monday...

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our little annie is getting a new left ear!!!

i love this pic our dear friend holli took of annie. it has been such a fun summer of learning to listen with annie's new right ear. we are extremely grateful for the overwhelming, loving support we have been showered in. thank you to everyone for all your faithful prayers, encouragement and tremendous love.

i have a super fun God story to record today. tuesday i walked out of Hearts for Hearing, our audiologists office, totally in awe of the sweet power and goodness of God. annie will have cochlear implant surgery for her left ear on monday. they allow several weeks for the ear, skull area surrounding the implant to heal and then we will meet with our audiologists and actually "activate or turn on" her new ear. so they handed me a series of appts. for her left ear activation. here this where the the sweetness of our God was most evident. i took the post-it note with the dates on it and began to realize that the first day annie will be fulling hearing with both ears will be sept. 18th, 2010. as if hearing with both ears isn't cool enough....the Holy Spirit reminds me that Sept. 18th (2009) mike and i had a most significant encounter with the Holy Spirit. we were in the living room of our dear best friends, Ken and Beth. we were surrounded by a dozen of our sweet friends and all worshipping God together. our sweet friends liz and jon came over to us in worship and asked if they could pray over us. we were in the next few minutes absolutely blown away by the Spirit to say the least. There were so many fun things that have transpired since then and from that time but one of my significant memories was holding annie on my chest and in the most audible voice i have ever heard God, i heard Him say, "Don't worry about annie, I have already taken care of her. she is going to hear and speak." There have honestly been many a day that i have had to go back to that stake in the ground or my heart rather that God placed there regarding His truth and promise. Its been a wild summer of insurance battles, decisions, postponed surgery dates, waiting, etc. but God's truth and promise have been what i have clung to. There truly is life in His Voice! so im walking out of the office on tuesday and the dates are aligning in my mind....the first day Annie will hear fully out of both ears is the exact day one year later that God gave me that powerful word in the Primroses' living room. Are you serious?? things like that don't just happen folks! I told mike its like God took that promise to me and coated in gold. He didn't have to do that...it could have been any day and it still would be awesome. but it is like God kissed my face and said, "you know im in this with you. i am at your right hand. i love Annie more than you and mike could begin to. you know i want the best for her. trust me dear one. i am such a good, good father."

oh, you guys....He is soooo good! May we lean in to Him today and allow Him to kiss our face. He will do it everytime if we let Him! He is that good!

"I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love." Ephesians 3:17