March 18 A special note to all of Gracie’s friends either from school or from church.

The following was written just after Grace came out of ICU. I have wanted her to read the content before posting it here. Much has happened since then and now I have the time to add this information to the blog. I hope this may answer some of your questions and give you some understanding as to the limited amount of detail we told you at the time. Please continue to praise God with us for Grace's recovery, and remember "this is the day that the LORD has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it."  Just one day at a time. God bless you all.   :)

This blog was set up Christie mainly for your benefit. We know that you all love Grace and have been very interested in her in her progress.  We will admit that we have tried to keep the details to a level that wouldn’t freak you all out and make you worry unnecessarily or if the worst came to the worst that you would grieve ahead of time.

Now that Gracie is out of ICU and making good progress we would like to fill you in on how greatly God has blessed us and you by allowing Gracie to live.

As you know all this started very suddenly on Wed 15 Feb. She complained of her face feeling numb. She was dizzy and had double vision. As the night progressed she also became very wobbly on her feet.

Thurs 16 Feb

The doctor sent us straight to hospital. After many, many blood tests and an MRI scan we found that Gracie’s brain stem was swollen in the region that controls vital things like blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and consciousness. These vital signs were continually monitored.

Fri 17 Feb

At 3am Gracie was admitted and moved to Neuro High Dependency Unit. Many more blood tests later it was decided to do a Lumbar Puncture. By taking some of her spinal fluid they would be able to do a whole range of other tests. Trying to determine what she was actually fighting. By this time Christie and Jonnie had arrived from Bathurst and Yr 13. (I add this info for reasons you will see later) After the Lumbar Puncture her consciousness decreased and the heads of ICU wanted to become involved so that they could put her on life support. They did this to keep all those vital things working so that Gracie’s body would have time to fight the infection, whatever it was, and once it was beaten she would still be with us to tell the tale herself.

Some time after she had been moved to ICU it was decided that Gracie would need to have a drain and monitor inserted into her brain so that the pressures in her brain could be monitored.  By this stage Greg and Josh had arrived. So off she went and the 5 of us prayed and committed our dearly beloved Gracie into the hands of the loving Lord Jesus.

Sat 18 Feb

Gracie had a CT scan today to check that the drain/monitor was in the right place. Still more blood tests… I’m a bit amazed that she has any blood left!! But it’s encouraging to know that the part of her body that makes her blood is working fine!! The CT scan also showed that the lower part of the brain that sits in a boxish sort of thing seemed to be a bit tight. This area doesn’t really allow the brain to swell without damaging the brain itself. So we had another conference with the doctors. This time all of us were there. Us 5 plus our very special daughter in law, Kellie, and Number 1 son in law, Neil. So the decision to allow the doctors to remove a small part of the back of Gracie’s skull to let the brain have swelling room was made by us all, and everyone got to ask their own questions. It seemed to be such a long operation, much longer than they had said, until we found out that there had been an emergency caesarean that pushed Gracie’s op back. This op went very well.

Sun 19 Feb

What happened this day?

Mon 20 Feb

Now Gracie was back in ICU on life support. The machines were breathing for her and medication was keeping her heart rate and blood pressure what they should be. The monitor in her brain was doing its job and if the pressures got too high they were able to relieve the pressure using the drain. Still more blood tests, still no answers. All this time, really since coming into emergency, she had been on antibiotics, antivirals and steroids just to cover everything they could thing of that might be the cause. At this point Gracie was sedated to keep her comfortable, so she was pretty unaware of what was going on around her. Josh came and got me in the evening and he was able to read Romans 8 to her. One of her favourite passages of scripture and so fitting in this case.

Tues 21 Feb

Today she had a trip out of ICU to have a MRI to check on the swelling in her brain stem. The results of this scan showed that the swelling/infection had spread upwards. It is not known if this was the peak of the infection or whether it would continue upwards. I’m now assuming that it might have been the peak as she seems to have improved since then. Josh, Jonnie and I had opportunity to go to see her in the evening and we were once again able to pray to our loving God asking Him to heal her if that was His will. Above all we wanted His will, as we know that this is always best. But having said that, we also told Him that we dearly want to keep our Gracie here with us. She is such a blessing and God willing she will be used for His glory in the days that lie ahead.

Wed 22 Feb

It was now time to reduce her sedation and get her to wake up so that it could be seen if she could hear and respond to commands. At one point Josh said, ‘Mum she’s crying.’ Sure enough there were tears running out of her eye. We asked her she was in pain. She was able to nod ‘Yes’. What is a headache? Shake ‘No’. Was her tummy sore? ‘No’. Was it her throat? She tried to point with her hand and nodded, ‘Yes’. Wonderful we could get her some pain relief and knew that she could hear and comprehend. Very exciting day!! But still we didn’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. When you don’t know what you’re dealing with you don’t know what it will do. Will she continue to improve? Will she go backwards? We just didn’t know. It was hard not to get our hopes raised and we didn’t want you guys to have the same velocity on the roller coaster as us. Also we are not sure how much Gracie would have liked you to know. She does love and care for you all too. Also today Gracie had a full body scan. This one was to rule out any cancers.

Thurs 23 Feb

Still no idea on what the cause is. The scan from yesterday appears to be clear, but the final results are not in as yet. Hopefully tomorrow will tell us more. We are also waiting on results from places like Brisbane. Sometimes they even send sample off to Oxford for tests. How amazing is all this wonderful medical stuff. Kellie’s sister in law, Billie, also works at the hospital and so she will often get updates that she can pass on to us. One encouraging one was, ‘Please make sure the family knows that just because we haven’t found a cause doesn’t mean that we have stopped looking. We are doing everything we can to find something.’ Also it’s comforting to know that Billie really knows the calibre of the doctors that the Lord has placed on Gracie’s case. They are the best.

Gracie’s sedation has continued to be reduced and hopefully tomorrow she will have her breathing tube removed, as she is mainly breathing on her own now. Praise God for such wonderful improvement. Every time she comes to though she gets agitated to find tubes everywhere and tries to pull them out, so they still have her on some calming medication. But hopefully once the tube is out, it really can’t be too comfortable, she will not be agitated any more and will be able to start to eat and drink by herself again. Also today I was able to start playing her some music. Today is was my playlist. Tomorrow I will take her iPod. J

Fri 24 Feb

March 11 afternoon

Grace has been home for a day or two now. She is walking much better now but she is still speaking in a whisper. Before we left the hospital the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist said that her left vocal cord is paralysed. At this stage they are not sure why, as always seems to be the case. Please continue to pray that we would find out why this is and that the Lord would continue His healing process in Gracie. At the moment we have gone home with Christie for a couple of days, then we will be back and Gracie will be ready for visitors and ready to start going back to school - which she is missing. :)

March 9 7:20pm

GRACE IS HOME! YAH ! PRAISE THE LORD ! Again thankyou to all who have prayed for our Gracie. Praise the LORD for his wonderful love to us!

March 9 Morning

Grace is doing well this morning. The Lord is soooooo good! Our times are in your hands Why should we doubt or fear? A Father's hand will never cause His child a needless tear. Our times are in your hand Jesus, the Crucified! The hand our many sins have pierced Is now our guard and guide. CH Spurgeon

March 8 Evening

Well today Gracie has had a very busy day. She has walked from one end of the hospital and back to the other 2 or 3 times, she has spent some time with the physio and had her dad and Josh visit. All in all she was very tired when I left her tonight. It is so lovely to see her progressing so well. She still has a way to go. We are still waiting on the ENT specialist to see why she is still only whispering... This just seems to go on from day go day. I have learnt that in hospitals you do an aweful lot of waiting. I think the 3 weeks I have sat ith Gracie I havent actually done anything but sit and wait. So hopefully in the next few days we wilkl get the walking and the talking sorted out and then hopefully she will be home. Yah! More tomorrow. :)

March 7 Evening

Well some great news today! Grace has moved to a normal ward. She has no morer tubes or canulas or even ecg leads!!! She is free to walk around the hospital. Yah. She is still unsteadynon her feet, but improving ll the time. She will have to have some rehab to get her walking back to scratch and we are expecting to see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist tomorrow to find out why she is still whispering. Gracie finds this a bit frustrating. So in the next few days she will be having physio to get her walking and we will do lots of practise as she is now allowed to walk out of the ward. This afternoon Jonnie and I walked with her down to the main enterance and had some afternoon tea. This eas actually quite a long walk for her, but she did very well. We are now back to me not being able to stay with her. Tonight when Jonnie and I left she was quite sad but also being very brave. She is looking forward to getting some school work so she can start catching up and then looking forward to getting back to school and to church with all her friends. We know that many of you may want to visit Grace, can I ask that you get in touch with me or one of the family to check that she is up to a visit before going? Thanks, this will just make sure that she has enough time to rest. Again we are so thankful to our wonderful, amazing God who has so graciously answered your prayers in healing our Gracie. Thank you once again.

March 7 Morning

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. As I have been staying at the hospital with Grace I have not had internet. Things seem to be going on from one daynto the next. I have even lost track of what day we are up to. Grace is starting to look very much more like her old self. No tubes anywhere!!! She was very excited when the last tube came out! Hopefully todaynshe will get to more to a 'normal' ward and then the next step will be home we hope. She is still having some problems with her speech. She is only able to speak in a whisper, much to her horror and disgust! And aslo she is still quite unsteady on her feet, although this is getting better day by day. Last night we took a walka around to ICU to see some of the faces who had looked after here there. Gracie doesnt remember them, but they remember her and are thrilled that she is up and about. Anyway, i must get back to the hospital, so I will post more soon.

Monday 5 March 1pm

I must say Gracie is looking better than me today. She is looking almost normal and I have hit a wall. It's now my turn for some R & R, so I am spending a little time with Jonnie to rest and eat well and then back to the hospital. I checked with Grace this morning to see if she was feeling up to visitors today? - sadly she still gets very tired just with walking and showering, but she is improving every day. So hopefully in another few days she may be up to the multitude of visitors that want to come. We will turn that multitude into a trickle, somehow, so as not to overwhelm her. As Christie mentioned she is looking more and more like her normal self. Please be patient with us a little longer.

Weekend Summary

Well, after having a lovely time with Grace Friday night in which we chatted and watched Glee, we started off sleeping well. Our sleep was occassionally disturbed as they needed to do hourly observations of Grace. They tried to stagger these a bit further apart to not disturb her sleep as much. At around 3am, Grace wanted to go for a walk, when I told her it was 3am, she decided she should probably go back to bed.
Saturday morning was good, Gracie enjoyed eating most of her breakfast - her swallowing is getting much better! She is still getting better with her talking, she can speak at a whisper. This should improve over time, as will her eyesight, which at times is a little fuzzy.
Saturday afternoon Grace managed to walk all the way to the shower and back with the support of mum and a nurse - this is amazing! Now she's had this taste of movement, she wants to move all the time! She asked me Saturday morning if she could go for a jog!
The physio should be visiting her daily, developing her strength back up. It so good to see her more and more like herself.
On Sunday, Josh and Kel came in early with Noah and Maddie. This meant Mum could go to church in the morning. Grace was really excited to see them all, especially Noah and Maddie (as she hasn't seen them for a while). I arrived around 11am. As it was the first day in a while without rain, we asked the nurse if we could take her out to the balcony for fresh air. Gracie really enjoyed this, and we ended up being able to feed her lunch out there.
So praise God for lots of improvement, Grace is doing well. Now that she is a lot more with-it she's starting to get a little bored. So lets pray that there will be things to keep her entertained, as she still needs to be in hospital for a little while. Praise God that our Gracie is very much herself.
We can pray that her speech therapy (swallowing and talking) and her physio treatments continue to go well.
Please also pray for Mum as she hasn't had a long decent sleep in a while and is starting to feel the effects of it.
Thank you so much for all your prayers. She told us yesterday she can't wait to get back to church and school :)

Day 17 Morning

Well, Grace and Christie has a pleasant time together. Christie is a little tired this morning though as Grace decided she wanted to get out of bed around 3am. Not a good idea at this stage. On the whole though she was a lot more settled by having a family member there. I think now we have hit the weekend, not much will be happening until monday morning. I will be staying tonight and may not have internet connection. So if there is anything new to report before monday I will make sure someone else keeps you up to date.   Have a lovely weekend all you friends and family of Gracie.   :)

Day 16 Evening

Well all you wonderful praying friends and family of Gracie,good news today... She is finally out of ICU !!! Now dont go planning a visit just yet, she is not up to it yet, but we will let you know when she is ready for visitors. :) She has had a very busy day, what with moving into new premises and decorating. Yes, we now have pictures of friends and family on her walls. If you would like your pic there send it to us and we will add it to the wall. Also if you want to send her a paper note, as opposed to face book, send us a postit note and well put that up too. Anyway, so after decorating and entertaining the doctors and new nurses she finally had time for a refreshing shower. Gracie decided to walk there, which to you and to me might be nothing, but to someone who has been in bed for 2 weeks solid, it is a huge thing. She did very well. As I went out to lunch I asked if she would like me to bring her back anything special. She said, 'a slushy!' well she isnt allowed those yet but I think I brought her back something even better because Christie had arrived from Bathurst. (thanks once again Heather). Christie is having a sleepover with Gracie tonight. The doctors in this new area are very happy for Grace to have a family member stay to help keep her comfortable. For this we praise God with all our hearts. So all in all tonight is a night of praise and thankfullness to our wonderful God for working wonders and bringing Gracie to this point. She has. Long road ahead and it will be some time still before she is out of hospital I think. We will continue to pray and to take one day at a time and praise God fornthe many blessings of each day. Please join me in doing so.

Day 16 Morning

Sometimes we don't understand the way God does things.   I have been in touch with the hospital this morning and have found that Gracie has had an unsettled night again.  I am not sure why we keep going up and down on this settled/unsettled roller coaster. Please pray for her that this will all be in a slowly upwards moving way despite the frustration. We are still waiting on a bed in another area, which really is fine as while she is still in ICU she still gets 1 on 1 care. The Lord is good in all His ways. Even when things may not go the way we had anticipated.  Ps 25:10 'All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.'

Another example - Christie is catching the train down today. When she got to the station this morning they were told that the bus from Bathurst to Lithgow had been cancelled due to flooding.  :(  She messaged her friends to ask them to pray that Country Link would sort something out. One of her friends offered to drive her to Lithgow, which is only about 40 min, but now Christie will have lovely christian company for the first leg of her journey. Christie's mum thinks Heather is absolutely wonderful !!!  Thank you Heather  :)

Day 15 Evening

Well I must say I am a little put out by the hospital sometimes. They do a great job caring for Gracie, but tonight they wouldn't let me stay!  :(  As soon as she knew I was heading home she wanted to hop out of bed and come home with me.  :)  Obviously she is much more settled when I am there. It frustrates me that the nurses can't just go with this and push policy aside for the well being of the patient.  Anyway... 

Gracie had been very busy today. After staying last night I headed home for a shower and a nap before going back around lunch time to find Grace eating pureed meat and veg for lunch. After lunch she had a shower, did some exercises, had a couple of tubes changed, (she coped with this much better than her brother - not telling you which one!) and also had a Nerve Conduct Study, (I think that's what it was called). So for someone who hasn't done a lot in the last 2 weeks she ended up pretty tired, so hopefully she will sleep well. Before I left we read from Ps 4:8 'I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety' and committed her into the Lord's hands for the night. Please pray with us that she will have a quiet and peaceful night

Day 15

Hello all,
Mum apoloises for not posting last night or this morning. As Grace has been unsettled overnight, Mum decided to stay with her at the hospital to see if this would help. It seems to have helped a little, but we need to keep praying that Grace will be settled enough to sleep overnight so that her body gets back into a good sleep/awake pattern as this will assist in her recovery.
There's not a lot to update but that she's started to talk and move a lot more, which is good. It will take a while for her muscles to get back to what they were, but this initial movement is good. We need to keep praying for her speech. While it is improving, she's finding it difficult to speak and there's a lot she wants to say (no surprises there! :P) So we can keep praying for that.
It will still be a little while before you can visit, so please wait for the go ahead from the family.
Continuing to pass on your messages to Grace, so please keep sending them :)
Thanks so much for your love and support for us and for Grace through all of this.
xo

Day 14 Morning

Have been in touch with the hospital, again Gracie has been unsettled over night. Please continue to pray that she will become more settled and sleep better overnight. Hopefully tonight I shall have more info for you again. Have a great day  :)  All you friends of Gracie.

Day 13 Evening

First let me say, today was a great step forward. Our God is certainly rather wonderful!!! Grace has had almost all her tubes removed today. She still has a cannula, a feeding tube, which will come out real soon I should think, heart and oxygen monitors and I think that's about it. She has been allowed to start eating some pureed fruit, and she is very thirsty. She has had her hair washed for the first time in two weeks. Can you imagine the knots in her lovely long hair? Honestly, its a bit like a birds nest, poor thing. Next time we wash it well deal better with the knots. She has also been able to sit up for a bit today. Jonnie was able to come in to see her today and she thoroughly enjoyed seeing her big bro. THEY had a conversation about Star Gate. She has hardly said anything else. There must be something special about Jonnie!!! When we left her she was sleeping. Hopefully, again, we might get out of ICU tomorrow! Well have to wait and see. The Lords timing is best so we will wait and continue to take one day at a time. Praise God with us that He is healing our Gracie girl! :)

I (Kel) got to spend some time with Grace this afternoon.  I took my bible in and Grace asked me to read Psalm 8, 'When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars,
which You have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?' ^'A great Psalm that gives praise to our Creator.  A friend of mine told me that her little girl prayed for Grace and asked God that no matter how sick Grace was, she will still know that her God loves her.  Praise God that Grace knows her Saviour and wanted to hear a Psalm all about how great our God is. 

Day 13 Morning

Gracie has had a pretty unsettled night. We now seem to be on a waiting list to get out of ICU. This is a good step, but as I said yesterday I think, we still have a long way to go. So at this stage this morning not much to report. Hopefully I will be able to tell you more later today after my visit with her.

Day 12 Evening

Gracie is still in ICU. Although she has made it to the list to be moved to another ward. Only 3 people ahead of her! Her bed was taken around to a balcony outside today. This was great. It gave her her first taste of wonderfully polluted Sydney air in almost 2 weeks. It was quite warm outside and she had a lovely sleep out there. There was even a few drops of rain, which didnt spoil her fun. She has been pretty settled all day. Because she has been lying in bed for almost 2 weeks the bottom part of her lungs has collapsed slightly. Not to worry, the physio has given us exercises to do and Grace is, as always, very diligent. She understands what is required and is willing to work with me. The physio will check on her each day, so I will keep you posted. The latest is that she is continuing to stay settled. More in the morning! Sleep well all of you and my dear Gracie as well.

Day 12 Morning

Grace has had a fairly uneventful night. She has been able to sleep more. Yesterday she did a lot of sleeping which was good as she had been more unsettled the night before. I see this as progress, that she is catching up lost sleep. I will be sitting with her today so I will let you know how she goes through the day when I get home.

Day 11 Morning

I have just got off the phone from the hospital. Gracie is well but she has had an unsettled night. Lots of moving around in her bed. It is wonderful to see that she is so lively, but she does need to settle a little so that the healing process can complete itself. I am taking some videos in today to try and distract her. Please pray that she will remain calm. thanks again all of you for praying.

Day 10 Evening

Gracie had a bit of an unsettled day today. She seemed to be coughing up lots of goo, which we found made her a bit agitated. When Christie and I went in to see her this evening, we were very pleased to see her sleeping peacefully for at least 15 mins before the wardsperson came to make her even more comfortable in her bed. She is now sleeping in a sort of a 'W' shape - head up, bottom down, knees up and feet down. Hopefully this way she will not slide down the bed as she has been doing and will sleep much better so in the morning we will again see a marked improvement that always comes after a good sleep.  More in the morning. Sleep well all you friends of Gracie  :)

Day 10 Morning

I have been in touch with the hospital early this morning. They say that Gracie has had a very quiet night and a restful sleep, so I am really hoping that when we get there some time today they will be saying that she will get to move to the high dependency ward. But I keep telling myself that I must be patient. After all, I don't want her to move out and then take backwards steps and have to go back to ICU. Slowly, slowly is the best.

But while I am here I wanted to share with you all a couple of photos. the first one I just can't find on my computer, so I will need the help of one of Gracie's siblings! This technology stuff is way above parents - hence the need for children!!

So we will look at this photo instead. This is a verse that has been very precious to me for some time now. In this psalm the psalmist encourages us 'to rejoice and be glad in THIS day that God has made.' I know how very easy it is to be in THIS day and yet to be either looking ahead, 'won't that be wonderful when that happens' or 'what if that horrible thing should come about?' or looking at the past, 'if only....'.   For the majority of my 51 years I have lived in either of the latter 2 places and not in the present day that the Lord has given me. Some time ago God graciously laid this verse on my heart and encouraged me to live this was. Taking just the present 24 hours and not looking forward in detail or back in detail. Of course we need to still make general plans, but not to day dream etc.  If we do look forward or back in too much detail we truly miss the blessings that God has graciously given us to fill each day. I have found this to be so useful in the current situation with Graice. I have found it very easy to be tempted to look at the 2 paths that have laid before us, but by God's grace I have forced myself to just look at TODAY and to find all the blessing that THIS DAY contains. And let me tell you, there have been many, many wonderful blessings that I would have missed otherwise. Things like the fact the ICU and all its wonderful staff exist. The many friends who have so faithfully prayed continually for Gracie and us as a family. There have been so many, many blessing. To those of you, Gracie's friends and loved ones let me encourage you to start TODAY and to practice this verse. It will not be easy. You will need God's grace to accomplish it, so if you do not know Gracie's precious Lord Jesus that is the thing that you need to sort out first. Then ask her wonderful God to please teach you to live THIS DAY to His glory and look for His blessings everywhere. Each day is full of them and then you don't have time to dwell on what was that you can't change or on the future that may never eventuate. Live this DAY and glorify God in it. Have a great day :) from Gracie's very blessed MUM

I'll trust you in the darkenss - Rob Smith

Rob Smith has very kindly given me permission to reproduce the words of his song 'I'll trust you in the darkness' here for you. I have found this song to be of enormous value over the years and again in the current situation with Gracie being so sick. Please enjoy :) and thank you to Rob Smith :)

1. I will trust you in the darkness
I will serve you in my pain
I will worship in the wilderness
And will follow to the end
For you are the suffering shepherd
And you know your sheep by name
So I will trust you in the darkness
— once again
2. I’ll believe your word of comfort
When the light of life grows dim
I will heed your voice at midnight
When the tempests rage within
I will cling to Christ my saviour
Who has borne my sorrow’s sting
And I will trust you in the darkness
— once again
O Lord Jesus
Saviour, brother, friend
Come release us
Lord come back again
3. I will praise your name in winter
When the skies are cold and grey
I will feed upon your promises
And will cry to you each day
I will lean upon your Spirit
And your word will I obey
Yes, I will trust you in the darkness
— once again
O Lord Jesus
Saviour, brother, friend
Come release us
Lord come back again
4. I will trust you in the darkness
On your faithfulness depend
As I long for your appearing
And the day that never ends
I will glory in the gospel
And your word of truth defend
Yes, I will trust you in the darkness
— once again
Yes, I will trust you in the darkness,
— O my friend
© 2001 Rob Smith

Day 9 evening

Not much has changed with Gracie today. She is remaining stable and hopefully will be out of ICU by the end of the weekend. I am finding this phase a little frustrating as things seem to be going so slowly, but I need to just be patient and let the Lord finish His healing work. More for all her praying friends soon... :)

9:30pm
I have also just checked with the hospital and Gracie is doing fine for the night and should have a good sleep ready for tomorrow - hopefully with some more progress and you never know we may find out what has caused all this. Maybe not, but you just never know!!

Isaiah 43:1-5

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.  For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.  Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life.  Fear not, for I am with you

God Is sooooo Amazing!!!  :)

Day 9 Morning

I have just rung the hospital so I could give you all an update on Gracie's progress. This morning not a lot has changed since yesterday, which is a great sign. Now that she is progressing they are also trying to get her back into a day and night routine. So being quiet all night is a good thing. I want to thank you all again for your continued support and prayers for Gracie and us. Watch this space and I will give you a run down of the days events this evening when I get home. Yesterday she had a 'stay at home and in bed day' - meaning no scans or anything else. I'm not sure what they have in mind for today :)

Day 8 evening

Gracie has improved a bit more today. We are hoping that by the beginning of next week she will have been moved out of ICU, but we will have to wait and see. The scan that she had yesterday doesnt seem to show anything that may be causing her the problems, so we are still in the dark as to cause.

Kel and I have been very encouraged by all the support our family has had, and all the people who are praying for Grace.  Everyday we see her, we tell her that people are praying for her.  We are pleased to see her slowly improving, keep praying that God will give the doctors wisdom in diagnosing her and their treatment.  From her big bro

Forever

How good it is to know this as true

Prayers

Thank you to those who have continued to pray for Gracie and our family. Thank you especially to those who have take time out of the way to do this - whether that be weeknights, recess and lunch breaks, mornings, afternoons, nights, as part of regular meetings - we really appreciate you bringing our Grace before God in prayer.
An extra thank you from me (Christie) as I've really known and felt this prayer. It's been hard to be 2 and a half hours away from my family in this time - especially Grace. Thank you for considering me in your prayers too.
xo

Day 8 Morning

Gracie has been a little unsettled overnight. The nursing staff are trying to lower the sedation that Gracie is on and this makes her uncomfortable. Please pray that God would give her quietness and peace as she walks through this tough time. ( I know - it will be a miracle in itself for Gracie to be quiet - she is such a special treasure. thank you to all who pray for her :)

See that yellow dot?  Well that is Gracie's favourite car! It's a yellow Suzuki Swift.
She was sooooooooooo Excited the day she saw her first yellow Suzuki Swift. Love that Kid

Day 7

Today was Day 7. I really dont know where the week has gone. I have been blown away by the amount of love and support and prayers that are being said on her behalf. Let me just say a huge thank you to all of you who love Grace. Today she seems to have improved slightly. It makes me very excicted but I know she still has such a very long way to go. She had another scan today, as they are still perplexed as to what the cause is. Maybe some results tomorrow :)

27 Jan 2012

Here is her beautiful yellow ribbon!! Reminds me somewhat of Eeyore's tail

Such a Noob Cake!!  On one of her better days in year 10!!  :)

A couple of days ago, Josh took me over to the hospital in the evening. He read to her from Romans 8. The verses at the end of Romans 8 are some of Gracie's favourites. We weren't sure where to read from so we read the whole chapter. All so very applicable. Here I will just post the end.

Romans 8:28 - 39

  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.  Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."   Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God holds the key of all unknown,
And I am glad:
If other hands should hold the key,
Or if He trusted it to me,
I might be sad.

What if tomorrow's cares were here
Without its rest?
I'd rather He unlock the day,
And as the hours swing open, say
"My will is best."

The very dimness of my sight
Makes me secure;
For, groping in my misty way,
I feel His hand; I head his say,
"My help is sure."

I cannot read His future plans;
But this I know;
I have the smiling of His face,
And all the refuge of His grace,
While here below.

Enough: this covers all my wants;
And so I rest!
For what I cannot, He can see,
And in His care I saved shall be,
For ever blest.

J. Parker 1830-1902
 

Aunties with Noah and Maddie

So gorgeous!

Hannah and Gracie

Aha! You guys are so cool!

Yellow Ribbon

Josh and I got to spend some more time with our beautiful Grace today who had a lovely yellow ribbon in her hair.  The nurse was happy that her OBs are stable, and she reduced the sedation a little bit.  We need to keep praying that our God will give the Doctors wisdom in finding the cause.  I pray that they will see the healing hand of God.   Noah and Maddie (Nephew and Niece) blew her lots of kisses!

Favourite Grace moments, sayings or jokes?
One of my fav's is "Your such a noob!" ha ha

Mum, Josh and Jonnie visited Grace tonight and the nurse was expecting a stable night ahead for Gracie. Let's pray for that!

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besties

Beautiful ladies :)

Share other encouraging verses you have found by commenting here:

Gracie had another MRI today, it showed not a lot of change. So we need to keep praying!

"The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, Lord, have NEVER forsaken those who seek You."

Psalm 9:9-10

Christie and Gracie (the coolest sisters!)

Love this girl

We will post medical updates in here for you to read and pray for xo

Photos

Hey guys,
If you have a favourite pic of Grace please send it to us. We will be able to print these off and take them to stick up in her room and put up on this blog :)
xo

Reminds me of you Gracie! Looking forward to singing it out really loud again in my car like we're the coolest!! Love you xo

Hello fellow NOOB-CAKES!
This page has been set up for our lovely Gracie, Gracie-Lou, Noob-Cake, lil-sis, best friend (and whatever else she is so affectionately called :)
We (her family) will be posting any medical updates here and encourage everyone to post whatever they like on this page for Gracie. This way we can include pictures, videos, songs etc.
I'm sure she will be completely overwhelmed by this when she wakes up!
Please also put up verses and prayers (if you're that way inclined) as we can encourage and support each other this way.
Thank you for the part you play in Grace's life. As a family, we've been blown away by all the love and support, but then not surprised, as we know she has an unusually big heart, and a genuine gift of friendship.

We have a very good God watching over us, and our Grace. Let's continue to pray for healing together.
Lots of love,
Greg, Gillian, Jonnie, Josh, Kellie, Noah, Maddie, Neil and Christie xoxo