Mom's heart

Just a quick little request. My Mom has been diagnosed with Chronic atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathy. I would appreciate your prayers for us as we deal with the decisions involved, and learn to cope with the new developments! (You can keep up-to-date here)

Lance Corporal

Yes, that is the rank of David now. He got meritoriously promoted in School of Infantry. School of Infantry went very well, although, he did not score as well on his PFT as he would have liked.

The run was 3.5 miles and very hilly instead of the 3 miles it is supposed to be, and the times were still the same. He managed just over 18 minutes, so not quite perfect there. His chin-ups went the worst. Three days before doing his PFT he gave blood, and in the process the technician hit the nerve in his arm causing his arm to swell up, and giving him pain for about a week, so it was difficult to do his chin-ups. Also they were a lot stricter on the chin-ups. They didn't allow ANY movement of legs during the time, and were very sticky on locking the arms. He was a little short on his crunches too. He only ended up with a 265 PFT, which was disappointing.

David traveled out to Chesapeake Virgina to MCSFS (Marine Corps Security Forces School), but due to a backlog on the classes, they gave him 12 days of recruiter's assistance. He didn't tell us this was happening, so he got to surprise us by showing up at our door. It was fun having him here for those days. His Recruiter's assistance ended up being over his birthday, so that was nice, especially after he missed almost all the rest of our birthdays, and Christmas as well.

Right now he is back in Virginia starting the 6 week MCSFS course on the 12th. He has weekends and evenings off, so we can be in phone contact with him.

1. Pray that David can excel in the studying part of the Marines as he has in the Physical Part.

2. Pray that he can find a good church fellowship.

3. Pray that he can make it to Lucas' graduation. It would be the first time our whole family has been together since Christmas 2006. It is very unlikely, as David only has a week to request it, and normally a graduation is not considered a good reason to go outside the 100-mile radius they are required to stay within.

Prayer Request- Coates Twins

The twins are doing well. They doctors determined that they were actually 26 weeks along instead of 22. They have a very good chance of survival. They are both doing very well, but are still very delicate. Both have pneumonia, but that is considered not out-of-the-ordinary for children born so young.

Elyssa had to have surgery to close the hole in her heart. She is doing well recovering. They tried to take her off her ventilator, but her one lung started collapsing, so they had to put her back on.

Austin is doing very well. He has been able to eat some, and the hole in his heart closed on its own.

The parents are keeping up a journal as well. You can keep more up-to-date here. Thanks for being in prayer!

Prayer Request!

We have friends who just had their first children, twins, at 22 weeks along. They are at the Children's Hospital in Minneapolis right now. They were born emergency c-section in Eau Claire, and airlifted to the cities. The chance of survival is about 10% for children of that age, and there is a high possibility of disabilities. These first few weeks are very important! You can be in prayer for them. Their names are Austin and Ellyssa, and the parents names are Jesse and Ashlee Coates.

With God all things are possible!

Phone call from Pendleton!

Well, you guessed it, today we got a surprise call from David from Cali. He was given the privilege of a 10 minute call, as his platoon was the best platoon in the PE test. He is doing very well, and seems to be enjoying himself yet. He says everyone thinks he is crazy because he has too much energy and is too happy. He says he really appreciates any letters he gets, and to keep sending letters. You can continue to pray that he remains healthy, that the Lord would continue to give safety, and that he can continue to be able to fit in time for personal devotions.

Rain!

"For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth..." (Is. 55:10) Sometimes I like to question God's timing of his wonderful provision of rain. Throughout the summer we had a shortage of rain, and were quite dry. Although we didn't suffer significant harm to our garden, it still was inconvenient, and many farmers did suffer crop damage. Now the Farmers are all ready to harvest their corn and soybeans, but the fields are so muddy they can't even think of driving in them. Between last night and this morning we got close to 3 inches of rain, and putting that on top of over 4 inches this last week, we are starting to wonder when the soil will get dry enough to drive on. You know, this reminds me of a Proverb, "As snow in summer and rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool." (Prov. 26:1) As it says in this verse, rain is not fitting in harvest, or so we finite humans think. For now, we just have to accept God's wonderful provision of rain, and trust His perfect timing through it all. But that still doesn't mean we can't pray for dry weather!

Prayer Request - Update 4

John is on his way home today. It is amazing how fast his little body has recovered! We can thank the Lord for His healing touch. Continue to pray for John as his healing is not over, but be sure to thank God for his gracious healing touch as well!

Prayer Request - Update 3

Praise the Lord, John is doing much better today! Last night he even ate his first meal since the surgery. He has been doing some walking, and has spent some time playing in the playroom. The road of recovery is still long, but significant progress has been made. He is still in pain, and is still on pretty strong pain medications. You can continue to pray for healing!

Prayer Request - Update 2

Recovery from the surgery is still pretty slow. He has done a little walking, but still has been unable to keep food down. Be in prayer especially for motivation to keep trying to get his strength back, and pray for patience for the family. After such a major brain surgery, the road to recovery seems long, especially at the beginning with seemingly slow progress, and so far to go.

Prayer Request - Update

Thank you all for your prayers. The surgery was completed successfully, even though there were some significant complications. You can read more about the surgery here. You can continue to pray as he recovers. They say the second day is more difficult than the first.

Again you can read all the updates on John here.

Prayer Request

We just found out that the son of friends of ours has a serious disorder called Chairi Malformation of the brain. In layman's terms his cerebellum is too big for his skull, so it is pushing the spinal chord down. You can view their updates on him here. Be in prayer as they are going in for surgery on the 21st of this month!

Enlisted

I am honored now to be able to say my brother has just enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He leaves for basic training the beginning of November. You can join both myself and my whole family as we support him with prayers and letters. I have always respected those men who are willing to commit a minimum of 4 years to serving their country, and now am most glad to have a sibling enlisted. Due to his MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) he will be in training for about 1 year, and will not see overseas duty for about 3. When his first 3 years are done he hopes to train as a scout and serve in the front lines his last 2 years. As I mentioned before, your prayers are always welcome!

Semper Fidelis!