Tim is doing a bit better every day! We are hoping to stop in to school later this week to say "HI" and get some homework figured out. We are also going to get some xrays of Tim's arm. Please pray that the bone is healing and that it is straight. It would be great to get Tim out of this sling/cast and into a shower and a new sling!!! Thanks for all the prayers! We are so thankful to have been able to be together as a family to celebrate Allison's graduation. It felt great to be together!!! We still have a long road for Tim. Pray for patience for everyone and for the pain to continue to get better.

We had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating with Allison at her Open House. It was perfect! We even were able to have Tim there for a couple of hours. Yeah God! Tonight, we will have the 6 of us together!!! Chris is coming home today! We are taking life one day at a time. Tim's pain is slowly getting better. We were able to get him transferred into a car yesterday. Please pray as we continue to try to get Tim's doctor's orders figured out to continue his care.

Erika is HOME!!! Yeah God :) Allison just had her last day to high school!!! Yeah God! Chris is coming home Monday for a few days. A lot to be thankful for! Tim's pain is a little better every day. We are still working on getting home nursing aid care so Kevin and I can have a break here and there and so I can go back to work. One day at a time!

It is so good to be home :) We are excited to pick up Erika tonight! Please pray that her flights home from Honduras go well. We will be up to the 5 of us back together! Chris is coming home on Monday. The reunion we have all been praying for. All 6 of us together again! At least for a little while. Please pray that we can get Tim's care at home figured out. It has been hard. They actually wanted to admitted Tim back into Mary Free Bed for a week to help get the medical consults we need, xrays, PT, pain management.....Great idea except we all really want to be home for awhile!!!! It is a lot of red tape. We just want to be a family for awhile. All under one roof. Please pray!

One step at a time. Tim is doing ok. A little less pain everyday. Still trying to work out lots of details. Kevin and I had the privilege to go to the honors night last night and cheer on our Miss Allison. It was so awesome to be in person to hug her and congratulate her! Thank you to everyone!! I honestly do not know how we could do this without your prayers, words of encouragement, food, hugs,......God has blessed us with an incredible circle of family in Christ!!!!

We are HOME!!! :) We got home around 9:30 last night. The ride went well. Thank you to Curt Brouwer for riding up and back with Kev and us and for letting us use their conversion van. Tim was able to lie down on the bed in the back for the whole trip. Tim had an ok night. He was pretty sore this morning but we were able to get on top of it with pain medicine. So amazing to sleep in my own bed last night!! Now we are trying to catch up. Lots of phone calls to set up doctor's appointments, x-rays that need to be ordered, home nursing care to line up......the phone is ringing off the hook. We are also trying to figure out how to transfer Tim in and out of bed at home. We need to figure out how to transfer him to and from doctor's appointments. A bit overwhelming to say the least, but.....at least we are home!! Yeah God!!!!

It has been a hard couple of days. PAIN. It has been hard to keep it under control. When Tim lays on his side his hand and elbow hurt. When Tim lays on his back his back hurts. We are trying to space the medication to cover the pain but it is hard. The plan is to leave for home tomorrow. Pray that Tim's pain lessens. Pray that he can continue to hold his arm still so that the bone can heal straight. Kevin is heading up here today. Pray for safe travels. Love to all :)

Day one after the arm surgery. Tim had a rough night. A lot of pain. The resident stopped in at 6:30. "Amazing!" He was reacting to how much Tim was moving his hand. Dr. Fassier stopped in this morning. He reiterated that Tim should not move his arm. The Kwire is very flexible. Dr. Fassier wants us to leave the Vietnam sling and dressings in place for at least 3 weeks. Please pray that the bone pieces stay in place and that Tim does not get too overwhelmed with all the restrictions. Right now it is hard for him to even roll on to his side. We are hoping to get some of the 20 plus staples out of Tim's back later today. Praise God that Tim is not nauseated!

Yeah God! Surgery is done. It did not go as smoothly as they had hoped. Dr. Fassier cut the existing rod in half. He was able to pull the upper half by the shoulder out easily. But,....the bottom piece did not come out easily. Dr. Fassier said Tim's bone was like rock. After doing their best the bone broke again. This time very close to the elbow. Dr. Fassier was not able to rerod the arm. He ended up improvising a bit and placed two K wires. They are not near as strong as a rod. One was threaded into the bone from the shoulder down and the other he very carefully threaded from the elbow up. The good news is that they over lap a bit at the new elbow fracture so that it is a bit stronger there. Dr. Fassier was very concerned about the nerve in the arm. It was stretched and pulled for a long time during the surgery. Here comes another "Yeah God!" Tim was able to move his fingers and wrist already in the recovery room. Dr. Fassier stopped in before he left (after a really long day!!!) and smiled when he saw Tim moving his hand and wrist. "Now I can go home and sleep tonight! I will see you in the morning." Please pray for healing! This arm will need a lot of it!!! Pray that all the pieces of bone will stay in place and not rotate around the K wire. Pray that the K wire will be strong enough to enable Tim to wheel and do all the things he loves to do. Love to all :) Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness!!!

Tim is getting a bit stronger every day. His appetite is still not very good but at least the nausea is a bit better. Tim's surgery on his arm is scheduled for 12:30 pm tomorrow. It is scheduled for about 3 hours. He will not be allowed anything to eat or drink after midnight. To be honest, we are both a little distracted and nervous. It will be another bigger surgery. Please pray that there will be minimal blood lose. That God will protect all the nerves that run down the arm and go into the hand. There is always a risk of nerve damage when the doing the arm roding. We have been doing devotions up here and the one thing that has come up the last couple of days is that we do not need to try and "hang on" to God. That would imply using our strength. Rather, we need to hide in the shadow of His wings, seek the protection of His tower, rest in the grip of His hand. Yeah God because we have spent all our own strength a long time ago :) !!

Monday morning. It is sunny and beautiful. The last couple of days I have been able to go for some walks. For those that have been in Montreal with Tim and me, I am walking from the the hospital down to the corner by the hotel on St. Catherine's and then up Mt. Royal to the top of the look out and then back down to the hospital. (The walk down is a lot easier than the walk up) Tim is excited to get his left leg cast off this morning. We are going to get some xrays out of the cast. There is a chance that Tim will have some surgery on that leg too. Have a blessed day :) God has blessed us with another day to make a difference in this world and to honor and worship our Creator!!

Blessed Sabbath to all! Tim and I love watching our church's live stream of the worship service. A slice of home when we are both missing home :) Our goal today is to have Tim work on sitting up. Since the accident Tim has been on bedrest most of the time. Now, when Tim sits up much higher than 30% he gets dizzy and nauseated. He will need to be able to maintain that position to get home. Tim's surgery for his right upper arm is scheduled for Wednesday about 12:30pm. They have him down for 3 hours.
"I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, and unclean. O how marvelous! O how wonderful! And my song shall EVER be: O how marvelous! O how wonderful! Is my Savior's love for me!"

Sunny, cool day today! Tim is making some slow but tiny steps of progress everyday. The sparkle comes back into his eyes more and more each day. Tim and I have had some sweet times of prayer and talk. Basically, our own time of worship. "Where two or three are gathered..."We are trying to bloom where God has planted us for now.

Another drippy, rainy day in Montreal. Tim and I are just taking things slow. He starting eating a little yesterday. He was very nauseated again last night. Bummer! We are just doing toast, soup, small amounts of fruit. Tim does not look good when he turns an interesting shade of green :S Our prayer is that he feels a lot better before his next big surgery on Wednesday. Love to all!!!

Tim is doing much better!!! Yeah God!!!! He had a little toast and chicken soup last night and did not throw it up :) He had a little fruit and toast this morning. We just saw Dr. Fassier this morning. Tim is scheduled to have surgery Wednesday or Thursday next week on his arm. Another "Yeah God!!!" Please pray that Tim's body will be up for the next surgery. His mind and heart are, thanks to his Lord and Savior! Ps 63:6-8 "On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me."

Day 2 after surgery. Tim's pain is doing ok. Our bigger problem in his nausea. He has had a little ginger ale since surgery but that is all. He just had some more IV medication for nausea. We got our first look at Tim's back. He has 20 plus more staples in his back. A big "YEAH GOD!!" We saw Dr. Fassier yesterday! We were all just speechless and had plenty of tears. He ordered more xrays on the arm and legs. Hopefully we will get some idea what's the next step for Tim's limbs. "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; stuck down, but not destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 Kevin drove home yesterday. He got home safely about 12:40am. Thank the Lord! It is a long drive when you are tired and flying solo. Thank you for all your prayers!!!!

Our family would like to say some words of thanks. First of all we want to thank God for being faithful and showing us more grace than we can ever imagine. He is our provider and healer. We have been reading Ray Vanderlaan's book Walking with God in the Desert and as mentioned in the book, God is more than enough. We also want to thank the Holland Christian and Zeeland Christian communities for all their prayers and support. We are very blessed to be planted in such a caring and compassionate community. Thank you to our families! They have walked along side of us faithfully. Thank you to our friends. Meals, sweet notes, surprise gift cards, texts of encouragement.....the list is ENDLESS!!! "Thank you" are two little words that do not even start to express our family's feelings. God Bless!!

We had an ok night. We tried our best to avoid post operative nausea but during the night Tim started throwing up (even after 2 doses of Zofran). Not fun with a sore back. Tim is on a morphine PCA pump. One hour at a time. Kev is leaving today. Please pray for safe travels for him. We will load him up with some Tim Horton's muffins :) Do not have any idea yet when Tim and I will be coming home. Thank you for you prayers and sweet words of encouragement to all 6 of us!!! We are hiding under the shelter of His wings!!!!