"The Good Hand of My God Upon Me" ~ A Father's Perspective

Hello all,

   This is Jordan. Having just celebrated Father's Day, Kara and I thought it would be good for me to post something on the blog - something from a father's perspective. A little over three years ago on August 16th, 2011, a little blessing- and I mean little- came into our lives. He weighed in at a tiny six pounds and six ounces, and we named him Wesley. I was overwhelmed, over joyed, and just amazed that it had finally happened-- I had become a father. I remember the day he was born very well. The joy that comes over you as a father witnessing the birth of your child is indescribable. Only a few moments after he was born, thoughts started entering my mind. I think they go through every new father's mind. Thoughts of what will he become?; will he be the captain of his ball team one day/?; Will he go to college?; what kind of girl will he marry?; what kind of job will he have?; what kind of teenager will he be? Of course all of this along with "I hope I don't mess up my responsibility of being a father."

   If you have read Kara's posts you will know what we are trying to do for Wesley. We are praying that God will open his understanding, and that God will continue guiding us. Thinking about all that has happened in this situation, I think of the words of Nehemiah 2:8, 18 "...according to the good hand of my God upon me." God's hand has been so good upon Kara and I and our family. We think of how the Lord has guided us to this point, the divine appointments He has led us to, the way He has prepared Kara and I, and the way He has provided. God's hand is truly good upon us. He has not withheld any good thing from us. All I can say is that I am blessed! Truly our children are an heritage of the Lord. God has entrusted them to us. I look at this as a responsibility from the Lord and privilege from Him as well.  When we dedicated our first born Wesley to the Lord, we gave him back to the Lord to do with him whatever He wanted or desired for his life. God has not just chosen this path just for us, but for Wesley, as well as our two other children. We walk down this road together. As a father, I want the best for Wesley. I also want him to be the best that he can possibly be. God has given us His best as well. One day I hope to be able to tell our children that God's hand was good upon us, and if you will follow Him it will be good upon you and your family as well.

     I am a truly blessed man, undeservedly. As the song says "God's been good." I thank the Lord that we have this opportunity and responsibility to serve Him in this way. When Kara and I first started dating we wanted to take a verse and make it our life verse. She has a life verse for herself and I have a life verse for myself, but we wanted to find one that was "ours". The Lord led us to Psalm 48:13,14. Verse fourteen states that God will be our guide even unto death. We have tried to apply that every day to our life. To let God guide us in every decision, no matter how big or how small. God truly has done that. I am so thankful that I get to be Wesley, Evan, and Hutson's dad! I am so thankful that God has been good to us and that He is guiding us. So until the next time you come down our road may the hand of God be good upon you!

      Jordan

UPDATE: We are a little more than two weeks into Wesley's therapy and diet changes, and we have to say that he is cooperating phenomenally! He is doing far better than we thought he would. Though it is all new for him and things have changed tremendously around our home in the last couple weeks, he has taken on the changes and made great strides! We praise the Lord for the evidences of improvements we have already seen and trust that He will continue to do well as we press on with therapy!! Thank you for your prayers, and again, if you would like to help us out by making a donation towards the cost of Wesley's therapy, visit this link -  http://www.gofundme.com/wesleyr 

      Many Blessings!

           Kara

A Plan Set in Motion

      Our Goals:

      When my first post about Wesley's therapy started reaching friends and families, we were overwhelmed with love and encouragement and so many kind words! We were also somewhat overwhelmed by lots of questions, ideas, and suggestions that came our way. My husband and I have tried to use caution as we have dealt with this situation with Wesley. In today's world and the huge gravitation toward social media, privacy is often freely given up, but our children don't have a say in that! We wanted to be very careful and honor our son's privacy. We had decided to keep things quiet and private for the most part until we felt that we could answer questions that we knew would come up. I want to try to shed a little light on the direction we are going with Wesley's therapy and update you on things that have happened since the last post.
      Many people have asked and wondered why we have chosen to go through a program/center that is so far away from our home where there will be much traveling back and forth for appointments; why we have chosen something so costly, or something that insurance will not cover; and why we haven't used the local programs offered either privately or through the local schools. I could expound on each and everyone one of those legitimate questions, but for us, the answer is just this simple: we know that this is the direction the Lord has given us for our son. The end. I will admit to you, that this whole thing is entirely overwhelming to me at times, and it is not easy, but I also have full confidence in the Lord - that He has led us and will continue to do so, and it is all in His hands.
      The Brain Balance program works at strengthening the weaknesses in the brain that are responsible for developmental delays, missed milestones, learning disabilities, and much more. It focuses on the weaknesses, not the strengths. The brain and the body have to function together. When one side of the brain is weak, it cannot function in harmony with the other side and therefore the whole body is affected. Wesley's assessment showed that he has a weakness in the right hemisphere of his brain (a right brain weakness). The therapy and exercises we will be doing with him are geared toward strengthening that right side, so that it can function with the left side and the brain as a whole can begin to move forward. As a matter of fact, not just the therapy, but Wesley's way of life - diet, the structure of his day, things we allow and do not allow him to do - all are now focusing on strengthening that right side. Think of it like this: The body is a car, the brain is the engine, the left side is the gas and the right side is the break. With a right brain weakness, Wesley knows how to go and will always choose activities that feed the left side (the side that stores away his "likes"), but he has a hard time with the stopping. He can go, but he can't stop. The right side of his brain is not strong enough to transition him. Many of the activities and exercises involved in his therapy are things he does not prefer to do. He doesn't understand why he has to do things he doesn't want to do and why he can't do the things that he does want to do. This makes for some tough moments. I have become his in-home therapist of sorts as I am doing most of the therapy with him. There are some things that require extra hands and my husband helps with those as well. Even Evan, our 2 year old, helps us keep count and then excitedly tell us it's his turn after we have finished Wesley's exercises! :)
      At Wesley's last appointment, he had bloodwork drawn to test for food sensitivities (not to be confused with allergies) and things in his diet that may be affecting the function of his brain. Sensitivities can cause brain fog, fatigue, leaky gut, inflammation, digestive issues, etc...can you see how these might impact his therapy?! Wesley's test results showed that he is sensitive to 34 foods ON TOP OF gluten and sugar!!! Goodness! Now with so many foods to eliminate from his diet and a complete menu reworking going on, we are out to work at this right brain strengthening from every angle! Yesterday was Wesley's first official day gluten free. I knew for some time he would probably have to eliminate gluten and dairy from his diet for this program, and it is easy to say and think about, but trying to give him adequate nutrition as well as eliminate the things he cannot have is a whole new world for me and a confusing one at that! I've learned that Wesley has some texture and sensory preferences when it comes to food, so I feel as if we are at the bottom of a huge mountain here. We are working at it, but this is definitely a change and a challenge!
      We have reached a little over 12% of the funds we need to raise for Wesley's therapy. So many people have been so kind and so gracious and so encouraging. We still have a good bit to raise and we are working at various way to raise these funds. If you would like to make a donation, please check out our gofundme account http://www.gofundme.com/wesleyr -Any help is much appreciated but prayer is most needed! Dealing with this type of thing, we are told that things will get harder and worse before they get better. Developmental and behavioral swings will come up along the way. We are going through with God, and asking the Lord for much grace and wisdom and strength and showers of blessings on our sweet little boy!

Many Blessings,
     Kara Rodgers :)