August Update

Good evening,

We hope you have had a wonderful summer.  Mary, Logan and Mason went to Virginia to visit family and friends.  They had a good time and enjoyed visiting the Elizabeth River, VA Beach, and Smith Mountain Lake.  The boys would love to go back to the lake for a week because there was not enough time to do everything they wanted.

School starts in two weeks and no one is ready.  Mary went back today and found it hard to get back into the groove.  The boys will be attending the same charter school and will be in 7th, 6th and 4th grades. This year we will have two boys (Logan and Caden) in middle school and covet your prayers for them.  We do not have a carpool solution for the boys. Mary works until 3 and the boys’ school dismisses at 2:45. 

Mason will be at the charter school as well.  We went through a jump-start class at the school where Mary teaches, and it was more than he could handle.  He was very oppositional the entire week and it became clear that it was not the best place for him at this time.  He currently lashes out at the teacher and hits the desk in frustration.  He is not teachable at the moment, so we do not know how this school year will go.

Mason went through a rigorous academic test and is a year behind in math and cannot remember any math facts.  Just the mention of the subject sends him into hysterics.  Could you please pray that we can find out why math is so hard for him?  We are looking into testing for learning disabilities specific to math.

We have an appointment in September with the Brain Restoration Center to explore why Mason’s personality has taken such a drastic change.  We wished the appointment was sooner, but with school starting, it was the best we could do.  Please pray that they will pinpoint the reason Mason is struggling and give us concrete treatment solutions.

We received a call back from the feeding program at Alabama Children’s hospital.  We will go there in November and Mason will be evaluated to determine if he is a good fit for their program. If accepted it will still be a year before he is admitted.  This will give us time to work out other issues he is having.

Finally, Grammy had a pacemaker put in two weeks ago.  She is doing very well and did not have to stay in the hospital overnight.  She had her one week checkup and they said everything looked great.  We are so blessed that this hospital experience was vastly different than when she broke her hip. God is good!

Psalm 37 has comforted me (Mary) during this summer of uncertainty.

Trust in the LORD, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the LORD,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him, and he will act...

...Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him...

In Christ,

David, Mary, Logan, Caden, Mason and Grammy