Obtaining Mercy

A Wild and Crazy Week

Whew!  It's been a little bit busy this week at our house, so I thought I'd try to catch you up-to-date.

Doug and Isaac had quite a time trying to get home from therapy on Tuesday.  Our truck died "the big death" on the way back.  They did not get home until 1:45 a.m. Wednesday morning, after having to sit on the side of the road in the middle of 192-no-whereville for 3 hours.  (You locals will know exactly where that is, too!)

The rest of the week, then, proved to be very interesting, having no working vehicle.  It worked out ok, though, as so many family, friends and co-workers gave us rides and lended their cars for grocery shopping and such.  We are so thankful for them!

My sister-in-love and I had been planning a trip to the beach for a few weeks, and I decided to not let the circumstances deter me.  I was so glad we went.  It was a beautifully slow-paced day and I took in about a week's worth of vitamin D, and we were home by 3 p.m.  Can't beat that, can you?

On Friday, Doug took part in the graduation ceremony/service of the school where he teaches.  They graduated 4 seniors, and he said the service and reception were very nice.

Meanwhile, Isaac and I attended my cousin's wedding at our church, thanks to 2 different vehicles from 2 different families.  It was a labor of love to get us there, and I am so grateful I could go.  Isaac sat with the younger children in the toddlers' building for the ceremony, but then joined me for the reception.  Let me tell you, my boy can put away some potato salad!!!  He just loved it and I was glad to have such a happy escort.

Today, Saturday, my mom and I attended the Mother-Daughter Luncheon at our church.  The cafeteria was still set up with the gorgeous decorations from the wedding the night before, and the food was yuuummmmy!  We heard a lovely pastor's wife speak about serving the Lord in the beauty of holiness and came home with sweet little plants donated from a church member's nursery. :)

So...cRaZy, busy week, full of wonderful blessings and unexpected catastrophes.  We still have no idea what we are going to do for a vehicle.  We are in no position to purchase a new one, but the old one is beyond repair.  We are truly waiting on a miracle from the Lord!

We are, however, focused on the Lord, yielding ourselves and our lives to Him on a moment by moment basis.  Occasionally, we feel ourselves growing very agitated, and have to stop to realize we are just feeling very "out of control" of everything in our lives right now; and once again, surrender it all to the Lord.

Doug is also out of work for the summer and has no prospects; but perhaps the Lord knew he wouldn't have a way to get to a job??? :o/  We don't know...so we just keep trusting and doing what we know to do each day, with the ability that we DO have.

Now that you have an update on us, I will leave you with some glorious pictures from my day at the beach!

 

 

 

 

 

 

HopeFULLy,

Alesha Kay

What a Lovely Day!

 

Doug and I had such a nice day together on Friday.

It was one of those days when not one thing went according to plan!  It was, however, a day full of fun surprises:

• avoiding the traffic jam on I-4 by doing a u-turn on the ramp, driving through the median and hopping a curb to get back on the road.
• wandering around Kissimmee looking for a place to eat, but finding all the nice restaurants closed.
• seeing a road that Doug recognized, taking it and ending up on the road on which we meant to end our day.
• eating Turkish cuisine for the first time.
• looking for a used bookstore, with written directions from a barista, and never finding the store.
• deciding to not return the way we came, and looking for a bead store.
• finding the mall that the bead store was supposed to be in, and learning that the entire mall was empty except for a few store on the end near Outdoor World.
• walking through Bass Pro Shop (now, I can say that I've been...nothing spectacular, in my opinion)
• finding a new way to get to the road we were on before, so that we could go to Whole Foods before we headed home.
• going home with freshly ground cashew butter (yum!)

Now a few pictures from our lovely lunch. (I do apologize for the poor quality - my cell phone is notoriously difficult to hold still while pressing the shutter button.)

Hot Lemon Green Tea

 

Fabulous Turkish Bread.  We were amazed and asked for instructions!

 

"Just use your knife and poke it!"  Steam billowed out as it collapsed.

It was served with amazing authentic hummus (very similar to mine, I am proud to say), pickled cabbage and Kalamata olives.  The taste combinations were extraordinarily delicious!

 

Soup of the Day - Lentil, with a squeeze of lemon on top

 

Falafel Wrap with Tahini dipping sauce

 

Lamb Kabob with grilled Veggies and Rice (that Doug said was amazing!)

 

Turkish Pistachio Baklava

 

Anatolia - our Lovely Surprise of the Day

 

And of course, one of the best things about being out in Florida is the always breathtaking Sky!

Our day was full of twists and turns (literally and figuratively); but we enjoyed our time together and made some wonderful memories.

Changes to our plans are not necessarily bad!

Embrace the unexpected with an air of expectancy.

God will surprise you in ways you would never imagine.

:)

Blessings,

Alesha

Saturday, 17 March 2007

Good Morning,

I thought I'd include a few more pics from our trip.  It was such a beautiful day and everything was new to me and therefore interesting.

This was the Ronald McDonald House.  Can you see that someone has painted only one coat of red paint on a white wall.   This sign was perhaps the most impressive part of our stay here.  'Nuff said!

A little friendly dove that greeted us at our 2nd. floor window.  He sat there all evening.

I was amazed at how far you could see of this skyline.  Good ol' FLAT Florida!

One of the many gorgeous, palm-tree-lined, neighborhood steets near the hospital.  The tall spire is the Biltmore Hotel.  It was beautiful.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a good shot from in front of the hotel.  It was truly impressive.

The gateway to a Coral Gables neighborhood.  I'm thinking that in years past, this was the main entrance.  Now it is just one of many.  Pretty though, huh?

The construction going on in downtown Miami was astonishing!

This was a beautiful shot.  I wish my camera had captured the color of the water.  It was an amazing turquoise green.  My hubby says this was the most beautiful scene we saw.  Unfortunately, there was no place to stop to get a better picture.

Pretty little side street off Ocean Drive.  See the quaint ivy-covered building?

One last pic to pay homage to my favorite beverage store!  Starbucks!  Can we say "Cinnamon Dolce Latte"?  Yummmmmmmm...

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Isaac update:  Yesterday Doug was able to get him in his stander for almost an hour.  That's really good for us to do everyday, but some days his lateral hamstrings are just too tight for us to get him in it.  He had a little seizure activity last night, but slept really well.  He woke up smiling this morning, but is also having seizure activity this morning.

We're praying for a good weekend - I'd LOVE for all of us to get to go to church together tomorrow.

Alesha

Wednesday, 14 March 2007

I thought you all would like to see some pics from our trip.

There were quite a few more roads than we're used to seeing where we live.

And LOTS more TALL buildings!

See?  I told you!

Over by the beach, it was much more pleasing to the eye.

They are refurbishing the hotels in the Art Deco District back to their original glory.  Very pretty!

Could the sky have been any more beautiful?

All in all, a good trip!

Alesha

Monday, 12 March 2007

Hi all,

We arrived in Miami yesterday afternoon.  Isaac had staring seizures almost non-stop the whole way here.  When they did stop, he slept - praise the Lord.  They continued throughout most of the evening, until around 9 PM.

He then decided since Daddy and Mama were in the room with him, it must be a slumber party!  And with Isaac - he is always the LAST one to sleep at a sleep over!!!

Finally around 4:30 the morning, he decided it was time to stop singing and get some rest. ( now, but  at 4:30 this morning. LOL!)

Right after he went to sleep, he had 3 grand mals - 30 seconds, 20 seconds and 45 seconds.  Now, of course, he is sleeping soundly and won't wake up to eat before our doctor's visit.

That's ok, though, he needs to sleep some, or he'll be incredibly grouchy.  I'm just praying we'll be some place convenient when he does choose to wake, because he will be famished!  (We are working on self control with our little man, but when his tummy is hungry, most of his control goes out the window!)

So, we'll meet with the doctor at 9:15 this morning.

Thanks for the faithful prayers.  I know my God is hearing them.

Alesha

Monday, 05 March 2007

Colleen, you guessed it!  It is a glass sculpture!  We took Isaac to the St. Louis Children's Hospital last August and nearby at the Missouri Botanical Gardens they were featuring the Chihuly Glass Exhibit.  It was spectacular!  Here are some other pics from our day.

This was hanging from beneath a bridge.  It was massive.

I loved these spheres they had floating in nearly every body of water.  You can see that Isaac got really hot while we were there - check out those rosy cheeks!

This boat was amazing!

This chandelier was 2 stories high and I could barely fit it into my viewfinder.

This was my favorite shot of my trip that didn't have one of "my guys" in it! 

This was the "Chihuly Rose" that they grew just for this exhibit.

And finally, a pic of my hubby and Isaac under a phenomenal archway.

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Update on Isaac - Praise the Lord, we had no seizures today.  He has eaten well and kept his food down.  He has also been very vocal all day, just complaining about every little thing that bothered him.  I don't like the grumping (with Isaac it all comes out as "Uh, uhhhhhhhh, UUUUUUUHHHHHHH, Uh...well, you get the idea), but I am delighted that he knows his own mind today and knows when he's irritated.  Tomorrow we'll work on our "inside voice" and "finding your hallelujah".

Thanks for guessing on my pic!  What's your most memorable trip with your family? 

Alesha