The Sheepfold and the Voice of the Shepherd

Stone sheepfold John 10:22-30 Recently my boys have been spending a great deal of time outside in the area that will soon be transformed into our garden. They spend endless hours digging in the dirt for worms. They then promptly take those worms and throw them to the chickens. It amazes me how even chickens can learn to recognize sounds or voices. My oldest makes this funny high-pitched sound when he comes out of the house and heads toward the coop. The chickens practically fall over themselves running toward the fence or out of the coop when they hear him making his sound. They know there is food to follow! In Sunday's Gospel Jesus tells us that, "My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me." and "I am the gate for the sheep." Today, again, Jesus mentions that His sheep know His voice and follow Him.  In these few verses we learn that Jesus is both gate and shepherd for the sheep. In those days and even today in some places, a sheepfold w

I got my eye on you...




As you can tell (or can you?) Catherine got her prosthetic eye a few days ago. It's amazing! Not only is the color an almost perfect match, it moves within the socket making it look very realistic. We went to Miller Artificial Eye Laboratory in Columbus and they are truly artists. She will go back there every few months to make sure it's fitting properly and to make any adjustments as she gets bigger.


Yesterday we took Catherine to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for an EUA (examination under anesthesia) of her left eye. She needs to have these every three months for a few years to check for tumors and to treat them if found. You may remember that we were taking her to Philadelphia for this. While the doctors in Philadelphia are great, they aren't on our insurance and the distance was going to be difficult to manage. I found that Cincinnati has a Retinoblastoma Program and we were very impressed with their program. We feel that she will get excellent care there. A big plus is that the head of the program did his fellowship at the Will's Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. Anyway, her exam came back great, no tumors. He wants to look at her eye one more time under anesthesia and then he will do the exams in his office without anesthesia. He feels that he can get a good enough look without putting the kids through anesthesia every three months. We like that! She also needs to get an MRI every 6 months, and that will be done there as well, hopefully at the same time as she has her next EUA in June.
Catherine is doing well otherwise. She finally figured out that she doesn't have to stay in the living room. There's the kitchen and under the table, and hey! there's a whole 'nother room just full of toys! She is crawling everywhere - it's great! (I say that now, without a newborn in the house yet!)
The baby is coming in three weeks give or take, we can't wait! Please continue your prayers for us, as we continue to pray for all of you.
God Bless!

Comments

Barbara said…
What a sugar! And I'm sure you're glad she's getting around even if that means you need more eyes in the back of your head.;-)
Pogue Mahone said…
Wow, the artificial eye looks so real, it's amazing! No one would ever know!