Jonathan Cooper Update

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.