Wish you all could see how cute Elijah looked in his latest 'dew-rag' - a turban of gauze covering all the wires glued to his head! We'll post a picture soon. He did really well through all the discomfort and glue and funny smells of the EEG. He was hooked up overnight to check his brain wave /seizure activity, all the while being monitored on a videocam. We won't know the results for another week, but our neurologist is happy with Elijah's current level of seizure control and also with the medications he's on. So that's great!

We are thankful to be in a place where Elijah can get good care and we can be assured that he's getting the help he needs for now. He was fitted for a little "kid cart" (like a special stroller) today!! I am so, so excited about having some options for him instead of constant holding. The kid cart will give him the extra support he needs to be comfortable. So far, Elijah doesn't like his new stroller, but we'll introduce it gradually. We're so BLESSED to have ways to position Elijah and help him explore the world.

In the Philippines, Ate Minda's friend was a single mother raising a 12-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. She lived on an income of about $20 a month, and the little girl didn't have any equipment. Every time the little girl needed to be moved, the mother would have to carry her. Ate Minda said the situation was "mahirap, mahirap, mahirap" (very, very difficult).

Will you thank the Lord with us that God has provided so well for our little guy? We know we are very blessed. We are blessed to HAVE our little Elijah, who has a sweetness all his own. We are challenged to grow and are molded to be more like our Father because of Elijah. I don't think we could love anyone more. That doesn't mean it's always easy or fun to take care of him...but God is teaching us about TRUE love. Love when we don't feel like loving, love when it requires sacrifice.

We love you guys and thank you for your prayers.

we're home

We've been in Wisconsin for a few days now...and I can't stop marveling that I'm not surrounded by concrete, no one is staring at me, driving is peaceful (instead of a continual game of 'chicken'), and it is so COLD!

Our trip home was really hard - Elijah slept less than 2 hours out of the 25 hour trip, but at least it's over! We're getting adjusted to a different schedule. Elijah thought it was bedtime at about 3pm the last few days.

Just wanted to let you know that we'll be on here a little less for now. We don't have internet at my Grandma's house (where we'll live for a few weeks).

Elijah had his first doctor's appointment today, and tomorrow we see all of his specialists. We'll also stay overnight for a 24 hour EEG (test of his brain waves). We'll update you soon!

Much love to you all.

off we go

I am HAPPY and THANKFUL to let you know that on Sunday, after a week of refusing to eat, Elijah started drinking from the bottle again!! Both Todd and I had tears in our eyes when the little guy finally decided to eat again. It's been a long week for us, basically spending most of the days (and part of the nights) dripping milk into Elijah's mouth and waiting for him to swallow. Long also in terms of feeling anxious; I can't describe the feeling of concern I had when we watched him lose weight and get weak even with all we could do.

As you can tell, Elijah has spent a lot of the past month battling viruses and recurrent seizures, and has been hospitalized twice! What a trooper! We, as well as our doctors, are impressed with how resilient Elijah is.

We've decided that we need to take a break, for Elijah's sake. So off we go, this week, to the USA! We've been planning to go home in November, but a few days ago we changed our tickets. A week without eating was enough to convince us that we should have some help with a few things.

We don't know what the Lord has ahead for our family, but we've gone through this before! He's always been faithful to show us, just not always in our preferred timeframe.

Packing, unpacking, repacking, sorting, cleaning - all the things you do when you're preparing to uproot yourself from a place you've called home. We're in that mode, full-blast.

We're going to miss it here.

Just wanted to let you all know that we're home, and glad to not be in the hospital! Elijah's still struggling, though. He got a big boost from the IV but he still hasn't started drinking from the bottle, I think because of the sore in his mouth. Keep praying...

the scoop...

Off we go...heading to the ER in about 15 minutes or so. Elijah hasn't drank from a bottle for almost three days now. I kept hoping he would start again, so we continued feeding with the syringe, but we're falling behind. He also has a fever that started Monday night, and is climbing. So the goal is to get an IV started and try to find out why Elijah has a fever. The pediatrician wants to check his kidney function.

Trusting the Father,

Todd, Julie, and Elijah

babies sleeping on cardboard

The three of us Harkins!

I just got back from a little walk to the drugstore, getting some pediasure for Elijah (who is sick again). Since it was 9:30 pm, the street people were getting ready to turn in for the night. Lots of people carrying cardboard, small families laying down on the sidewalks or in the corner of a building front. We picked up a few grocery items to give them on the way home. My heart just broke to see the babies and little kids laying down on their cardboard.

I thought about sweet Elijah, and how I sometimes get frustrated because of all the noise from the street and how it wakes him up. The babies I saw tonight were laying on a small cement square, on their backs with their legs hanging off the edge. Less than six feet from the noisy street, with not a wall or a roof or even a blanket to lie on.

I am so convicted about my ungratefulness at times! So broken for the people all around me who exist on nothing, who give birth and raise their families on a street corner.

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Elijah's seizures have improved again...the doctor notched up his medication after the blood test last week.

On different note, we're struggling to keep him hydrated, because he's been throwing up for two days and isn't eating. We've been feeding him with a syringe since last night, and he's vomited a lot of that as well. So we're asking for your prayers again. Today is a day I wish I were in the States, and could access good medical care in a heartbeat if I needed to! Even with those thoughts, I realize that Elijah is in God's hands. As we've seen time and again, He knows exactly how to take care of all of us.

Thanks for your prayers!

fresh air

Have you ever breathed just for the sheer joy of tasting the air?

Today Todd and I took the motorcycle to Faith Academy, a school for missionary's kids on the edge of town. It's a beautiful campus; lots of green and pretty views. It was so refreshing even to be out there for an hour or so. Looking around, I suddenly realized that the air smelled good...clean and fresh, like plants. I inhaled it, gulped it in while it lasted; big delicious lung-fuls.

I want to remember what it feels like to be so thankful for good air to breathe. While I wish I didn't have to live and breathe in smog every day, it's good in the sense of cultivating thankfulness in my heart. Thankfulness for the simple things I used to take for granted.

There are other ways living in the Philippines has done that for me. More to come on that...

Elijah update:
We took him to the hospital lab early in the morning on Friday for the medication-level blood test, only to have them refuse to do the test we needed because he wasn't an in-patient. We called the doctor who had ordered the test, and he didn't think he could do anything about it, but he would try.

Today we went to pick up the results, and sure enough, the lab had done some other work but not the important test. Then we found out we could have a lab tech from a hospital that would do the right test come to our home for about $4.00. Yes, you read that right. I'm so glad that we don't have to deal with heavy morning traffic and attempting to find the new hospital, all before Elijah's breakfast.

So, tomorrow Elijah will have his blood drawn, and then we'll wait again for the results.

All of this waiting is a little unnerving when your child is having a lot of seizures! Please join us in praying as Elijah's journey continues.

Take a deep breath of good-smelling air for me today, and thank the Father...

raindrops falling on my head

Rainy season means "don't leave home without it" - your umbrella, that is! In the States, I'm sure I have gone for more than a year at a time without using an umbrella. Here, we own three umbrellas, and we use them almost every day! I love this picture of Todd and Elijah. Aren't they sweet?

We wanted to update you all about Elijah's seizures. Things were looking really good for a while, not very many seizures...maybe less than 6 small ones per day. I'm not sure what's changed, but today and yesterday he's had seizures very frequently. So, tomorrow Elijah will have a blood test done to check the medication levels. Please keep our little one in your prayers.

Much love to you!