I will carry you......

I can not begin to describe how overwhelmed Mark and I have been with the literal thousands of people that have rallied around us and our family and are praying for our sweet Teagan.  Just in the last few days we have heard stories about friends, neighbors, and family members discovering a mutual connection just over the simple act of praying for our family.  There is no way we can ever fully express our gratitude to you all and we implore you to please continue to pray.  Pray hard and pray big.  My last post came on the heels of news that the damage to sweet Teagan's brain was more extensive than we had originally seen.  As you can imagine we were so grateful for all the Lord had already done in her little life, but this was a huge punch to the gut for us especially not knowing if that trend was going to continue and cause her to continue to deteriorate or if she would recover from it in any shape or form.

If you talk to anyone who deals with brain injuries in children there is a common phrase that is tossed around and it is that the brain is "plastic".  All that means is that there is so little about the human brain that we know but that even when the brain takes a huge hit it can often recover certain levels of function and compensate using another part.  That can be very hopeful for any parents whose child is in that position, however it is also understood that there are certain hits that are so hard that it is very difficult to come back from.  Teagan should fall into the latter category.  Although Teagan seems to be remarkably similar to the rest of my children in that she marches to the tune of her own drummer.  While all the dr's and nurses involved in her care continue to be perplexed at the gravity of her situation and what triggered it, there continues to be steps forward that are in many ways just as perplexing.  There are certain very specific things that you look for in a patient to know if they are going to have any cognitive function or if they will essentially be in vegetative state.  They are things that seems so simple to you and I, things that don't cause any thought at all most days but are huge deals when it comes to the design and function of our bodies.  Blinking when something touches or comes close to your eye, having a gag reflex, being able to poop (yes poop is a big deal), and your pupils responding to light.  As of this morning we have had the joy of seeing all of these! Every last one.  I truthfully can not begin to describe the gratitude that we feel over even these most simple things.  In addition to those since my last post she is still on a ventilator, however they are not having to give her any oxygen through it, they are simply using pressure to aid in her lungs functioning the way they need to and even today they were able to reduce that pressure setting twice.  Beyond all that the sweetest of things for me today was that when I stood at her bedside to talk to her she moved her eyes together in my direction.  No she could not look at me and couldn't hold that position for very long but she heard a voice and she tried.

This is what praying can do.  Are we out of the woods yet, no.  We still have a long road to go that could take a turn for the worse at any given moment, but I can say for an absolute fact that God is doing unexplainable mighty things in the life of that little girl and in turn also the lives of those around her.  A sweet friend shared a verse with me the other day that has been a constant prayer of mine since I heard it.  It is Isaiah 46:4 particularly the last half of the verse and it says, "I am He, I am He who will sustain you.. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you."  I learned a long time ago to love my children with an open hand remembering that however confusing or painful at times it may seem that my children were never mine to begin with.  The Lord entrusted each one of these precious lives to me as a mom for a season.  They are on loan to me essentially from the one who created them, loved them first, and loves them more then I ever could.  That is a hard thing to grasp and know when you are seeing the life of your children hanging in the balance, but what a sweet promise and reminder that the one who created not only Teagan's life but mine also promises to sustain me, carry me, and rescue me.  What is even more beautiful about that picture is that the Lord is using each and every person that has been praying over us as tangible evidence of His mighty hand.  So thank you and please don't stop. As I said before we have a long road to go and I believe we are going to see even greater, more unexplainable things in the days ahead.

The new immediate prayers are that in Teagan's upcoming scans including the one tomorrow that we see no new damage and that the swelling in her brain will reduce.  This is going to play a big role in her prognosis and recovery moving forward.  For continued improvement in lung function where she can be safely removed from the vent.  And again for her three siblings at home who are wrestling with a situation they can not fully grasp and are desperately wanting their sister to come home.  We cherish each and everyone one of you and the role you are playing in our lives.  You are helping carry and sustain us through each hour of each and every day.
Love
The Strattons