Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us . . . Hebrews 12:1

"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us . . . " Hebrews 12:1



Almost 18 years ago, life changed in an instant when Steven Sauder sustained a head injury after a car collision. Although there have been many difficulties, God's grace has been clearly evident. The past few years, Steven continued to decline, yet God gave him the strength to "never give up". On May 9, 2011, he reached the end of his journey.



Monday, November 14, 2011

God Displaying His Power and Love

I have been sharing with you the many ways that God used the agony of Steven's brain injury for God's glory and our good, including some of the ways He prepared us before (Godstops) and a number of ways that He used the brain injury in the sanctification process of Steven and me. In this journey of brain injury, He also blessed us with many "mini-miracles" and gifts of love, so that we and the people we came into contact with might see the power and love of God displayed in our ordinary day-to-day lives. One of the most precious of those ways is the miracle of Steven talking, which you can read about by going to the "Our Journey" tab at the top of the page on this blogspot.

Another gift of love had to do with the selling of our home in IL after Steven's brain injury. We had traveled to FL for my sister's wedding, found that Steven's muscle tone did much better in the FL climate, and consequently had bought a home in FL. We went back to IL to spruce up our home there for a couple weeks - painting, replacing carpeting, etc. - and had a professional appraisal done. The appraisal came out exactly $20,000.00 less than we had just paid for our FL home. This was a great disappointment to us, since we had paid off our IL home after many ears of studious monthly payments and had financially planned on not having a mortgage payment in FL. Nevertheless, we put our IL home on the market "by owner" and advertised an open house. God brought lots of people to the open house, and He put such a desire in a number of their hearts for that specific home that they were willing to bid the price up. The final bid arrived at was the exact same price that we had paid for our FL home, to the penny! The buyers were a wonderful Christian family with whom we are still friends today.

Meanwhile, we had closed Steven's practice and were getting ready to put a "for lease" sign up for the vacant space, not sure how long that part of the building would have to sit empty. God, however, had other ideas. He sent an unprecedented "tip" our way that one of the area hospitals was looking for office space in Washington for a group of their doctors. Within a short amount of time, a 5-year lease was signed.

Theses are just 2 of the many, many testimonials we could give about God's power and love displayed in our lives. Thank you, precious Lord. Thank you.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Grandson

I'm sorry I haven't posted for a long time. I was in IL for a quite awhile because my grandson Joshua (age 7) was in the hospital. His blood platelet count was down to 3000 (life-threatening - supposed to be 200,000 to 400,000). After 2 other therapies did not work, they started chemotherapy. The 4th chemo treatment brought the platelet count up to 130,000, thankfully. Joshua is now restricted to his home, with a protective helmet, but things are definitely looking up.

Joshua is our "miracle baby". He was in intensive care for 8 mo. after birth, and just started to walk and talk about a year ago. But he loves books and reads like a trooper - right side up or upside down, take your choice. (I tried it upside down and was a whole lot slower than Joshua!)

For those who have been praying for Joshua - thank you!