A better day, and some new challenges...

I hope I did not sound too miserable and whiny last time, but the Lord has been dealing with me a great deal the last couple days. Today he reminded me of how we have just ripped everything that Sean knows to shreds and turned his life upside-down. As a very high funtioning and intelligent child with Down's, he is probably dealing with a lot. He did much better today, ate well, and I have been able to work on some basic stuff with him, like throwing away his own diaper and taking his clothes to the dirty clothes pile. We even had quite an exciting and tiring tickle session:) Now he sleeps soundly by my side, very tired from sight-seeing and 2 bus rides and 2 excursions to the store under us and trying on all the slippers in the house, etc. I think he will adjust well once we establish a routine at home.

Please continue to keep Traci, Naomi, and Jonah in prayer. Traci took them to the urgent care center last night in MD, and Jonah definitely has chicken pox, and Naomi appears to have pneumonia and an allergic reaction. I am thankful she brought her. Naomi is now being treated for both. Unfortunately, the timetable for Annabelle and Elsie to likely get chicken pox is about the time we were supposed to head back to Rapid City. Please pray that they either get it quickly (so that they will be non-contagious so we can fly) or that their immune systems fight it long enough to get home so that we can have them convalesce at home and I can return to work as planned June 8th. To top it off, Traci's debit card stopped working, and when she called the bank, she was informed that our credit card (used for such emergencies) was being put on hold because of suspicious out of state purchases- hmmm- wonder where those came from- could it be MD?:) So, she is out of cash. We will work something out, though.

Please continue to pray for grace from our friends and families who are assisting Traci and the others in their time of need. Lift Haylee and I up, as we support one another. Please pray for me to have wisdom, as we have this weekend without Irina present for me to work on some basic training with Sean, and to just relax all together here. Please pray for all to have greater understanding of God's purposes not only in this adoption process, but also as He works out the fruits of our adoption as sons and daughters of our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thank you all for your lovingkindness with supportive remarks and prayer. We couldn't make it without you!

Grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

John