Here's our Christmas picture...

Although this has been the most difficult year of our lives, it has also been one of the best as we have learned so much about the character of God and the way He works through people to show love. We have been on the receiving end of that love more than we could have even imagined this year. Thank you, all who have prayed and continue to pray, and to those who continue to spread the word...it has humbled our hearts, and for that we are grateful. Countries around the globe keep popping up on Noah's blog counter. We sat tonight as a family reading love letters and looking at pictures from the Seoul, Korea class that has been praying for Noah so faithfully. We were in tears because of the purity of heart expressed in their letters. Thank you, Ms. Kimie's class, for the beautiful art and loving and encouraging words. That is just one glimpse of the outpouring of love you have all shown us. Thank you for being an integral part of our lives. And, although we know this is EXTREMELY emotional and often times draining, thank you ALL for choosing to walk this road with us. We know we are not alone...We know we are loved...we are humbled because of it and we pray that somehow, some day, we are able to repay and bless all of you for how you have supported us in countless ways on this daily journey.

Today we learned that from Noah's allergy blood panel he is allergic to a plethora of things. I'll be able to give specifics tomorrow as I don't know them now, but the doc was quite surprised. Some she mentioned were egg, soy, peanut, but I'll give more info when I learn them all. Imagine, they weren't even going to do allergy testing because babies don't develop them until they are a little older...

Anyway, Wednesday at 10:30am Noah will have a benign biopsy from his rectum to see what his nerves are doing down there since his bowels have slowed a bit and if it can shed light to the picture. They said they can do it bedside, so that is good. Yesterday in the meeting the neurologist was pushing the brain biopsy, saying he'd do it at this point for his child, but in the same breath said Noah was going to die anyway. I said, "You want the brain biopsy for curiosity sake because we don't want an autopsy, so it's as close as you'll get to one..." The last I looked, only God numbers our days...one thing is for sure, if I were a doctor, I wouldn't "give" people X number of days to live...it's a bit out of the job qualifications. We are grateful for every day we have had with Noah and we look forward to every new day with him. When he dies, he dies, just like you and me. We aren't in charge of it, therefore we have to live life to the full, for God's glory, with His will in mind. If I get to the end of my life and look back and see I've lived it all for myself, I will have failed my mission, my purpose. Everything happens for a reason. Will I have been true?