Praising God as we celebrate 1yr. from Alisha's accident!

Tonight was so different then a year ago tonight! Allot has changed around our house and all for the good! Allot of changes!

I love this picture, because it reminds me of the beautiful girl Alisha is inside and out! She stands tall carrying her donut for her broker back and her right foot in a surgical shoe as she waits for her broken foot to heal, and her face carries the caring, sweet smile that I love so dearly in my daughter

Alisha Jane Leffring

I look forward to the future as we continue to watch God use her life for His Glory!

 

 

Today we ran the rat race of life: business, kids, school, business, fieldtrips, getting pulled over..... Things that really.... are the easy things!!! 
Tonight Alisha helped me make meatloaf for dinner,  cleaned up the living room for our Bible Study, then she quietly played in the back yard conducting a dance with Abby and her friends. Then before she fell asleep she came in to tell us the funny stories of her and her friends goofiness at school. She laughed so hard she was almost crying!!!
I have quietly sat by as the one year from her accident has  approached and praised God for His gracious hand in our lives! For a good 8 weeks we were not sure if we would see the precious, healthy daughter that we had shared life with for 11 1/2 years!

 

 

I can honestly say I celebrate today.  I celebrate that we experienced that He really is our Rock, our Strong Tower, our Shelter..... And not just because Alisha is better, but because he was there holding each of us in the darkest time of our lives!

Better Late then Never!

I have had multiple people ask me over the summer how Alisha is doing. I was thrilled to be able to give a good report, that she has not been having migraines, that her neck is doing better and that the symptoms of conversion disorder (passing out, non-epileptic seizures, loss of vision...) had not been an issue!

I had a little extra time on my hands this week, since baseball is done for a bit, soccer isn't in full swing and Alisha and Ashton are off to camp! I thought I would take the time to write this update, but somehow time slipped away! I had a great plan to Glorify God for the healing that has taken place in Alisha's life and give Alisha credit for being a trooper and fighting through this rough last year. I had even had the thought of how we would remember this year as the year we were blessed with a boat that made our summer loads of fun! .....Then I woke up with my dear friend standing at my bedroom door.... "What happened?!" Alisha had severely sprained her ankle earlier in the day at church camp and had was in allot of pain. It seems that when she is in constant pain that this is when her other symptoms start to surface! She had developed a migraine as well, and with the exhaustion of camp on top of that, her body once again gave in! Her poor camp Counselor was helping her back to her room after visiting the nurse when she collapsed to the floor and to the counselor appeared to go hysterical, then glazed over for a short period of time, unresponsive to questions. Alisha, explained that she started losing her vision, "All the sudden everything started to get blurry and I dropped to the floor and could hear what was going on, but could not make myself speak. All I could t
hink was what Mom always says "fight through this, fight through this!" She then came out of it, and was shaken.

As time passes between each event we all hope that we have seen the last, but we have no certainty that it will be. If I look forward and try to imagine  life with the struggles she could face, It becomes so overwhelming, but when I look back to how God has greatly provided. I have a peace that she has everything she needs in Him.

So as you think of her and wonder how she is doing, you can know, she is stronger then she has ever been! She is facing the fact that we don't know what the future holds. She is learning that mom and dad can't fix everything. She is learning her deep need to be fully dependent on God who will be her peace even when her body fails her!

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalms 73:26

One Choice at a time!

Normal life is beautiful! I know when I find myself thinking about what I should do with my time and how I am going to get the motivation to lose some weight, life is easy!!
So thankful as time has gone by Alisha's brain has continued to heal and her headaches are subsiding and her life is almost back to normal! With a few glitches here and there, we could not be more thankful!
While I love normal, I pray that by God's mercy He will continue to Transform our minds, that each of us might prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God!!


Today I am excited for my 3rd child Abby Lynn! She has not been the focus now for a while, but as we get back to spreading out time as a parent, I love touching base with my little girl!

Abby Lynn has been considering baptism for quite some time now! It was something she believes she a Christian is called to, but was so worried about speaking in front of everyone! (our church will let the kids do a video testimony, but her dad and I thought she needed to be willing to obey even when it is hard) I think there have been three baptisms that have come and gone at our church that she has sat and watched. You could see the guilt in her eyes as she would choose to wait, but that was her choice and I just encouraged her that God always helps us do what we know we should do! Well last Sunday on our way home from church she heard church was planning a baptism this Sunday. She thought about it for a quick moment and said "I want to get baptized!" She told me today that when she finally decided to do it, she felt so good inside! I enjoyed reminding her that allot of Christians don't ever decide to do what God asks them to do, because they are afraid, or it doesn't make allot of since or any other reason people disobey! I pray that Abby Lynn will continue to feel awful when she chooses to disobey or wait to obey and extreme joy when she chooses obedience!

Oh come.. Adore Him!

We have been so blessed throughout the last 4 weeks to see so much improvement in the health of Alisha! We are seeing her "Drop off's" disappear and her headaches have greatly improved! She has been able to go to school this week without coming home a wreck!! She is able to do her work and even did homework this week! When you look in her eyes you see more of the healthy Alisha that we have always known! We praise God for his healing in our lives! Like people say hind sight is always the best sight! As I begin to look back I have to be honest, that I still don't know why she had to go through this, but I do know that God has really worked in our family! This has caused us to be aware of all that we have to be thankful for! Even the younger kids are more appreciative of the things we would typically take for granted! A few days ago Abby Lynn came down with a bug and she was so sweet as she sat on the couch and we talked about being so thankful that she would be better in a matter of hours! She said she was thankful that she was sick before Christmas, instead of during the fun family gatherings! I sat back and thought of how grateful I am for the Lord using a lack of health to remind even my 8 year old that we are so greatly blessed!  This is the type of thinking as Christians we are supposed to have! We are supposed to have Peace and Joy, not because everything is perfect, but because we have been thankful in everything and allowed our Lord to keep our hearts and minds!! (Phil. 4:6) My heart bows in adoration of a Savior who loves us enough to allow times in our lives that will purify us and make us more like His son!

A tough, but rewarding break!

In the past Jeremy and I have had times where we have been able to get away for a short weekend. Those times are really special and great memories! This year Jeremy thought that the kids really needed to get away and we needed to create some good memories as a family. If you know me, you know I love going places, but I have to be honest the idea of leaving our home right now and packing all 6 of us up driving 3 hours and all packing in a small hotel room was not exactly the get away I was thinking I needed!
       While we are seeing improvement with Alisha and her mind healing she still has times where her stress levels get to high and her mind will slip off into a "state of mind" we really don't understand. These episodes are happening less and less and seems to be allot less intense then it used to be! We believe this all to be signs of healing. But while she heals we have to make huge efforts to not stress her out, especially when she is tired.

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       The idea of riding quietly all the way to Chicago, then keeping the kids from picking at each other seemed like way to much work to me! I was thinking survival sounded nice!! Jeremy totally listened to my concerns, but really encouraged me that we  need some good things to remember and getting out of the normal might be a good break for Alisha. So we decided to do it!
When we all got ready to leave, Jeremy sat all the kids down and told the kids how we usually go off for a little get away weekend, but this year, thought we all needed  a break! He then told the kids the "Key" to making this trip a wonderful memory is that we all decide to "look out for the needs of each other over our own!" Jeremy reminded me that it would be really hard work and we would have to be really patient, but in the end we would have great memories!
        Always sickening  when you realize you have been looking out for yourself and have lost sight of really looking out for the needs of others.  These last 7 weeks have shaken us hard!  God knew I needed this reminder! While I have reminded allot of friends, this time I needed it myself that, "I will not find true joy in my life or marriage until I learn that it really is more precious to give then to receive!!"
The memories we made this weekend were great! The kids had their first cab ride, their first trip to the Shed Aquarium and their first Chicago pizza! But the memories that will never leave my mind are the times I saw my kids deliberately give up what they wanted for one of their brothers or sisters! They got to experience the joy of bringing joy! Jeremy was right it was hard work, and we were exhausted, but the reward was so worth it!

Please continue to pray that our family will be able to rely on God for continued healing, for patience and for each of us to allow God to show us how we can each change to be more like Christ!

It's a mess around here!

 

We began our week starting way to many things! Last Saturday we sat with nothing pressing to do! Probably the first in months!! So what better then refinish our living room's hardwood floor. We tore up the house planning for this to be a big day of craziness, but before the weekend was over I planned to have things back together with our living room looking much better!! WE WERE REALLY WRONG! After realizing we had put the polyurethane on incorrectly we had to rent the floor sander again and tear the floor up again! I say it was tough work, but really Jeremy did all the work, my work was just trying to survive working around the disaster our house was in and trying to help Jeremy not want to throw the sander out he living room window!!Lets just say that was just the beginning of a week that was going downhill real quick!

Me Playing while Jeremy Works!!

Not surprised that the puzzle I put together
with Abby Lynn was missing pieces!

Monday we decided to take the advice of a Dr. who saw Alisha for the first time. We made some drastic changes to her diet and starting Tuesday morning she woke up with her headache at a 10. She began throwing up and we soon realized it was migraines she was having. As her headache rose her mental state grew worse and worse. We had seen such great strides the week before and over the next 4 days we saw her go down hill quick! Wednesday we met with a DO. This is a medical Dr. who uses manipulation of the body. He understood and contributed to the diagnoses  we had been given by our A.K. and felt we were headed in such a good direction! He was excited to be a part and hopefully be able to be a piece of the puzzle that would help Alisha. This was good, because so far the medical world has said it is mental because they couldn't find anything wrong physically!
As the week went on she continued to go down hill. She was taking a shower and called because the water had gotten cold. I double checked the temp before changing the shower and it was Hot!  I told her not to touch the cold or hot and to quickly shower and get out. She was feeling awful, threw up once in the shower then got out and dropped off. When she woke up she couldn't walk! From her waist down her legs would not work. We waited about an hour then texted our AK who has been most helpful with what has been going on! He suggested us try juice and found that she was really low in her blood sugar. She also had a few minutes here and there where she was not able to hear, and once she was chewing her gum and she suddenly lost the ability to taste! It was back 5 minutes later!!

Welcome Home!!

We began the week thinking we had a great plan! We thought we would have a new floor, way better diet and a daughter who was a week closer to being better! We were wrong, but our floor is almost finished and we took Alisha off the diet tonight and gave her a cheeseburger and lemonade and her headache is down to a two and she has had a clear mind and has been herself with a few little glitches here and there!



We need to fire the maid!

I wish I could explain what was going on! I wish it made since, I wish one of the Dr's I have seen would have a magic cure, Shoot, I wish one of them would be able to understand what was going on in our daughters body, but so far the Neurologist, psychologist, ER, MD, OD, AK, Concusion clinics and Chiropractors are only able to understand little pieces of the Puzzle! Then Jeremy and I have had to watch Alisha and see if what we are hearing lines up with who our daughter is and what is going on with her body! We know there is allot of things we could do, but we also know Alisha is handling almost as much as she physically or mentally can!

While it's a huge mess around here, we are extremely blessed! As I drove in the freshly fallen snow this morning I was listening to a devotional about our Savior! I was reminded of the high price he paid so that we could be His, so that we could be whole, so we could know forgiveness! While our life seems to be messy and missing pieces right now I am confident that, Our Heavenly Father is working this all for good in our lives!!

There ya go!  Keep us in your prayers!!
1.Pray for wisdom (so we don't kill the poor girl)
2.Pray for Patience
3.Pray for Healing

We are thankful for
1. Running water (without water we would smell like our week!)
2.Strength to press on
3. Family and friends who continue to show they care!
4. Flexible schedules with our business and me being a stay at home mom!

Waiting on the Master Carver

Carving pumpkins at the Leffrings is a messy job! But in the end when you step back and the light shines through those pumpkins  they are so cool! All that hard, messy work was worth it! Then as the days go by and you look back at the pictures, you forget the mess and the stress of working with the awful little tools or the splatter from the jig saw :)  and all you remember is the wonderful memories you made as a family! Well right now we are in the messy part! The part where you sit back and think, I sure hope He knows what he is doing cutting into us like this!! Then I am reminded God is the master Carver! He can take the really messed up and make something beautiful!! I can't wait to see what he will make out of this!

These days I wake up and find myself begging God to let my kids wake up and have everything back to normal!! Then I quickly have to ask God to forgive me and beg Him for the presence of Jesus to be clear as I walk though today! There is nothing like realizing how worthless I am from the get-go!

I am beyond thankful for the encouragement we have gotten from friends and family! I am also so thankful for those who are working to help us get things back to normal while things are anything but normal! While we search for the right Dr. to help Alisha, one who understands the trauma that has happened to her brain causing her brain to deal with Conversion disorder we are learning that the mind will look for "crutches". We don't want to give her brain a "crutch" we want it to have to strengthen itself and regain normal use. Some of the changes we have made to accomplish this is to stop talking about her situation in front of her, not making a big deal of the "drop offs", or visible mind changes, She has also started back to school. I know to some you think of going to school as a stress, but to Alisha school is a joy! Not going is a stress. So as we try to get life back to normal for her, everyone else around has made huge adjustments!!!! This is difficult for me! I hate to make things tough on Jeremy, our other kids, other kids at school, her teacher..... I want everyone to be happy and I like for us to be the blessing! Thankfully Jeremy keeps reminding me that while it is hard, it is what is supposed to be best for her minds healing! Also that those who are around us care and are more then willing to sacrifice for what is best!
Ashton, Abby and Anderson have had 4 weeks of intense training in being selfless. At first this was hard, but as I sit back and think of the day I am reminded of how many times they each gave up their rights!! I can't tell you how many times one of them caught Alisha as her body fell over limp, I am so proud of each of them! Ashton probably caught her head from landing in her dinner at least 15 times! Each of the kids help out, knowing she will wake up and wont ever remember what they did for her. Their is nothing in it for them! It makes this mom proud! On a funny note, watching Anderson catch Alisha was comical, I'm pretty sure She doubles him in height!!
Jeremy and I make a great team!   We are learning about things that neither of us have had any experience with! He is constantly reminding me when I am overwhelmed of how much better today is than the last! By God's grace I really believe we will be stronger in the end !!

As you pray please ask God
1. to continue to guide us as with the right Dr's.
2. that we will continue to see even small steps of improvements
3. That God will give Alisha's teachers and friends everything they need to handle this!
4. That we would not miss helping Ashton, Abby and Anderson with needs in their lives
5. That God would help Jeremy and I to continue to work together as a team

Praise God:
For a better week this week than last!
For getting into a Dr. a week from Monday who has some experience with what she is dealing with.
For the many people who have gone out of their way to help us with the things we need!
For a God whose plan is Brilliant!!