December 1 Update

Let all those who take refuge and put their trust in Him rejoice; let those who love His name be joyful. Psalm 5:11

Sometimes, it seems like only moments have gone by since that dreaded phone call and other times it seems like lifetimes ago. So much has happened and so many blessings occurred and through it all, Jodie continues to fight. Her strength and courage continues to be a powerful witness to God's almighty power and glory. We rejoice in Him and give Him all due thanks and glory!

Jodie has been home now for almost a month. She and Mama moved into their new house in Greenwood last weekend. It has lots of room and they are really enjoying it. We all had Thanksgiving there. Honestly, it was real hard. It's very difficult sometimes to grasp that we're really going through this and to see Jodie like this - but we have so much to be thankful for and to look forward to.

We have truly been blessed with God's abundant miracles and continue to experience his power and mercy and know it's all part of His plan.

She seems to be comfortable being home and is going to therapy 2 times a week at Advanced Rehab. She is still eating very well. She continues to make sounds and she is communicating pretty well with pointing to the yes & no signs. We tried to get her to squeeze our hands to answer yes or no but lately haven’t found that to be very consistent, so keep going back to the yes/no signs. She still is not talking and we continue to anxiously await that moment!

We drove her to Oxford for the game Saturday. She had not been there since the accident. We didn’t get there until the last quarter since it was so nasty outside, but we were able to drive up into the stadium parking lot and roll down the window so she could hear the noise of the crowd and the game (we were able to hear "hotty toddy" being chanted). We turned around and looked at Jodie and she was crying. Both eyes were completely glazed over and red, but tears can only come from the right eye for some reason. It broke our hearts, yet we were also thankful that Jodie is aware of what is going on - that she knows what she is missing and knows there is a reason to cry. I guess if you can ever find something positive in someone’s pain, this is it. It was a bittersweet moment.

We ordered a “talking board” for Jodie yesterday and hope that this will give her some sort of voice until she has the ability to talk again. It is a mechanical board that allows her to push a picture and words are spoken that coincide with the picture. For example, a picture of a man drinking a glass of water says, “I’m thirsty”. Hopefully, this will allow Jodie’s brain to begin to make that speech/hearing connection.

We continue to rejoice in God's powerful healing of Jodie and pray that in His time, He will make her whole again. I ask that you pray for God to heal Jodie's brain of it's injury, and for her to regain her speech and verbal communication skills. I also ask that you pray for our mother as she continues to take care of Jodie and her needs.

Thank you all for continuing to think of Jodie and to pray for her and for our entire family. It means more than you all will ever know. Our lives have truly been changed by this, and also blessed. We thank you all for your prayers and support - they have carried us through so much and will continue to do so.

With God's strength,
Jennifer & Beth