A Testimony in parts...

[desk_jedi]

I will give this testimony in parts because I believe what started as a single chapter with the arrival of my son has already begun to blossom into a full blown story...

Part 1:
When my wife and I found out she was pregnant we were both excited and a little scared.  As you are all are most certainly aware, the economy in the US hasn't been exactly spectacular in the last few years and things have been difficult for us financially as a result.  Regardless of our situation however, we believed that God has a reason for everything that occurs and we decided to place our faith in Him that all would be taken care of.  Both my wife and I had just lost our jobs and so were without insurance at the time, but we knew that everything would work out somehow.  Only a couple of weeks after losing my job, X calls me up and says he has some part time work he could use some help with.  It wasn't great but it was a start and I knew that I had nowhere else to go but up from there.  Couple of months later I had a new full time job working for a software developer in Frisco, TX making decent money AND we had medical insurance again.  I kept up the part time gig on weekends until the contract ended in the early part of the summer.  Shortly before losing the part-time job, the wife gets a job that will let her work from home.  Pay wasn't great but we were at least making enough to keep all the bills paid.  We get her and the baby checked as quickly as we can find a Dr.  They determine the pregnancy to be high risk and start talking about how the child has spina bifida (linky for more info) and will likely have down syndrome, probably won't have use of his legs, will have trouble using the bathroom and won't be able to produce children.  We knew that our God was bigger than any problem this world could throw at us so we gave it over to Him.  We took him before the church and the whole congregation prayed healing over him.  I know that many, if not all, of the members of this site prayed for him and PRAISE GOD! when Eddie was born he was completely healed.  We put our faith in Jesus that He would heal our son and he answered our prayers.  There was a little bump at the base of his spine and a small skin tag, but his spinal cord and back bone were completely formed.  He has no problems using his legs (or the bathroom for that matter ) and is smart.  The neurosurgeon said that his spinal cord have become attached to the base of the spine during the pregnancy and that was what caused the bump on teh rump.  So we took him back in at 3 months and they performed surgery to release it.  Praise God the surgery went without incident and he has been top notch ever since.  God has been so good to us and I just want to praise and give Him all the glory for all of these wonderful blessing!

[desk_jedi]

Part 2:

In January of this year my wife again found herself out of work.  In December I left the job I had in Frisco to start my own company, On Fire Technologies and began work as a contractor of Level One Helpdesk, Inc.  running a support desk for a restaurant chain based out of Atlanta, GA.  I actually got a raise by making this move but lost the insurance which my wife I was covering until she lost her job.  Plus, even though I am making more money I am not making enough on my income alone to make all the bills.  As a result we have some credit cards and a student loan that have gone unpaid and stuff is stacking up.  Still the mortgage gets paid every month, our gas bill is only $20 a month (you can't beat the commute working from home) and the Utility, Internet and phone bills are all paid.  We still manage to keep food in the fridge (we've had some help from the Moms there, God bless them!) and we haven't been out in ages, short of going to Church or the store, but praise God we have not gone without.  We know that God would not have let my wife lose her job unless he had something better in store for her and even though it doesn't look like we will have enough money to pay the bills we always seem to make it.  She is currently looking to find another teaching or substitute teaching position soon.  Anyway, so where is the testimony in all of this?  I'm sure your saying to yourself as you read this "Well God bless them for keeping the faith in such a difficult time, but I don't see where God has done anything directly, not since the baby was born."  Well I'm getting to that. As it so happens, on Saturday night Eddie's left eye got real red and started gumming up with puss.  Then  he started running a high fever and the infant Tylenol wasn't cutting it.  We had no other choice but to take him to the Emergency room.  We were a little apprehensive because we don't have any insurance at the moment but we knew we needed to do something and didn't know what.  When we got to the Emergency room we were admitted right away and the nurse gave him some infant's Ibuprofen and told us that it worked better for reducing fever than Tylenol did.  Shortly after being admitted the Dr. came and saw him and confirmed that Eddie has developed Conjunctivitis in his eye (aka pink eye) and that all we could do was keep the eye clean, try to keep him from rubbing his face and then prescribed us some anti-bacterial eye drops to put in his eyes to keep any additional infection from setting in while his body fought off the viral infection.  The Nurse came in afterward with the prescription and a bottle of the stuff to go ahead and give him his first dose.  Then she gave us the bottle and said to keep it, no charge!  Also as we were leaving and were inquiring about the bill they told us that if would could pay anything up front they would knock 60% off of the total bill.  I gave them our last $20 (allotted for groceries this week).  Flash forward to Tuesday night, I'm gathering up all of our tax paperwork to take to the CPA to get our taxes done and while digging through a pile of mail I happen upon an envelope from the State Attorney General's office that looks like it holds a check.  I opened it up and sure enough, there was a check inside for almost $1000.  Enough to make sure the hospital bill was paid in full, we can get groceries and even get some of the other bills caught up.  Praise the Lord!  I'm still thanking Him for that blessing, right when we needed it most.

God is good and He is ALWAYS on time!

[desk_jedi]

Part 3:

On August 25 our son, Eddie, will turn 1.  He is crawling with reckless abandon everywhere, has started cruising (for those unfamiliar with the term, it's when an infant pulls itself up on furniture and uses it as support to walk around), he talks almost non-stop and is into everything he can get himself into. There are days when Phaedra and I feel like we are gonna go nuts trying to keep up with him but I wouldn't trade any of it for anything.  The Bible tells us that: Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalms 127:3 [AMP] and our children and truly the most wonderful blessing from the Lord that we've received.  As most of you know I now work from home and Phaedra lost her job this past January.  Unfortunately with her job went our health care benefits.  At present the Lord has not yet blessed my meager company with the increase necessary to cover getting our own insurance policy.  But God is always faithful and even though the State of Texas initially turned down our application for Medicaid earlier this month, we were still accepted.  While Phaedra and I aren't covered, at least our children have access to medical care in case they need it.  Eddie has a follow-up appointment to let the Dr. check how his back is healing (see Part 1) and we are certain of a good report.  He also has an appointment this month to get his shots caught up.  At church on Wednesday, the Pastor told Phaedra that she was annointed to write children's books.  This is something that she started doing before we were dating and put down when it seemed that life was directing her elsewhere.  Interestingly our Pastor is not the first person to tell her this.  Last year a visiting speaker, Pastor Sandie Freed, told her the same thing.  Even as the Lord tells us to remind Him of His promises to us (Isaiah 43:26), He is good to remind us of the Word that He gave to us.  Praise to the Lamb of God!  I cannot stop the tears from welling up in my eyes, the feeling of absolute peace and love that fills my heart to overflowing when I think on how much our Heavenly Father has done to bless us and provide for us especially over the last couple of years.  Even when I was struggling with trying to force my own pride and selfish desires, He patiently waited and did not let us go without.  I cannot praise Jesus enough, I can't worship Him enough, there is nothing that I can do that is worthy repayment for all the He has done for us.  Even still will lift my hands high and give Him all glory and praise.   Our God is an AWESOME God and worthy of all praise, now and forever!

Eddie at 11mos:

[SARGE]

Well, considering your son shares a birthday with me, he's an automatic stud in my book. I'll keep you in my prayers.

[desk_jedi]

That is awesome.  Happy belated birthday, Sarge.  Hope all is well.