Joy this Christmas

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, becuase when he has stood the test, he will recieve the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."
James 1:12

Since November 7th our family has experienced raw emotion in it's truest form. From utter despair to remarkable joy, we have experienced everything in between. We have been surprised by many things throughout this journey. We have been surprised by God's goodness, His provision, His peace and His unexplained joy.

Somewhere in the midst of this process, we had silently resigned to the reality that David may not be home for Christmas. In fact, it seemed most likely. I added to my list of very specific prayers that somehow, we could all be together on Christmas. When we transitioned to rehab I thought to myself, "ok...I can decorate the patio and we can at least have a half hour all together. Thanks Lord...this sounds better than I thought." Well, now the joke's on me! :) David is going to be released at 11 am on Christmas Eve. In addition, they graciously approved a "holiday pass" so we could celebrate Christmas with the Newkirks before they leave for Puerto Rico.

Before the festivities began last night, David reminded us how it was possible that we were all celebrating together. He wanted the focus to be shifted. Not on him, but on our God who is our only source of true comfort and joy. While we did have obvious reasons to be joyful, it was different. This year is different and our prayer is that it always will be. I'm not pretending that we're not hoping for 2010 to be uneventful :), but we want to be changed. Now that we have experienced this "joy", we don't ever want to go back.


These pictures tell the story of an entire family clinging to God's promises, even when we felt that we had no reason to hold on. Our dear friend said it beautifully; "I am proud of you for hanging onto Jesus...and I love Him so much for hanging onto you."

We have had our doubts, our fears and our anger. But, we have also had joy. This can only be explained by our Great Savior who sacrificed everything so that we may live! Let me tell you...we have a new understanding of what it mean's to truly live.

We know that our road of fear and anger is not over. At the same time, we rejoice that His mercies are never ceasing and that are joy is not over either! As we celebrate the birth of Christ this season, our hope and prayer is that everyone who has witnessed David's journey would recognize the awesome power of God.

As you watch the video at the end of this post, think about the power of God making a paralyzed man walk in 40 days!!





Dinner with the family! David set the menu...steak, fried shrimp and potatoes. :) We were all impressed with how much he took down! He's taking his 50 pound weight loss pretty seriously!!



Cruising with daddy! I had to get Zach's shirt when I saw it... "Big and Strong. Just like daddy!"





Happy boy with his daddy home! Having fun with the rest of the fam too! :)



David's eyes say it all! After 43 days in the hospital, the "real world" was a bit overwhelming. David handled it all so well. Once again, he impressed us all!



Within 1 week David went from full assistance on the parallel bars to this! Prepare yourself :)