the pictures above are of my sister and Brian, The Kucinski's and Eric's parents at the table and Zach singing at the Griffins game for choir and Maddie's makeover at Libby Lu with Olivia for her birthday (no hurry for that girl to grow up!)
Please pray for my sister Kristi as she awaits more tests for her CA125 levels on Jan. 5th and a plan of action from her doctor. Please pray boldly that the cancer is gone!
Life has been quite busy for us since we decided to purchase the handicap accessible home in Grandville back in early October. It was so amazing to see how God worked out all of the details so that we could be moved in and getting settled less than two months after we found the home. Jon and Alisha (the sellers) have been uprooted from their home quite quickly too as they only had listed the home for a few weeks before we met them. They have been working on finishing a condo to be accessible for her and living with her dad in the mean time. Keep them in your prayers in their transition as well as us. It has been hard to get into a routine here for me since I am juggling a new school schedule for Maddie in Grandville and continuing to drive Zach to Jenison early every morning and figuring out each day how he will get home. I am grateful that today is the start of Christmas break (a day early due to the huge blizzard this morning in case you are not from around here) We just got our road plowed at 8:00 tonight as well as our driveway. Eric and Jim tried to head to the Born Clinic today and got stuck twice so they skipped it. We are praying about what to do about Zach's school since he really wants to stay in Jenison, but I don't know if I can do it. This will be really hard for Zach to change being in 6th grade and all of the great things he is involved in academically at Jenison and he has one of the best teacher's right now which makes it really hard. Lord, help me to do the right thing!
The house is great! We are meeting a few neighbors which is hard to do in the winter. Maddie had a few girls from school over for her birthday this week which was fun but a little chaotic as you might imagine with 7 girls from age 5-7.
We have been working on finishing two rooms and a bathroom in the basement for the kids since they have been sharing a bedroom and Maddie likes to talk and sing every night while Zach tries to go to sleep. We have had a few snags with a small leak in the shower upstairs that we hope will be fixed next Monday and then we will be ready to drywall and move forward with finishing. It has added a lot to our plate with just making small decisions about how to do things which just convinces me that we did the right thing by not building the whole house or even adding the addition on to our old home. It is stressful and would not be for us right now with everything else. We are excited to have a little more space for the kids and are praying that the elevator would be approved soon for Eric to be able to get downstairs.
Eric has been doing pretty good. It has been hard for him being it's Winter again. The cold weather is tough since his circulation is poor in his hands and he gets very cold quickly so we have decided to stay home more which can get a little lonely too. Nights are getting more difficult to move in bed as he can't get comfortable and needs help rolling over. Eric has a hard time getting around besides sitting in his lift chair or by his computer and I get nervous when he tries to do more for fear he may fall so he gets a little bored of the same things. I have the opposite problem and can't sit down because there is always something to do. It is hard to find balance for us. I know Eric would love it if people stopped by to hang out here or take him out on a day that is not so cold. Despite the harsh reality of this disease as things progress, we still can laugh together most days and we love each other more each day by God's grace. Please pray for healing of Eric's body and a cure for ALS with us! We are hopeful in getting the new drug IPLEX soon as much has been happening since his trip to DC regarding this drug.
We also lost our physical therapy and personal care (not our visiting angels) about the same time we moved for loss of coverage through Medicare which came as a sudden surprise. That had been very helpful to us and we were very sad to lose that. My friend Heather has been helping me clean for the last few weeks which lightens my load substantially and she cleans like no tomorrow! Thank you, Heather! Eric is actually waiting right now for his physical therapy excercises and it is getting late and we need to get to sleep!!
We'll try to post more soon and wish you all the most wonderful Christmas this year!!
In Christ,
Lori and Eric
Luke 2:7-14
and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
