The Road to . . .

I suppose I will be on the road to recovery from here on - maybe I've been on it my whole life who knows but tomorrow we will be on the road for sure.  I know I haven't been very faithful in my writings the past couple of months but perhaps I will come back later and share some of what's happened in the past couple of months.  But what I wanted to share tonight is what God has in store for us tomorrow!

Ed and I are BOTH off and we're on the road!   I can't tell you how excited we both are.  No special vacation, or concert, or festival, not to the beach or the mountain or any other travel destination. We are headed to Gainesville on a very special mission - and while I'm sure there will be a million emotions we are both very excited about the trip!!! 

Thanks to all of you who generously donated stuffed animals we have the opportunity to witness to families and share our love and your love for them!  I spent a little time tonight counting bears (well maybe more than a little - I had to start over a few times) but my final count was around 553 teddy bears!  Most of them are brand new which is really great because we are strictly visiting kids in the ICU units at Shands this trip.  And while we appreciate all of the donations for the sick children we can only use brand new animals because of all of the potential dangers that come to children with damaged immune systems.  If you donated a gently used stuffed animal we will find a special home for those too (we will either donate them to a woman's shelter or find an equally suitable way to make your donation help a child).

So after I counted this is what I did . . .




Yep - that's about 200 of the over 500 stuffed animals - covering a full-size bed.  In some places they are 3 or 4 high.  I'm so humbled - there aren't words.  As I touched every single stuffed animal tonight I remembered moments over the past few months, conversations some of us had, the funeral, many of the stuffed animals you guys gave us were some that Owen had and Ed and I talked about that.  His godmother gave him a stuffed bear with angel wings that said the "Now I lay me" Prayer and there were two of those - one for a boy and one for a girl.  There were stuffed animals that were personally designed for this cause - embroidered, or handmade tags attached with care - I truly am reminded in a huge way how much you guys loved us (and I know you still do).  Our whole purpose of going on this journey is to love on others like you guys loved on us.  I'm not sure I can even put it into words what its like to be a parent of a child in an ICU.  And I can't tell you how many women, girls even, who were there alone with little or no family, no husband, no boyfriend, and maybe just maybe a parent or sibling would show up on the weekend.  I was very fortunate to have Ed by my side almost every single day that we were there - and even on the very few days he wasn't physically there he was there for me.  We had our family, our friends, our church family, our pastor, even distant friends of friends in Gainesville who called, visited, and checked-in on us.  I can't begin to express how loved we knew we were.  We had many supporting us financially to enable us to stay through donations and fundraisers and all the while we had people physically there loving on us too.

Now, there were sometimes that Ed and I would go a week or so without any visitors but we NEVER for a moment felt alone.  I know without a shadow of a doubt how incredibly fortunate I am because I watched day after day, month after month, girl after girl, woman after woman, who had little if any support.  What's worse is there were babies in the ICU who had NO visitors the entire 3 months we were in the NICU - if that doesn't hurt your heart then nothing ever will.

Our mission - our goal - is to love on everyone in the ICU's at Shands tomorrow.  To share with them that there are people they will never see and never know who care deeply about them.  To share the gospel with them that there is a God in Heaven who is in control who knows all and sees all and has a divine plan for their families.  To share with them the healing powers of our Lord - that NOTHING is impossible for God.  And yes, I still believe with all my heart that God can heal any hurt, pain, disease, aneurysm, cancer, anything - with all my heart I know that God is the ultimate healer and that will be our message tomorrow - a message of hope and encouragement.  I pray that God opens doors wide open to us that maybe couldn't be opened otherwise.  Last night after Wednesday night service pastor prayed with us for our safety and for God to use us - and I liked what he said, that when we leave those stuffed animals that we leave the spirit of the Lord to dwell in those rooms.  I'm so excited I don't know if I'll even be able to sleep tomorrow.

We've created some postcards to share with the families so that they know our hopes and our mission.  Hopefully we will be able to minister to some parents and put some huge smiles on some precious children's faces! 

{ The front of the postcards}


We had several friends who created their own tags and "in memory" notes for the teddy bears and we've left those on the ones they created too - here's one that inspired our own writing for the postcards.

{From Dianne Keel & Amanda McCoy - who also have an angelbaby in heaven}



So tomorrow we will set off to Gainesville and we will be able to share these stuffed animals (thanks again to you) with about 75-80 precious children in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) and PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) both of which Owen was a resident for a period of time.  He spent 3 months in the NICU and 2 trips about a week each in the PICU.  There are usually about 50 babies in the NICU and the PICU can house up to 24.  We are carrying about 90 stuffed animals this time just to be sure we have plenty and we can't wait to come back and share with you all what a difference your contribution is going to make in some family's life.  Thank you all for this opportunity to share our son's legacy & testimony with so many families.

One question people ask me all the time is "Are you still accepting teddy bears?"  Yes, yes, yes.  As long as you have it in your heart to give them to us we will make as many trips to hospitals to give them to the little children.  We are hoping to create an annual event to collect them but we haven't set that up yet but for now whatever you have to give we are happy to accept.  Please, please, please, and I say this with nothing but love in my heart, please remember when you are making a donation of teddy bears or other stuffed animals they MUST be brand new for us to give to these children - they have compromised immune systems and cannot be exposed to risks that used stuffed animals may present.  We have to take great care in storing them in sealed rubbermaid tubs to make sure that they don't collect any dust while we have them (not that I have any dust in my house . . . bahahahaha).  So I hope you all understand.  As for the gently used items we have received already I can assure you they will find good, deserving homes, in Owen's honor too.

Thanks again to you all. Wish us luck and if you have a chance say a prayer for our travel, the words we will speak, and that God's will be done on this trip.

We love you all and we wouldn't have made it through all this and certainly wouldn't be able to do this tomorrow if it wasn't for all your love and support.

~ Jerica

Owen's First Christmas 2010

I'm posting this simply to say that this was the best Christmas of our lives.  Our little "gift" from God was home with us and although he wasn't feeling wonderful we were able to start traditions and enjoy spending time with our entire family on Owen's First Christmas.  He received many gifts, mostly from other people (we figured we'll have to go overboard next year so we'd slide by this year).  Ed, Owen, and I had the best day together and while it ended up turning into a second day as we took him to the hospital and got no sleep we got all we wanted in being able to have Owen home for Christmas.  Yes, we are now back at Shands and there is no telling how long we will be here this time but our wish for a wonderful 1st Christmas together was granted.  I will post pictures for this blog once we get back home again.

Angels Unaware

As we were driving home with Owen yesterday an idea for a blog post popped into my head. I remembered a scripture that says, "Careful lest ye be entertaining angels unaware." Hebrews 13:2.

So I'm thinking about what to say and how to say it then I notice a billboard and it says "Hear God's Word and Do as it says." I was like wow okay. Then the very next song that came on the radio was Alabama's "Angels Among Us." So here we go.

I know that our faith alone is what has gotten us to where we are right now with Owen and I praise God for that. I also praise God for sending us angels to comfort us on our journey.

Now I don't know what you believe but I believe in two kinds of angels, the kind we can see and the kind we can't.  Most people know that while I was pregnant with my son I lost one of my angels on Earth, my Granny Polly. She had the biggest heart of anyone I've known. She was a bright spirit with so much love to give anyone who was around to accept it. She was so excited about Owen, I'm thankful that she never knew his diagnosis because it would have made her heart so heavy. But I'm equally thankful that she was a nurse because I know through all this she was with us, with Owen, and more importantly with Owen's medical staff. I'm certain that she had some say in some of the nurses we were blessed to have with us. That's the power of believing in something bigger than this world, you know that God can put all things into play to work out for your benefit.

I get a lot of people telling me that I've been so positive, that I'm an inspiration, and so on, but I don't feel like I've done anything. All I did was put my faith in God and it allowed me to stay positive throughout all of this. There was nothing I could do and I can promise you that you get out of this world what you give it, I'd like good things to come to my son so I've tried extra hard to only think of the good.

God blessed us with many angels, some he loaned us from heaven but so many he placed here on Earth for us. Our doctors and nurses were some of the best ever, while they were extrememly good at what they do they also had a very human side to them they were compassionate and caring, they were approachable, they were amazing. We had many angels in our nursing staff but three very special ladies who would become just as much friends to us as they were nurses. With Laura we could always tell exactly what she was thinking by the expression on her face. If there was cause for disappointment we knew it when Owen had done something awesome and was making progress we knew that too. She was a great advocate for our son and made sure I was too and she became a great friend to us. I don't know how I would have gotten through all of this without Laura to turn to for so much advice. Tracie was another one of our nurse angels, she was our tell ya like it is angel and we thank her for that now. Tracie was Owen's nurse the day of his very first embolization, the one where the doctor said "Oh he did great yall should be able to go home in a couple of weeks." Tracie shot him a look like you have lost your mind before she even realized what she'd done. Well we saw it and my mom confronted her about it. Tracie told us like it was and from that day forward she was never shy about telling us what we were really looking at with Owen and things that we should be very cautious of. Tracie prepared us for so much of what we were facing and even going home some of her final words are what guide my decisions with Owen day in and day out. And finally there was Jen. She reminded us of a friend back home and she talks faster than I do. She was a nurse but she had also been in our shoes having had one of her children in the NICU. She saw things from our perspective and helped us (me especially) deal with feelings that I couldn't explain. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God put these three ladies in our lives for a reason and I am thankful.

We were blessed with other families who became extensions of our own family, Becca and her parents who were there day in and day out. Richard and Grace who were told to abort their precious angel Hailey. I would jokingly call Richard my husbands boyfriend because they became such fast friends but they were who we needed when we needed them and I'd like to think we were the same for them.

Mrs. Judy Angley is an angel on Earth if there ever was one. She was "the March of Dimes" lady and provided a creative outlet for families as well as free pizza once a week, but more than that she had giving heart and was always available to really listen to anything, whether it was a problem with the hospital staff, parking, or just getting to know you by sharing personal experiences.

Everyday our nurses would change, if we were lucky we might get one nurse for two or three days in a row, but everyday like clockwork the clerk staff stayed the same. In a time where everything was always changing it was great to know that from 3-11 during the week we would have our angels Ashley and Lori there to buzz us in and out of the NICU. Over time they became our friends, real friends. Every night as we'd leave we'd spend a little time with them and we came to expect big huge laughs while we were with them. In a place where the laughter and smiles were few and far between they truly were angels in helping us deal with everything we were going through. We made some really great Shands memories with those two crazy girls. And on our second visit instead of us going to them they came to where we were to check on us and spend time with Owen.

It's amazing how God uses people and places them in your life for a specific reason. There was Lindsey Wheeler, who when we finally talked face-to-face said, "we've met a few times through friends and you were always so nice to me." She made sure I was able to get my post-natal check-up done while Owen was in surgery so I wouldn't be sitting in a waiting room when he got out. There was Cassie Goodson with the Pentacostals of Gainesville who always managed to show up when we needed renewal and encouragement the most. Their church had prayer meetings 3 or 4 times a week and Owen was constantly lifted up in those meetings.  And our cousin Linda & her husband Brian, who provided my parents with a place to stay every time they came down to be with us.

And our greatest swarm of angels were the people back home. The constant encouragement from our pastor, friends, family, co-workers, and church family back home. The phone calls, the text messages, the facebook posts, we knew that Owen was in everyone's thoughts and prayers and that gave us the most comfort of all. The anonymous donations, the love offerings, the fundraisers that friends and family put together for us, the amazing support that we felt from OUR community while we were all the way in Gainesville. The steady stream of visitors who came to check on us all of these things meant more to me than anything ever has in my life. Ed and I are beyond grateful.  Everyday we are thankful for all of the people in our lives and all the many blessings that we so undeservingly received.

This post isn't meant as a thank you note (though I am thankful & I guess it is in a way) - but it's meant more as an acknowledgement of the fact that God provided us with these angels while we were far from home. I cannot possibly name every single person who impacted our lives these past few months but I do know them all by name and I will never forget the things that you all have done for us. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart and hope no one feels neglected in this blog. I simply wanted to express how God puts people in your life at just the right moment for just the right thing.  I know some of our angels will be life-long friends and some we may never see again, but nonetheless you all were there and we appreciate all of you.

The Helipad

I've come to notice that there is something about life flight that people find fascinating. In our first 85 days at Shands I tried to ignore the constant coming and going of the helicopters. I mean I admit the first time I saw the helicoptor land and take off from the South Tower at Shands I stopped and watched (as did every other person that was with us and pretty much everyone around). From then on though for some reason everytime I'd hear the helicopter and people around me would lean out to see it I'd find myself uninterested - something in me didn't want to make it a spectacle but I don't know why? It seemed human nature to stop and look because that's what everyone did but to me I felt what's the big deal I've seen a helicopter before.

But there is something incredibly different about seeing the helicopter your baby is on. When the life flight nurses wheeled Owen out of the hospital room they stopped to let mommy & daddy get one last kiss before he left and the nurse looked at me and said you can come out and watch us take off if you want to.

As I followed my baby outside I found where the rest of the family had gathered out there to see him off. I couldn't just stand there and watch but I wanted to be close to him as long as I could. I hugged everyone goodbye and heard the propellers start to whip in the wind slowly first then faster and faster. Ed walked me to the truck where I found privacy for the first time in awhile and burst into tears thinking that I wanted everyone who saw that helicopter in the sky this time to know it was my baby and to wish him well. From the truck I watched the helicopter lift off and fly away with my precious son a passenger of the night.

The nurse who had offered to let us watch was really wonderful she texted me the whole way giving me updates and finally texted me a picture to let me know Owen was in good hands - I already knew that though because we've placed him in God's hands all along.

I don't know that I will ever feel so uninterested in the life flight helicoptors anymore but I think instead of wondering who it is or what happened to them I will just quietly lift them in prayer and move along. And that light in the sky in the night well it will forever remind me of a time when angels surrounded my son in the night winds on his way back to Shands.


The picture sent from the nurse once they were at Shands.

Why Smidges & Smudges?

First let me start by thanking you all for caring so much about my son and our family.  From the moment we found out that Owen had a brain aneurysm we have been overwhelmed with community support.  I can't express how much that has meant to us and helped us through this whole ordeal. 

I've always been a pretty guarded person as far as online-sharing of personal information goes.  In fact, if it weren't for Owen's situation I can't help but think that I wouldn't post anything.  But the truth is I believe that every single person who prays for my son ensures his continued success.  So I feel it's imperative to keep the community updated on Owen, and now so many people who have followed us from the beginning have asked that I continue to share him with them so that's what I hope to do here. 

I set up this site while we were still in Gainesville in the hopes of being able to go in depth about what exactly Owen, Ed, and I were going through and even though we are home I still plan to use this blog to keep people updated and to explain further our experience with the Vein of Galen anuerysm.  My hope is that people will continue to pray for Owen every single day as we are told we still face a long battle.  We have to make 3 trips to Gainesville in the next 6 weeks to follow-up with Cardiologists, Neurologists, and his Neurosurgery team.  Secondly, I hope to help other families who may come across this blog who are facing the uncertainty that comes with this diagnoses.  In my research I found very few sites where I could read about others who had been through what we were going through and I hope that this somehow helps someone else.  Thirdly I'm doing it for me.  I love to write and I'm hoping that this blog will get me back to the process of journaling one I think is really important and I don't do nearly enough anymore. 

When I first set this blog up I went through several names that I wanted to use but they were taken.  I couldn't shake something the doctors kept saying though.  Everytime I would ask about Owen's heart they would say it looked a "smidge" better.  Once the doctor said "marginally better."  I literally asked if marginally better was better than a smidge better.  I pray we keep getting a smidge better every single day and smudges are the impressions Owen makes on our hearts every moment.  Therefore smidges and smudges was created.

I'm very excited to begin this new journey and we are beyond happy to be home with Owen.  I welcome the opportunity to share my little miracle with you and all I ask is that you continue to pray for him.

Happy reading!

Our Journey Thus Far

Our Journey Thus Far

I’ve been wanting to write this for awhile – and I apologize in advance for how long I anticipate it being but there’s a lot I want to say about the journey we’ve been on to bring our precious baby boy home healthy.

First things first – how it all started:

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in the past couple of months is that God is always right on time.  Now, like a lot of lessons we learn in life it has practically had to be beaten over my head but I’m learning now that even when I think things should go differently, God has a reason and his timing is perfect.  Exhibit 1.  I had a very good pregnancy, granted I had morning sickness from about 4 weeks until the day I had Owen, but all in all everything was great, until 31 weeks, then our world was turned upside down.  But hold that thought.  I worked all summer, starting the first day we were out of school at Golson, through August 4th.  I taught the summer VPK program which was a 300 hour program.  I knew that a mid-morning appointment in Dothan would cause me to miss about half a day of work and I didn’t want to miss that much work so I rescheduled my appointment pushing it back one week.  That way I could work through my lunch break and only end up taking 30 minutes to an hour off to make it to my appointment.  Well imagine my frustration when they told me that day since I was leaving early I should go ahead and take my lunch and just take the rest of the day off.  The whole reason I changed my appointment was so that I would not miss too much work.  Little did I know God had another plan – he was in charge – he was at work in our lives.  We had a wonderful OB in Dothan, we were using Allison Marker (LOVE HER) at Cleveland and Gilchrist.  We were at a point in the pregnancy where we meet all the doctors and we were meeting the third and final doctor this appointment.  Well, I believe it was a combination of having a different doctor measure me, waiting an extra week, and just good thorough doctoring, and God’s guidance that led the doctor to order an unscheduled ultrasound for me that day.  April the technician found a spot and the next thing I know we have an appointment in Pensacola two days later “just in case.”  We went to Pensacola and it took 3 different technicians 4 or 5 tries to find what they were looking for because of the way Owen was positioned, but at last they found it and explained to us that they believed Owen had the Vein of Galen brain aneurysm – it was the first time we heard those words in relation to our child “brain aneurysm” wow, it’s not what you expect at all.  Even in the midst of that storm, all I could think was praise God they found it.  We would later confirm their initial diagnosis through a fetal MRI and we would learn that less than 1% of cases of Vein of Galen are diagnosed in-utero, yes praise God they found this.  And in those rare cases they are almost always found because the baby is already in heart failure or has some sort of deformity.  Our baby’s heart was perfect, as we would be on heart monitors weekly until he was born with no deformities.

We met with neurosurgeons before he was born and as he was showing NO symptoms of the aneurysm we believed that he would likely be fine until he was about 2 years old and then we would treat the aneurysm, we were warned that many newborns with this diagnosis do experience heart failure but the doctors really felt that he would be among the group of children who go undiagnosed until they are about 2 years old and begin to develop hydrocephalus (water on the brain).

The plan was for us to induce labor at 37 weeks and have him in Pensacola.  At 36 weeks they did an amnio to determine if his lungs were developed enough to induce at 37 weeks, they weren’t.  Initially I was devastated, I was so ready, we had been counting down the days for weeks, and now we were being told possibly two more weeks.  Looking back it was somewhat selfish and although I was upset it was brief, maybe half an hour then I realized there was a reason for this and I could handle another week or two, besides God was at work.  The next week our doctor called and told us he would induce me on September 5th hoping for delivery on the 6th.  And that’s what happened.  Owen was born on Labor Day after 20 hours of labor I had to have a C-Section, I listened and waited for him to cry but he never did, I was really scared, but he was healthy, they had intebated him immediately so he couldn’t cry.  I heard the nurse say he had one eye open then they wheeled him over to me where he opened both eyes for about 20 seconds he stared at me before he was wheeled away.  It would be hours before I would see him again.  Late that night we convinced the NICU at Sacred Heart to break the rules and allow me to come down (in my bed) to see him during non-visiting hours.  Initially, he was doing great.  His heart looked good, he was 7 lbs 15 ozs, a giant in the NICU where the average baby weighs 2 lbs. Thank God they made me wait another week to ensure he was a big baby – that would be so important when he faced his first operation.

So What Exactly Is the Vein of Galen Aneurysm? And what does it do?

Basically, the VOG is a malformation of vessels in the brain.  But the biggest problem with the VOG in newborns is that it causes heart failure – and it did in Owen at 2 days old.  The heart works so hard to pump blood to the body but since the brain is in distress all of the blood goes to the brain first and in the VOG the blood doesn’t travel from the vessel into smaller veins, then into capillaries like it should it just goes straight through the vessel and back to the heart meaning it leaves the heart and returns to the heart at the same speed and pressure.  The heart isn’t made to handle the blood returning at that speed and pressure so the right side of Owen’s heart started to swell pushing his lungs out of the way and causing major distress to his heart and lungs.  Before he was born it was decided that Owen would have an MRI around Day 4 (doctors plan) but Gods plan bumped that up to day 2.  By Day 3 Owen was on a jet to Shand’s so that the neurosurgeons who developed the treatment for VOG could begin treating him by Day 4 he was undergoing his first brain surgery.  I remember many people asking why they were waiting to operate, why wouldn’t they operate immediately, and I couldn’t answer that question but now I know that they needed to make sure he was stable and he’d had a big day, being moved from Pensacola to Gainesville.  I made them discharge me a day early from Sacred Heart and we left the hospital when he did.  I was pretty okay until I was being wheeled out of the hospital without my baby – I broke down and cried to my mom that I should have a baby in my arms but I knew my baby was in God’s arms and I got to him as soon as I could.

The treatment that they’ve been able to do on Owen entails going in through the groin to access the brain.  They place coils (or glue) in the vessel which routes the blood the way they want it to go.  Before his first surgery, the neurosurgeon told us that they expected to help a little then come back 3 days later and do it again and this would repeat until he was better likely for weeks.  After the first surgery they were very optimistic and told us that we could wait a month before they had to go back in that way Owen’s vessels could get bigger before the next procedure.  We were so excited and felt really good about the prognosis.  That was on a Friday.  Saturday and Sunday were good.  Monday was not.

The Worst Day

Monday, our baby was a week old, and when we got to him that morning he was grey, his organs were not profusing – meaning that blood wasn’t getting to them and they weren’t functioning properly.  The doctors told us that the brain was demanding all the blood so his stomach and extremities weren’t getting the blood they needed.  I didn’t want to leave his side, I was afraid he wouldn’t be there when I came back if I left him.  His lactid acids were an 8 (they want them under 1 – 8 is very bad).  The doctor actually told us that he wasn’t giving up on him but there wasn’t much left they could do.  It was the hardest day.  I had been so strong for weeks but that day I wasn’t so strong.  Luckily, Ed was and he kept it together for me, everytime I began to have doubts he woud remind me that God was going to take care of Owen and that he was going to be fine.  We prayed over Owen so many times just as we’d been doing.  We were told that morning that they were going to go ahead and do a second procedure – again, I wanted them to do it right away, I didn’t understand why they weren’t wheeling him into the OR, he was at death’s doorstep.  But God was right on time again.  We left Owen around 2:00 that Monday and I took a nap upstairs at the hospital.  When we returned he was a different child, his color was back, he was doing better, becoming more stable, prayers were being lifted and answered.  I remembered something his Godmother would do when she was having a really hard time - she would pray and then sleep with her bible under her pillow.  So we went and bought Owen his "first bible" and we placed it under his incubator and prayed with him again. We also put our bible under our pillows and they've stayed there.  The next morning when he went into surgery his lactid acids were down to a 2 and he was very stable – he was in a much better place to go into the surgery than he would have been the day before, again God showed me he’s right on time and now I try to remember when I’m not sure why things aren’t happening when I think they should that God has a plan and he’s right on time.

God is still in the business of answering prayers

The first surgery they placed 17 coils in his brain, the second procedure they placed 2 but they got the flow in his brain down from 46% to 16% they wanted to get it under 20% so they felt they were very successful.  It’s been 6 days now and they’ve all been really good days.  His lactid acids have gotten better and better, his organs are profusing, his heart looks smaller on the x-ray, his heart functions have improved, he’s almost breathing on his own, and he’s digesting food.  They have taken him off of most of his heart medicines and are weaning him off the last one now.  Today he was taken off of his ventilator and we were really excited - but his lungs weren't strong enough just yet so they had to put him on a C-Pap which allows him to breath on his own but still gives him just a little support.  He’s doing great, yet we know how fast things can change so we still pray.  He had an MRI Sunday and today the neurosurgeons told us that they would like to wait about 2 months before they go into the brain aneurysm again for another treatment.  It will likely be about two weeks before we can take him home then we will still have to travel here every two weeks for doctors appointments with the nuerosurgeons.  We are told he will need several more procedures over the next couple of years and there is still no way to tell what damage has been done to his brain.  We are told with babies “all bets are off.”  They haven’t yet decided which part of their brains will do what so there’s no way to know the long-term effects this will have on him.  So we pray every day for him to be healed, for him to live a full, whole life, for him to be a living testimony of the love and healing power of God and we believe with all we are that he will.

Our little Piece of Heaven

Our little Owen is just 2 weeks old today and already he’s taught me so much.  We know that God has a plan for him and his big heart and we are so humbled by all of the people who have prayed so hard for him for so long.  We praise God daily for all he’s done for us.  Every thing that has been placed in our path God has provided for us in an amazing way to make sure we got through it all.  I can’t imagine going through all of this with anyone but Ed, he has been so incredible and I can’t imagine how I’d get through all this without him.  We thank God for Owen, our families and friends and our community and we can’t wait to bring Owen home.

Final Thoughts

The past couple of days I can't help but remember a prayer that Ed and I prayed a lot months ago when we first began searching for a new church home - together we would pray for a closer walk with God.  Well, I know sometimes we have no way of knowing how God will answer our prayers but that is definitely what our angel has been to us, we definitely have a closer walk with God.  We had began visiting at Evangel Worship Center almost a month to the day that we found out about the aneurysm, in a way I believe God was preparing our hearts for what he knew was coming.  Just one more shining example of how God is right on time and God is always answering our prayers.

I know without a doubt that I couldn't have carried this burden alone and if it weren't for my faith and relationship with God I don't know where I'd be right now.  Some may critizice me for publicizing so openly what has been going on with my son but I feel obligated to both protect my son with a blanket of prayers and to keep those prayer warriors updated with his progress.  Complete strangers have called, emailed, and mailed us cards to let us know they are praying for Owen and that comforts us so much.  Our pastor was on his way here to see us at Shands and ended up on the phone with a Florida Highway Patrol Dispatcher out of Tallahassee who asked what he was doing on the interstate.  He told her that he was headed to Shands to visit a couple from the church who had a child down there to which she replied "is it baby Owen?"  We have no idea who it may have been but she wanted us to know she was praying for us - and that's just one of the many stories we've heard.  I hope that Owen gives others a closer walk with God too.

If you've taken the time to read all of this I thank you for caring about our family so much (and for having the patience to read this all).  I ask you to continue to remember Owen in your prayers as we are just starting out on this journey and I pray that God blesses you and your family as well.