A Week of Miracles

Wow.  What a week we have had.  It certainly has been a week of miracles for us.  We have had special experiences that I would like to share.  Each of our miracles have shown God's hand in our life.  We are so grateful!  I will share these experiences in three posts, as the explanation of each might be a little lengthy.  Please enjoy, watch for the daily miracles in your life, and most importantly share your gratitude for the blessing of each day.


Our First Miracle of the Week:

As many of you know our 15 year old son Levi has been through a horrendous experience for the past 8 months, recovering from a bad brake to his arm and elbow, which turned into an infection which would not heal.  Five surgeries later, very strong antibiotics, home hospital school for a semester, bad health through the winter; it just has not been a fun time for him.

Turning back time to July 2011, we were vacationing at Flaming Gorge, UT when Levi had his bike accident which led to all the challenges.  A couple of days before his accident was his birthday (July 1st).  Being that he is our youngest child, and all his siblings have married or moved away for school, he has been quite lonely and has constantly being begging for a dog.  Matter of fact, for his birthday, he told us not to get him anything, except a dog.  We were reluctant to bring another animal/child into our life as we were nearing the end of our family.  Because of his determination, he actually started building a large dog house before his accident.

Needless to say, Levi's accident really deterred the plans for getting a dog.  His surgeries, doctor visits, physical therapy, trying to keep up in school, and Boy Scout Eagle project seemed to consume every ounce of energy and time.  Levi patiently has worked through each of these issues; the dream of a dog has never gone away.

A couple of weeks ago, his older brother Seth returned home for the weekend, and helped Levi finish his dog house, and repair our fence that was damaged in a wind storm.  How motivating this was to Levi to make steps towards his dream.  So, with summer around the corner, and job possiblities needing to be considered,we sat down with Levi to look at his goals for the next 4 or 5 years; looked at his upcoming expenses, wrote them all down, and divided the costs by the time available.  Then looked at possible ways to be able to earn enough to pay for his expenses and savings.  A decision was made to purchase a dog for breeding to help meet his financial goals.  When we discussed the costs, he was reluctant, and didn't want to dip into his savings to pay for a dog, but willing to work his paper route, doing projets around home,and filling in a job chart for compensation.

Lately, I have been praying for Levi, to know what his passion in life is.  To help us discover that which would motivate him, as he has seemed almost depressed, and just slow to do much.  Our financial sesson seemed to be so motivating to him.  Almost instantly he had a new drive for life.  His bedroom was kept clean (oh this is truly another miracle), he would jump out of bed, look for ways to help, mark his job chart, and watch ksl for a dog. 

I think it was just a couple nights after our planning session, after evening school homework, and preparing to close things up for the night; Levi glanced at some online classifieds and discovered that someone had just posted an add for a "Free" 5 year old Golden Retriever - Papered.  It was as if this dog was saved for the perfect moment for Levi to be prepared and to be able to view this add before others.

Long story, shortened just a bit.  The next morning, we were able to go pick up Levi's dream dog for free.  What a miracle.  What a blessing.  What a perfect dog for Levi.  His name is Duke.  He is absolutely  beautiful, mild mannered, playful.  Levi is so happy to be living his dream, and so happy to recognize God's hand in fullfilling a way, far beyond his own imagination of finding the perfect dog.