The greatest news is that we are scheduled for Ned's final surgery (I know I've said this before) in the morning around 10am. He will receive a feeding tube (not sure which kind yet), then it should be a short road home! The attending doctor said today that they hope to have Ned back up to full feeds by Friday and home early next week! I am so excited I can't even begin to put it into words.

I am completely falling more and more in love with my little Ned every day! He is getting such a personality and we just spend each day playing games and working to overcome developmental delays....he thinks they're all games though! Last night I got to give him his first real bath! He loved it....see pictures below. For anyone who may not know me well, I love for kids to get a bath every night so this was a monumental event for me. I think that soaking in that little tub was really soothing and relaxing for him....I'm sure he slept better and felt like a new babe! The water was somewhat dirty for someone who has never stepped one foot outdoors. It just goes to show that a sponge bath really doesn't clean someone very well at all!

I have thought so much the past several days about how I can so clearly see God's glory thorugh all of this specifically from my hindsight view. I have been reflecting back to Genesis 33 where Moses requests to see God's glory and God only allows him to see His glory from the backside after he has protected him in the cleft of the rock. That is exactly what I have experienced.

God protected me in many ways other than just allowing Ned to survive. God held me and protected me from encompassing fears in situations on days when I should have felt like I was staring death in the face...I didn't feel it encroaching on us as closely as I should have. He kept me from succumbing to hopelessness and from feeling overcome by my circumstances. As I look back at where we have been, I never fully realized the danger through which we walked. And when I reflect on all the ways in which I have bore witness to the glory of God, it is overwhleming....from this view...hindsight that is.

I have seen His glory through my husbands heartfelt prayers, through my mother's and Travis' mother's loving eagerness to ease the stress of our situation by running up and down the roads on any given weekend and raising my son the rest of the time. I have seen God's magnificance in the medical staff that has been used to heal Ned, not only by their knowledge, but by their almost maternal insticts about my son and his condition. I have seen God's glory in the many, many emails and cards I have received from so many blessed people who have lifted my son up before the Father. I have witnessed God's grace by my co-workers who have without hesitation or complaint picked up my slack at work and done a wonderful job and by my Dad who had not only allowed me to be absent, but also encouraged me to re-organize my work efforts to put Ned's well-being first. As I look back at the path we have taken, I see God's glory shining all around and I feel "favored among men" to have been chosen to receive this blessing in my life and to have been able to experience God so poignantly. I am reminded of the following lyrics to Third Days' "Show Me Your Glory"

When I climb down the mountain
And get back to my life
I won't settle for ordinary things
I'm gonna follow You forever
And for all of my days
I won't rest 'til I see You again

Please keep Ned in your prayers tomorrow morning. Our wonderful surgeon, Dr. Adamson, hopes to be able to perform the g-tube and nissen procedure, but it just depends on how he feels about Ned's anatomy once in the operating room. Please pray for his continued widsom and discernment. Thank you all for all your love and concern. I apologize for being a couple of days behind on the posts? When I go home for the weekend, I really fall off on the blog entries.....so sorry. I'll try to do a better job once we're all back home! Love and blessings to you all.

Betsy, Travis, Jack & Ned