Crazy Month is an understatement!

I know this post is overdue. Every night since Juddah's surgery when the house was quite and I had time to actually put some thoughts together, I'd end up falling asleep where ever it was that I spoke my last word. Usually lying beside Juddah as he went down for the night. It's been a week now since we have been back in Oregon at home and things are settling down into somewhat of a routine. Well maybe not so much a routine but a comfortable place of knowing that each day we will wake up in our own beds, and for that I am thankful. Juddah and I were in Virginia for just about 6 months. So much has transpired this last month I'm having a hard time organizing my thoughts. Forgive the randomness of this post! 
We left Seattle Childrens after we we told the surgery could not take place there, and headed to Emily's college graduation. Juddah and my whole family... Rick, Emily, Jack, Ben, Worldu (another friend from Ethiopia) and myself. We were able to attend her ivy cutting ceremony, and the formal graduation... 
next, Rick, Juddah, Worldu and I headed to the airport and went straight back to Roanoke. The neurosurgeon was waiting for us and as soon as we arrived was ready to see Juddah and schedule the surgery. Juddah did have a shunt put in, it was the very last choice for treatment and the one that we were trying to avoid, but in the end it was the only option that would relieve the spinal fluid pressure and build up in his head. The surgery went well, and the shunt is functioning the way it should. The two fluid filled spots on the top of his head that used to be the size of ping pong balls, are now flat and have stayed flat. He now will sport three battle scars, two on his head, which for now are quite noticeable which will be covered by his hair once it grows in, and one on his abdomen. The one is on top of his head almost a full circle and the surgeon was able to use that same site for two of the surgeries, another just behind his ear where the shunt is anchored, you also notice the actual shunt device which protrudes  about a quarter inch from his skull and is about 2 1/2 inches long, and the other on his tummy about 2 1/2 inches long. I'll try and post pictures in the next couple of days.  There is tubing that runs the from his head into his torso... all internal, which deposits the spinal fluid into his abdomen and is then absorbed. There is enough tubing inside his little body to allow for growth and as he grows the tubing will extend, with the expectation that it will not have to be replaced. Shunts when they work, work well, but it is inevitable that at some point maybe in the next 6 months, maybe the next year, or 2 years or not till 10 years it will malfunction, disconnect, get infected or blocked and another surgery will be needed, but for now, for today, it is working correctly and there was no post surgery infection. For this we are so very thankful. 

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, 

for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Matthew 6:34

Just after surgery, Juddah recovered beautifully, and we were released from the hospital on Saturday, and had a flight booked to head back to Oregon on Sunday. So much I could write about the eventful trip home but in a nutshell, our flight was delayed and we were not going to make our connection in Atlanta, and had to spend the night in Atlanta. Worldu and I were held up with TSA because they were complaining about a picture on a passport and not sure if they should let us thru or not. The blessing out of all of this was the fact that the airline put all four of us in first class from Atlanta to Oregon... a nice little perk and so thankful for the extra room for Juddah.
So here we are, all in Oregon, settling in, and enjoying the little things... Oh how I have missed sleeping in my own bed!
The Lord sure has taught me a lot during this season.... some lessons I understood right away, and some I'm sure I won't figure out until till much later. Some so very simple and others complex. He showed me both the compassion and kindness and unwavering love of the body of christ, and other times he made it clear how very cold, uncaring and lonely the world can be, and without Him it would be unbearable and that I have been on both sides of that equation. I learned that I need to love harder, obey faster, judge not, to truly be in the world, but not of the world, and so much more.  I have felt what it is like to be judged for going against the grain and living a life the world would view as 'normal' instead following the path He has set before me. I have learned that I can have a plan but it is the Lord who has the 'Ultimate Final Master Daytimer'. This has been a complete blessing to be in sweet communion with Him thru all the trials and ups and downs that this journey has had, I'm sure there are more to come and for right now, in this moment, I'm so thankful for that day in October I had an unexpected divine appointment in a little dark hut in Korah.


So much more to share with you... I will post in the next couple of days... A mission trip I'm leading to Korah where we will be working right in Juddah's backyard, loving on and caring for his neighbors and the people of Korah... It will be an amazing time and I'd love to serve right along side of Y-O-U.. has the Lord been tapping on your heart to serve in Korah? The trip will be in October, I'll post details soon. Our family has the honor of picking up another one of our Ethiopian family at the airport on the 3rd. Sammy Liben from Korah who a lot of you know, and have worked along side, will be in the USA this month. We will be hosting a get-together at our home to welcome him, and you all are invited to come.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, 

   but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails

Proverbs 19:21 

Life is full, and not without unexpected adventure....
Prayer Warriors always needed