Great Grandma Yoder sobbs and prays for Olive

Great Grandma writes:

This morning I woke up around 5:00AM, and my mind wandered to our great granddaughter, Olive Hope. My heart ached for her well being. I sobbed and prayed to the Lord and then I was reminded how Jesus suffered on the cross. He hung until He died for the sins of the whole world, even for me.......and more tears came. But then thoughts went to the miracles Jesus performed on earth; and the promise that Jesus is now in Heaven interceding for us. I thought of the many times He healed my body.

(she had her neck and back broken in an accident, and lost her baby in that accident, and is a survivor of breast cancer).

My mind went to our son, Wilbur when he was only 3 years old. We were Amish and little Wilbur was kicked in the head by our horse, Queen. How well I remember Dad going out to the barn, finding Wilbur lying behind Queen, the horse. He brought Wilbur into the house, and placed him into my arms while he ran to the neighbors to call Dr. Lehman. Dr. Lehman came and picked us up, dropped off Alvin (2 yrs old) at my parents and took us to Goshen Hospital. This was on a Sunday evening, and we had invited Henry's relatives for supper. I don't even know if they came. We sat at Wilbur's bedside looking into the face of our three year old, unconscious son. His little finger tightly clenched my hand. The next morning they told us we needed to take him to South Bend Hospital, and asked if we had someone to take us. A good friend, Virgil Steury took us. We sped to South Bend Hospital while I held Wilbur in the back seat, afraid he would die before we arrived. They took him into surgery almost immediately upon arrival, because his bones were pushed in against the brain. When the Dr gave us the results of the surgery, he said they did what they could, and the rest would be up to the Lord. They cut away the bone. They told us that if he lives he will not be normal. We prayed for him to live and be healed. So today we are still thanking the Lord for answering that prayer. He was unconscious for three weeks and his temperature went up to 107 degrees. They put cold towels on his chest and he got pneumonia. I stayed with him all the time. I was pregnant with you, Carol, and sometimes my food would not stay inside my tummy. When Wilbur came home he had to learn to walk and talk all over again.

God healed Wilbur's head. Sometimes it is harder for him to express his thoughts.

Wilbur grew up in the regular school system, married a wonderful woman from Kansas and has a beautiful family of four children.

Mom and Dad's youngest daughter, Ruthie, was killed in a car accident at 9 months old.

But that is another story. We have the same God today who is able to heal Olive Hope. He knows all answers to our whys. Our prayer is that "His will be done.

Great Grandma and Grandpa are in Florida for the winter and keep calling us see how Olive is. They were praying for safe travels and then Aunt Wilma called them to tell them she wasn't traveling because of Staph infection. Grandma wishes she would be computer literate. I'm sure she would be a "facebooker."

Lynette writes on Thanksgiving:

Life has continued moving since the last post. Today we celebrated Olive's two month birthday, and were reminded of the many things we do have to be grateful for.

-One of the things I've been most thankful for during this time is my relationship with Rusty. Though we have been awfully stressed out by the many different circumstances that have come up, we seem to be growing closer and closer. I can't imagine walking through this alone. I'm thankful to be doing it with my best friend and that we can even make each other laugh in the hardest of moments.

-I'm also thankful to have Olive in a hospital where she has access to the surgery and procedures she needs. Thankful to have her here in Bangkok at a hospital with doctors and nurses who are doing their best to care for her. Tomorrow morning she will undergo another lumbar puncture to relieve some of the fluid in her head (her head circumference increased in the last two days). I'm thankful she slept through her first lumbar puncture and I'm praying that tomorrow will be as painless as the first time.

-I'm thankful to have such a big support base of friends and family around the world. So many of you have played a role in supporting us in a time that could otherwise feel so lonely. We have also been overwhelmed by the generosity of so many. Both the Olive Care Hope Fund and the Olive Hope Auction have blown our socks off.

-I'm thankful for the health Rusty and I are experiencing. Yesterday I made an appointment to visit the doctor suspecting I was on my way to be getting mastitis. After a day of resting, pumping extra, and applying heat packs I'm feeling much better.

I have many more things I could write but for now sleep is calling out my name...

good-night friends,

Lynette