Lighthouse Beams

Dear Friends & Family,

Where has the year flown to? Each year seems to go faster and it is so hard to keep up. This has been a busy, emotional year but we have been blessed in so many ways to. We have learned again how good God is to us and how He is watching over us each and every step of the way.

The year kicked off with snow for the kids and we got out and enjoyed it with them. It didn’t stick around long but the kids enjoyed a good snowball fight with the neighbor and Michael.

May 20^th Orilla found a lump in her breast and this started our family down a roller coaster for a few months. June 2^nd, it was confirmed that it was cancer and surgery was scheduled. The waiting is the part that almost is overwhelming. The unknown is worse than the knowing how to fight. June 11^th, surgery was preformed and then another long wait. The surgeon messed things up and Orilla is still having some problems from time to time but is starting to heal now. June 17^th we were told that yes the first lab had declared it was cancer and it was sent to a second for confirmation and somewhere between the two labs God healed the cancer! There were people clear across the world praying for our family during this time and we truly believe that God worked a miracle for our family. Why did God heal Orilla but not the others that have been fighting cancer this year at Michael’s work? We have no idea and sometimes we ask the same question why us but not them. The only thing I can say is God knows the plan for our lives and He knows the end and how He will receive the glory. “To God be the glory” for the healing touch!

Each one of the kids have had very busy lives this year.

James ~ He turned 22 in September. He is living in Poplar Bluff in a home for handicapped men and women. He enjoys the group there and has been getting along wonderfully. He enjoys taking long walks through the woods behind the home and around the community. This summer a bunch of the guys went to the creek close by and did some fishing. He works at the Shelter Workshop, his main job is putting together pallets. He really enjoys his job. He has a Christian girlfriend, Becky. They work together at the workshop and enjoy each others friendship. One of the big things he looks forward to is going to church on Sunday. We are looking forward to having him with us for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We are still thankful for the Lord giving us our family back to us and being able to be a whole family again.

Abigail ~ She is 11 and is a 5^th grader. Wow, we can remember bringing our first little bundle home from the hospital and realizing that God had answered our prayers. She is very talented and is doing really well in school this year. Her favorite subject is art. She is taking art through Thomas Kinkade and is learning so much and we are seeing her really becoming very good at it. She is very horse crazy and looks forward to hopefully be able to learn to ride next year. She went to VBS at Grandma & Grandpa Murray’s again this summer. She loves going there and getting to spend the week with them and spending time with her cousins.

Milton ~ By the time Christmas gets here, my baby will be 8. He is in kindergarten this year and has started making some big progress. The past 5 years has been a roller coaster but we are so thankful that God has given us this special little boy to love. After 3 years of therapy 4 times a week we are starting to see him really jump and progress. He is now talking as a 3 yr old and being able to be understood more. We have recently dropped occupational therapy but he is still in speech and physical therapy. In May he wrote his very first word, Thanksgiving, and from that time we are seeing him really take off. He is still struggling from time to time with seizures but he still is doing pretty good for the most time.

Suzy ~ Yes, we have a new member in our family! In January we talked to a group in Arkansas about getting service dog for Milton. BUT after finding out that it would cost us $15,000 + we decided that we couldn’t afford one and gave up that idea. BUT God had other plans. Sunday, August 22^nd, changed our lives for ever! The group we had talked to previously, called and told us that they had a dog that would be awesome for Milton and that they were willing to help us train her for almost nothing. The door was closed on us getting that dog and even the next dog at the last minute. BUT on August 28^th, we went to Arkansas and picked up our newest member of the family, Suzy, a Great Pyrenees. She is beautiful! You can train a service dog to be a seizure dog but you CAN’T train them to be an alert dog. Three days after we got her, she pulled Michael out of bed warning us that Milton was going to have a seizure. Yes, God gave us a big bonus, she is an alert dog and has proven to alert us up to 3 hours before he has a seizure. She has been wonderful to train and she has changed our lives. We have seen Milton calm down, be able to do more school work, go shopping and him not have as many melt downs and will go to bed at night and go to sleep without problems. If you run into us, you will see her attached to Milton and being best buddies. You can follow our story with Suzy at http://homeschoolblogger.com/littlelighthouse/category/service-dog-journey/.

Michael ~ He has been at Howell-Oregon Electric for over 12 year now. He has been promoted to IT Supervisor and loves his job. He has two wonderful men under him that have done a great job and made his job a lot easier. He took off the week that Suzy joined our family to help us be able to welcome her into our home and get used to each other. He has started doing more trips for work and the family has enjoyed getting to travel with him.

Orilla ~ Homeschooling, carpooling to therapy, service dog training, being a mom and wife, she has been kept busy. The sewing machine is out whirring and a few things are being prepared for Christmas. She will soon be in the kitchen preparing for the holidays and the family being together.

This year Christmas will be slim as far as presents go but the true meaning of Christmas will be the center of our celebration more than ever. This year we are counting our blessings for health, family, and how God has blessed each and every one of us to still be together as a family.

We pray that you have had a good year and that you will put CHRIST first in your Christmas season and step back and remember the real reason of the season.

Merry Christmas,

Michael, Orilla & Family

hsmom3

I'm the wife of my best friend that God gave to me over 20+ years ago. We have been blessed with 3 children, James (by adoption); Abigail & Milton (special needs child) and our service dog, Suzy. I have been blessed to be able to homeschool since 1997 and be the co-director with my husband, Michael, of the state wide Christian homeschool organization, MATCH since 1999. God has blessed us abundantly.