Health Update

A few weeks ago we wrote about God orchestrating our lives in the big things and little things… and we saw him do this over and over again in travels and in Brisbane as we made multiple trips to the hospital with Naomi. Thank you for praying for us!

God answered so many prayers…
On time flights to Brisbane so we could make it in time for Naomi’s MRI
Naomi was so distracted with new toys at the Ronald McDonald House the day of the MRI that she didn’t talk about eating very much at all.
Naomi’s MRI went well and Beth was able to be with her until she was put to sleep and with her again as soon as she woke up.
The extra melanin in Naomi’s brain has remained the same with no growth or multiplication.
The dermatologist said that all her birthmarks look good with no changes or concerns.
The ophthalmologist said the back of Naomi’s eyes look good with no concern of new melanin growths.
Cost covered for all of the expenses for Naomi and Beth

God even answered prayers that we didn’t even think to pray about…
Meeting a wonderful church body in Brisbane
New friends from the church body
New friends with a 3 ½ year old girl who has a similar condition of birthmarks like Naomi
Beth’s computer was fixed through a friend of our new friends
Jacob has a new contact for advice and parts on pumps
Jonathan had a great time with all the kids at the Ronald McDonald house, every day he had new friends to play with
Opportunity to eat lunch out with Beth’s old friend Audrey
Opportunity to go to the Koala Sanctuary and even pet kangaroos
Opportunity to go on a river boat tour and enjoy the view from the Wheel of Brisbane
Even when we all got sick on our flights back to PNG, God enabled us to make it home safe and sound

We are very thankful that Naomi is doing well with no side effects from her NCM condition. We were also thankful to be able to enjoy a little break in Brisbane after all of her hospital visits were finished. We enjoyed the ‘cold’ weather as it is fall in Australia now, we loved wearing jeans and sweatshirts! And we enjoyed life in civilization, using fast internet, catching the bus for shopping, eating yummy food that we can’t get here in PNG and walking around the city without everyone staring at us. We were also amazed at how God orchestrated each day, although some days did seem like chaos to us.  We even met a family with a little girl, 3 ½ years old, with a of birthmarks like Naomi, but so many many more. It was interesting to talk with this family and meet this cute little girl! We started attending a church in Brisbane and met some lovely believers there. We also met another believer on the bus ride to the Koala Sanctuary who happened to be from MA and her daughter is moving to Pittsfield, Beth’s hometown, very soon to work at the hospital where Beth’s mom works. It is a small world! We were sad that Beth’s mom wasn’t able to join us in Brisbane, but God brought along some friends for us to talk with while we were in in Brisbane. And we look forward to seeing Beth’s mom in Sept in PNG, hopefully!