To our Kiki

I'm still working on yours.  Almost ten years of amazing love from you...it's taking a little time to write.  We love you so much!!!!

Our amazing nurse

Liz three years ago you became part of our family.  You have loved, laughed and cried with us.  When we first had you as our nurse you were so quiet...you had no idea what kind of family God put in your life that day.  Boy were you in for a surprise.  I don't think you had ever seen so many inflatable's inside a hospital or the Children's House before.  You loved Jacob's Frosty the Snowman so much, that I wouldn't dare forget to bring him on this trip.  And of course Jacob wouldn't let me leave home without Frosty and Turkey, if he could he would have brought all the others.

You are an amazing nurse, but most of all, an amazing person.  And I'm so glad we have you!!!  Thank you for coming to see us on your day off.  I wouldn't know what I'd do if I didn't get a picture of you and Jacob with his inflatable's.  Thank you for taking care of Jacob.  But most of all, thank you for taking care of me!!  You were the calm in my storm.  You listened to my worries and then you acted on them faster than the beat of my heart.  What an amazing nurse!!!  Not only did you take care of our son, your patient, you took care of us.  Not an easy thing to do, I know for sure, but God gave you this amazing ability.  And I am so blessed and truly thankful He chose us to be a part of it.  We love you sooooooo much!!!

God sent a student

We always love coming back to see our Hopkins hospital family who take such good care of us while we are there.  We have grown into a huge family for almost 10 years now.  And our family continues to grow every time we come back.  This time God gave us a student.  One that we will never forget.  She fell in love with our son, just as fast as we fell in love with her.  Her NC accent was way better than our southern Tennessee accent, at least I thought so.  She becomes a nurse in December, but in my eyes...she was already one.  We love you Brooke.  Thank you for taking care of our son and thank you for wanting to be part of our huge family.  You have a beautiful soul!!  When God calls us back to our Hopkins family, I just know you will be there to take care of us again.  You are AMAZING!!!

Love you MORE!!!

Brooke called Jacob her Patrick Star (from Sponge Bob) and wrote his name on his water cup with measurements/times to help him get the amount needed.  He still gets a big smile on his face when we mention this to him.   

Close up with the special cup

Giving Thanks

We stopped off to thank the Jefferson County WV Sheriff department for going above and beyond the call of duty for our family.  Thank you God for the men and women who serve and protect us all.

Listen and obey

God told me tonight we needed to go down the street to the Northeast Market to get dinner.  All of us, not just Daddy.  We arrived 30 minutes before they close, so there were a lot of vendors that had already shut down for the night.  But God had one still open and waiting for us, Heavenly Hotdog Grill. Two young men stepped down from the counter while the others prepared our food. I was able to share a little about our trip and how God has worked miracles.  One of them asked if he could pray for us and then we all held hands and prayed.  Unbelievable experience, nothing we expected when God told all of us we need to go.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of them and wrote their names down, but we we're just so blown away from the blessings that poured out from them.  The one that came up with the recipe for the drinks....AMAZING!!!  You will see a picture of Jacob enjoying every one of them.  The strawberry with lemon lime twist is his favorite!!!  Thank you, Jesus, for these God loving, young men that He brought into our paths.  We are truly thankful and blessed that we were able to meet them.  We will see you next time we are in Baltimore.  Keep up the fantastic work that God has blessed you with.  To God be the glory in all that we do.

Jacob loved the fresh fruit drinks from Heavenly Hot Dog Grill and we gotta say, we agree with him.  Flavors include mango (2), strawberry tea, blueberry and pink lemonade.  As you can probably see, there is actual fruit floating in these drinks. 

The food was also fantastic.  Mac and Cheese, pulled pork and Collard Greens.  If you are ever in Baltimore, stop by the Northeast Market, about two blocks from Hopkins, and check out the Heavenly Hot Dog Grill - the food and the people. 

Faith and Free to Go

Jacob got a good report from Dr. Ahn and Kelly today.  We are cleared to come home and hope to start our trip back tomorrow morning.  Dr. Ahn was particularly impressed with how quickly he had started walking again, especially after not being able to do so for 70 days.  Thank you Jesus!!


Please pray that Jacob's back and legs (especially) will do well on the long trip and that we will arrive back safely in Chattanooga (please, Lord, no more deer encounters). 


Through Jacob's story and by faith in His name (faith that only He can grant), the Lord has demonstrated His power, grace, mercy and love over and over again.  By this same faith that brought Jacob and us through the storms of travel and surgery, we believe He can and will use it again to bring rain to put out the wildfires.  He tells us in His Word that if we have faith the size of a tiny mustard seed, we can move mountains.  Or in this case, bring rain that is not in the forecast.




1 Kings 18:41-45 ESV
And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.

I have faith that when we get home there will be a great rain, sufficient enough to put the fires out.

Trust in Him

Out and next Steps

Jacob was discharged from the hospital yesterday evening.  We made it back to the McElderry House where we are staying.  He was really motivated to get out of the hospital and did not want Inpatient PT.  His first night out went pretty well.  We will be working on taking steps today, using the walker, around the house.  He has a follow-up appointment tomorrow morning at 10 am with Dr. Ahn and we may be able to begin the trip home tomorrow.  Jacob will likely need extensive PT on an outpatient basis, but we should be able to arrange this at home.

Please continue to pray that Jacob's incision site will heal and that his legs will continue to get stronger each day.  Please pray that he will consume enough liquids, too, to keep the urology side of things in good order.

The Lord is gracious and merciful.

We will try to provide an update tomorrow morning, right after our appointment.

Mommy and Daddy

Here is Jacob sitting up saying, "Look, Mom, no hands."