What a Great Day with Emily and Janis! AND A PROJECT!!

I've spent most of the afternoon and evening with Em and Janis today...it's been a great day! I agree with Janis that Em looks SOOOOO much better than she did this time last week. Her coloring is so much better and she's much more alert....and just a little bit FEISTY!!!! Which just made my year! Anyone who knows anything about Emily Kristin Panter knows that she's nothing if she isn't stubborn..it's one of the things I love so much about her. Well, I'll just be the first to announce....her stubbornness is coming back! When I walked around the corner to see her today, there was this look of intensity on her face that told me she could've conquered the world in that moment. She wanted to know where she was and why she was there and what in the world were all these things sticking out of her and she was stopping at NOTHING to get her answers! She had one of her feet sticking out of the covers and Luke kept trying to cover it up for her, but each time he'd cover it, she'd stick it out again and she kept mouthing the same words over and over and over, never swayed for an instant by the fact that each time she said it, all three of us got a different translation. Bless her heart, I know she'd give anything to be able to ask us everything she wants to know. I have never in my life been so encouraged by someone's stubborness than I am today. I left Baylor Medical Center tonight fully confident that Emily WILL go home from that place. She's got plenty of fight to get her through the things she still faces! THANK YOU, JESUS!

Another amazing part of my day was going with Janis to get our "toes done." We had a really great time and as I was driving home, I just began to think about how lucky I am to have Janis as a mom-in-law. I have never seen such strength in any other person as I've seen in her during this time. We were talking tonight about "sufficient grace" and I was telling her that I was thinking about her last night and how, even after everything that she and Mike have been through with their kids (Joshua's death, Jon's Down Syndrome and now Em's illness), she exudes strength. I was fully expecting to find her curled up in the fetal postion and melting down the day she found Emily unconsious, but instead, she was declaring the goodness of the Lord and speaking the things she knew to be true about his character. Though I knew she was scared, peace spread out all over her. My question was..."How? and Why?" How did you keep from absolutely losing it? Her response to me was that God gives us sufficient grace to cover us in our current circumstance...and that grace is sufficient to get us through. While others may not understand or have the same portion of that grace, God knows EXACTLY how much we need to walk through what He's asking us to walk through. That promise brings life to me and deeply encourages my spirit. Thank you, Janis, for serving your family so faithfully. Thanks for loving Em's kiddos the way you have. Thank you for putting aside your desires to be with your own baby and sacrificing sleep and sanity to take care of those 5 precious babies. You're beyond amazing.

So, now about my project. I'm wanting to TOTALLY makeover the Panter household inside and out for Christmas. I'm wanting to get a team of people together to completely get it set up in one afternoon. I'd like to be able to use all new items so Luke doesn't have to worry about getting their old stuff out. We could maybe ask them for a color scheme and then just go over one afternoon while they are away and totally surprise them. I know the kids would love it and Emily would too if she gets to come home by then. If you'd be interested in helping out with this, would you please email Becky at emily.panter05@gmail.com and she'll get me your info so I can be in touch or you can email me at kimberlydtz@yahoo.com.

Thank you to all of you who have loved our family. There aren't words to describe the depth of our gratitude to each and every one of you. Please believe me when I say that it is your love and prayers that have kept us going during this difficult time. We are blessed and we are thankful!

Keep Praying for our EMILY!:)

Kim