Jonathan Cooper Update

We have had such an uplifting, blessing-filled week, that I can hardly wait to tell you all the wonderful things that God has done in Jonathan’s life. Last week I told you that Jonathan wanted to try to skate while they were in the skating rink after Awana on Wednesday night. Well, he tried it and Elizabeth was there to help. There are rails that he can hold on to that help him get around. I think it turned out to be a little more difficult that he thought (which is usually the case when he tries something new), but at least he tried it. Believe it or not, he tried to tackle another big thing the next day. On Thursday afternoon, he asked me if I knew where the pliers were. I asked him why he needed them and he told me he wanted to take the training wheels off his bike. Well I knew what that meant. We put the training wheels on his bike at the beginning of the year so he could ride his bike again. He has always loved to ride his bike, but we thought that because of his poor balance, he would need the training wheels. After trying it a few times, it was so difficult to keep the training wheels in place, and it was almost more work that it was worth. So he really has not ridden his bike much in the last 6 months or so. Well, I helped him take the training wheels off and after airing up his tires we took it outside to give it a try. After going up and down the street a couple of times with me holding on to him he said, “Okay, now let go of me.” So I let go and ran beside him as he rode his bike all by himself! His balance was perfect as he rode and he was able to put his foot down and stop perfectly. I was cheering! I can’t tell you what an awesome site it was to see this precious boy riding his bike again. Praise God who continues to send us His blessings! We got the girls to come out and watch and told Dad about it as soon as he got home. We practiced riding again on Friday as well. The only thing he can’t do on his own is get started. He has to work to get both his legs up high enough to get his feet on the peddles but just as soon as he starts to peddle, he can go on his own. We spent most of the afternoon/evening on Friday shopping for Dad’s birthday. We had a party with the family on Saturday afternoon and his birthday was actually on Sunday. While everyone was over and once Dad finished opening his presents, we asked everyone to go out front to see the last present we had for Dad. Once everyone was outside, Jonathan rode down the street on his bike with a “Happy Birthday Dad” balloon attached to the back as his own gift to his Daddy. It was a blessed moment for everyone. Unfortunately, this was the first and only time he fell when he stopped himself, but otherwise, he has ridden each time perfectly. I’m still too nervous to let him get too far away from me, so I end up running with him while he rides. It wears me out! But I’m determined to do it because it is such an incredible accomplishment and encouragement to him. He has ridden several times this week as well. One day, Sarah rode her bike with him and we rode around a couple of blocks before heading back home. I’m sure it won’t be long before he is able to ride without me running beside him. I just can’t even express to you what joy this has brought me this week. On Saturday afternoon, Uncle Timmy took Jonathan to the music stores to look around. Jonathan came back home with some sparkly blue drum sticks! He is pretty proud of them. When Uncle Timmy is over, he will get in there and work with Jonathan on his drumming. We have been blessed to have two great guys who are willing to give their time to help Jonathan succeed in playing the drums. I thank God for Brian and Tim. We are doing really well with Jonathan’s eating. We are keeping it very strictly to 45 carbs or less per meal. I have started keeping a food journal this week. A couple of mornings last week, Jonathan had blood sugars between 60 and 70, which is pretty low for him (80-150 is his range). His overall readings have been very good. After a couple of days of getting these low readings in the morning, I decided to take a step of faith and lower his Lantus (24 hour insulin) back down to 41. We have never gotten to lower his insulin. It always goes up, never down. It usually takes a couple of days to see any change when you make a change in the amount of insulin you give, and for the first few days it was up more than down. Of course, my first reaction was discouragement because I figured it wasn’t going to work. I have been praying daily that Jonathan’s body will use up the insulin effectively, that he will consistently have normal blood sugars, and that none of the unused insulin will be stored as fat. As I thought about the change that I made, I had to ask myself why I was so worried about it not working. Is my God not able to do this thing for which I have asked Him? Yes He is! And I’m Believing God for this, just as I’m Believing Him for the ultimate miracle of Jonathan’s complete healing. Jonathan has had normal blood sugars all week long. One morning he was at 70 at breakfast and stayed in the low 100s or below all day long. I can hardly wait to tell that we are going down again – this time below 40 for the first time since May. I hope you will pray, Believing with us that it will be soon. I have no idea if Jonathan has lost any weight or not. He is definitely eating smaller amounts now with very few snacks, if any. I am praying that God will allow this to happen, even without our knowing it. I am pleased with how we are doing things at this point and hope to be able to make more significant changes as time goes on. Another incredible blessing is that Jonathan is sleeping all night long almost every night now. If he wakes up at all, it is usually only once and he turns right over and goes right back to sleep. I praise God for this incredible blessing. When I think back over the earlier months of this year and how we struggled through so many months of difficult, discouraging nights, I am so thankful that we have found something that will help him sleep. Jonathan is doing well in his school work, as well as in Awana and in his drumming. He continues to struggle with his vision issues, even with the new expensive glasses. They are definitely an improvement, but he still struggles with seeing numbers and letters correctly without extra magnification. It can be frustrating at times, but we are trusting God to take care of this as well, and we are thankful for the sight that he has. On Tuesday, Jonathan went to ride his horse again. He is doing so very well this session. We are thrilled to have Mrs. Julie as his teacher. She is wonderful! She is very encouraging and handles Jonathan very well. He has shown significant improvement in his skills in just two weeks! She is a very aggressive teacher with him and really pushes him beyond what he has already learned. She accomplishes an incredible amount of work with him in the hour that he is there. She worked a lot on his balance with him in the riding pin this week. She pulled his feet out of the stirrups and had him ride without holding on, putting his hands in all different places, turning from side to side, etc. and he had to balance without the assistance of the stirrups. He is able to stand up taller in the saddle for longer periods of time, even when the horse is walking. She let him lead Daisy without her holding on with her strap. He got to trot on his own as well. She is working on his reigning and helping him command the horse on his own. He his getting better each week at getting on and off the horse without any help. It is such an amazing thing to watch him pull his leg over the horse on his own. That is such a huge accomplishment for him! He is also able to do that with his bike. Not only did the Lord allow Jonathan to accomplish that, but He has also blessed our sweet little friend Lyndsey Jones with ability to do that as well. Just this week, Lyndsey was able to get on her horse all by herself for the first time. God is so good!
I am going through Beth Moore’s Bible Study, Believing God. God has been teaching me so much about Believing Him, about His ability to do everything, about faith and hope and why I can trust Him even when He doesn’t do what I am Believing Him to do. There have been many moments of understand and truth which have set me free in this journey of faith in God for these impossible situations. God has been so faithful and loving to our family and to all of you who have walked this road with us to give us these outward expressions of His supernatural power in our lifetime. Many of you are also witnessing with us the miracles and wonders He is doing in the life of Lyndsey Jones’s ( http://www.carepages.com/ServeCarePage?cpn=LyndseyFaith&extrefid=tlcinvite) and in Caroline Beauchamp’s little life. (http://www.snickerdoodles.net) There are many people who say that God doesn’t do miracles today like He did in the Bible. I praise God that we can stand and testify that that belief is 100% wrong! We are recipients of the signs and wonders of God and we will continue to be witnesses, along with many of you to an unbelieving, watching world.
Thank you for waiting again for this update. Thank you for your faithfulness to check on us and to continue to pray for us. I hope you will join us as we thank God for these awesome miracles in Jonathan’s life that God has so graciously performed. Pray that Jonathan will continue to ride his bike and will gain more flexibility in his hips and strength in the muscles in his legs to be able to move more easily, get his legs and feet up on his peddles and start riding his bike on his own. Pray that he will continue to excel in his horse riding, his drumming and in his school work. Pray for God to do something supernatural with his vision. Everything is possible with God! Continue to pray especially for Jonathan’s eating, his weight loss and his blood sugar levels. Pray that we will continue to go down on his insulin. Pray that we will continue to be diligent in eating 45 carbs or less per meal and that God will reward us by allowing him to lose some much needed weight. Pray that his body will process the insulin properly and that there will be no insulin that is stored as fat. Pray that his body will begin to use up the stored fat and that we would see a decrease in his weight, his insulin intake and blood sugars within normal range. Most of all continue to Believe God with us for Jonathan’s complete healing. Also pray for our sweet little friends Lyndsey and Caroline as they are both recovering from surgery and need God’s hand of miraculous healing in their lives as well. You can read all about them at their websites above. God bless each of you for your faithfulness to pray for our family. All of you are wonderful and precious to us. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. Have a blessed week. To God Be The Glory!

Psalm 77:11-14 - I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. 12 I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. 13 Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? 14 You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.

Habakkuk 3:2 - LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known.