2 months later...

Sunday marks 2 months since the accident. A lot of water under the bridge and yet still feeling the aftermath in so many ways. I thought it was past time to post an update of some things...

-Miguel continues in the hospital. He has come out of the coma, but has some traumatic brain injury. He can talk, eat, walk by himself, but has little memory of people or events. He is like a little kid. Thankfully, the family and doctors finally decided to move him to a better clinic, and not to the psychiatric hosptial. The transfer was made on Monday. Josh made 5 different trips on different days, attempting to make the transfer and there was always some kind of hold-up. The doctors are planning on operating on a blood clot in the cranium sometime soon. Please continue praying for Miguel and his family. We were very thankful to see Miguel's kids at church one Sunday, but they are sad and struggling to assimilate all the changes in their lives lately. They have been to see their dad, but he didn't recognixe them. We continue to pray for a miracle in this regard and would appreciate your prayers as well. It is discouraging and sad for Josh to see Miguel continuing in this condition - and strange for him to think that he was sitting right next to him when the accident happened.

-Ariel was released from the hospital yesterday, after another pelvic surgery. The first surgery was done wrong - one hip was 4 cm. lower than the other one, and he would have walked with a very severe limp. His parents were worried about his extended recovery and continuing pain and so got a second opinion from another doctor. Thankfully, this doctor seemed to know what he was doing and Ariel was sitting up within days after the surgery. He will now have another 2 weeks recovery at home and then continued recovery in a wheelchair. His cochlear device finally arrived too and we are just waiting for the technician to calibrate it. Ariel continues in good spirits in spite of it all, but his parents are really struggling with the continued tragedy of his health and the loss of Diana. They really need to be surrounded by prayers and the presence of God at this time.

-Most of the others in the accident are recovering well. Rebecca is walking better every time I see her; Kevin continues on bedrest for another month; Bruno will not have to have surgery on his knee, but is doing physical therapy daily; many of the others now have their casts or bandages removed. Josh has been encouraged by several discussions during the youth class together. Many are still struggling emotionally, but are finding strength in God and in each other.

-Butch made it safely to the States with Jonathan and back. They are now settled in Searcy and Rachel is teaching.

-As far as our family goes, Josh is pretty much completely physically recovered. We've had some sickness over the last month, but thankfully everyone is healthy right now. I think both Josh and I still have moments of tiredness and sadness - as I know do the rest of the team as well. It still seems like every day, there is some kind of follow up to do regarding the accident.

I want to express again how thankful we are for the many ways we've recieved encouragement through emails, facebook, and even lately real cards - thank you to Austin Ave. and to Livonia for having your kids make special cards for us! It means so much to us and the church here! And over the last couple days, we've been extremely blessed to have Dale Hawley here with our team. We were able to spend some great time together sharing about our team and everything that's happened over the last couple months. It was good to get away and to have time together. Thank you, Austin Ave. for making that happen!

We continue to find our strength in the Lord and in His body! May He continue to work through us, using us as 'instruments of His peace!'