March Move - Maybe

Hi everyone! I'm really hoping to get more frequency here over the next few weeks, so don't give up on me.

This week has been a good week for progress for Patti and, there are some changes coming to our living circumstances as well. First of all, a Charlotte update!

In occupational therapy, Patti is now using Charlotte to pick up small, lightweight objects and move them from one side of a table to the other and set them down! Praise the Lord! She also reached out and shook hands with me the other day. Didn't quite get a grip, but the progress is verrrry evident!

Also, at current writing, it looks like Patti will be moved from inpatient care to outpatient care this Monday. This is a lot sooner than we anticipated and is causing some disruption as we try to figure out where to go. But, as always, God has an eternity full of answers if we wait on Him.

Since the beginning of this process, God's clear message to Patti and I has been to take Matthew 6:30-34 to heart which says:

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

So we have really worked hard at the "one day at a time" thing and God has been faithful every step of the way. Last week, while travelling on business, I got a call late Wednesday afternoon that Patti would be transferred to outpatient that Friday. I really blew my stack because my flight home wouldn't arrive until 9:30PM on Friday and I had this picture of Patti out in the alley of the apartment complex, sitting in her wheelchair next to her suitcase on a cold and rainy night waiting for me to pick her up after I get off the plane...and then with no place to go!! How's that for a strong faith!

So I called a few friends to start up the prayer chain. I didn't blog the information as Patti does read it from time to time and I didn't want her to lose her focus before we really knew what was going on. I started talking to our insurance company and the rehab center trying to coordinate efforts to get Patti's stay extended. The doctor at the center wants her there for another 4 to 6 weeks. To keep this down to a readable length, let me summarize the blessings that God has provided as I have calmed down, repented over my fears and lack of faith, prayed with friends and with Patti and moved back to a trusting and faithful posture before the Lord:

1. Turns out we don't have inpatient rehab coverage in our insurance policy! So the two months we have spent here have been strictly the grace of God. Insurance approved an exception based on medical necessity.
2. When we find the place to stay, God has provided furniture for us to use so we don't have to pay for a furnished apartment or pack up the furniture at the house in West Monroe.
3. We will have to stay in a temporary location such as an extended stay hotel. Turns out there is a really nice one just a couple of blocks from the rehab center and they have a room!
4. Patti and I are actually looking forward to the change as we have been living apart for four months. God continues to minister peace to us even in times of stress and change.