOCKS ON!

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 bring peace from the things that irritate him.
• Pray that he will respond well to his rehab.  He had some great sessions today which showed us that his strength is returning and that he will be able to
• 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 Dr.s 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.
• Continue to pray for my other kids.  Pray that they will have understanding and patience as we deal with Josiah. They have done so good with all of this so far! Also, pray for his older sister Jordan that she would be comforted as she is over 900 miles or so away.
• 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 get rest as fatigue is setting in a bit.  If we end up taking Josiah to Grand Rapids, I will go with him (made possible because of the gifting I mentioned earlier) and Jennifer will stay here with the kids.
• Pray that we can minister to other hurting people that are up here as well. This is a place that is filled with very high highs and very low lows. It is a place that the love of God needs to be shined!

Ps. 66:16-20

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.

17 I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.

18 If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;

19 but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.

20 Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!