I apologize for the silence on here on the blog as of late.  It was a whirlwind summer with  lots of mission and activity both for family and ministry.  But then fall came and it seemed the pace of life and ministry didn’t really slow down at all.  And I’m excited to announce that I will be leading a college team down to Nicaragua over the Christmas break and that the whole family (minus the little guy) will be joining the team!  If you’d like to stay connected with our journey, then you are in the right place right here!  If you’d like to know more about what we are doing here’s our nica letter 2015!

You know, appearances never tell the whole story or give a complete picture.  But how often do we find ourselves simply evaluating based on what we can see?

On this journey Cole has been on, everything is really looking pretty good on the outside.  His lift in his shoe was reduced.  His running and walking has improved.  For all practical purposes he can appear “normal” or even healed.  But then we remember, with Perthes Disease it’s not about the external but the internal… what lies beneath.

I was reminded of this taking Cole to get his x-ray just last week.  As the months have progressed since his last check-up, it’s easy to forget about the “underneath.”  He has enjoyed being a kid, and praise God, the disease hasn’t really slowed him down much as of late (although he was really bummed to be on the sidelines for flag football season, while his older brothers were actually getting to play football).  But all in all, we couldn’t be more excited about the progress he is making.  But seeing the x-ray reminded me that it’s not the outside, but the inside that matters.

So we will travel to Birmingham to see his doctor and have his x-ray read and get an update on how the healing is coming.  We know that the healing part of this disease can last 3-5 years.  We know that we will have another surgery ahead – at the minimum to remove the plate and screws from his hip.  We should find out more about what lies beneath and what lies ahead and his check-up.

So, we are praying that the progress we have seen on the outside will be matched by what has been going on internally in his hip.  But all in all, we are trusting in our amazing, healing God who has been so faithful – not just to Cole – but to our entire family in this journey we have been on.  And thank you… for standing with us and praying with us and for us on this journey.  We hope to update you again in a few days!