The Zebra and the Little Stinker (aka Rhy & Ev)

It's been way too long, I am so sorry!!

So many amazing blessings have occurred since my last posting. We have had our ups and downs, but we continue to see His hand in every moment. School started and the first part of the year was an extreme adjustment. Rhyan learned to turn inward when she couldn't hear for that month after activation this summer, so when she started school and couldn't hear because of the background noise of all the children, she would do the same. It took a few weeks to teach her how to listen again. Once she re-learned how to focus, she has been excelling and we are so happy to have a her hearing in stereo! I've also seen improvement on her hearing of her new ear. We found out at a recent hearing screen that it can take up to a year for the neural pathways to develop where she's hearing at her best. That was very encouraging.

Aside from the residual chaos of our summer miracle, I believe we are beginning the next leg of our journey. We have decided to start a not for profit company, called Rhyan’s Hope, to help little ones receive Cochlear Implants if they are denied by insurance or have no insurance. When Matt and I started talking about it, I felt without a doubt, that God was telling me this is my purpose in life. Aside from being a wife, mommy and friend, my purpose in this world is to help children like Rhyan. Children that don’t have the chance that she did.

Immediately, I told God that I can’t do this. I didn’t know where to start, I don’t have the experience, I don’t have the abilities that one might need to fundraise. I told Him right from the start that I will be His servant, but He is in complete control. That very day, I went to the park with two good friends (moms of Rhyan’s friends). I told them our idea and one friend said she could help me start the corporation, the other friend is in charge of fundraising for her company and said she could help in that area. I was so filled with the Holy Spirit when I left that I thought my heart would explode.

At that point all we needed, aside from time to do these things, was a candidate. That was actually what I was most concerned about. We didn’t know where to go and because of Hippa laws, we can’t contact anyone specifically. I was concerned about having the child go through the expense of having extensive testing only to find out they weren’t a medical candidate for the implant. I knew God would show us the right child, but I had questions. Yesterday, we were in St. Pete for Rhyan’s mappings and Rhy’s audiologist said she thought she had the perfect child. Once she explained how the family’s insurance had an exclusion on Cochlear Implants, I knew we had our baby to fight for. I have felt so close to Jesus this week. We’re doing a bible study on the power of prayer, and I have witnessed so many miracles over the last few weeks, it’s undeniable that He is Lord.

So, this is a fight for us all. God is going to use us in a magnificent way to give a child the gift of hearing. We are given the chance to change a baby’s entire future. I can’t wait to begin. I only ask three things from my loved ones, and I will include this in a mass email sometime in the future. We plan on asking for $1, we ask that you pass the request for $1 to everyone in your address list, and we ask for prayer as you're hitting 'send'. I believe that with $1, God will let a baby hear for the very first time in her life. I believe it with all my heart.