9/1 update

Who couldn't use a helper like this? Luke is very aware of the importance of a good pacifier and is great at giving Carissa hers...when he isn't stealing it for himself.

This is Carissa Monday night having a little floor time after an evening nap. I would be happy too if I had just had an evening nap.

We had a doctor's appointment Monday with the Genetics department. Nothing of huge consequence was found out but we did learn that Carissa is behind in muscle tone development and is basically below all the trend lines (even the 5% one) on size. The doctor said that she likely is also behind in other areas including her immune system and that we should proceed with a lot of caution for a while about taking her into public and exposing her to other people, especially other children. That was a little...ok, a lot...disappointing since we had taken her to church for the first time Sunday and had planned on taking her to Patillo this weekend for the family reunion and Uncle Junior and Aunt Fran's 50th Anniversary Celebration. Sometimes God gives us these reminders that we are on His schedule and not the reverse. We were just talking Sunday during Bible study about Isaiah 55: 8 that says:"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.We talked about how that is pretty cool to quote but not quite as cool when God has to remind us that even though we are created in His image that we are not Him and don't always know best and darn sure don't always do best. How cool is it that when we come face to face with the fact that our righteousness is as filthy rags and all our accomplishments are but dung (Paul's words, not mine) that we can rest on the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus that brings us back into a relationship with the Almighty God if we just accept it? Real cool!
We have another hematologist appointment on Thursday and then a follow up visit with the pulmonologist on Tuesday. We are praying for a great visit at the hematologist on Thursday even though they will be taking more blood than usual because they will be sending it off for tests at Stanford Medical (hopefully more reliable than Stanford Financial!), and then an uneventful pulmonologist appointment next Tuesday, and then perhaps a break for a couple of weeks from doctor visits. Please join us in that prayer.

• Please thank God for His amazing healing of Carissa, for the amazing progress He has brought her through, and for the reminder this week that our hope is in Him, not just time or doctor's abilities.



• Please pray that Carissa will continue to grow and mature and that her muscle tone, immune system, and other development will continue to progress and to even start catching up with her age.



• Please pray that Carissa will continue to produce and manage all the different blood componenets and that that will be revealed in the cbc on Thursday.



• Please pray that God will continue to get the glory as Carissa's miraculous story is told, and please take advantage of opportunities to do that. We hope every time her story is told that God's grace and mercy and healing power are presented as the framework of her odds-defying progress.

Thank you for praying and please take the challenge of this update as a reminder to pray daily for Carissa,

Terry