Living Miracle

Jack's part for the Primary Program this year is:

"A miracle is something you thought was impossible, but happened because of the power of God."

One year ago, Luke was life-flighted from Logan to Primary Children's Medical Center and we were told a whole host of things that may be impossible and/or improbable. We desperately wanted a miracle. On that day, my repeated prayer was simply, "please let him live, we can deal with anything, please just let him live", over and over again.

Well, indeed he did live and indeed we have dealt with some things and continue to do so. I have really felt that Luke had the choice whether to live and press forward or to be released from the pain. While I know ultimately it was the Lord's will, I do feel that there were several moments of choice involved in Luke's situation. This creates this driving force for me to help him have the best life possible. It has helped me realize that there is so much opportunity for growth, joy and hope in life. What a blessing it is to feel so much increase in life's meaning--to learn and grow and become all that we can.

I am happy to report that Luke is pressing forward and doing very well. First and foremost, he is happy, strong, active and adorable! He is sooo much more responsive to sound and is learning more everyday. His laugh is the most wonderful thing to hear! He does all the actions to a few songs, just from listening to us sing---receptive language! He grabs my hand and takes me to everything he wants. He gives me a huge hug when I reach out my arms and say, "HUG!". He is vocalizing more and more all the time and last week in therapy he said his first distinct words, "up, up, up". I was overjoyed, I was so proud of him!

The more I have read, it seems that most children begin to say words about one year after activation of their implants. This was last December for Luke, so I feel like he is certainly on his way.

It has been a big struggle this last year to keep a steady positive attitude, but I have learned the power of a positive attitude. I used to think it was a nice idea, but it was better to be completely realistic. However, I now realize that there truly is a power in being positive, hopeful and keeping your faith steady. It becomes a fuel that puts you to work to assist the Lord in making the miracles come to pass. Ultimately, it is all in His hands, but there is so much through his inspiration that we can do to contribute. I cannot begin to list the times that I have received bits of inspiration for little ways to help Luke this last year from ideas about a little song to sing or a little toy that would help develop this or that.

I don't know what things will look like in a year, but I am certain that Luke is trying his hardest and he will be blessed for his efforts. His progress to this point is a testament of his strong will.

We love you Luke!

I didn't catch his famous smile in this picture, but it shows how big he is getting and what a handsome boy he is!