Jonathan Cooper Update

Wow! It’s almost been 2 weeks since I updated! I can’t believe it. I apologize for taking so long to update, but thanks so much for waiting on me and continuing to check on Jonathan and our family. Our days are full and there is much to do around here. However, I guess the reality of being back in school has just now hit. There is little time left after doing school and just keeping up with everyday work around the house. It is true that during the school year, there is no time for anything extra. I seem to find it difficult to adequately handle everything; hence the reason why it has been two weeks since I have updated! I am still struggling with my health and praying that God will restore us all completely to good health very soon. Everyone else seems to be in pretty good health. Jonathan is staying very healthy for which we are very thankful. A couple of Tuesdays ago, we were planning to go to the State Fair. Unfortunately it rained that morning so we ended up not going that day. Everyone was pretty bummed about it, so we made it a special day anyway. First we went to horse therapy. Jonathan continues to excel as he learns to ride Daisy. Mrs. Julie is a wonderful therapist and works hard to teach Jonathan how to ride his horse. This week she worked with him on standing up in the saddle while Daisy walked around. She even had him try to stand up without holding on to anything! That was a little scary for him and he was only able to do it for a couple of seconds. She said it won’t be long and he will be able to do it without any trouble. He had a much better week keeping his feet in good position in the stirrups. He is doing very well and he absolutely loves to ride Daisy. This has been such a blessing for us. After horse therapy, the kids and I went to see a movie. After Dad came home, we went to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. After dinner, Jonathan had his drum lesson with Mr. Brian and then we called it a day. Jonathan passed his first chapter in his Awana book on Wednesday and got his badge and his first seal. Last Sunday Jonathan’s choir sang in the evening service. They did a great job. Jonathan knew his song real well and sang with all his heart. Jonathan loves his choir. Once again, I am so grateful to God for the special boys that are in Jonathan’s class. They are all so kind to him. They always say hi, talk to him and include him in whatever they are doing. When the choir sang in church, Jonathan’s class stood on the second step. Jonathan usually stands on the end and usually on the floor or on an oversized step so he has more room and doesn’t have to worry about the steps. This time he stood on the step with the rest of his class. He stood next to his friend, Graham. Graham has been in Jonathan’s classes since we first got there. He is the first person that Jonathan named when I asked him who his friends were in his class. Graham was right there next to Jonathan and he helped him get up and down the step when the choir was singing. We are so grateful for all the boys who are so cool with Jonathan, but especially for Graham and his willingness to be Jonathan’s friend and helper. We continue to pray that God will give Jonathan a kindred spirit friend, just like David and Jonathan in the Bible. Well, we may not have made it to the State Fair on the first try, but we definitely made it there last week. We had a great time at the Fair this year, just like we always do. We had lots of good things to eat, rode some fun and some freaky rides, saw lots of neat things and played at the Science Museum. There was only one thing missing this year at the Fair and that was Grandma Cooper. Every year we meet Grandpa and Grandma Cooper and Uncle Chris for some part of the day. The last few years, Grandma Cooper would get one of those motorized chairs and ride around in it. Most of the time she rode with one of the kids standing on the back. We have some wonderfully fond memories of our years at the State Fair with her. We did meet Grandpa Cooper and Chris for a little while, but most of the day it was just our little family. We got to spend the day with Uncle Timmy on Friday to celebrate his birthday. We are thankful for all that Uncle Timmy means to us and does to help Jonathan. He is a blessing to our family. We are still working on Jonathan’s diet. This week we have made some changes to his diet. At the last doctor visit we were told to treat him like a Type 2 which is 40 carbs per meal only. We have been doing a pretty consistent job of that, although my food journal does not reflect my discipline in recording his food intake. This week we began eating more low carb. We started out by cutting out the cereal and milk which he loves so much and replacing it with eggs, bacon and sausage. So far he has done well with that. Occasionally we will have some low carb/low sugar yogurt, but for the most part, we have stuck strictly to the eggs, bacon and sausage. So we have at least reduced his daily carb intake from 120 to 80. We are trying to eat as much low carb at lunch and dinner as we can. I told Jonathan that meant we would not be able to eat Uncle Timmy’s birthday cake, but we were able to find a chocolate mouse recipe with only 2 carbs per serving that I fixed for us to eat instead. We are continuing to make changes and are progressing pretty well I think. He has had normal blood sugars almost every reading, but we have still not been able to reduce his Lantus any more yet. While I don’t think he has lost any weight, I don’t know that for sure. Please keep praying for good results and that we will be able to see some weight loss soon. He is still sleeping very well which is also a wonderful blessing. Jonathan is studying some harder things in school like 2 digit multiplication and bigger, longer spelling words. So far he has been doing pretty well in school, but we are struggling with some of these new things. His reading is getting better each day and he is doing well in his handwriting and his grammar.
As always, we are so grateful for your faithfulness to check on us and to pray for us. Please continue to pray for Jonathan. Pray especially for his weight loss, his new diet and his blood sugar. Pray that God will bless our efforts by allowing us to see the results that we desire. Pray that we will be disciplined and diligent in staying with our eating program. Continue to pray for his complete healing of his brain, his vision and his diabetes. Pray that he will gain understanding of the concepts he is working on in school and that he will not get discouraged when he encounters difficulties in learning. Please continue to pray for God’s healing in our family. Pray that he will restore our strength, give us rest and give us stability in our daily schedule. Not only am I still struggling with my health, but I am also struggling with this entire school year. Pray that I will not feel overwhelmed and discouraged by the demands on my time and energy right now. I love home schooling and I know that God has placed me in this ministry and I am content with my calling. But even knowing that doesn’t always make the struggles any easier. So I would appreciate your prayers for me this week. You all are so precious to us and we are blessed to have you praying for us. I pray that God will abundantly bless you this week. We love you all.

1 Peter 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.