In our year of trial, one thing has uplifted us more than anything.  And that is your prayers.  The community of believers who surround Arla and her family is amazing.  Arla always prayed.  She believed in its power.  What a simple act is prayer.  It only takes a moment to become directly connected to our Lord.

Our Creator loves us with a love that we can barely fathom at times.   He created each of us uniquely and had a plan for us before we were even conceived.  His grace and mercy are unmatched.   And still there are those days when we fight against His grace.  We try to do the tasks of the day alone.  Even in our daily task we can turn to God and say, “Give me strength; give me patience; show me how to do this.”  Why do we forget?  Why do we so often go it alone?

Thank you for praying for us this year.  There were many, many times we were so far down in the trenches that we forgot to look up and say, “Help me, Lord.  I cannot do this alone.  Hold me.  Guide me.  Show me.”  Tonight, we pray that God will richly bless all of you who have been faithful in your belief and your prayer.  It meant EVERYTHING!

One small update–Arla will be doing speech therapy again.  One goal will be to see if we can move her off the thickened liquids.  The therapy team also feels Arla is at a point where she is more focused and “willing” to participate in the therapies.  Now, if we can just get Harold to be quiet and let Arla speak.  🙂