Jonathan Cooper Update

This has been a wonderful week for our family in many ways. I have so much to share with you. God has been very good to us. First of all, let me start out by telling you about last Sunday. I told you in the last post that last Wednesday Uncle Timmy let Jonathan help him play the percussion/drums in our dress rehearsal for our Easter musical. What I didn’t tell you was that Tim was going to see if Jonathan could help play in the actual concert on Sunday evening. When Tim told Jonathan that, he was beside himself with excitement for the rest of the week. Just the thought of the possibility made him so very proud. So Jonathan came to rehearsal on Saturday afternoon, and Tim helped him play the tambourine, the suspended symbol and the timpani drum on several songs. Jonathan did really well and Tim did a phenomenal job of playing everything and talking Jonathan through everything all at the same time. Jonathan was more excited than you can even imagine knowing that he was going to get to play in the concert. I was also excited but equally as nervous about it. But I was confident in Tim’s ability to handle Jonathan and help him play without messing anything up. Well Sunday evening couldn’t get her fast enough for Jonathan. Aunt Keby found him a black suit coat and Uncle Timmy gave him a tie and cumber bun and Jonathan joined Tim, Steve Tucker and Charles Darus on the platform for the concert. Not only was Jonathan excited about this, but the entire choir was thrilled to have him participating. I can’t tell you how many people shared with me what a joy it was to see Jonathan playing. I had several tell me they couldn’t watch him because it made them want to cry. The miracle of Jonathan’s life continues to glorify God and causes people to acknowledge the power of our great God. What a wonderful blessing. The concert was wonderful. I tried to pay attention to my music and watch Jonathan as much as I could. Jonathan faithfully watched his Uncle Timmy for instructions, he counted out his part when he needed to and he handled everything with great ease. On the very last song, Jonathan got to join Tim with a final roll on the timpani drum. It was a huge ending to a huge accomplishment for Jonathan, one that makes me smile and brings tears to my eyes even as I write about it. Jonathan was flooded with compliments and congratulations by many, many people. He was so proud. He thanked his awesome Uncle Timmy for helping him play and also thanked our wonderful director, Eddie Farguson for allowing him to play. It was another record awesome day for Jonathan, one that he will not soon forget. Well, you would think that after a mountaintop experience such as that, it would take a lot to bring someone down. However, for me, I think I fell off the mountain the very next day. I finally heard back from both Scottish Rite and Children’s endocrinology. Scottish Rite asked for more information to see if they will be able to help Jonathan, so I sent back what they asked for and am waiting to hear from them again. Childrens called to give me the dates of the appointments. Since it has been two years since we saw them, they require us to take their Diabetes Education class before we can see the doctor. As I told you in the last post, our very expensive, very poor insurance just recently got worse. We now have an HSA account which means we still have to pay almost the same amount for the insurance each month then we have to put money in this account to pay for our doctor visits, prescriptions, etc. There are no copays, just discounted prices on these things. Last week I paid $142 for one month’s worth of one of Jonathan’s insulins. He has to have two insulins. $142 was the discounted price. That was a savings of about $8 from the full price. So I asked Childrens for the cost of the diabetes class and doctor visit. The class alone costs $400. I don’t even know what the doctor visit costs. So needless to say, our financial needs caused me such significant discouragement on Monday and Tuesday. But I continued to pray knowing that God has faithfully provided in the past and knowing that He has to take care of these needs because His Word says He will. To add to my disappointment, when we got to horse therapy on Tuesday, we were met with the news that Jonathan was going to have a new horse. When we began this session, there was a conflict with our horse Gracie. There was another boy who has ridden Gracie for 4 years who moved his lesson to the same time as Jonathan this year, which caused the conflict. They tried to get him to change horses and ride another one, leaving Gracie for Jonathan. This child apparently has a difficult time with change and was not adjusting well to the new horse. Jonathan is the most easy going, flexible, easily adjustable to change kind of person you could ask for. I was the one who had a hard time with the change and he just took it all in stride and was not bothered one bit by any of it. He convicts me. So, Jonathan is now riding Lollipop. He is one of the biggest horses I have ever seen. He’s not tall, just a huge horse. He is one of the horses that pulls the carriages for those who can’t ride horses yet. Since we have never experienced the carriages, Mrs. Julie hooked Lollipop up to a carriage and showed Jonathan how to drive. Jonathan took Elizabeth, Sarah and me for a ride. Lollipop seems like a great horse. He is also a beautiful light brown horse with a huge blonde mane. You can see his picture on their website: http://www.spirithorsetherapy.com/spirithorse/about/horses.php Anyway, even though I allowed our circumstances to get me down, the Lord was faithfully working His plan of provision for our family, although unknown to me at the time. By the end of the day, Lamar had an appointment to interview for a job with a company that he has been working with for the last couple of weeks. By Wednesday afternoon, he had accepted the offer and will soon be working for a company called Essilor. Not only is this God’s will and direction for Lamar in his work, but the biggest provision is that our insurance cost will be cut more than half and we will be going back to the same insurance company we had when Jonathan was sick, which we know to be good insurance. Again I am convicted that I let my circumstances control my joy and attitude and yet I am humbled that God was so gracious to provide for us despite my discouraged outlook. So needless to say, we are very excited about the potential this new job brings to Lamar. We have been seeking the Lord’s direction for some time now about this and we are so thankful for God’s answer to this prayer.
We are still diligently working on our diet and exercise. Jonathan is still riding his bike on his own and getting better with it all the time. He finally dropped another pound this week, so we are encouraged about that. He is now at 119 pounds. Lamar and I also continue to lose weight and we are all very encouraged about our progress. Please continue to pray for us as we remain diligent in this process. Pray especially for Jonathan that he will continue to lose weight. Our goal is 5 pounds for the month of April and 10 pounds by his birthday, May 24. Please pray with us that we will be able to find another endocrinologist for Jonathan to see. Please pray that the Lord will guide my search and that we will find the exact doctor that we need for Jonathan. Continue to pray for the possibility of Scottish Rite. Jonathan’s legs, hips and ankles continue to get stronger the more we exercise. Please pray that we will be able to find help to correct his foot that does not require surgery. Join us as we praise God for His wonderful work in Jonathan’s life and His provision for our family. Pray that we will be faithful to trust Him with our whole heart and make Him known in all things. He alone deserves the glory.
Easter is such a special time for our family. Elizabeth, Sarah and Jonathan were all saved around Easter. Elizabeth and Sarah were both baptized on Easter and Jonathan made his profession of faith on Easter. Jonathan played the part of a young crippled boy named Micah who was healed by Jesus in 8 Days 3 years ago. You can watch the video here on the website (8 Days 2004). It is one of the most moving things for me to watch. Scroll down and you can watch the next most moving event for us, Easter 2005. Easter not only represents the ultimate victory of the resurrection of Christ, but the power of God to breath life back into our precious son and raise him up again. Easter will have profound meaning for our family forever. And yet if Christ had not risen from the dead on that Easter Sunday morning 2000 years ago, our hope and faith would be in vain. It is our prayer that you will experience afresh and anew the profound impact of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in your life. Hallelujah to the Risen Lamb!

So Shall We Live – Light of the world with hope fills the sky, for gone is the power of the darkness. The tomb that held the Son of God breaks with a cry from heaven, “He who was dead is risen! Up from the grave ascended! The reign of death is ended!” O, Saints rejoice and lift up your voice, for we bear the wounds of our Saviour. And just as Christ was crucified, we who are buried with Him, are reaised in newness with Him. We share His resurrection, our blessed liberation. So shall we live, for His cross has gone before. Christ has spoken our freedom, He’s broken all our bondage and opened God’s heaven to man. So shall we live, and so shall we reign in glory and power, now and forever. Blessed is the name of the Lord! Amen.