claim your promises...

"Come on...! We have seen that the land is very good! Aren't you going to do something? Don't hesitate to go there and take it over...God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever!" (Judges 18:9-10)
"Come on! This command indicates that there is something definite for us to do and that nothing is ours unless we take it! We need to have appropriating faith when it comes to God's promises and should make His Word our own personal possession. A child was once asked what appropriating faith was, and he answered, "It is taking a pencil and underlining every me, my and mine in the Bible!" Pick any word you want that He has spoken and say, "That word is my word!" Put your finger on a promise and say, "It is mine!" How much of God's Word have you received and endorsed, and how much have you been able to say, "this has been done in my life?" By how many of His promises have you signed your name and said, "this has been fulfilled in me?" "My son,...you are always with me, and everything I have is yours!" Do not miss your own inheritance through your own neglect!"
"When faith goes to the market, it always takes a basket."
{streams in the desert}

I read this last night with Ben and was very humbled by the words that I was reading! Starting with the scripture in Judges! The "land" that the Lord has put us in a this time may not be what we wanted but it is good! But what are we going to do about it? Am I going to complain? Am I going to settle? Am I going to sit back and allow the enemy to take over a place in my heart that the Lord should have? That is not what the Lord instructs me to do...He tells me not to hesitate but to go forward and claim the goodness that He has promised Ben and I!
I love the response that this young child gave to underline every me, my and mine in the Bible! Why...because God's promises are our promises too! Every promise He made to those in the Bible are also ours to be had! But the catch is that we have to reach out and "take it over!" This applies not only to Ben's healing but our day to day life, feelings, emotions, dreams and desires! I have been challanged now to read the Word with a different look on the promises of the Lord!
For some reason this morning I woke up with a lightened heart, one of feeling more free. I don't know when the change came but it sure feels nice and the Lord is to be praised! He is enabling Ben and I to continue in this journey with more faith, strength, security in Him and together as a couple! I don't want to always look back and remember what "was" but what is to come and yes, the best is yet to come! Ben and I have created memories before the accident but we continue to build memories now that are just as important!
So, His Word is our Word, His promises are our promises, His dreams and desires for our lives are ours too! He did not come to destroy us but to build us up! He has a plan for our lives and that plan is perfect, perfected by Him!

When Ben was resting today I was laying next to him (the only way he will rest sometimes) and he said, "you are not going to leave me are you?" I asked him why he would think that and his response was, "there are people out there looking for love." My heart about broke but I also know that he was just double checking! We have had chats about trust and both of us being so in love with each other! I reassured Ben that I was not going anywhere (besides errands and at night to my room)and that I would love him with my whole heart for the rest of my life! He paused for a bit and then said in one full, loud sentence, "I love you with my whole heart, soul and mind...you deserve it!" Ben knows how to get to my heart and today he did! I don't know what I would ever do without him and him the same!

Ben has had a few productive days! He works hard in everything he does and comes back to his room sweating! It takes alot for Ben to sweat and has not really sweat that much before coming here! Today he had speech, neuro psych testing (which he said was bad because it was a test), PT in which he walked a ton and got on the foot bike, treadmill practice for an hour (actual time walking was 12 min...longest time yet) and currently in OT to work on his feeding skills! Full day and still not yet done! His goal is to work hard to go home!
In his testing in neuro psych Ben was asked to draw a circle and then put the numbers in where they should be. He was then asked to draw the hands at 9 o'clock. This is the first time he has been asked to do this and this is how it came out...

{he corrected his 9 because it was at the 8 first!}

Here are a few more random photos I forgot to include in previous posts...

{arts and crafts}

{grrrr faces}

{Ben getting our fire fighter friend Dante for picking on him}

Prayer requests:
1. Ben's memory!
2. Ben to initiate more...ask questions, ask for things, respond to people more.
3. Muscle loosening...to his neck, shoulders, arms, legs and every on in between
4. Coordination of his brain to his body...he knows how to do everything
5. ADL's (activities of daily living)...feeding, grooming, dressing...all the things that are in our daily life! The more Ben gets these down the easier it will be for me to take care of him at home!!
6. Mood continue to be up!