Hi, there, friends,

I hope everyone is doing well. Our family is doing well, except that Emily woke up this morning and she was crying. That is just NOT like her at all. So when I asked her what was wrong, she said that she had a really bad headache and her stomach felt funny. So I got her situated in our bed with a plastic bag handy. Job well done, right? Well, no! She did get sick, but not in the bag. On the carpet. Right where I have to stand when I climb into bed! Oh, the joys of motherhood. Not only did I get to clean it up, but I get to step in it, too. Yay!! Can you hear the sarcasm??!! Thankfully, she is feeling some better. We did not send her to get her piano lesson today, though. I did, however send her outside for a few minutes to see if the brisk cold and snowballs would help her. Anyhoo...

On to the praise:

About 2 weeks ago, we had to take Bethany back to the eye dr. because apparently her prescription had changed and we noticed that she was having trouble seeing again. So we take her in, and at that time, Alan asks this dr. if he could get her in to see a different specialist so that we could get a second opinion about her eyes. He said that it would probably take about 9 months to get her seen here in Hamilton, but if we wanted it sooner, we could probably get into one in London, over an hour's drive from here. A long way, but still doable. Anyway, we waited for the call back from his receptionist to give us the details of the appointment. She called last Friday, and said the appointment would be for the following Tuesday in Hamilton. WOW! Even she was shocked! But we knew WHO was in control and we were really thankful. So we go see this Ophthalmologist who specializes with children. At first I didn't tell him why we were there, I just let him do his thing. When he said that she seems to have pretty good vision with her glasses, it seemed as though he were dismissing us. So that is when I brought up the fact that Bethany had gone to a different specialist all her life, and up until that point, we trusted him. It was only when we had to take her to the optometrist (it was very obvious that she was having trouble seeing), that we were informed of her astigmatism. That bothered us because the first ophthalmologist had just seen her 6 months before, and never mentioned it. However, the optometrist called the astigmatism severe, and said that it would have been obvious even 6 months prior. Hence, the 2nd opinion. So now this specialist is saying the same thing as the first one, only this one explained it FAR better! Here is what he said:

1. She has droopy eyelids. (I didn't know what it was called until he told me) Right now, they are not a problem simply because she compensates by tilting her head back a bit to see better. She has done this all of her life. Because she has done this, her eyelids have not impaired her vision. That's fantastic!! If we were to push for surgery to correct some of the droopiness, it would only be cosmetic, and in the long run, would still be a little droopy. The reason for that is that if they were to correct the droopiness too much, then her eyes would not close tight while she were sleeping, and thus dry out her cornea. There would be serious ramifications. NO SURGERY!!

2. Up until now, we were told that her tear ducts were closed. However, this fella said that they are in fact open. But when she cries, there are no tears. So he said that he has only seen about 4 patients like her in the last 10 years, and his only explanation is that her tear glands just don't develop the amount of tears that the rest of us produce. (I think sometimes my other children make up for her:)) However, he said that it is quite obvious that she is producing SOME tears because her cornea is so pristine. He said that otherwise, she would have more serious problems after dealing with this for 6 years.

So, all this to say that he basically agreed with the 1st specialist, so I have peace of mind. He also mentioned that going to Africa would not interfere with anything going on with her eyes as long as we took her to an optometrist every year. Praise the Lord! Isn't it amazing how the Lord takes care of every single detail when He has a specific job for His child! It doesn't the how minor or how serious, HE takes care of it! He is so good!

Thanks for checking in on us and praying for us! This Sunday, we are at Brampton International Baptist Church in the a.m., and Mississauga International Baptist Church in the p.m. Looking forward to visiting with both ministries and seeing familiar faces and meeting new people!

Have a wonderful day!

Psalm 113:1,2

Love,

Ida