The theme for today is: Birthdays.
No words can express how special yesterday was. July 23 was Zach’s 24th birthday! Happy Birthday Zach! Keep running strong! Run with perseverance the race God has marked out for you. Fix your eyes on Jesus!
You are a wonder of God. You are a miracle of God. You’ve always been. Life is a wonder from God. Life is a miracle of God. God granted you another year of life. Always a wonder. Always a miracle. Always a gift.
But yesterday was extra special. ‘Gift’ meant more. ‘Celebrate’ meant more. ‘Birthday’ meant more. ‘Wishing you many more’ meant more. ‘Lord willing’ meant more. ‘Blessing’ meant more. ‘Family’ meant more. ‘Son’ meant more.
‘Zachary’ meant more. His name means ‘The Lord has remembered.’ God remembers still today. God remembers his people throughout the generations (Psalm 105:8). He remembers Zach and all of us each and every day. He remembers us through the calm. He remembers us through the storm. He sees. He loves. He cares. He thinks of us. He pays close attention to us. He remembers. He always remembers.
‘God remembers’ meant more yesterday than it ever has. God NEVER forgets. God NEVER forsakes. Zachary. The Lord has remembered. No words can express how special that is.
Today’s Updates:
Zach’s last few days have been good. He’s been laughing and smiling every day. Zach celebrated his 24th birthday yesterday and he had a wonderful time with visitors and playing with his birthday balloons. Thank you to everyone who stopped by or reached out to make the day special. We read the messages we received to Zach and he had a great day. Zach has been having a hard time falling asleep some nights, but once he falls asleep he’s been able to sleep pretty well! Praise God for these good days.
Zach’s communication has slowly continued to improve. Zach is consistently pointing, and sometimes nodding or shaking his head. The speech language pathologists (SLPs) want us to encourage him practice vocalizing, as right now Zach will often mouth words but not vocalize. Please pray that Zach’s ability to speak will return one day and that his communication will continue to get better. SLP also did a swallowing assessment on him, and Zach tolerated drinking fluids very well! They hope to do an official swallowing visualization with a camera tomorrow, Lord willing, to see if Zach can be allowed to drink more (and maybe eat!) Please pray that this swallowing test may go well, and that Zach will be able to eat food again soon.
Zach finally got his wheelchair fully adjusted on Sunday! Although it’s still not quite tall enough for his shoulders, Zach sits in it comfortably and the occupational therapists will continue to search for a taller wheelchair for Zach. Zach’s been up in the chair for 2 hours at a time each day, and today we toured him around the hospital and he seemed to enjoy moving and having a change of scenery. The neuro rehab doc said he was happy with Zach’s progress, and that he’s optimistic that Zach will be eligible to be waitlisted for neuro rehab in a few weeks. Praise God for this progress!
Thank you for all for your prayers and support for Zach in the last four months. Please join us in thanking God for our manifold blessings, including Zach’s good mood, fun birthday and his continued improvements. Praise the Lord, the Great Physician, for his healing hand in Zach’s life!
“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, you his servants, the descendants of Abraham, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.’”
(Psalm 105:1-11)
