A Clean Bill of Health ... Almost!

"Wow, Look at Me Now!"

Today, Lia Faith returned to Children's Hospital to see her surgeon and to be checked to make sure she was progressing and healing from her recent "brain surgery." We had a wonderful day and Lia did great. Except for the occasional "don't touch" when anyone tried to look too closely at the back of her head. Most of our visits to Children's Hospital have had some sort of uneasiness associated with them. Especially as they related to Lia Faith. Not because of anything about Children's Hospital or the staff there. Children's is a place where God works and creates miracles. It is full of doctors and nurses and staff members who truly care about kids and do everything they can to comfort them and heal them - including praying when necessary! Maybe one day someone will tell us the story of the multicolored cow that we've named Patches who guards the front door at both Children's Hospital in downtown Birmingham and Children's South, where we spend most of our visit time.

"They're always measuring my head!"

"Hearing the good news!"

Sometimes we sing a song at church that is called "In the Presence of Jehovah." When you visit places like Children's Hospital, you just know that you are in His presence and for that we are very grateful. We have found in these circumstances that if you close your eyes and call upon Him, He is faithful to replenish your joy and relieve your fears. Oftentimes, I sit and watch the other parents and how they interact with their children and you can see God at work through every action, every thought, every look. I've wanted to ask some of them about their children and to offer comfort and solace and prayer, but I haven't been able to figure out yet if that's what God wants me to do or if that's just something I'd like to do - there's a difference. I hope He gives me some guidance on this soon.

"Gigi has pretty nails, mommy!"

Today's wait was unusually long (nearly two hours past our appointment time), so the staff brought out snacks and drinks for the children and their parents. It was a simple gesture, but one I've never seen in a hospital waiting room. Everyone was very grateful, since it was now lunch time and many had waited since early that morning. And the staff was careful to explain the order in which children were being treated and why. Because of this approach, the parents were comforted and none were discouraged at their long wait. I hoped that it was also because they knew, as we did, that there were good doctors and nurses doing God's work for His children and that theirs would be cared for in due time.

"Fun times in the waiting room!"

"I am the cutest thing, don't you think?"

When Lia Faith's time finally came, it was a very short visit. Just what we hoped for. No extra information that had been learned since the surgery, er I mean miracle, and no calls for further treatment were made. In fact, Lia's surgeon indicated that she was healed and he needed only to see her again in three months to ensure that her recovery was going as planned. He observed that her incision was healing nicely and even indicated that Connie was doing a nice job of concealing the incision with Lia's hair. Lia was only interested in Gigi's fingernails and making sure that no one touched her head. But she was good enough to allow us to snap this picture of her with her two Angels, Dr. Blount and Gigi. We think it's a great picture, don't you? As far as what comes next, Lia will remain under the care of Dr. Blount for a few more months and then be released, so that other, less significant, issues can be addressed.

"Lia Faith's Angels at Children's Hospital"

Contrary to what these pages might have reflected in the past few weeks, er I mean months, we do have children other than Lia Faith. And they have been awesome family troopers while we cared for Lia. Friday, Lily Grace asked Connie if Jesus had removed the lump from Lia's head! Yes, sweet baby girl, He did. While we haven't intended to leave unwritten the challenges and achievements of Austin and Lily Grace, Lia's condition had been in the forefront of our minds and at the front of our prayer lists during the time since we returned from China. After today's visit with Dr. Blount and his wonderful assistant Gigi and the entire staff at Children's South, we can take a few deep breaths and move on to the more usual perils and trials of raising teenagers and twin twisters, I mean sisters.

No, they're not really twins, not even biologically related, but the closeness of their ages and the commonality of Lily and Lia's interests makes them seem like twins. We do have some brief experience with twins (hey Emily and Amanda), but those twins are now finishing college degrees and we didn't really see the early days of their twinness, so maybe we're not the experts we think we are! Lily Grace and Lia Faith still want to wear the same clothes, play with the same toys, and be cuddled and comforted at the same time. They must have the same Dora plates and utinsels, but will part ways when milk is offered - Lia craves it and Lily doesn't. They have missed their bath times together, but with Lia's incision, we've taken to giving her a bath in the sink - yes, she's that small! At first she didn't like it, but now I think she does.

As for Austin, he is engrossed in schoolwork, golf, music, Chinese language lessons, and his girlfriend - yes, we'll have to do a journal entry about that sometime, if he lets us. As for golf, today he had his best round ever in practicing for tomorrow's match. He fired a 41 over 9 holes and was on pace to finish at only 3 over par, until he looked up and saw me, and promptly double bogied the last hole - sorry, buddy.

"Bye Bye, Patches. See You Later!"

So hopefully, in the coming months, we'll be more likely to share stories of Lily Grace and Austin, too, as their lives have certainly not called a timeout while we ministered and were ministered to through Lia Faith's roller coaster of health issues. Indeed, hopefully this web journal will truly live up to its name, Green, Party of Five, in the coming months.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith
Green, Party of Five