Kennady Talks
In 2008, Kennady said her first official word and it was Spanish. It is a good thing she is surrounded at church with all those Spanish speakers!
My parents took her on a special trip to Sesame Street at the Erwin Center. They were on the first row and interacted with many different characters.
Teachers
We have been blessed with some incredible teachers in the Lockhart and Hays school districts. Check out this inspirational letter from one of Kennady’s teachers. She talks about the impact Kennady had on her day in and day out.
A Day With the Boys
The Easter weekend is such a blessing to our family. At the same time, it is a ton of work! We had one of our biggest weekends ever at the church. I (Robin) spent 4 hours cleaning the parking lot, and then of course, Sunday was a long day.
We spent Monday recharging our batteries with the boys. We find it very important to give them some special time just focusing on them and not having to share time with their sister. They carry a heavy load being with their sister. In fact, last week a little kid told Jude, “You’re sister is scary”. The little girl was around 3 years old. She didn’t know any better, but Jude had to carry the weight of that statement.
Monday, my wonderful mother took Kennady for the day and we spent it exploring creeks, tadpoles, flowers, rocky roads, waterfalls and an assortment of other adventures. Check out these pictures.
A Whole Lot of Ordinary
Almost everyday with Kennady is uneventful. Well, to us it is. It is normal. Ever once in a while, we get a ‘revelation’ of what life would be like without Kennady or with 3 ‘normal’ kids. Those revelations remind us briefly the challenge of daily care and mobility. However, even those revelations only last a few minutes and then we go back to the thought of “we are really blessed and could have it so much worse”.
It is when we see the difficulty we face and at the same time feel like it is normal and ordinary that we are refreshed with the truth that God’s grace is sufficient. When there is a ‘thorn in our side’ and God chooses to leave it there, scripture is accurate saying that His grace is enough. His grace is able to make impossible seem not only possible, but ordinary and normal.
Brokenness part 1 (it’s required)
The next 2 posts are parts we wrote for an upcoming book. We wanted you to get first dibs on it:
At the end of Erica’s pregnancy, we were at a point of brokenness. We had hopes that this would all go away even after the initial tests. We thought we would pray, believe, and get the results we wanted. However, after weeks of ‘no’ from God, we finally arrived at the breaking point. At this point, we finally realized our plans and God’s were very different. We came to the realization that we were in a race, a marathon not a sprint.
Now, many years into the race and as a senior pastor, I have come to grips with the fact that God allows everyone to sink to the breaking point. To some it comes early in life and to others, it comes much later. However, it is to our benefit spiritually and naturally to go through this breaking point. This is the point where you realize you cannot see victory on your own and you need the help of God to survive much less thrive.
Through our blog (book), we simply want tell the story of breaking, healing, restoration, and blessing. By sharing lessons we learned along the journey, we pray you are encouraged as you work through brokenness in your own life.
I see clearly now the reason for the path of our brokenness and why it was essential. Its essentiality was not for me, but for God’s kingdom to be established on the earth. His kingdom is not established in castles, temples, or government structures. The Kingdom of God is being established in the hearts of human beings. The writer of Corinthians says, read more…
Say Hello to My Little Friend
We love the Ross family. This is 6 year old Presley. Her parents started Upside of Down, a nonprofit that sends many kids with Downs Syndrome to camp each year. Check them out!
10 of the Biggest Choices We Have Made
Here are 10 of the biggest Decisions we have made along the way:
- Go through the with pregnancy and birth – the doctor gave us the option to end the life of our daughter 30 weeks into pregnancy. We would have had to go to another state that offered late term abortions. We decided to let God and Kennady have their shot.
- Have the shunt surgery – The brain surgeon told us on Kennady’s birthday that we could have a surgery to release the fluid on her brain or that we could choose not to. Not having the surgery was a way of letting ‘nature take its course’. She would not live long with this scenario and could also have quite a bit of pain in the process. We decided to have the surgery.
- Our family would not slow down or be invalid – We saw many families with disabled members that were not active in their church, community, or life. We made a clear decision within the first months of Kennady’s life that we were not going to allow her disability to restrict our behavior. She was going to be the best dressed in our family. She would be a part of our life. The older she gets the harder this is. We hold each other accountable to keep this decision.
A little trip part 3
So the rest of the day was quite busy, as anyone who has done a clinic visit knows. People in and out asking you lots of questions. We always love our visit to TSRCH.
Our girl is growing and because of all the growth, we are going to be adding some extra calories to her daily feedings.
We also had adjustments made to her chair. She has been so wiggly lately we were having a tough time keeping her in place.
A little trip part 2
The beautiful Dallas skyline. We just arrived at the hospital. Kennady slept the whole way. This contraption hangs from the ceiling. It is so intriguing to the kids. We are about to eat lunch with another family who has a daughter with HPE.
A little trip part 1
Here is a little piece of our journey to Dallas for our semi-annual visit to TSRCH hospital. We thought we would bring you along for the ride.
What People are Saying