So thankful for a nice slow morning with cuddles and cookies on the couch….

…while the guys are out hunting and prayerfully will be filling our freezer with some meat! Hunting means the holidays are upon us!

We officially kicked off the holiday season this week with our annual Operation Christmas Child shoebox shopping!! It is the way we start the holidays every year and a tradition the kids love!

We would appreciate prayer for some super dear friends who are in China to bring home their sweet eight year old daughter Lucy Joy! We are beside ourselves as we wait to see her in their arms!

Happy Saturday, everyone!!!

All of God’s grace….

in one tiny face.

It has been a challenging week with this little darling, but it makes us marvel in the grace that God gives us each. and. every. day.

You have come so far, Eliza Claire! Thank you, Lord, for this precious gift.

What. a. day!

Even though it was a bitterly cold 4 degrees (with a real feel of -1) (yes, that said negative one) this morning when we left for Madison, the roads were mostly dry, and our trip was uneventful. Praise, praise!!

We arrived at the hospital and found where we were supposed to be. Then we opened our lunch to eat before Eliza’s appointment. I bet we looked pretty funny as we all ate out of a huge tub of salad….but it was SO yummy! (Thanks, Addie Mae!!!)

The wait for our new doctor was not long. Eliza loved the squeaky chalkboard. The rest of us? Not so much in love with the squeaky chalkboard.

We learned today that Eliza has a Dermal Sinus Tract. GOD IS SO GOOD!! This is a very, very slight “hallmark” of spina bifida, and the surgeon said it is so slight that we would not even find info about it on the spina bifida association website!! (I looked. There is info there, but only one sentence and it was hard to find.) This also means that Eliza never has had surgery on her back before. Her “scar” is not really a scar, but it is the way her skin closed in that area. WOW!

Praise, Praise, Praise!! Yes, Eliza still needs surgery to untether her cord, but because she has this “type” of spina bifida, she will have a less than 5% chance of her cord retethering in her lifetime!!!

I am now working on phone calls to get insurance approval and to schedule a pre-op physical, a urodynamics study, and surgery for Eliza. Our surgeon told us that she can easily get this all in by the end of the year!! PRAISE!!! Thank you for your prayers!!

As we got back into the van to come home, with a breath full of emotion and tears I asked Blake, “How could we ever possibly give the Lord enough praise?!” He answered, “By bringing another one home. By obeying the Lord, and bringing another one home.”

YES.

Mr. Tate, we are coming for you. If we left tomorrow, it would not be soon enough. We are so blessed. We are so blessed!

We have had a delightful Sunday! We made it to church, even though our farm nor the roads off this ridge had been plowed yet this morning. After a quick lunch of leftovers, the guys sighted in their guns, and us girls prepared some food for the busy week ahead. We played some rowdy games, and then the boys found some model clay that I had picked up not too long ago! Was so excited to see this when I was looking for something else shopping that day – because it is wheat free! Made for busy little hands while Addie and I made dinner.

We would appreciate prayers for our day tomorrow. Blake, Eliza and I will be heading to UW Madison Children’s Hospital to meet Eliza’s pediatric neurosurgeon and to schedule Eliza’s surgery. Please pray with us!

*We are asking the Lord’s favor in expediting this surgery, as our out-of-pocket expenses for our insurance have been met for this year and the surgery will be covered 100%. If we cannot get it done before December 31st, it will be another $4500 out-of-pocket right away.

*For travel mercies to and from Madison, which is about 2 1/2 hours away from the farm.

*For a good connection with this surgeon, as we need to develop good relationships with those who care for Eliza’s health (and soon Tate’s health too).

Thank you for your prayers!!