Saturday, March 31, 2007

Well, I seem to remember ending my last post by saying that I would not wait until the end of the month before writing again. Apparently I did not do what I said. But the wait was not intentional. We have been very busy here for the last couple of week. There are so many great things that I have to share with you and many of them happened just this week. So let me see if I can remember what’s been happening here and share what God has been doing in Jonathan’s life. We have been working hard to stay up with our schooling. Everyone is doing well and even though we have been busy and there have been things to work around, everyone has stayed on schedule with their school work. We are quickly approaching the end of school, so we are seeing the light at the end of this difficult and trying year. The biggest thing we have been working around these last couple of weeks is The World’s Biggest Garage Sale that the Chapel Choir at First Baptist Dallas (Elizabeth’s choir) holds each year to raise money for their choir tour. She has been participating in work days since September, collecting hours that will help pay for her tour. Since March 15, they have been sorting the things they have collected and getting everything ready for the actual garage sale which is this weekend. Elizabeth has worked hard to get her school work done so she could go work each Friday afternoon through Saturday evening to work as many hours as she is allowed. So this has kept us busy getting her back and forth to Dallas and helping out when we can. We also got to celebrate Grandpa Smith’s birthday last week. We were able to spend most of the day with him and we enjoyed our time with our family. In the midst of all of this, Jonathan continues to take drum lessons. He is doing very well and loves learning to play the drums. Mr. Brian is teaching him how to play the Bosinova, and even though I’m not real sure what that is, it sounds impressive! We are so thankful for Mr. Brian and his willingness to teach Jonathan how to play the drums. Someday he is going to follow in Mr. Brian and his Uncle Timmy’s footsteps and serve the Lord with this talent that he has been so graciously given. We had to cancel horse therapy for Grandpa’s Smith’s birthday, but we were back at it this week. We look forward to horse therapy every week. Because it had rained so much on Monday this week, things were pretty muddy out there. But that didn’t seem to bother anyone. Jonathan did great as usual. He is getting better and better about balancing in his feet and legs instead of just using his upper body. One of the best things about Jonathan’s riding is his posture. He always sits up very straight and tall when he rides. He was also able to stand up in his “two point” without holding on for 12 seconds this week. He is always ready to trot, so he was able to do some of that on the trail and in the round pen. Mrs. Julie also worked with him on just riding Gracie in a relaxed position with his hands resting on his legs. Overall, he did really very well. He improves every time he rides. Mrs. Julie is the absolute best teacher and Gracie is the most awesome horse. Elizabeth and Sarah spend quite a lot of time combing Gracie and making her beautiful each week. They also have a great time playing with all the sweet dogs that are out there. It’s just a great time for all of us.
Well, Wednesday was a record awesome day for Jonathan. For the last two weeks, we have been riding bikes for our exercise each morning. We have moved from the scooter to riding bikes, which is great. Jonathan does a great job once he gets started riding his bike. So our routine has been that Sarah goes with us and rides up front so she can warn us of cars and things we might need to know. I help Jonathan get started on his bike then I go get on my bike and catch up with him and follow him so I can keep an eye on him. Well, Wednesday we were out for our bike ride as usual. We had to stop at one point to wait for a car and as we were getting ready to go again, Jonathan said he was going to try something. So I watched as he worked to get started by himself. His biggest problem is being able to get up enough speed to keep going while he tries to lift his leg high enough to get it on the peddle and start peddling before he loses his balance. Up to this point, he has usually had to pull his leg up with his hand in order to get it on top of the peddle, but yesterday after a couple of tries, he actually got started all by himself! Oh we were so excited! He had to stop and started a couple more times before we got home and he was able to do it all by himself. Jonathan was so thrilled that he called his Daddy as soon as he got home to tell him. Then we decided to video tape him and Elizabeth came out and watched him ride. This time he started in the garage and rode up the alley and down our street all by himself while I video tape and waited for him to get down the street. I will tell you that stepping back and letting him do things like this on his own makes me a nervous wreck. I’m so use to being right beside him to protect him from any possible hurt he might encounter. So this is not easy for me, although it is thrilling for me to witness and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Not only did he start and stop on his own, but while I was video taping him, he decided to show me how he could stand up and peddle while he was riding! Another wonderful miracle! What a wonderful day of miracles March 28, 2007 was. We will definitely put this video up for you to see. It will make you praise the Lord right out loud! After saying his Awana verses last night, Jonathan has now made it to the last chapter of his book and he still has about 6 weeks of Awana left. There were a few times at the beginning of the year that I was afraid he was not going to be able to finish the book, but he has really done well since the beginning of the year and I am so very proud of him. Wednesday night was dress rehearsal for our Easter musical that we are presenting this Sunday evening. So towards the end of the rehearsal, the kids came in and Jonathan made his way to his Uncle Timmy to watch him play the drums. Tim was playing the tympani on the last couple of songs and as usual, he let Jonathan grab some sticks and join him. That always makes me nervous because I don’t want Jonathan to mess anything up. But Tim handles him so well and never hesitates to let him get his sticks in there and play. Jonathan is always so proud to be able to assist his Uncle Timmy on the drums. There were many of the choir members who noticed Jonathan playing and told him he was doing a good job. It brings me so much joy to see this sweet boy being given so much love and so many opportunities to do great things because of people like my wonderful brother and so many of you who are such a constant encouragement to him. We are truly so very blessed. Well, we all continue to diligently pursue our diet and exercise program. Last month, Jonathan was able to lose weight, but we were not able to lower his insulin any. This month, we have been able to lower the insulin 3 times, down to 24 units of Lantus each night, but we have not lost any weight. Jonathan is maintaining his weight at 120, so at least he is not gaining. I am praying that God will allow him to lose another 10 pounds by his birthday which is May 24. That gives us two months to accomplish that. I hope you will continue to pray with us regarding that goal.
Well, God has been so good to us. I have been reflecting on God’s miraculous hand in Jonathan’s life over these past few days. Sometimes it’s easy to look for and only notice the big things that happen. But I want to share with you some wonderful miracles that have caught my attention since the beginning of the year. Jonathan has changed and improved so much in so many little ways. I’ve noticed lately that he doesn’t hold my hand as often when we are out as he use to. Every time we go somewhere, as soon as I get out of the car and he walks up next to me, my hand instantly goes out to take his hand. It’s a habit that I have had over these last two years. The only time he would not take my hand is when he is unhappy with me for some reason. But lately I see a confidence in him that allows him to handle walking on his own, without my help. I smile each time I notice it. Another thing I’ve noticed is that he is able to tie his shoes all by himself now. There are times when he asks me to tie them tighter for him, but he always ties them on his own now. Over these last few weeks, Jonathan has been able to do some of his school work on his own. I have been able to give him some grammar work to do and he has been able to do it on his own. One of the hardest things to overcome and the one that has taken us the longest to get through is Jonathan’s ability to use the bathroom on his own without help. While it has never bothered me to help him with this, it has limited his independence to be without someone who would be willing to assist him with this. It is one thing to change diapers, potty train and teach a child how to handle this part of their life when they are very young. But it’s an entirely different thing to do it when they are 8, 9, 10, or even older than that. I know that many of you understand what I am talking about. God has been faithful to give us the grace to deal with this with Jonathan and now, we have been blessed to see Jonathan handling this all on his own. This is indeed one of the biggest blessings we have witnessed this year. So we are praising God this week for all these wonderful miracles and blessings that He so faithfully continues to reveal in Jonathan’s life. No matter how small they may see, they are huge testimonies of God’s continued miraculous work in our lives.
We hope you will continue to pray for Jonathan and our family. Thank God with us for these improvements and accomplishments in Jonathan’s life. Continue to pray for his weight loss and exercise. Pray that we will be able to reach our goal of another 5 pounds during the month of April. Pray that we will continue to be able to drop his insulin and more and that his body will really process the insulin in the most effective way. Pray that he will continue to take the initiative to do things on his own now that he is able to do more things independently. Pray that his legs will become stronger as he continues to exercise them. We have not heard back from either the endocrinologist or Scottish Rite about his upcoming appointments. Our very expensive, very poor insurance just got worse so Jonathan’s medical supplies each month are costing us more and more. Pray that we will continue to Believe God for the miracle of Jonathan’s healing of diabetes and until His will brings this to pass, that we will trust His faithful provision for these needs. We hope you enjoyed the pictures we put out there. Thank you for being our faithful friends and prayer warriors and for continuing to make this journey with our family. You mean more to us that you will ever know. God bless you all.

John 11:40 - Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Oh my goodness! Half of March has passed since I last updated! I can’t believe how quickly time flies. Every day I find myself smiling, thanking God for these wonderful spring days and for all those “normal” things I see my family doing. It’s so easy to praise and testify of how great our God is when He has done something huge and miraculous. But the truth that God has revealed to me over these past couple of years is just how great my God is in my everyday, ordinary life. Every day is a gift from God. My heart overflows with the joy of the Lord! Let me see if I can remember all the good things I want to share with you that have happened the first half of this month. On Saturday, March 2, Jonathan played a wonderful basketball game. I have never seen him so involved in the game as he was this day. He seemed to be able to remember a little bit better where his place was and where he was suppose to be. He was in the middle of the game, doing his part to help his team. Many times, Jonathan has a hard time remembering which man he is suppose to be guarding and when he is on defense and when he is on offense. At this game, he guarded his man so closely that we had to nick name him the “Hugger”! We also watched him push around the man guarding him so he could get open and help his team out. I had to just laugh several times while we watched him play because I have not seen him so into his game as he was this day. It was an awesome sight to see. He also fell down more than once (if I can remember right) and got right back up and kept going. This past Saturday was the last game of the season. Jonathan played very well again. Right at the first of the game he got knocked down. This time he got hit in the face and went down on his back. He seemed to have a more difficult time shaking this one off, but he got back up and kept going anyway. When I went over to talk to him after he played his period, he started to cry again, but he had a little time to regain his composure before playing again. Every other time he has fallen, it has been face down, but this time he fell backward. Fortunately, he never hit his head on the floor any time that he fell. I think he took a fall at least once in the last 5 games. I always have an initial scream and a moment of worry, but it has been good for him and for us to watch him be a normal kid. God has been gracious to protect him, even in his falls. We are going to miss Upward tremendously. This year has been such a phenomenal blessing to our family and we hate to see it come to an end. Jonathan has grown so much over this past year and I am already looking forward to what God has to show us next year. Monday night was the award night. One of Jonathan’s teammates got the White Star Award this year. There were some great videos made that have Jonathan and his team on them. Here is the link: http://web.mac.com/mafowler/iWeb/Site/upward%20catch%20a%20fire%20FINAL.html
You will want to check out the Upward Catch a Fire Final video where you will see a lot of Jonathan, but especially at the end you will get to see the awesome shot he made in one of his games. Also, you can see him in the Upward Seeds of Love video where he is courageously getting back up and in the game after his first fall this year. At some point we hope to get the uncut video of Jonathan’s basket to share with you so you can see just how special it was to us. Well, even though Upward is over, we are thrilled to be back to horse riding! Horse therapy started back last week. We tried not to be too anxious about getting Mrs. Julie and our wonderful Gracie back, but each time we have started a new session, we have ended up with a different instructor and horse, so we were somewhat prepared for that to happen again. We are excited to say that yes, we do have Mrs. Julie and Gracie again for this session! Mrs. Julie rearranged her lunch schedule so she could have Jonathan again. Last week was a beautiful day to start riding and Jonathan was excited to get back out there and ride. He did a great job as always and remembered everything he was supposed to do. Mrs. Julie gave him a hat with “Gracie” engraved on it which he wears everywhere now. He just did some basic work on the trail his first week, and this week he was able to trot on the trail with her. Mrs. Julie is working on his balance and having his stand without holding on to the horse for 10 seconds. She is teaching him to balance with his feet and legs instead of his upper body. Last week he only made it about 4 seconds, this week he made it 10 seconds a couple of times. I think he finally got the hang of what she was trying to teach him. God is so good to us and this therapy has been such a blessing not only to Jonathan, but to our entire family. One of the first things Mrs. Julie commented on when she saw Jonathan was that he looked thinner. I can’t tell you what that did for Jonathan because he was really hoping that she would notice and say something. Jonathan continues to work hard on his exercise and eating. He has made it to his 10 pound goal and we would like to see another 5 pounds this month. So far he has not dropped any further, but we will continue to work at it. Jonathan really enjoys riding his scooter while we walk so he has been doing that the past couple of weeks. A couple of days, he rode the entire time which includes about 3 streets going down hill and 3 ½ streets going uphill. Most of the time he combines walking and riding. He is also still doing his sit ups and riding the bike as well. One night last week Jonathan got to go to the gym with his Dad and workout with him. He really seemed to enjoy that as well. Jonathan’s blood sugars have been getting better over the last couple of weeks. Thank you for your prayers regarding this. We have changed his breakfast up a little bit in that he and I are eating a low carb/sugar yogurt and drinking our “coffee” (his is a low carb hot chocolate!) each morning instead of a protein shake. This seems to be working well for us. We are still drinking our shakes in the afternoon and eating a low carb/low calorie meal for dinner. I have sent off the application to Children’s to get an appointment with their endocrine office but have not heard back from them yet. Tomorrow I will send off the Scottish Rite application to see if we can see them regarding Jonathan’s foot. Please be in prayer about this as well. On Tuesday night we had the chance to attend a Dallas Stars game, compliments of the Starlight Foundation. This was the first Stars game that the kids had a chance to go to and we had a great time. The fact that we got to watch Mike Madono make his 500th goal made it even more special. Again we are blessed to be able to do some wonderful things as a family because of the great generosity of those who give to the Starlight Foundation. Jonathan continues to do well in school. He is catching on very well to the things he is learning. I am pleased with his progress in school this year. He is also doing well in Awana and should be able to finish his book by the end of the year. He continues to bless me as I watch him grow in his spiritual life. This past Sunday evening during the invitation, we watched as Jonathan stood there praying. I have no idea what he was praying about, but it was obvious that he was intently praying about something. I know that God continues to move in his heart and life and it is a joy to see that taking place. Jonathan is still progressing in his drum lessons and he continues to enjoy learning and playing the drums.
Thank you for continuing to check on us and following Jonathan’s progress. Thank you also for your constant prayers for us. Please continue to lift Jonathan up and pray for him regarding his weight loss, exercise and diet. We are so thankful for the progress that God has allowed us to see so far. Pray that Jonathan will be able to continue to lose weight and will be able to meet his goal of another 5 pounds this month. Pray that he will continue to be diligent in his exercise and that his brain will be retrained regarding his eating. Continue to pray for his sleeping. He is doing well again just taking ½ of a pill each night. He is not waking up at all. Pray that we will know when to try to take him off again. Continue to pray for his blood sugars and for his ultimate healing of his diabetes. Pray for his upcoming endocrine appointment, that it will be good and that he will get a good report. I will let you know specifically when it is as soon as I hear from them. Also pray about his appointment with Scottish Rite. Pray that they will be able to help correct Jonathan’s foot without surgery. Also pray that whatever needs to be done to correct it will not interfere with his exercise, with his ability to swim this summer or his ability to play basketball next Upward season. I feel like I’m worrying about things that are way in the future, but they are thoughts that I have had as I have considered the possibility of his wearing a brace to correct his foot. Pray that I will trust in the Lord and not be anxious about any of it. Thank you as well for continuing to pray for our family. You all are wonderful blessings to us and we love you all so very much. I’ll try not to wait until the end of the month to update again, but until I do, may God abundantly bless you with His most incredible blessings.

Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Today is the first day of March! Can you believe it? We hope this post finds each of you doing well. We have had another good week at our house. Everyone is still well, for which we are very thankful. Jonathan finally made it back to drum practice last week. He was very glad for that. We are still working hard at school. Right now Jonathan is working on fractions, common factors, factor trees, and reducing fractions to the lowest terms. He seems to be catching on to that very quickly. He is doing really well in spelling this year and continues to do well in grammar. He is also working very hard on his Awana verses. We made out a schedule last week of what sections we have to pass off each week in order to finish his book by the end of the year. He is on the 6th chapter out of 8 and I know he will be able to finish it without any trouble. We did really well with our exercise this past week. Jonathan decided he wanted to try riding his scooter during our walk last week. I think he thought that it would be easier than walking the entire way, but in reality, it turned out to be just as hard as everything he has done. So we split up the time between walking and riding the scooter. He seems to enjoy that so we have done that each day for the past week or so. On Wednesday, after much thought and prayer, I finally decided to put Jonathan back on his sleeping medicine. He only woke up a couple of times on Monday night, but on Tuesday night he was up and down a lot for quite some time. I prayed during my prayer time on Wednesday morning and asked the Lord if I needed to put him back on it. I feel like this is what He told me to do. The Lord knows how much I wanted to put this behind us, but I also know that I must trust Him, His perfect will and His perfect timing for Jonathan regarding this. It took a couple of days for us to see a significant difference, but he is now sleeping peacefully again almost all night long. If he wakes us, it is very brief and only once or twice. He is however only taking half a pill and doing just fine with it, so that is a blessing. So for now, we are back on the medicine. Thank you for praying about that. I am confident we are where we need to be at this time. Thursday, Jonathan was back at basketball practice. This week the kids played three games of knock out. During the first game, Jonathan lost his ball and had to chase it all the way down the court. While he was getting his ball back, the coaches kept the other guys from making their baskets until Jonathan got back there and made his so he wouldn’t get out. It was a hoot. Jonathan managed to stay in until about the third guy from the end on two of the games, and then he got out early in the last game. They all seemed to enjoy this and they had a great time as always. Friday was a special day for us. Elizabeth and Sarah had the opportunity last Thursday and Friday to be ushers at the Majestic Theater in Dallas for about 3 performances of the Dallas Black Ballet that schools around the area were coming to see. They had a great time and were able to earn some extra money for their choir tours this summer. Since they were already downtown, we took the opportunity to go visit a little boy named Jordan who is at Our Children’s House where Jonathan was. One of our precious supporters and prayer warriors sent me an email about this little boy when he first became ill. He got sick and one thing led to another and he ended up having a stroke, just like Jonathan. I was able to talk with this mother over the phone while he was at Children’s Medical Center and was able to share some things with her about our own experience that she could keep in mind. The day after I talked with her was when I got sick and so did the rest of the family for the next week, so it was about a week and a half before I was able to talk to them again. When I called Children’s I found out that he had been discharged and figured that he was at the OCH. After tracking them down there, we were able to go visit them and meet them in person. We are always thrilled to be able to share Jonathan’s story with anyone we can. Jonathan does not hesitate to step in and talk about God’s work in his life either. He talks about as much as I do! I was pleased with the progress I saw in this little boy. He is moving his arms, rubbing his face with his hands and his eyes are about half open and I would watch him blink off and on, just like he was awake. There are many similar things about both of our boys and there were times when I felt like I was looking at Jonathan again. The kids left for a little bit to go visit our friends there and we were able to see Mrs. Stephanie, Jonathan’s OT, before we left. After our stay at the OCH, it took me a while before I could even drive by without my chest tightening up anxiety creeping into my heart. Even now when we go to visit, I pull in one of those familiar parking places and say every time without fail, “I’m glad we don’t have to do this every day anymore.” But the Lord has been gracious to us and allowed us to revisit here several time for different reasons, and those anxious feelings are gone. This is a place of precious memories where miracles happened in Jonathan’s life. It’s a place that each time we visit, we come bearing testimony of God’s amazing power to heal and deliver and restore. It’s also a place where we get to do what we love to do most…minister to people who are in need of hope and encouragement, just like so many of you did for us when we were there. I hope you will pray for little Jordan Capener and for his parents, Todd and Michelle, that God will make Himself known to them in a powerful way, and that Jordan will join Jonathan and the host of other miracles out there in proclaiming the greatness of our God all the days of his life. Jonathan had another basketball game on Saturday. He did great again, as usual. This week he even tripped and fell down while he was running down the court and got up and moved on without any hesitation whatsoever. He made a couple of “J Play” baskets and did a lot of running up and down the court. We are going to miss Upward a lot when the season comes to an end in a couple of weeks. This has been such a great year for Jonathan. He has grown so much since last year and has gained so much confidence in himself this season. We were able to obtain some video of the basket that Jonathan made a couple of weeks ago. It is going to be part of the Awards Night video that is being made. Hopefully we will be able to put it up on the website soon. I’ll tell you, it makes me want to jump up and down and shout every time I watch it. God is so good! We had a great day at church on Sunday. The sermons that Dr. Anderson preached on Sunday were about believing that God can do miracles today. I had the chance to share a little of Jonathan’s story with him after the service Sunday morning. His words echo what I am learning in the Believing God Bible study that I am doing right now. While I have always believed and openly testify to that belief that God can do miracles today, I’m not sure I could ever say that I had seen one personally. God was gracious to show me first hand that He is able to do great miracles today and it has caused me to Believe Him for great things on a larger scale and to actively look for them all around me. Dr. Anderson said that “Miracles are God’s signature – It’s how He makes Himself known.” How blessed am I to have God’s signature to look at every day not just in my precious son but in my entire family, for we are all God’s miracles. On Sunday evening, Jonathan was a little late coming down from choir and getting to church. When he finally reached us in the Sanctuary, he was beaming and beside himself with excitement. He got a part in the spring musical that the Children’s Choir will be doing at the end of April. He was so excited he almost couldn’t contain himself. He told everyone he came in contact with about his part. We are really looking forward to it. This will be his first role since he played Tiny Tim in Ebenezer, just before he got sick. After the service, we got to enjoy hearing Sarah and the Clarion Choir (Middle School Choir) present music at their Dessert Theater fund raiser. They did music from the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, a medley of fun songs from other Disney movies and High School Musical. Sarah had a solo in High School Musical and she did a fabulous job! We always get so many compliments on Sarah when she sings because her face just radiates her enthusiasm and love for music. She is a true joy to watch and to hear her sing. The Dessert Theater was so much fun, but we were wiped out by the end of the day. We are still doing well on our diet. Jonathan has almost made his goal for this month. He has one more pound to lose that we will hopefully lose this week and he will have lost 10 pounds. He is looking really good. He pulled out a polo shirt that he has never been able to wear (it still had the tag on it) and he wore it Sunday night to church. He was so proud!
Thank you so much for your prayers for Jonathan and our family. God is so gracious and good to us. We have much to be thankful for. We hope you will continue to pray for Jonathan about a few things. Continue to pray for his sleeping that God will heal this and that we will be able to put this completely behind us soon. Continue to pray for success in our diet and weight loss. Pray that Jonathan will meet his goal by the end of the week and that we can begin our new goal for March of losing another 5 pounds. Also pray for our upcoming doctor appointment. I have struggled with who to use for his endocrine doctor. To be honest, I really didn’t want to go back to Children’s because I am not expecting to get any more help from them than I did from Cooks. But after praying about it, I felt that the Lord wants us to return there as a testimony of God’s healing, so I called to make an appointment. I will have to fill out paperwork again before getting a specific appointment, but it should be some time in April. You can also pray about horse therapy which we found out begins again next week. Although we really want Mrs. Julie back as our instructor and Gracie as our horse, please pray that God will orchestrate both of those details for Jonathan’s good and for His glory. I hope that you will also pray for me as well. I have been earnestly seeking the Lord this week about understanding Jonathan’s diabetes. There are some trends that I see in Jonathan as I watch his blood sugars each day that I don’t understand and I don’t know how to change. Most people will respond that I will never understand it because no one understands why this disease does what it does. But I know that God knows and understands. He is not the God of confusion and He has promised to give me wisdom if I need it. I found this Scriptures (amongst many) that really spoke to me about this process. Isaiah 42:16 - "And I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, in paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, and I will not leave them undone." I am a blind person on this path of diabetes that I do not know, nor do I understand – God has promised to guide me. I am walking in darkness – God has promised to turn it into light. I am on this rugged path of learning how to effectively deal with this disease in my child – God has promised to make that rugged path into a plain. These are the things that He will do and He will not leave them undone. I’m Believing God for this. Pray that I will not lean on my own understanding, as much as I want to understand this disease, but that I will trust in the Lord with all my heart and make Him known in everything that I do. I know that He will be faithful to keep His promise to direct my path (Prov. 3:5-6). The other Scripture I have found is one that I have claimed before on this journey and I am claiming it anew with this process. I hope you will pray it and claim it for me as well. Our family is so blessed by your friendship, your love, care and prayers for us. Words will never be adequate enough to express our gratitude to you for all you do to carry us through this journey. May God give you a blessed week.

Isaiah 30:18-21 - Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. 19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. 20 Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. 21 And your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left.