If you go to visit Arla around meal time and you can’t find her in her room, take a peek in the dining room right inside the front door.  While Arla is not close to eating enough to sustain her nutritional needs, she will be taken to the dining room at each meal to eat.  Today, she fed herself oatmeal at breakfast.  Hopefully, Arla will begin to have the desire and strength to eat more.  The sights and smells of the dining room can only help her want to eat.

Arla is being brought to a standing position everyday during therapy.  She is not standing on her own yet.  She also tires less with usual routines such as showering and sitting in her wheelchair.  We also got her to write her name last week.  These are all small steps toward assisting Arla in having more energy and being able to communicate.  Speech is still a struggle and a hit or miss event.

Continue to pray for Arla’s recovery.  Continue to pray for those who care for her.  Arla would tell you to pray as a believer.  We must pray with a heart of sincerity.  We must believe that what we are praying for can be accomplished and will be accomplished by our Lord.  Doubt impairs our honest communication with God.