Enter his gates with THANKSGIVING!

** Big Sis takeover! **

The title of this week's blog is barely a "pinky toe dip" into this beautiful psalm of thanksgiving. Here's the full text:

"Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth!

Worship the LORD with gladness.

Come before him, singing with joy.

Acknowledge that the LORD is God!

He made us, ad we are his.

We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

go into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good.

His unfailing love continues forever,

and his faithfulness continues to each generation." --Psalm 100 (NLT)

Thanksgiving 2022 overflowed with Psalm 100's joy, praise, gratitude, and acknowledgement of God's love and faithfulness, along with some yummies to eat! More importantly, this was Jared's first day back at his house since 10/31/2021! Kabrina and I picked him up early that morning from Pate Rehab and here he is enjoying the ride home....

Once we got to the house, he seemed to be taking it all in. He didn't want to get into his chair, he wanted to walk inside - love it! Since he's been gone, they've had to get a new roof, shutters, gutters and windows because of an early 2022 Winter (hail) storm, so there were new things to see!

This year Jared was able to enjoy the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and National Dog Show on his comfy couch with some family (mom-L and sis-R), and even his mom's little doggie. Below that pic is another one with his mom, sis, 2 nephews and niece.

The day progressed as any Thanksgiving Day would. We watched football -- go Cowboys! We chatted, snapped some fun pics, napped on the couch and ate delicious food prepared by my mom (Suzy Ishmael) and aunt (Sylvia Dipnarinesingh). Jared is loved by so many, and my mom and aunt are two of his biggest fans! Their prayers, visits to him (and us), and loving faithfulness over this past year have helped keep us going when we felt weary, so "THANK YOU, Mom and Aunt Sylvia! We love you both so much!"

We had a tough time convincing him to get back into his Jeep (the only vehicle he's cleared by PT to ride in for the moment), which wasn't surprising, but man do I wish we'd gotten some video of it. Your buddy (Jared) locked his arms and legs so that we couldn't bend him to get him up into the Jeep. It was drizzling and cold and he worked several of our nerves, but we finally got him into the Jeep! Then, when we got back to Pate, he didn't want to get out of the Jeep!! In retrospect, we get it and it's now a little bit funny, but in the moment, it was crazy-making and sad because we know he had to have loved being in HIS house, sitting on HIS couch, sitting at HIS dining table and just BACK HOME...

As promised, we brought him back home a couple days later (Saturday) and this time he just got to chill, wheel around the house and just hang out with us.

Jared enjoying a good couch-nap!

Some of the most fun we have with him is when we're just being with one another. He'll do something or make a funny face/gesture and we'll ask him to do it again so we can capture it to share with you guys and gals, but he's so hyper-sensitive to the camera.

He's always checking to see if we're recording him, and we are usually trying to! Ha ha! Him eating on his own is a big deal, but as soon as he realizes we're watching him, the plate goes down and he resumes his "please feed me" stance. Gotta love him though!

Getting ready to go back to Pate on Saturday was much easier. I think we've introduced a new weekend option to him and he's 100% here for it! I told him that we will always come and get him and that he's gotta finish up with therapy so that he can come home and stay home for good! (More on this in the prayer requests below...) He got some love from our mom and we attempted a group shot via my Apple Watch. We got a good shot, but this will ALWAYS be the one I share because it just cracks me up!

There's gotta be 1 person not looking in a group photo... you are all very welcome! LOL

I kept this one because of that grin on his face - priceless!

We got him ready to go and took one last shot as we wheeled him out the front door -- success and what goofy smile!! The first of many weekends that we'll now be able to let Jared enjoy being home - praise the Lord!

Last week Jared had another BSS (Barium Swallow Study) and did really well! He's been cleared for thin liquid drinks (no more thickener!) and didn't aspirate, so we're good to go! One step closer to getting that PEG tube (feeding tube) out! Yay Jared!! Look at this goofy guy!

And here he is walking up the hill from therapy! This hill is no joke, y'all. The staff at Pate has to push the patients down to therapy and back up each day -rain, scorching Dallas sun, sleet and snow... I had just arrived for the afternoon and spotted him walking with his PT and a therapy tech. So proud of this guy! And yes, they are helping him, but he's supporting his own body weight and making strides!

(That disclaimer is for those of you who always look to see what Jared isn't doing, instead of focusing on the amazing things the Lord has given him the strength and perseverance to conquer!)

One thing I've seen these last 13 months is that WITH God, anything is possible! Jared has come so far - way further than any doctor said he would. It is no mistake, and definitely not luck! Jared has worked very hard and all of your prayers for him have given him strength and determination! Thank you all so much! I can't wait to post a video of him walking without these 2 amazing human's assistance! Oh, I know it's coming because God always finishes what he starts!

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Please pray that Jared begins to participate more consistently in his Speech and Occupational Therapy sessions. These are 2 important drivers for continued insurance coverage and he's been restless and not wanting to participate this past week.

• Continued progress with Physical Therapy -- more walking, standing and shifting his weight. He will be getting more botox (right arm, neck and upper back) soon, so this will definitely help.

• Kabrina and the staff at Pate got to hear Jared speak to them last Friday (12/2/2022) and it was at a normal decibel! Guess what he said.... "No" and "Wait" -specifically when they asked him if he was ready to shower -ha ha!! Please pray that he continues to bless us with more words. Once that kicks in, we'll be calling and FaceTiming so many of you to say "Hey" and to thank you for your prayers!

• The 3 bullets above all collide with the prayer request for continued insurance coverage! Pray, pray, pray!! Jared is doing well, but he will be so much stronger and ready for home life with more time spent at Pate.

• Bathroom renovation is coming along nicely, please pray that we're able to complete it soon. We are so thankful to the guys working on this and how committed they are to making this work for Jared! (We'll add some pics to the next post, as this one was mainly to celebrate his homecoming over the holiday.)