Keeping the Faith . . .

This week has been a little rough, so we wanted to write and ask for y'all to continue in prayer for two things:

As we mentioned in an earlier post, our friends Mary Elizabeth and Meade Stone had identical twin boys in VA Beach about three weeks ago. Both boys have been in the NICU with seizures and recently moved to the Children's Hospital for Kings Daughters. Early Monday morning, their son Warren went to be with Jesus. They still do not know the cause of the seizures. Please pray for Jesus to be the peace of Mary Elizabeth and Meade as they mourn and grieve the loss of their little one. Please also pray for quick and complete healing for Warren's twin brother, John. You can read more about this family on their Caring Bridge site by clicking here. I would encourage you, if you desire, to sign their guestbook and let them know you are praying with and for them. We are just heartbroken for them, and continuing in prayer . . . please pray with us!

Please also pray for our little Will's eye. Will has a cavernous hemangioma, which is a malformation of his blood vessels, under his left eye. We have seen a pediatric opthomologist twice now (who is great) and we are continuing to keep a close watch on it. This week, we saw the doctor because the hemangioma has grown significantly over the last two weeks. We are trying steriod drops to reduce the size of the growth, but if they do not work, the doctors will check for a tumor (because of the "agressive nature" of the growth . . . but, they said that at this point they do not have any reason to believe it is tumourous) and possibly procede with surgery . . . which could involve both steriods, anesthesia, and CAT scans. The hemangioma will likely reduce in size after Will is a year old, but we want to keep it from growing larger so that it does not impair his vision in his left eye. It is not painful for him, but it does look awful (much like a black eye!) Please pray for God to provide the following for little Will: for the steriod drops to work and stop the growth, for there to be no tumor present, and for preservation of Will's sight.

Here is a snapshot of our little William (he can open his eye wider, but he is a little sleepy after his warm bath!):