God is amazing! Isaac has had such a great day. He has been eating his meals with a lot of coaxing; I even tried the airplane in the hangar trick and Kristi used the old “if you love me” line. It’s a good thing he ate for her. 🙂 He is having a hard time remembering things, and he is kind of frustrated about that. However, when Kristi was showing him pictures on her computer, he took the opportunity to take charge of the key pad and set everything up so they could look at pictures in a slideshow setting. He also started accessing other files and reconfiguring a few things to open items in an easier format for Kristi. Kristi wasn’t sure she could keep up the pace with him so she asked him to stop.

I took out my guitar to play him a song. I had my capo on the second fret and hit the first and sixth string. When he heard the notes he said “Oww.” Kris asked if it hurt his ears and he said kind of. I realized it was not in it’s normal key with the capo on. I took off the capo and hit the two notes again. He said it sounded a little better but he needed to hear all of it. I strummed every string and he was pretty sure it sounded right. I wanted to be sure, so I asked him to tune it for me. 🙂 He took the guitar and plucked each string then began to play the guitar! Praise the Lord! He proceeded to finger pick specific chords in perfect timing. I thought he was about to sing the new song God has been writing on his heart.

We are rejoicing! “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Mark 10:27

Deut 31:8 “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” God continues to reveal His glory and sovereignty throughout this trial. God went before us last evening as we met with Trust Point rehab. He had already prepared the way for Isaac to be accepted and will actually transfer THIS Sunday! Praise the Lord for his answers. Now we won’t have to bounce Isaac between facilities and therapists; this will be huge in his continued advancement. All along, God has set it in our hearts to pray that every step in recovery and healing is ground taken, no turning back. He reminded us of the promise He gave Joshua when he entered the promised land; every step he takes God will give him. It’s incredible to see how God is going before us and working out every single detail for Isaac’s recovery and the Lord’s Glory. God is making the way and giving the victory!

I am thankful that Isaac had a pretty restful night, minus some interruptions for vitals, blood drawings, and walks to the bathroom. I was very encouraged last night when we called his brother Ivan in Oregon. Isaac held the phone himself and was very coherent throughout conversation. I was praising God when, during an evening prayer with his friends, Isaac took the liberty to pray out loud. He said, “thank you that even though I can’t see you, I can hear you.” Thank you God that Isaac is hearing your promises of help, mercy, and unfailing love!

Isaac did very well eating his dinner last night. He read the front of one of his get well cards, and he also wrote in a coloring book, “Hi Lord, yes! what do you want?” The punctuation marks were included! We have been writing down what he says, and also picking out a word for the day. The other day he used the word rambunctious, and yesterday the big words were questionnaire and spectacular.

Please pray for the transition to Trust Point tomorrow. Also, pray for a good blood pressure and labs. We’re trusting that everything within his body is coming into perfect order.

Love to all in Christ Jesus!

Hi everyone! I know we usually give an update at night, but I just wanted to send out a prayer request because it’s on my heart.

Isaac is doing very well today, he’s been sleeping a lot, but that’s just because he had a restless night last night. Maybe he’s still on New Zealand time, I’m not sure. He decided it would be a good idea to get up in the night, so he climbed over the bed rail and stood up next to his bed! Luckily he didn’t fall, but he did pull out his IV and part of his feeding tube. I think he wants to get out of here.

Today his Speech Therapist Diane is going to bring him lunch, and if he does well eating it will be a good step towards getting that feeding tube removed. He CAN eat… it’s just that he usually doesn’t have any desire to since his stomach is full. So this morning they stopped his feedings so that he’ll be hungry at lunch time.
Pray that he will start eating on his own!

The second thing is about where Isaac will be doing his rehab. Isaac has been accepted into a good rehab place called “Trust Point” here in Lubbock, but he can’t move in until the 15th of this month because they don’t have an open bed for him. The hospital wants him discharged because they’re concerned about him getting infections. So, what we’re looking at now is having him go to another place just until he can move into Trust Point. But that’s hard because then he has to adjust to a new place, and go through all the stress of being moved by ambulance and the last thing he needs is to be confused or put under stress! So we’re praying that God will just open up a way for him to go straight to Trust Point. But God is sovereign and wiser than us, so we trust Him to make it work out for the best!

Thanks for all your prayers! God bless

Today was another day of moving forward with God’s strength and healing. Isaac was very alert and talkative today. He had a good day with the speech and physical therapists. He was able to do the leg exercises really well. Kristi and I were counting off each one he did. During one exercise, he actually began counting off with us. He is really limited on what he is able to process and communicate right now, but he really made great strides today. He was able to identify a knife and spread peanut butter on a cracker and eat it. That’s great because we are working toward removing the feeding tube and getting him on a regular diet. Another praise is that the thrush is gone from his mouth; he was able to start drinking water and eating ice today. He knew he was in the hospital, and he knew his birth date. I cheated and gave him the month, but he did recall the day and year on his own. Thank you Lord for the work You are doing in Isaac’s mind!

He is really simple-minded right now, but we trust God will take him every step of the way to full-recovery!

Kris and I visited an in-patient rehab facility today to consider moving Isaac there this weekend. They did not accept Isaac previously because of his inability to participate in the rehab therapy; however, now his condition has drastically changed! We were very pleased with the facility and treatment opportunities. Please pray with us as we try to determine the next best place for Isaac to go. He has quite a road for recovery ahead of him, but we know God is going ahead of us and preparing the right place. Thank you, Jesus!

Your prayers and petitions are being answered! Thank you for you continued love and support. Our God is Mighty to Save!

This is the best update I’ve ever gotten to write and I’m so happy to give you all the good news. Man, there is so much to report! I don’t even know where to start. Last night Isaac was awake again when we went to see him at the 8 o’clock visit. He opened his eyes for his daddy and was even talking a little bit! It was so good to see! He’s slow to respond because his brain is working so hard to process everything, but he understands and can speak when he wants to. He smiled when he saw Josh, his best friend, and gave him a big hug! He was also able to recognize his other friends and waved and pointed at them. Everyone was so excited and filled with joy – even the nurses!

Then last night after visiting hours were over they moved him up to the 3rd floor and finally out of the ICU! Praise God! Now he’s in a private room, where the family can stay with him 24/7. He’s doing really well today! He wakes up every now and then and looks around, sometimes you can get a few words out of him and then he’s exhausted so he falls back to sleep. The physical therapists came and worked with him today, they were able to help him walk around the room, very slowly, over to the sink where they had him wash his hands. He kept saying, “Oww” and “Stop.” When they asked him what hurts he said, “everything!” So, he’s obviously sore. Despite that he did EXCEEDINGLY well! They were all amazed. I’m not just saying it! The therapists said he’s like a totally different person – and even they attributed his great improvement to God.

My personal favorite part of the day was when the nurse asked him what his girlfriends name was and he looked at me and said with a grin – “Kristi.” God is so good! I know we’ve got a long ways to go, but God is doing amazing things in Isaac’s mind and body. Even if I told Him thank you without stopping, it would never be enough. It makes me think, how much more grateful should we be for grace?

We do have some pray requests still, despite all the praise!
First thing is he still has the thrush on his tongue and he doesn’t like the medicine they give him for it. If they get that cleared up then he’ll be able to eat! If the thrush stays in his mouth he could get an infection. So please pray for that to go away. Continue to pray for God’s protection over Isaac’s mind, body and spirit. Continue to pray for FULL restoration (we’re seeing it happen!)

Thank you all for your prayers! Our God is so mighty to save! Be encouraged and give a joyful shout! Our God hears. Our God listens. And our God acts! Daniel 9:19

God Bless!

Isaac is awake! Praise our AWESOME God! Today while the speech therapist was working with Isaac, getting him to eat ice and a little bit of ice cream, he started to open his eyes. The therapist (Diane) touched his eyes to prompt him to open his eyes all the way – and he did. He looked around at everyone in the room, thinking and taking everything in. He was able to talk and recognise everyone in the room- his momma, grandma Jo and Opa and he even called Hannah by name (Hannah Banana!) He was very slow in his response, because his brain is working hard. He kept looking at me and giving me these sweet smiles and squeezed my hand. So he knows his family and is doing very well. He still needs LOTS of rest, because his brain is very slow at processing all this. We don’t want to over load him! Sorry this is just a short update, but we’re off to the hospital again now, so if I can i’ll post some more later!

Our God is such an awesome God!!! He blows everyone away, and truly goes beyond what we think, or hope or imagine He will do. You can be sure He hears your prayers and is answering them! We give Him all praise and honor and glory! Our hearts are filled with JOY!

“Now to Him who is able to do more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,” – to Him be the glory!!!” Ephesians 3:20

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.” Psalm 107:8

Let everyone give praise to our Lord Jesus Christ
God bless you all!

Today Isaac has been doing well. No high temperature today, but no word about the infection in his blood. He has been moving around in his bed A LOT! getting comfortable and touching his head. He won’t stay still! I actually think he’s kinda cute, because he’s just in such a deep sleep. We do think the back of his head has been hurting him though, because he’s been touching it a lot. He likes to prop his hands up behind his head now… and it kinda looks like he’s sun tanning or something. But his head hurts so the nurse gave him some pain medicine tonight to help him with that. That is actually a praise because if he feels it that means it getting better! He’s still not conscious, but he did give the nurse two thumbs up when we weren’t there, and he partially opened his eyes! He also helped the nurse wash his stomach this morning.

There are little improvements everyday – thank you Lord Jesus!!!

Prayer requests for tonight would be:
That he would be protected from the enemy!
That the nurses would have wisdom.
That the fever and infection would be COMPLETELY gone
And most of all – that he would wake up!

The longer he stays in the ICU the greater his chances become for him to get sick. Also, people that are in comas are said to lose up to 25% of their body weight… and well, if that happens to Isaac there will be trouble. So please, our biggest prayer need now is that he will regain consciousness so he can get out of the ICU and begin the process of recovery.

Thank you all for your great love and support! We write it a lot, but we truly mean it. Thank you for the prayers, because they are powerful and effective, and God continues to amaze us with how He is acting as you lift Isaac up to Him in prayer. We can feel them too, because He is endlessly providing us with hope and encouragement. He has given us peace and I know it’s something you’ve been asking for on our behalf. Thank you all! We love you and appreciate you.

God Bless!

What a blessing it was to talk with Dawn, Sylvia’s daughter this afternoon. She said her mom is getting much better, but that she is now battling a staff infection. We assured her we would be praying for her. I was blessed to find this note from Dawn on the Pray for Isaac and Family facebook wall.

“hey isaac i dont knw u but i sure feel like i knw, ive met ur family and they are awesome people u were right next to my mom n surgical icu, im praying 4 u isaac to the lord to heal u fully… its gonna be a long process buti knw u will get better. n the godwin family i just wanted to say yal are awesome, yal have awe…some faith n the lord no matter how tough it gets, and thank u so much for the prayers for my mom sylvia they are helping so much…’

Thank you for your prayers for Sylvia. Please pray against the staff infection.

Isaac is doing good this evening. His temp has been 100 or less all day. Praise the Lord. The ultrasound went well. Still awaiting for the official report, but the doctor did say all looked good. Also, his labs showed his blood/enzyme levels are coming back down. We are very thankful for everyone’s prayers! There wasn’t really a change in level of consciousness, but Isaac was back to owning the entire bed. He is all over the place, fixing his pillow under his head, pulling his sheet up, etc. It’s good to see him constantly moving; we’re just waiting for him to wake up. Please Lord, let it come soon.

We did talk to a man named Alex in the waiting room tonight who was in a coma for 2 weeks with head trauma, then woke up. It was encouraging to hear his story. He was there tonight because his 6-month-old niece is in ICU. She has already been there 3 weeks with a lung infection, then blood infection, and now a problem in her abdomen. Five of us met in prayer with Alex for his niece, Jocelyn, and all of his family. Please join us in praying for her recovery and fullness of life in Christ Jesus.

Our family is doing well here in Lubbock. Hannah has decided now is a time to be with her family and help Isaac with his recovery. It will also provide her more opportunity for physical and emotional healing. Thank you for all of your words of encouragement and prayer for her. She hopes to resume classes in the Fall.

Blessings to all of you. We witness God’s power and presence everyday because of your prayers and support.

We had a good visit with Isaac this morning. We are thankful that his fever is still down. He is resting well and is moving all over the bed again. That is good to see! The nurse said that his enzymes are elevated a bit so they are going to do an ultrasound this afternoon to check his gall bladder and other areas. No word yet on the cultures regarding the infection in the blood, but we know that God is guarding Isaac through it all. God took me to Psalm 108 this morning and encouraged us yet again with His steadfast love and faithfulness. God is holding Isaac in His strong right hand. The right hand of the Lord does valiantly! Trusting in His salvation and help. Blessings.