The reason this blog is called “His Pleasant Place” is because of Psalm 16: 5-6. It is our hearts’ desire that our home would be Ben/Ryan’s “pleasant place”.
Jonah's surgery to have his thyroid removed is done! Surgery took less time than expected- less than 3 hours. Calcium levels are in normal range post-surgery which is great news. Our only issue is dropping oxygen levels so Jonah is getting some O2 support since waking up. He is very sleepy and a bit uncomfortable, but we are hoping he perks up soon.
Thank you for all the prayers covering sweet Jonah today!
Ready to leave this morning
Pre-op prep
Chilling after getting "happy juice"
Jonah packed a tool box of toys for his hospital stay
Well, we should have known... Jonah's mid-April labs came back showing he still is hyPERthyroid. This means his May 7th surgery is still on. Nervous...
In a previous post, we talked about scheduling Jonah for surgery on May 7 to have his thyroid removed. This is because his Grave's disease or hyPERthyroidism can no longer be controlled by medication. And Jonah's body had not started to self-correct which is sometimes what happens after being on the medication. Jonah has been off the medication since January so his endocrinologist thought self-correcting would have happened by now. However, we should have known that Jonah never does anything the way the experts expect things to happen. As part of the surgical consult appointment in March, the surgeon had thyroid labs ran just to verify what Jonah's levels are before surgery. While Jonah's TSH is still low which is expected with hyPERthyroidism, his free T3 and T4 are in the normal range. Usually with hyPERthyroidism, the free T3 and T4 are high. This means there is a very good chance that Jonah is moving into the sub-clinical category of hyPERthyroidism and possibly on his way to being in remission. Which would mean no surgery! So in mid-April, we will rerun labs. If levels continue to be in the sub-clinical range to possibly even normal range, surgery can be cancelled! Yeah Jonah for possibly fixing this on his own- with a little help from the Lord, of course :) This would be great news! Sometimes quirkiness is exactly what works best! If Jonah's Grave's is in remission, there will still need to be monitoring done to make sure it stays that way. Also, there will be the question of Jonah's difficulty with focusing and staying on task: will this get better because the thyroid is functioning normally now? Of course, we are praying we see an improvement for Jonah in this area. And now some photos of the boys playing in the park on one of our beautiful spring days. I really notice an improvement in what they can do as far on the play equipment since the fall. They can now slide down the "Batman" pole and swing on the "George of the Jungle" zip line swing. These are things they were too scared of and not strong enough for last fall. So much fun for them-even though Ben doesn't look very happy in this 1st photo:
WHAT THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST MEANS:
Please READ the following to find out
WHAT EASTER MEANS TO ME:
I became a Christian when I was a sophomore in high school.
I grew up going to church and having the Bible read to me by my parents almost every day at the supper table. I always knew my parents had a personal relationship with the Lord because I would observe them praying and reading their Bibles during their quiet times. I also grew up watching my parents make their decisions based on their faith and what the Bible said. They treated others with love and respect and were always willing to serve and help others whenever help was needed. They always were grateful for the blessings from the Lord and willing to share and give of those blessing to others.
What prompted me to accept Jesus as my Savior as a sophomore in high school was the question being posed to me, "If you would die tonight, where would you go: heaven or hell?"
Not only did I realize that I was sinner, but I also realized that living a life captive to my sinful desires would not bring me an everlasting joy and peace. The things of this world are temporary and fleeting.
Only God's love and grace could make me whole and complete.
And there was nothing I could do on my own to make
myself right with the Lord.
Further, because of my sin, I would face eternity out of the
Lord's presence if I would die.
This was not something I wanted.
So I guess you could say that initially I became a Christian mostly for the reason of wanting the assurance of eternal life in heaven.
Over the years, however, the Lord has helped my faith become so much more than just an insurance policy for my death. My faith is now the guiding force in my life, it directs how I treat others, how I spend my time and money, and it guides and directs me in making decisions. My faith is a source of strength and comfort during difficult times, and helps me to always give thanks to the Lord for His blessings in my life, in good and bad times. My faith is what helps me have a second chance when I goof up and not make good choices (using the language we use with our boys). I can ask for forgiveness from my Lord Jesus, and He forgives me and helps me get back on my feet to try again. I try to study God's word every day and spend time in prayer. I try to use what I read in God's word and apply it to my life: how can I better serve the Lord using what I learned today from the Bible?
In other words, my belief in the Jesus as my Lord and Savior gives my life structure and purpose. I try to live each and every day for Him, to bring Him glory and honor.
Do I fail often? Yes.
Am I forgiven always? Yes.
Am I loved by Jesus no matter what? Yes.
Would I live my life any other way? No.
So Easter is the time of year where I really try to focus on what Jesus did for me by dying on the cross for my sins. How much love He showed me by taking the blame for my sins. And then to celebrate that my Lord is more powerful than death because He rose again and conquered the grave!
We took a trip down memory lane last night and watched old family videos. I am going to be very presumptuous and brag a bit here- we had really cute little kids! So even though the quality isn't that great, here are just a few clips of Jonah and then some videos of our three older kids when Lydia was a baby. Unfortunately, we do not have these treasures for Ben as a baby. I'm sure he would be have been just as cute!
With Stephen home for spring break, the boys want to play basketball with him.
I think our version of March madness is way better than the real thing!
Also, the boys participated in a basketball skills camp for 3 Saturday mornings this March called Little Rockets.
Jonah tried Little Rockets a few years ago, but we ended up chasing him back into the gym for most of the session. He had a hard time paying attention and doing what he was suppose to do.
This year, the boys did an amazing job!
1. They waited in line during the relay races
2. They ran the relay races in a straight line :)
3.They returned back to their line and waited until all their team members were done.
4. They followed directions at each of the 6 skill stations- Ben more than Jonah on this one: by station 5 and 6, Jonah spent more time laying on the gym floor looking at the ceiling :)
5. And, their skills were not that far off from their peers actually.
However, probably the best gauge of how good they were was the fact Andrew and I could just sit in the bleachers and watch them instead of be down on the floor helping them.
