Endless Spinach and Corneal Ulcer

Hello! Joshua asked me to blog on an almost monthly basis this year with a missionary wife perspective. 
Overall, our family is doing well. The kids are healthy and growing. All three children have been picking up a lot of Spanish vocabulary recently from a new app we were blessed to find! It is called "Endless Spanish", but Joel started out calling it, "Endless Spinach". 

Logan

​Logan has outgrown his older sister, but has a bit of height to go before he catches up to his big brother. He loves chocolate chip cookies as much as Joel does! And it seems he has soft teeth just like his brother as well. He has a dental appointment soon because of a visible cavity. Please pray for him that this experience will not make him afraid of dentistry, and that the dentist will be able to take care of his problem.

Amelia

​Amelia is doing wonderfully with homeschooling! She loves learning and already knew most of the material before we even started. However, she has been showing signs of not being able to see clearly across the room, so we have scheduled an optometrist appointment for next week. She is excited about the possibility of wearing glasses like Mama. She wants purple frames. At first, I wondered if it was going to be a fight to get her to wear them, now I think she might be disappointed if she doesn't need them!

Joel

 Joel has been having some issues sleeping alone for some time now. With all the major transitions he has had in his 7 years of life, it is completely understandable that he has reverted back to wanting to sleep with Mama and Daddy every night. He does well with travel and other 'changes' that many medical professionals have told us that autistic children have a very hard time with, but he can not sleep well without a parent in the bed with him. We researched what might help him with the transition to sleeping solo and came to the conclusion that an indoor hammock might be perfect for him. So we have purchased a frame and hammock, put a lot of sweat and maybe a few tears into fitting it into the kid's room, and are doing our best to transition him *back* into his own bed. Please pray with us that he will feel secure and sleep comfortably in his new bed. 

​ Josh was outside Friday evening, January 8th, watching the kids and playing with Rex, our 94 lb German Shepherd, while I cooked dinner, when Rex unexpectedly pawed his face, scratching his eye. At first, it didn't seem too serious. He rinsed it out carefully, felt like it was clean, and continued with some office work. Later that evening, it began hurting worse and worse. We called a friend to take him to the ER to get it checked out. Josh has what the Dr called a 'corneal ulcer'. She used several medications and patched his eye, and sent him home with instructions to come back the next day. We have researched what she told us and it seems that the healing period may be around 2-3 weeks. We truly need your prayers about this, as it will affect everything Josh does here, in the ministry and in the home. And if it does not heal properly, his vision could be affected for life. Please pray for God's will, and that God will get the glory from this situation.
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Jennifer Smith