Happy Mother's Day! Hope everyone is enjoying the sun and a day with family. We had Tim's first x-rays here in GR on Friday. They went well. The doctors were very pleased. There is one screw that seems to be working its way out. Please pray that it stops. It might pull on the hardware attached to it and cause more screws to loosen. We will go in for more films sooner than planned just to keep a close eye on the whole process. The doctors feel that the first 6 months are the most critical. Thanks for the prayers! So glad to be this far!

3 Yeah Gods!!! First, Tim went to church this morning :)! First day back in church since the service at Community the last Sunday in Feb!!! Second, I am going back to work tomorrow! I am excited to get back to work but also nervous about not being as accessible to Tim but, God has that all worked out :) Third, Tim walked today!!! Yes, he walked! He wanted to try it again so we got out his walker (which is a little too short for him now!), put a spotter on each side of him and he walked around the house a little. YEAH GOD!!!

Tim is making slow but steady progress. The pain in his back is getting less. We had an interesting Easter. It was such a blessing to have all 6 of us together again! The men in the family all decided to get the stomach flu :) Not fun. Tim's stomach was not 100% anyway! He had a hard time with it all not being able to move real fast and not being able to bend. He was able to get in 3 half days of school this week. We had a lot of fun doing the normal stuff with Allison. We had to do the Holland Christian Prom. So much fun helping her get ready for that. Thank you for your continued prayers! We go in Friday for back x-rays here in Grand Rapids. We are praying for healing and that all the hardware is still holding tight.

First day back to Holland Christian!!!! YEAH!!! Amazing. I remember doing chapel on Friday, March 6 and walking out thinking when will we be able to take Tim back??? This school year??? Tim is back! Total answer to prayer. I can not tell you what it was like to sit by the Well and hear the students yell when it was announced Tim was back in the building :) Tim made it through the first half of the day. When we got home he was sore and tired but not too overwhelmed and too sore. We will try it again tomorrow! Thank you everyone for all your prayers, words of encouragement, hugs.....Blessed! We are totally blessed!

We are getting there :) Tim is getting more used to being up in a chair. We were actually able to have him get into his regular wheelchair! We have a rented wheelchair that reclines and supports Tim's entire back but it is very heavy and hard for him to wheel. With Tim regaining a little more strength in his back we tried his regular wheelchair. He did pretty good. Yeah God! We are hoping to try some days back at the high school next week. Probably just a couple of hours a day. Prayer concerns. That going back to school will not be too overwhelming. It is great to see everyone again but.... it is seeing everyone again!!! Does that make sense?? In our weird Bosch minds it does :) It will also be overwhelming to be in class again and realize how far behind he is. Finally, it will be tiring and painful to sit for so long. Patience. Boy, just when I think that I have learned patience....God has to try me out again and of course I fail miserably!!

Good Morning Michigan!!! I can not tell you how nice it is to be getting settled in at home again. Tim has had a lot of friends stop in to say "HI" during spring break. It is great to see Tim joking and having fun with family and friends. School. Next big hurdle. Tim still can not stay sitting up in a wheelchair for very long. His back is very sore after about 60 minutes. Maybe just wheel him around in his hospital bed at Holland Christian!!! That would be fun :) We also have to get some doctor appointments in for follow up. We are sooo thankful that his back is progressing so well!!! Yeah God!!!

Nice to have a sunny, spring day in Michigan :) Our days are going along good. Tim is filling his time with friends, books, movies, school work, and PS3. He is progessing along. Not as quickly as I know he would like to but everyday is a step in the right direction. Please pray for patience. It is hard for Tim to have to ask for everything. He is pretty dependent right now and that is not his personality at all. Thank you so much for the continued prayers!!!

Back home is going good. We are getting into a weird new routine. Tim got to take a shower yesterday!!! He LOVED it! It is getting a little easier moving him around the house. The PS3 is still not real easy to get to (it is in the basement) but there is some homework that should be done first anyhow :) (mean old mom again!!) Kevin and I want to thank everyone for all the cards, e-mail, food, gift bags, words of encouragement, financial support....the list is endless! The love God is showing our family through all of you is amazing. We could not be walking this path without each and everyone of you!!! We are truly blessed :)

Boy, you have to like boring days at HOME!! Do not ever take them for granted. Loved going to Haven Church this morning! Another part of being HOME. Tim is still making progress. Eating some small bland meals. Sitting up in the wheelchair for longer periods. Healing. The first part of our journey is done but there is a ways to go yet. God is and will always be faithful!!!

We made it :) It was a long ride for Tim. He got pretty sore toward the end :( We had a bed laid out for him in the back of the Yukon. Still not an easy ride for Tim. Prayer requests. Continued strength and pain relief for Tim. The transition to home. Hard to figure out how to have Tim move around the house. Not all the handicap bars and extra nurse hands when Tim needs to transition into new positions. Continued healing for Tim's back. We have strict instructions to keep Tim's back real quiet for 3 months while the bones heal. That will not be easy when transferring him :( We are home!!! Yeah God!!! It is so good to be home :)

HOME! Yes, home. We have one more x-ray this morning and the staples are coming out and then we head for HOME! Tim is still far from 100 percent but he is sure excited about getting home. Pray that he can tolerate the ride! We shall see how far we get. The plan is go all the way home but Tim will have to all it! I Peter 1: 6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Kev and Allison left this morning for Montreal! The border guards must have us on their frequent flier list I am sure :) Tim is up in his chair and at "school" again for the first time in a really long time. The teachers there were very excited to see him. I am sure he will not last the whole time. He can only tolerate about 30 minutes up in the chair. We hope to head home sometime this weekend. We have a lot of loose ends to coordinate between Michigan and here before we can go. It would be nice if Tim's gut felt a lot better too :( Prayers for all the Michiganers heading to Florida. Take a walk in the sunshine for Tim and me. They are talking a winter storm warning for tonight and tomorrow. Go figure! The Lord does have a sense of humor :) Love and hugs to all our friends and family!!!!

Rough couple of days :( Tim is still struggling with his bowels and now his stomach too. He has been throwing up. Not the thing you want to do with a really sore back. We had some more testing yesterday to rule out appendix, bowel obstruction....Everything came back ok. Yeah! We did not need any of that. Tim is back on clear liquids. He slept ok last night. Tim had some xrays of his back and that is still looking good. Patience and time. Thanks for the prayers. We hope to be discharged in the next few days but Tim's gut has to feel a lot better. It will be a long 12 hour drive home!!!

Still working on the bowels :( It is amazing how bad you feel when your bowels are not working. Tim's back is doing good. Sore. We will have more x-rays today or tomorrow. Tim will be doing more physical therapy today. Trying to build up more endurance to sit up again. Slow progress. Tim is such a fighter! The staff is amazed at how much he is already doing. The hope is that we might be discharged on Friday! Maybe. One day at a time. To be honest, I think Tim's bowels are frustrating him more right now than his back. Give Kev a high five today if you see him. It is our 24th wedding anniversary today! He deserves a pat on the back for putting up with me that long :)

Good Sunday morning! Our nights are slowly getting better. Tim can roll side to side at will now. He doesn't need my help to do that anymore. He is on oral pain medication. We are still working on the bowels. I think being a follower of Christ is like constantly swimming upstream. One of Satan's strongest weapons is when we get comfortable and take our paddle out of the water. When we do that we do not just stand still but we actually get caught in the flow of sin and the world and loose ground. I feel very blessed that Jesus has quietly taken the paddle out of our hands and said to just give it to Him for awhile and let Him paddle. We have been so cared for! We have been so loved on and surrounded by the family of Christ. Now, as Tim feels better the paddle is slowly coming back into our hands. John 1:16 "From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another." Prayer requests: Bowels to start working again. The pain and nausea to continue to get less. Tim's strength to come back. Patience for the journey :)

We had some sweet friends from home visiting with us yesterday and today. Wayne and Deb said goodnight and goodbye as they head home early tomorrow. Always hard to see family and friends leaving as we are still here. Tim was up two more times today in the chair. Can only tolerate it for 20-30 minutes. Nice to have a quiet, slower weekend. I am sure on Monday Tim will be challenged again to do more. For those of you that know Tim well, video games are a favorite pass time. He has not played any since the surgery. "I am not feeling up to it." Now you REALLY know Tim is not feeling himself :( The staff here are loving having Tim back under their care. I can not tell you how many employees have stopped in to wave and quietly say "Hi." Even the chief stopped in and asked Tim if he could fix him something special! I told Tim not to get too used to this royal treatment because he won't get it from me when we get home :) Looking forward to watching Haven on line tomorrow. When Pastor Larry is not looking turn around and wave at the camera!!! Love to all, Tim and Deb

Back at the Shriners!! Yeah!!! Tim and I took an ambulance ride back to the Shriners at about 11:00 today. Really feel blessed to be back here. Tim can rest much better. We have a private room and the nurses treat him like family. Slow steady progress. Tim is sore. It hurts a lot to move. His dressings look good. For my medical folks out there...they fused and rodded T4 to L4! Long incision with 68 plus staples. That has got to hurt! Waiting for bowel sounds to come back. Since they had him on his stomach for over 8 hours of surgery the intestines are not working yet. Tim is taking a few liquids but that is about it. I told Tim it is time to do his mom proud and start FARTING :) Prayer Requests: Thanksgiving!!! We are back at the Shriners. Tim's bowels start to work again. For the pain to continue to get less.

Kevin and Allison left this morning around 9 am. Long day drive for them. Pray that both of them can get back into daily life for a little while. Tim has 68 staples holding his back incision together. They did a dressing change this afternoon. It looks clean and dry :) Tim is pretty sore and very nauseated. He did dangle at the bedside for a minute. Broke out is a big sweat. Hard work!!! Long day. Rest. Doctors comes in. Rest. Pain service comes in. Rest. Physical therapist comes in. Rest. Try not to throw up. Rest. Pumps start beeping. Rest. Nurses come and and roll you to the other side. Try not to throw up..... You get the picture. The night goes about the same :( Tim still smiles and gives his mom a hug. I told him "He is the MAN now with dad gone and he needs to take care of me :)" One day at a time. On our knees before God. So thankful we are this far!

Wow. What a long couple of days! God is so good! We are so, so happy to be this far. It has been a long day. Tim is very sore. They are not letting him eat or drink for a couple of days. His surgery took over 8 hours and for that time he was in traction and lying on his stomach. He has retained a lot of fluid. They are watching all of that very closely. One day at a time. We are currently still at the Montreal Children's Hospital. They have no wifi and no phones. I will try and get to a wifi spot and keep everyone updated. Prayer requests: less pain. Tim is tough but he is really sore. No infections. Tim has a ton of hardware in him and that is where infections like to go. That he can drink soon. He is terribly thristy. It is hard not to give him something to quench that thirst. I pray that my soul longs for Living Water as much as I see Tim longing for moisture in his mouth. Travel safety. Kevin and Allison will be leaving tomorrow morning for the long ride back home. Love to all of our friends and family back home!!! We feel everyone praying for us :) Incredible love and peace.

Surgery is DONE!!!! The doctor is very pleased! Tim has 24 screws with all the other hardware and all the screws are holding tight! Yeah GOD! We got to see Tim for a couple of minutes. They are keeping him over night in the recovery room just to keep a real close eye one him. He is connected to a lot of machines :) He is very sleepy but we did see a glimpse of the Tim Bosch smile :) He will be at this hospital until Thurs or Friday and then get an ambulance ride back to the Shriner's Hospital for another week. Thank you soooooo much for all your prayers! It was a long day but GOD IS GOOD!!!!! YEAH!!!!!! Love to all!

We do not have wifi at the Montreal Children's Hospital. Bummer! Tim's surgery started at 10:00. We just got an update. It took them a long time to establish all the lines Tim needed. So...the acutal back part of the surgery did not start until 1230 :( The next update will not be until around 6pm. They said it will be a long day. We just walked back to the hotel for a little break. Thank you for all the prayers!!! Keep praying!

Good Morning. Tim is still resting. We are going to leave the Shriner's hospital is about 30 minutes (630am). The weather here is awful. It is snowing, blowing, and cold. We are going to get 5-8 inches of snow. We are a sweet day of fellowship yesterday with my mom, my brother, Kevin, Allison, Tim and myself. God will be faithful! God can not fail! God's will be done! Nothing can separate us from that love! It will be a long day of waiting and praying :)

We arrived safely last night in Montreal. Tim is doing ok. The weights continue to be added on. We are up to 24 pounds. More weight has brought more pain. Today is a day of special showers and scrubs and Tim's favorite....a Fleets enema :) We are a go for surgery tomorrow! Tim and I will be transported via ambulance to the Montreal Children's Hospital tomorrow morning at 630 am. Originally we were told the surgery would start at 9:00 am. I will try and post something tomorrow morning when we know the surgery has started. Please pray for Dr. Oulett. He has a long day tomorrow with Tim. They anticipate 12 hours for the surgery! I am not sure how much internet access I will have tomorrow. I will desperately try to post something as soon as I know the results of the surgery (which God Himself has already planned and has under His control!!!) Psalm 145:18 The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.

On the road again! Kevin, Allison and I are off! Hope to be up by Tim 7-8 tonight. Pray for safe crossing on the border. My jumping back and forth so frequently might not look so good to them :) Tim continues on his path with 2 pounds being added everyday to the traction. Hopefully we will know for sure if surgery is a go by Sunday. Thank you so much for all the prayers, the hugs, the smiles, the words of encouragement. It was great to be home for Showcase! See you in April when Tim and I will come home TOGETHER!!!!

Slept in my own bed last night! Ahhhhhhh :) Got into town one hour before Showcase. Loved seeing Allison and the Living Hope group perform. What a blessing! Talked with Tim and my brother this morning. The weight continues to be added on. They did the back xrays yesterday. The resident came in afterward and told them that the top spinal curve was looking better. The bottom curve has not straightened as much. We are waiting to hear what the surgeon thinks of it all. Tim and my brother and enjoying some "guy" time. Watching some college hoops!! Kev, Allison, and I will be leaving early Saturday morning to get back up to Montreal. Please keep praying that the surgery can happen Monday, but our prayer is that we have the patience for God's timing.

We have x-rays scheduled for later today. We pray the back is straightening! Tim is going to talk at the Shriner's Chairman meeting at 1:00. Go figure :) We saw one of the Shriner's in the hall yesterday and he asked. My mom and brother arrived last night. I am flying home today :) I hope to be home in time for Holland Christians's Showcase. Kev, Allison, and I will leave early Saturday morning to drive 12 hours back to Montreal for Tim's surgery. Prayer requests: Tim's cold, travel safety, and that Tim's back is straightening so the surgery can take place on Monday.

We are waking up to a rainy morning. Tim gets to take his first shower today :) Yeah!! He is looking forward to that. We saw the Dr. Oulett this morning. He said the x-rays of Tim's neck look good and he is not too concerned about the numbness on Tim's head. The nurses and docs do neuro checks on Tim several times a day. They feel the numbness is do to the weight and pull of the Halo/traction and will go away slowly after the surgery. Prayer concerns. Tim will have a full spine x-ray today or tomorrow to determine if the traction is working. We lost a day yesterday :( They did not add any weights because they were checking into the numbness. We did add more weight again this morning. The nurses tell me that it is not terribly unusual to have surgery postponed to give the traction more time to work. Another thing that might postpone the surgery is if the Children's Hospital's Intensive Care Unit is full. We will not know that until 24 hours before the surgery. All in God's time. ALL in God's time :) My brother and mom are coming up to Montreal to give us a couple of fresh faces. It will be good to see them!! Thank you so much for the prayers, letters of encouragement, food, gift cards.....again words can not even start to say thank you!!!

Tuesday morning. The resident came in at 630am :( Rise and shine! Prayer concern. The crown of Tim's head is numb. This has been something that is progressively getting worse. They did not add anymore weight this morning. They want to get some x-rays first to make sure everything is alright with the numbness before they add more stress to the skull. I guess you could call him a real "numb skull!" Resident's bad joke :) Tim's cold is still there. We are hitting it with everything we can. Tim was a bit down this morning. Tired of the traction. Tired of his cold. Tired of his mom. Tired of being sore. John 14: 1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." The nurse just came in. We are off to x-ray!!!

The doctors were in this morning and the weight continues to go up. Prayer concern. Tim seems to be getting a cold. Not good. It is really hard to sneeze with 6 screws in your head and traction. It hurts. We need Tim's lungs to be very clear for the big surgery next week. I am pumping Tim the orange juice. We need this to clear up fast. We have settled into a routine of sorts. Just trying to keep our eyes on our Lord and Savior even though the storms around us are ragging.

Sunday morning. I have to say I love computers :) Got to worship with our Haven family over the web :) We have been gone a week now. God is faithful. The traction is up to 11 pounds. Two more will go on today Lord willing. Tim's skull seems to be tolerating all the pressure. Yeah! Today will be another slow day. Tomorrow we will ramp up again with x-rays and doctors and school. I have had a lot of questions in regards to school. This hospital does not have any "sick" kids. Everyone has bone problems. No one has contagious illnesses. So...Monday thru Friday they have teachers that come in and tutor the patients in their school work. The patients are required to go unless it is the day of surgery. They will wheel the whole bed into the classroom if you are in traction. It is great distraction for the patients. It is 9-11 and then 1-3. Love our family and friends back home! Words can not even begin to tell you how humbly blessed we are!!!

Good Saturday! And I mean "GOOD!" 8 hours of sleep! Yeah!!! It felt wonderful. Tim slept the best yet last night. We even got to sleep in a little :) 830! No residents came charging in at 630 this morning. Tim had a blast talking to friends on Facebook and Skype last night. So good to hear friendly voices. We have a pretty slow day planned for today. Not much happens on the weekends around here. It feels good. I hope to go out for a walk a bit later to get some fresh air. The sun is even trying to shine today :) Got to love weekends!!!

Morning. Wow. The nights are a bit hard. Tim has a hard time getting to a comfortable position. The hard part is that it takes about 3 of us to help change his position while maintaining the traction. We are up to eight pounds. They keep watching the screws behind the left ear to make sure they are holding. Tim is off to school today. It is good to have a bit of a routine. The pain is hard to control. We are off the IV pain medications. We are trying to do alternating oral pain medications. He does not complain. I am so amazed and humbled. The main words out of his mouth are "I am sorry mom."He does not want to be a bother. Thank you so much for the prayers and support. It is what sustains us :) Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow!!

Tim is sitting straight up in bed sleeping. That seems to be the most comfortable position. His pain seems to be a bit better. Last night his head hurt so bad he started throwing up. Not easy to do with the Halo and traction. They feel his skull might have cracked. They are just going to keep on eye on it. Today... Hopefully some school time. (Yep, mean old mom!!) More x-rays. They have 5 pounds on the traction but hope to get up to half his body weight. That means we have to get to about 60 pounds!!! They will add some weight twice a day if his skull can tolerate it. I am amazed at God's mercies every morning. Tim and I start the day with prayer. We end that way too. God is good all the time. All the time God is soooo good :) Smiles and hugs to all our sweet friends and family back home!!!!

First surgery is done! Tim just had the Halo placed this morning. The surgery took about an hour. They started the traction right away. They originally told us that the traction would not start until tomorrow. Tim is sore. Really bad headache. Go figure :( He has 6 screw placed in his skull. He has had morphine IV and some oral pain medications too. For my medical friends out there they will be doing neuro checks around the clock for at least the first 24 hours and maybe longer. Every hour we are told at first. Got our first chance to talk with Dr. Oulette since being back in Montreal. He is Tim's back surgeon. He placed the Halo this morning. He said the x-rays and CT scan that we had done earlier this week look good. "I am more encouraged than disappointed." He sees several weak vertibrae but some that look promising too (places to put the screws). He is planning on "all day" for the big surgery. At least 3 hours just to get all the lines placed (central, arterial, neuro...) before he can even start his part. My eyes are leaking again. Tears of relief that the first surgery is done and tears of "wow, he has to live in this thing for 2 weeks!!" They promise me that it will get better. Once I have Tim's permission I will post a pic of Tim in the Halo. Thanks for the prayers!! We have peace :) The staff here love Tim!

To be honest, Monday was very overwhelming. Montreal received 10 inches of snow during the day. The schools were all closed. Public bussing stopped. The roads where a mess. For those that have been here with Tim and me Atwater, the road going up Mt. Royal was a parking lot! Cars where getting stuck trying to make in up the Mt. We got the car stuck in the parking lot right behind the hotel. I had to carry Tim up to the front because the snow was too deep to use the wheelchair. We got an all wheel drive cab and made it up to the hospital only to find half the staff unable to make it in (including the doctors who we needed to see and needed to write the orders!!!) We did finally get everything in. A day without food, 4 frightening cab ride between two hospitals and a lot of scary info about the surgery. Tim just smiled at me halfway through and said, "Have a good day???" We both got the giggles and cried a little (the crying was me of course!) hugged and pressed on. Today we will be admitted. We hope to catch a fun breakfast at La Bell Provience and then face the music again at the hospital. The Halo and the traction start tomorrow. Surgery is at 745. Tim will have to be flat or sitting at a 90 degree angle after the Halo and the traction start. They say it will be an hour for surgery. Love everyone!!! God is good in Montreal too! I can not lie, our jar has a few more holes that do not feel real good but God's power and grace and peace are hopefully shining through!!!!

Unbelievable!!! We got up early this morning and Montreal is in the middle of a snow storm. 12-18 inches of snow today. I could not get out of the hotel parking lot. We got stuck in the back of the hotel!!! We could hardly move Tim in his chair! The snow was already several inches deep! We called a cab that barely made it up the Mount Royal hills. Half of the hospital staff did not make it in this morning. We are behind in the tests already and we will have a hard time making it between the two hospitals for the different tests. The staff here is awesome. Hugs and kisses from all we meet. Happy to see us and then disappointed to hear how long we will need to be here and why.

Here and safe!!! The trip went well. More clear roads then snowy so that was a real blessing. We will be up early with tests starting at 700!

Sunday morning. A little nervous :) Tim and I are packed and ready for the 12 hour road trip! We are so very blessed! Thank you for all the cards, gifts, prayers.....amazing! We shaved Tim's head last night (his idea!) He looks good! Like a young man ready for battle. Pray for a safe trip. Pray for patience with several really busy days ahead of us. God is good! We are in his care! In Christ, Deb and Tim

Sunday Night

WOW! Sunday was amazing! God showed up! His mercy, His grace, His power! Thanks for sharing His story with us. We as a family just want to honor God. He has been with us every step of the way. The way has not been an easy path but His grace has been there constantly! We have heard of several people that gave their lives to Christ that night :) That is what all of our journeys should be about! Yeah God!

Our daughter Allison is in Living Hope, a singing group for Holland Christian. One of the songs they sing is from Isaiah 35. I challenge you to read that chapter. I can not finish it without tears streaming down my cheeks. We, as a family, have adopted this chapter for the year. "Strenghten the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will come with a vengeance; with divine retribution He will come to save you." Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of dumb shout for joy." My favorite part in that my God, my God will come with a vengeance!!! I do not know what you are going through. We are all starting into a desert, in a desert, or coming out of a desert to only go back into another one at some time. But, your God WILL come! and He will come with a vengeance!

Our Journey Begings

I never thought I would be hosting a blog site but this seems to be the easiest way to keep everyone posted. Please know that there are no words to express the joy and grace and peace that God is granting us because of all the sweet friends and family that God has surrounded us with. The concert!!! Please invite friends to come. We are excited to see how God is going to use this night for His honor and glory. Please be in prayer as our family will be leading chapel at Holland Christian on March 4. Tim's last day of school before we leave for Montreal. Pray that God will move in the hearts and lives of the high schoolers at Holland Christian. Our schedule: March 6 Leave for Montreal. March 7 Lots and Lots of appointments and tests at the hospital. March 9 Tim will be going into surgery and having the Halo and the traction started. The Halo/ traction will be in place until March 21. On March 21 Tim will have his spinal fusion/rodding. At this time we do not know when we will be able to come home. Tim will have to be able to tolerate a 12 hour ride home. Again, thank you so much for all your prayers!!!! We are so blessed.

Tim's Story

Come Listen to Tim tell his amazing story, and Enjoy some awesome worship!!!