January 6, 2006 - It's time to celebrate!

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 4:33 pm Post subject: 1/6 It's time to celebrate! Hello Everyone! Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to each of you! We have really been enjoying our time TOGETHER for the holidays this year. We now have 12 hours per day nursing care for Erik and all of his therapies set up at home. This keeps us from having to get him out of the house and from exposing him to sickness in the therapy offices. Erik is doing really well. He gave us a smile for Christmas this year! It was wonderful! We can tell he is progressing because he simply looks happy these days. His facial expressions are more relaxed and happy looking. He also is getting stronger and is bearing weight on his legs and holding his head better. PRAISE GOD! Margot and Brigitte are happy that the school year is passing quickly and they are looking for snow! Nick is also really interested in seeing snow this year so our prayers are filled with "snow requests". Margot, Brigitte and Nick went to PA for a week over Christmas break to visit their Grandfather's family (Wendy's family) and went sled riding, played on the ice on the river, and made snowmen. They had a great time! We sat thinking the other night about this time last year. WOW - what a year of blessings the Lord gave us! Never would we have guessed (if asked last year at this time) what He had in store for us! We never knew we would be asked to take something so sacred to us - our child - and place him in the hands of physicians covered with faith and prayers of healing and caused to get on our knees and pray for God's mercy and grace! As if this was not enough, we were amazed that God went beyond our request and restored Erik and continues to bless our family in ways we could never have imagined. We never would have imagined that our family would be separated for weeks at a time allowing the bonds between us to grow stronger and our love for one another greater than ever before. We never imagined that we would be given the opportunity to see God's love in such an intimate and sincere way and that we would be put in contact with so many people through this journey. Some helped us and some we helped through tough times. What we know is that, through it all, God held each of us in a special way and helped us through each and every struggle. What a wonderful feeling that is! Please continue to pray for our family as we continue our journey through this. Specifically: - for the infection to be cleared from Erik's body; - that Erik will continue to make progress beyond our expectations; - for our family to continue to grow closer to each other and to God; and - that others will be brought to God through our experiences. We are praying for God to create a new world for us where Erik is completely restored and we will think back and say to each other, "Did we really go through all of that? Was Erik really sick?". We know in our hearts that God has healed Erik and that it is only a matter of time for this to manifest in him. This is truly a time of celebration for us and we are thankful that we have you to share this with. Happy New Year to you and your families! Erik's Family "O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I'll bless His holy name! O my soul, bless GOD, don't forget a single blessing! He forgives your sins - every one. He heals your diseases - every one. He redeems you from hell - saves your life! He crowns you with love and mercy - a paradise crown. He wraps you in goodness - beauty eternal. He renews your youth - you're always young in His presence." Psalms 103:1-5 NikkiGuest Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:40 pm Post subject: Hi there Medlin Family ~ My sister-in-law Margie Gronlund (Kimberly's mom) mentioned your situation to me. They met you in Stanford, CA. God's Blessings to you and your family! Great hopes for 2006 for both of our families! Take Care! Nikki Binder