Oct 3, 12:10 am

Hello everyone,
It's been a long day today. I left home in Jackson at 7am to Nashville and headed for St. Louis from Vanderbilt about 10:45am. 5hrs on the road brought us to Ranken-Jordan (Pediatric Specialty Hospital) in St. Louis. The ride was uneventful (thank the Lord!).  Micah has been admitted here and we spent the first couple of hours talking to the doctors. The hospital is the coolest looking building inside and out. The doctors were really good to talk to. Micah shares a pod with 3 other people. His bed is near a window as we requested and he seems to like looking out the window. Once they get a routine going for him he will spend very little time in the room except to rest. I think there are less than 30 patients in residence, so he will be getting lots of attention from the doctors, therapists and nurses. As you know by now, his time with the rest of the family Thursday afternoon was really great. It was good to see those dimples again! The plan here is to slow down the thalamic storms and provide the right environment for his brain to relearn how to function again. There is no magic bullet here. Only the Lord knows how Micah will progress. Of course our prayer is that he gets up and says he wants to go home. So as he starts this new phase we expect the Lord to continue working miracles.
One other item of prayer and concern has been answered today. We had been looking for a place for us to live for the short term. Through some contacts with family and friends who came to see us in Nashville we were provided with a fully furnished house, rent-free, to use for our time here!  It is only about 15-20 mins away. Praise the Lord, He has prepared for our needs in advance! We received the word about this just as we were pulling out of Vandy this morning. So again the Good Shepherd leads us to still waters and makes us lie down in green pastures. Praise His name! Our family been so blessed by so many people through prayer, words of encouragement and gifts of service and in kind. May the Lord bless you richly for your kindness to us during this difficult time. I am spending the night with Micah so he will feel better in the new place. He seems to have settled down a little better after I came back from dinner and talked to him. I am very tired and will try to get some shut-eye. Maybe he will let me sleep!
Shalom,
Thomas