Our Merciful God

We have returned from a very relaxing vacation to Chattanooga, TN.  I highly recommend that city for a family vacation.  There are plenty of attractions to see, which of course have a price, but one can also enjoy walking around the downtown area or crossing the river on a special pedestrian bridge.  Thank you for your prayers for relaxation and refreshment for us on our vacation.  However, in the future, I shall also be asking for prayers for safety at the close of the vacation!

Our plan was to return home Monday evening, not too late due to appointments for Isaiah and Thomas on Tuesday morning.  First I will say that we did get home Monday night, and overall we are doing quite well, especially Isaiah.  Now I will tell you another reason we have for praising God:

For those of you who might not know, in order to travel from Chattanooga, TN to Clinton, MS, you must drive through mountains.  And that’s what we were doing about 10:30 Monday morning in the beautiful state of Alabama, when we met one of said mountains.  The stretch of highway we were driving on was being prepared for construction, so we had only one lane.  Apparently a rain storm had finished about 5 minutes before we came through this area, which is most likely the reason for our tires skimming a section of road and then our car spinning around before being stopped by the mountain.

In His mercy God prevented us for hitting head on into the mountain.  The front of our car skimmed the mountain face as we spun around and our trunk took the brunt of the hit.  And even more mercifully, none of us were seriously injured.  Thomas scraped his elbow but didn’t even require stitches.  Isaiah has a very small bruise on his neck from his car seat strap (I LOVE his car seat!), but he has full range of motion in his neck with no sign of pain.  Thomas and I are both really sore and stiff, but we are already enjoying improvement.

And if that was not enough of God’s evidence of His love for us, He also protected our car in such a way that we were able to finish driving home in our own vehicle that very day!

We are thankful for His protection and mercy and love for us.  We still get a little nervous when we hear strange sounds on the road or when another vehicle feels really close to the passenger side of the car, but our greatest reaction is one of thankfulness and praise to God.  Please praise Him with us!

Post-Op and Beyond

Thank you for your continued prayers for Isaiah’s recovery since his tendon release.  He has made a great recovery!  We went to his post-op visit yesterday morning, and the doctor removed the soft casts.  The knee immobilizer stays on for 2 more weeks, until our next visit, but it can come off for baths and such.  Isaiah seems to feel a bit more free, though he never really let his casts hold him back in the slightest.

This week has been full of activity, which is seeming to be something of a pattern for us.  Isaiah returned to his physical and occupational therapy twice a week.  He has already shown improvement in both areas.  Thomas has been representing InterAct Ministries the past several days at Reformed Theological Seminary’s annual missions’ conference.  He enjoyed meeting some students and visiting with some of our old professors.

Tomorrow morning we are beginning a bit of a vacation.  We’ll be 3 nights in an undisclosed location seeking rest and relaxation and not checking email.  Please pray for a time of rest for us so that we can return refreshed and ready for the next things God has planned for us, which include lots of traveling hither, thither and yon.

How can we pray for you?  We will be checking email before we leave tomorrow and when we get back, of course, so please send us an email to let us know how we can pray for you.  Oh, and speaking of email, our mailing list has become quite a mess, and I am in the process of fixing it.  If you would like to receive email newsletters, please email us at theslawsons@gmail.com to make sure that I have your correct email address!

Where To Begin

Well dear friends so much has happened since our last posting, which was I realize far too long ago. But just think about how much you’ll get to know now.

As most of you know, we are in the good ol’ USofA these days. We landed August 4th in NC, and we spent 6 great days there before heading down to MS and opening the door to our new townhouse.

That’s right. God has amazingly provided a home for our family in MS. Now when we return to the States each time, we will have a “base” to come to, which is also very close to Isaiah’s doctors. And we even have a guest room, which we are hoping will get a good bit of use.

And speaking of doctors…you may or may not know that Isaiah had surgery on his legs a little over a week ago. Both legs needed what’s called a tendon release in order to give his legs the flexibility they will need for the full-leg braces that he will be fitted for in a little while. He has on soft casts right now for recoery, so we must wait for those to be removed before he can be fitted for his new braces. These new braces will give him the ability to stand and hopefully to walk with a walker. And there’s more! He has also been fitted for his very own wheelchair, which should arrive in a couple weeks. We are excited about what the Lord has provided in such a short time.

And now speaking of time…you have been faithfully praying for us regarding our visa situation. For the past year we have been living in Russia on student visas, which require us to take our language lessons through an authorized institution. This method is very expensive and very stressful. Thomas has been diligently searching for a better way for us to stay in Russia, and God has provided just such a way.

In November we will receive invitations for work visas. This type of visa will enable us to stay in Russia for up to 3 years, which is much more stable than our student visa. Thank you for your prayers for us regarding our visas!

Due to the timing of these new visas, we will be extending our stay in the States through December. This will provide more time for Thomas to fulfill some responsibilities for InterAct and for Isaiah to get lots of physical therapy to learn how to use his new equipment really well.

Thank you for your continued support for us. We are always overwhelmed with the love that we receive from so many people. We hope that while we are here we can show some love to all of you through some hospitality and face-to-face fellowship!

And to tell you how well Isaiah is doing, here he is just 4 days after surgery enjoying some MS Braves!

Something To Look Forward To

Wednesday afternoon we are heading to Germany! We have to leave Russia every 6 months for registration purposes, which is something that doesn’t really make sense to those of us who grew up in the West where no papers were required for traveling and such. Anyway, our first 6 months are nearly complete. In some ways this is hard to believe. Sometimes we feel like we’ve been here much longer, and sometimes we think we just got here. But no matter how we feel, we know that we have already learned a lot, but also realize how much more we have to learn!

We love being in Russia, but we are looking forward to a bit of a break. And in case you haven’t heard yet, we’ll be having a little bit of home in Berlin. My parents will be meeting us in Berlin! We’ll get to spend the whole week with them resting and recreating.

So our next post will either be from Berlin, Germany or from St. Petersburg after we return from our break with some great pictures!

The Little Man

Well our latest medical adventure seems to have come to a close. Thank you to all of you who faithfully prayed for Isaiah during his latest urinary tract infection (UTI). The Lord continues to protect him and heal him. We are thankful for a very good pediatrician here in St. Petersburg who speaks excellent English! Since Isaiah has repeatedly had UTIs this year, we are able to get him a low daily dosage of antibiotics as a preventative measure. So now with a fresh catheter every time, topical antiseptic spray, and a preventative antibiotic, we hope to avoid the frequency of UTIs that Isaiah has been experiencing in order to keep his bladder and kidneys as healthy as possible. The Lord continues to provide for his every need and to help us learn in the process. Every time your child is sick is a stressful time. God is helping us to rely more on Him and less on ourselves through Isaiah’s sicknesses. In all things He will be glorified!

On a lighter note: We have had more snow! On Friday mornings Isaiah and I join Thomas at the Christian school where he teaches Bible and choir. We get to sing in the choir, which is lots of fun. Isaiah entertains all the girls with his cuteness. This past Friday, as we walked home, we enjoyed the heaviest snow shower that any of us has ever seen! We had to cover Isaiah’s stroller with a blanket, or else we wouldn’t have been able to find him underneath the snow after our 25 minute walk home. By the time we reached our apartment building, the snow had slowed down considerably, so we took advantage of the time to build a little snow man and let Isaiah play in the snow for the first time in his life. He loved holding snowballs and watching his daddy throw snowballs against our building. We look forward to playing in the snow with him quite often this winter–we might even have our first White Thanksgiving!

Thank you all again for your love and for your prayers! I don’t understand the mystery of how God uses prayer, but I am thankful for the privilege to pray and to be the recipient of the blessings of prayers of the saints!