Update on J and our current plans

Well, the Lord is certainly good to us and we are so thankful for all of your prayers and support.  J's procedure went perfect and he was out of the hospital in record time.  He had no problems with anesthesia and Dr. Magit was very happy with the way he looked.  He said that J does have a small lower airway but that he should outgrow that.  He told us to watch extra closely for respiratory infections and treat them more aggressively than we would our other children because he could develop complications related to them.  Other than that he was very pleased and had no other concerns.

So, after a very very busy day of flying on Sunday we arrived in Picayune at 4pm.  We spoke at Pinegrove Baptist that night and what a blessing that was! We love that church and are so thankful for the family and friends that we have there.  They truly love and support (and spoil) us!  We are so grateful to them!  But more than that, this church knows missions!  They are begging for opportunities to plug into the ministries that we shared with them.  They want to make sure the Word is preached and needs are met in way that glorifies Christ.  They are on fire and they want to make sure that we are equipped to spread the News in Malawi.  They understand that we are all ONE BODY of Christ and that it takes all of us to achieve HIS work!

One Body, One Gospel, One Savior!!!!!

Thank you Pinegrove for being such an important part of the Body!

We are now in Montgomery one last time to spend a little quality time with Jeremy's family before we head to Clinton.  We arrive in Clinton on Saturday.  God has provided that our church's mission house is available for us to live in for the two weeks that we are there.  This is such a blessing.  This is the last home we lived in before we left Clinton.  It is also the place we will stay next year when we are home on our scheduled furlough.  This is stability for our family.  The last 6 weeks we have been living out of suitcases and our precious SM (5) is constantly asking where we are going to sleep tonight.  It's so hard on the kids (and us).  J isn't sleeping at all.  Pray for a little rest and stability for us as we spend our last few weeks here in our home.  We speak at Morrison Heights, our home church, on Sunday night the 21st.

Currently we are set to leave the USA on November 9th.  We arrive back in Malawi on the 10th.

Bronchoscopy

Jeremy, Jill, and J have been back in San Diego this week for more tests and follow-up procedures from his cleft palate surgery last month.  He saw Dr. Jones, a geneticist, on Wednesday.  She was very impressed with his cognitive and social development.  She said that he appears to be just fine except for a small skeletal build.  We will have a test done next year when we return for a check up.  But for now he is fine and we shouldn't worry.

He also met yesterday with Dr. Gosman who said he was healing perfectly.  She was impressed with his progress and gave us the go ahead to start him on baby foods.  Yay for J and his parents (who are having to get up in the middle of the night again b/c our baby boy is just so hungry)!

Today we ask for prayers for J and Dr. Magit.  Dr. Magit is our fabulous ENT who placed J's tubes at the beginning of his surgery last month.  As a result of J's respiratory problems following his surgery Dr. Magit and Dr. Gosman recommended he receive a bronchoscopy to see what might be going on.  In order to do this J has to be put under anesthesia again which is a bit of a concern.  Ultimately we know that the Lord is in control and that He will be the hands in the operating room.  Please join us in covering Dr. Magit and J (and the anesthesiologist) in prayer at 12:30pm Pacific--2:30pm Central--9:30pm Malawi.  The procedure should only take about 30 minutes.

We will update you later tonight.  To God be the Glory!

Jill

J and Dr. Gosman

 Dr. Amanda Gosman is the surgeon who performed J's cleft palate repair.  She and her staff (including the amazing Julie Breuninger) have been skyping with us in Africa since J was 3 weeks old.  See the full story under the tab "J's Story".

Anyway, she called us two days after our discharge from the hospital and wanted to drop in between her surgeries for the day to check on J.  So we rushed to the lobby to see our friend Dr. Gosman!

This lady does amazing work for kids all around the world!  She has touched the lives of so many, including us, and we are forever grateful!

For info on ConnectMed (Dr. Gosman's nonprofit): http://www.connectmed.org/

For info on Dr. Gosman: http://drgosman.ucsd.edu/

Thank you, Dr. Gosman, for all you have done for baby J and for all you continue to do for God's precious children around the world.  You are such a blessing to so many!  God bless you and your work!

We love you!