October 7, 2012

So much to catch up on - so little time to do it! Ami, his brother and Ariel and I traveled to the U.S. the second half of August to visit family and get Ami ready for his new school year. We were able to visit my Mom in Miami, our congregation in NYC, and my sister and her family in upstate NY. We had a bit of a drama while in Miami, hurricane Isaac threatened to pass through southern Florida on the very day we were scheduled to fly up to NYC. By Friday even though the storm was just around Cuba (368.65 kilometres 229 miles from Miami) we realized we would probably have to change our flight plans as it was already stormy and raining with 50-60 mph wind gusts.

I saw on the internet that although they hadn't officially cancelled any flights, changes could be made without fines or charges. By Saturday morning, the only flight we were able to get 3 seats on was on a flight leaving Orlando, Florida at 6:30 AM Sunday morning. Orlando is a 4 hour drive from Miami. Thankfully, David has a sister living in Orlando, and so we packed up quickly, kissed Mom goodbye and ran away from the hurricane! Just an hour out of Miami the weather was clear - and we made it up to Orlando in the late afternoon. We went to sleep at 10PM, woke up at 2:45 AM, got on the 6:30 flight and made it up to NYC by 9:30 in the morning. It was a miracle as we had a very packed schedule in every one of our destinations, especially in NYC where it was crucial to hit Costco's and stock up on everything Ami would need for the year in college.

COLLEGE

Every time I drop Ami off at college, I am given much grace and a deep sense that he is in the right place at the right time. Please keep him in your prayers as the pressure and intensity level of the studies is really stretching him. Also, the discipline of college basketball which includes study table (having to study in the gym in the presence of the coach 3 hours a week) is a big adjustment for him. American culture and American kids are a big adjustment, reading for hours, papers and tests non-stop, and all in English is a bit overwhelming at times. Throw in a little home-sickness, cafeteria food and long, very cold winters and it is challenging. But he is facing it all like a trooper, having been through the fire literally has strengthened him in the inner man.

Basketball practices officially begin the middle of October, but the team has been practicing and working out. He finds his playing confidence, then loses it a little, then finds it again in his new setting and on a new team. This too has been a challenge for him.

Meanwhile, we had another interesting breakthrough. During the summer, Ami expressed that he was ready for plastic surgery on his scars which cover 80% of his body, including skin grafts on his whole abdomen and left thigh. He wants to do it next summer after the school year, but we had to prayerfully explore what kind of surgery was available. David found an amazing report on Fox News about a new method of laser surgery being used in a hospital in Texas for soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. (http://video.foxnews.com/v/1782436004001/laser-treatment-gives-new-hope-to-wounded-warriors)

We sent it to Ami and he said he wanted that surgery - so did we! It is a unique process, and so I tried to get in touch with the surgeon who had developed the method. It turned out to be a military facility that only treats military personnel and their dependents, and because of security I wasn't able to contact the doctor personally. While we were in the U.S. though, I called the hospital directly and finally got connected with their Public Relations Department. They were extremely helpful, and agreed to pass along an email to the doctor. I wrote to them, included the www.amiortiz.com web site link, and waited for an answer. After a month, and not hearing anything I called again. They told us they were so sorry that they couldn't help Ami. Even though the doctor said he would have loved to treat him, he couldn't convince the U.S. Army to make an exception. However, they then said they would give me the doctor's email address and I could ask him directly if there was any other place on the planet that used this method. I wrote to him, and he immediately answered me!

He said the only two other surgeons he would recommend were located in Miami and Italy that used the same method. My mother lives in Miami and we are very familiar with the city, and so I contacted that office. I spoke with the coordinator for out of town patients, because as it turns out the surgeon is passionate about burn survivors and treats them from all over the world. We looked at www.amiortiz.com together while on the phone, which has pictures of his wounds. She was deeply touched by his story, and told me she is sharing it with many people. She asked for recent photos of his scars, I contacted Ami and he immediately obliged. She told me that there is no insurance coverage for cosmetic surgery in the U.S. However, with this particular doctor, if she charges $3,000 per laser session to erase someone's wrinkles, she charges a burn victim $500 per session to improve or hide scars. They will write up an assessment of what is needed for Ami and send it to me probably this week.

FEASTS

The Fall Feasts of the Lord are almost over. This year as always we felt the awesome presence of the Lord hovering over the country as He reaches out to His people Israel through the feasts. It is a time of repentance and reflection, and a time of facing our mortality especially at his point in history. The threat of war hovers over our nation as well. Israel is an amazing place to live, where you can sense what is about to happen. It is something spiritually discerned by all, and I believe it is given by God. However, as we have been dedicating time to prayer and praise, we realize that there is something new about to spring up in the earth and in Israel. I believe that the so-called Arab Spring is a counterfeit of what the Lord wants to do in these last days, which is to pour out His Spirit yet again on this earth, beginning in Israel.

Isaiah 43:16-21


16 This is what the Lord says- he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,
17 who drew out the chariots and horses,the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 "Forget the former things;do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

Joel 2:28-29

28 "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants. I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

Blessings in the Messiah,

Leah

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