June and October 2005 Updates

June 13, 2005

Dear Loved Ones, my prayer warriors and friends,

With the girls actually sleeping during nap time and Ezzy cozy in his bed ready for his nap, I literally ran to the computer to write this update!!! :) Many of you, my wonderful friends, have been writing, calling, and asking how our sweet boy and whole family are doing. So, with many eventful things to fill you in on, I invite you to read about all God is doing and continues to do in and through our sweet son Ezra.
Each time I write an update, they seem to get longer and longer. My solution to this was to write more frequently, but as you have figured, wishful thinking! :) Let me once again take time to thank you for your love and prayers. Our family continually feels the power of prayer and God is using each of you in our lives. Thank you for being used by Him for His glory!
So, where do I begin?....About four weeks ago my heart was overflowing with joy as our family drove to a beautiful piece of land with a beautiful gray house, lovingly chosen by my parents as their new home. My parents arrived and became Missouri residents on May 8th. God, in His perfect wisdom, and love gave me wonderful parents, that without a blink of an eye, they relocated and moved what few belongings they have kept and are now living only 6 miles away from us here in Linn Creek. As I wrote earlier, my heart welled with excitement at the thought of relief in my day to day tasks, and joys at all the memories that will be made here with them. They have been a huge blessing and words can not describe how privileged we are to have them here to help us in the task of raising sweet Ezra and the girls. The house they have bought has already become the girl’s favorite place to be. Nana and Papa include them in all sorts of fun projects like planting and watering flowers, and just plain getting dirty!
God is Sovereign and in control of all things and His timing is perfect. Just after having my parents here for 2 weeks, Ezra became very sick, his first time since being home. What seemed to be a common cold quickly became very serious when his temperature would not go down. I brought him to the pediatrician and the girls to my parent’s house. After giving him a breathing treatment and seeing him struggle to breathe, we were off to the local hospital. Six hours later there was still no improvement, so they decided to fly him by helicopter to the University Hospital in Columbia. There they are better equipped to care for him. Watching him be taken into the air was not easy, but God in His perfect love gave peace to our racing hearts. Ezra was in ICU for one night and then moved to a regular room the next day. His breathing got much better, it turns out he had the flu and pneumonia. The girls were able to stay with my parents the whole time. Our minds were at ease, knowing that they were being cared for and that we could concentrate on Ezra. God’s timing is perfect in bringing Nana and Papa here to be the help that we needed. God’s timing is also perfect in the wonderful visit we had with Edwin’s sister April, her husband Jeremiah and their boys, Jordan and Judah. As soon as they heard Ezzy was sick, they came right up to the hospital along with our Pastor and his wife. Both couples were an amazing encouragement to our hearts as we all prayed over Ezra’s sick little body. God continued to encourage us through people who visited us for the next couple days of our stay. Once we were sent home, the “sick bug” took its turn with us all. Just when we thought we were in the clear, little Ellie became sick with pneumonia. We spent another 3 days in Columbia with her! Gabby and Ezra stayed with mom and dad. I have trained mom in caring for Ezra, we didn’t have to worry about him at all. God’s timing again perfect in having mom and dad here! After each breathing treatment she improved more and more. We were so happy to take Ellie home after 3 days in the hospital.
Ezra had his brain test (EEG) on June 2nd, the results are still pending. I often think about where we are and where so many of you reading this live; I marvel at how good God is in placing us here, with a loving church family ready to help at a moment’s notice and for those of you who live states or oceans apart from us, daily encouraging us through emails, letters, and phone calls assuring us of your support and prayers for our family!
Some days when I’m close to tears, I’m able to smile at the thought of all of you praying for our family. God gives us opportunities to share about His goodness in sweet Ezra’s life almost every day. A trip to Wal-Mart is never quick,(we spent 2 hours talking last night in the shoe dept.) there is always someone wanting to know about our beautiful son and his progress. When asked how old he is and seeing that he is very small for 4 months, an opportunity arises for me to share how he is a miracle and gift from God. Through sharing about Ezra and meeting people wherever I go, I have learned so much about the struggles and the sorrow others have gone through. It is in these times that God’s goodness needs to shine in my attitude in regards to Ezzy.
Ezra’s Progress: His therapy sessions are wonderful. He visits four therapists a week. We are so encouraged with all his hard work in learning to suck-breath-swallow at the same time. His muscles are finally loosening up and he is moving his head, on his own, to both sides, a huge step for Ezzy! He is opening his hands more and actually usually sleeps with them half open, HUGE! :) He now weighs 10 lb. 4 oz. and is 23 inches long! We have now moved to 3-6 month clothing! Yah! He is focusing on faces and responds to the familiar ones he knows. His big sisters continue to love on him and bless our hearts with their sweet care for their baby brother. Daily God reminds me of how He perfectly planned for our family to have the blessing of Ezra in our lives. Seeing him dance around with daddy and the special bond they share or watching him drift into peaceful sleep in daddy’s arms, warms my heart and brings joy at the privilege of raising sweet Ezra.
This email could go on and on at all God is doing through all of you, but I must come to a close and hope many of you have enjoyed my recap on God’s goodness in our lives this past month! We love you and praise God for each one of you. I encourage you to share all God is doing in Ezzy’s life with those you come in contact with. God created him for a purpose, as He did when He created you. Rejoice in God’s goodness in your life and give a hug to the ones you love!
We love you and praise God for YOU!
Lizy for the bunch of Borbes

“Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.” James 1:17

Many of you ask for specific ways to pray, thank you and here you go:
· For all of us to stay healthy!
· Wisdom in prioritizing and balancing our daily tasks
· That we would sneak away from the busyness and rest in God’s goodness DAILY
· For Ezzy to continue to learn to take oral feedings (suck, swallow and breath)
· His head would grow, a big concern about his development
· Wisdom in researching about more aggressive treatment for him
· Wisdom in raising our girls
PRAISE:
· For all the prayers we daily receive
· For God’s endless supply of strength!
· For four great years with Gabby, her b-day was May 21
· For God’s Word, which daily gives us wisdom and refreshment
· For friends and family, near and far staying in touch with us
· For a van that provides transportation to all the places we need to go!

October 21, 2005

Hello Dear Friends and Family!
As Ezra’s NINE month celebration nears, I want to write a LONG overdue update to his biggest fans! God is so wonderful and amazing, I just can’t be silent a moment longer! We have had so many victories in these last few months, you may want to settle in and get cozy!
Where do I begin? I am not sure of my last update to you all, but I do believe it was during the summer time. That would explain my lack of sending an update! Summer time here for the Borbe Bunch is a whirlwind! :) We had a great summer, making memories with Grandparents, Markley cousins, Jackson cousins, Rivera cousins, Aunties and Uncles! Our photo files are bulging with all the pictures of our summer fun. I was looking through them all today and enjoyed seeing how much Ezra has grown! He is now almost 15 lbs. and 25 in. long! I can’t keep up with all the clothes he is outgrowing! One of my many prayers when we first brought him home was that Ezzy would wear some of the clothing I excitedly picked out when we found out we were having our first son. God in His love and kindness has answered that prayer from a mommy’s heart and I praise Him for this blessing! Little victories, such as this, are met every day; celebrated secretly within a parent’s heart. Don’t get me wrong, we have big celebrations too! Every new month we have with our sweet son is celebrated with friends and family! We love giving glory to God for our precious time with our little man.
Some of Ezzy’s milestones have been drinking more from a bottle, at times a total of 4 oz.! He is also enjoying the world of messy faces due to eating baby food from a SPOON! :) His favorites seem to be strawberry yogurt and sweet potatoes, not together of course! He has more relaxed muscle tone, which gives him more freedom to discover how his body works, such as moving his arms and legs more. That is the main thing we are working on now in therapy; teaching Ezra what every body part was created for and giving him the sensation of using his cute little body parts God gave him. His hands are very open and relaxed, our goal now is for him to desire and choose to bring them together and grab toys, the first toy of choice being a basketball of course! :) He responds with his special smile (we see it in his eyes) when we clap his hands together. He loves it! We cheer “yah Ezra!” and I think he knows it! He quickly captures the heart of everyone he meets. His therapists sure do melt every time they see him! He now is the proud owner of his first set of wheels! Ezra has a new Kid Cart, which is an infant “wheel chair”. It mostly looks like a stroller, but has a base that can either be latched into a stroller base or an at home “activity” center that rolls around to be used as a highchair or simply a seat to just chill in. :) It was specially made and molded for his cutie little body and is the exact corrective positioning that Ezra’s little spine needs. We are seeing a definite C shape, due to his very tight muscle tone brought on by his injured little brain. He is however recovery wonderfully from his “muscle episodes” by being able to bring himself out of it and back to a relaxed position. Yet another victory in our journey!
Speaking of journey, daddy, mommy, and Ezzy just took a 4 hour journey to see a new Neurologist (brain doc) in St. Louis, at Children’s Hospital. Dr. Noetzel comes very highly recommended and we are so thankful to have this opportunity. We arrived to find out that insurance details were not finalized and therefore, we were unable to be seen by Dr. Noetzel. So after a very kind and reassuring husband loaded up his crying wife and sweet baby boy, Kid Cart and all, into our van for the drive home, a sweet sense of indescribable peace washed over me. I knew most of you reading where praying for our highly anticipated appt., an appt. that would answer questions and bring clarity to our understanding of Ezra’s condition. Thank you. Yes, I was sad and mostly just disappointed, but having Edwin there with me, assuring me that God was in control and that we were on a journey led by our Lord, was such an encouragement. We do have another appt. scheduled for October 31st and again we are anticipating many tests to be run and discussion on how to best treat Ezra. We did have an EEG taken in June, but did not receive answers as we had hoped we would. This finalized our questioning on whether or not we need to find a more aggressive Neurologist for Ezra. Please pray that Dr. Noetzel will desire to research out all we can do for Ezzy. We will keep you posted!
Along with the theme of journeys we have taken, there has been the midnight “run” (1.5 hr.) to Columbia University for a new Mic Key button to be replaced due to his simply falling out :); and then there is our journey of our family moving to our FIRST HOUSE! Yup, God has given us a home of our very own! How exciting it has been and well, busy! We have been living in our new home for three weeks now. We now live in town, which is much more convenient for our go-go schedule. Our church here has overwhelmed us with love and worked on our fixer-upper and made it into a beautiful home. Along with the older men of our church, my dad, mom, hubbie, sister, two brothers in laws, and many others have given their time towards making our house a warm and welcoming home. Edwin and I have been praying for a home to use to reach out and open to those around us. We host a weekly U Group for some youth (U for Unity) and it is during those times that we enjoy living right in town. Many youth are able to come because of where we live now. They have graciously respected our new location and given us our “space”. :) We have our family times and absolutely LOVE having daddy home for lunch almost every day! The church is now only 3 minutes away, making a great distance for “daddy pop-ins” during the day. The girls jump for joy every time their daddy walks in the door; you would think he was a movie star! And I guess to them, he is. :) He is an amazing daddy, he take every chance he can to brag about his kids and absolutely loves them dearly. We love our ministry here in Camdenton, Missouri. God is on the move and lives are being changed!
Ezra’s big sisters love action and actually ask me every day, “where are we going today?” They simply assume we are heading out the door. I LOVE the days when I don’t have to, which is usually one day a week :) No, really, I am sooo thankful for darling girls ready to go and do whatever we need to do for the day. They are so flexible and I praise God for creating them just as they are, full of life, ready and willing to be left with Nana and Papa or Auntie April and Uncle Jeremiah, at the drop of a hat, cause we have to tend to Ezzy. Our family dynamics and daily schedule on most days is “Borbe style” and for this I am so thankful. We retreat as a family when we can, whether it is having a picnic lunch on the church lawn with daddy or taking a drive to buy Youth supplies, we love any and every time we can be a family. Gabby seems to be our outside girl, ready to collect “beautiful” rocks and acorns, while Ellie likes that, but prefers rocking her baby dolls to sleep. Gabby loves a good book and usually cons any youth sitting in the back seat of our van to read a story to her J Ellie is still our little blondie and on a daily basis, we are asked if she is ours…..hmmm, maybe I should make a T-Shirt that says, ”my mommy always thought blondes were cute, but didn’t think she would have one, and YES, I am theirs!” Seriously, we are asked if we have adopted Ellie or if she is really ours! :) Hilarious. Gabby and Ezzy are definitely related, Ezra even stretches the same way Gabs used to as a baby!
Last Wed. we had a review time with Ezzy’s therapists, going over Ezra’s first set of goals. As my service coordinator was reading off our goals, written six months ago when we started therapy, I was in awe and thankfulness as every one she read has been MET! The sky is the limit when we serve an awesome God and because of HIS complete and outstanding goodness can I even write with true sincerity that I have loved every moment of our journey so far. Many of you are on journeys, whether outwardly known or not, and we all need God to see us through, whether big or small. Cling to Him for your wisdom, seek Him for your peace and rest IN HIM for your comfort. We love everyone of your reading this update and thank you for being part of this journey we are on……raising our sweet baby boy, Ezra Cross.
May you rest in the goodness of God today and every day!
Love,
The Borbe Bunch

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21