Rattins living Coram Deo

Gracie is enjoying preschool through the public school 2.5 hours a day 4 days a week. She is a busy and popular girl rotating through physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, the classroom, and the playground, all with her wonderful one-on-one Kelly. The other kids seem to enjoy her and she of course loves all the attention and stimulation! We received a wheelchair from Shriner's yesterday - it's awesome! It'll grow with her, it's fairly light weight, it's small, and she sits great in it! We're very excited for this added mobility! Please pray with us that God would provide a new vehicle for us (perhaps a van) since Gracie travels with increasing amount of equipment (and our "Sancho" car is increasingly frustrating).

At the women's retreat for our church (Faith Baptist Church in Hollis, NH), Doreen Campbell said one thing that really stuck in my brain. "The World of God is Living." In other words, it is never stagnant, it can never have been read enough because God is using it to speak to His children. It is never old news, it is a living word! This reminder was enough to finally get me motivated again to strive to have God's word abide in me, LIVE in me, flow out of me. For me to be immersed in His word in a new way. I have been struggling with memorization as my brain seems more and more like a leaky sieve, but I need to keep struggling with it because without memorizing God's precious and living word, it will never abide with me. In young adults' Bible study on Sunday night, we discussed I John 2:12-14 and we noted the progression that young men, in whom the word of God abides, are strong and have overcome the evil one. In other words, without the first step, having...

Gracie has sprouted 2.5 inches and gained 8 pounds in 5 months! She had a slow start, but perhaps getting over Hepatitis A, treating her parasites, and getting her seizures more under control has given her the edge that she needed to turn the massive amounts of food that she can consume into growth! We had her dedication in church in March and my family was able to come up for it. We wore Liberian outfits (except Josh who was preaching that day - he felt he should at least wear a tie!). Gracie spent most of the dedication kissing Grandpa who was dedicating her to the Lord! So cute! We also got to go fishing with Partners in Health - Northeast Passage adapted the fishing pole for her - she had a blast, although we only caught sticks! Grandpa (next to her in the photo) was in heaven, finally taking a grandkid fishing! Finally, with warm weather, we've been able to play at the park. We have a fantastic playground near us - Gracie loves the swing and one of the slides! She's as mu...