Hello! It has been a busy week here in Chicago..
As some of you know I have friends in Chicago that I have met back home.
They where on the coast (2003) in the same house that me and my mom where staying.
Carol and Bob heard someone playing the song “Open the Eye’s of My Heart Lord” and they went looking for who it was. They saw me (little me).
That is how we met and had a great time together in fellowship like only brothers and sisters in Christ can.
Every year they come to Croatia and call my mom and I to get together with us, as they pass trough the Zagreb.
We missed seeing them in the year 05, but last year they contacted my mom.
She said, that I am not home but in USA with Vedat, and they asked: “where?” and she said: “in Virginia, but they will be going to Chicago soon, for the surgery..” and than the thing that only God knew long before we did, they said: “well, we live in Chicago!”
My mom was very excited and comforted to know and tell me that.
Just to see how God has prepared the way before us even when we didn’t even dream about what could happen in the future.
So, anyway..
Two Sundays ago, JoAnn and I where able to go and see them. (Hallelujah)
They live outside Chicago and it was like an hour drive, but it was so good to see them again and especially here.
Their house is decorated with a lot of Croatian things and it was such a blessing to be there with them and just enjoy that taste of home..
I called my mom from there and she was so happy, but sad in the same time…
I just wanted to share that with you so that you can be encouraged and know that God is very special and that I am realizing more and more that nobody knows me like He does.
That was a great weekend and we were also very welcomed in their church. The pastor said a special greeting to us and that was very special.
After that, we had our first visitors: Nancy and Tori, and that was very special. Vedat was enjoying every minute with Tori, and I was happy to see Nancy and spend some time with them.
I was also able to have a little break and have my BSF on Thursday, and still see them for a little bit before they left..
We said bye to them and were expecting Agnes, Doug and Steven to come. They flew in on Friday and were here until Monday.
In the mean time, Vedat was having some difficult time communicating with me which was very challenging. When he does that, he gets very stubborn and that always ends bad for him because I don’t let him do that. I have also heard some complaints from the staff there, about him being more dificult in cooperation.
I am praising God that He is good, and faithful in helping us, and that now it is all getting better.
That time with Vedat was very hard and I praise God for all the prayers that have made our way through this. There are a lot of conflicts in Vedat’s heart and they are not fun. He needs to move on, although it is hard and very opposite from the way his stay in the USA looks like.
I know that it is hard for him to be in the hospital for so long and especially now when he knows that the surgery is coming closer..
It is hard to deal with all those emotions that he has, because he gets disrespectful and disobedient, and I understand where is that coming from, but I also must keep the boundaries because I know that he is finding safety in them and something that he is familiar with.
But God is good and we are taking it step by step..
It was great to have Agnes and the family around and we went to the museum in downtown Chicago and that was very nice and away from all the other things that are not so fun, for the most part..
I don’t know how much have you heard until now about Vedat’s surgery, but here is the update:
His surgery will be this coming Tuesday (March 6) and it is scheduled at 7 AM if nothing changes.
I haven’t seen his doctor yet so I don’t know how long will it last but what we heard on the admission appointment was that it could take from 8 to 15 hours.
As soon as I find out more about that I will write and let you know.
Everything is quite unpredictable so nobody knows until it happens, how will it be and look like.
Vedat is doing great physically and they are still very satisfied with the traction.
I was with him today as he was walking and I can see that he has grown..
That is so amazing.
He is very comfortable in his halo and I have heard somebody comment that it is so great that he moves his head everywhere and doesn’t have any problems or is not afraid.
It is not the best thing in the world but I am very thankful with his medical progress and he is too.
You can see his satisfaction when he walks with that special walker and when he sees how his body is changing.
Today he was so excited to stand next to me and measure himself, and to see that he is taller than before.
Vedat was very proud to show his new friends how good he is at walking with the halo, and they where his obedient audience.
You know that Vedat is a full energy kid (if you count his disability) and that he is always ready for action. It is quite a challenge to wear the halo and not be able to jump and run around as he would want. So, he races with his wheelchair and spins around when he walks, turning his head like it isn’t his.
Anyway..
I wanted to let you know that we are fine and that the big battle with his first behavior problem is over. Now we are just waiting and praying that the pressure and all that is ahead would bring us both closer to God, to knowing Him intimately.
Stacey and Bill will be coming here and I am very thankful for that.
Thank you for understanding and respecting me in all this with going through Janet and Bill about coming to see us. I love you guys a lot and you are like my family.
God is allowing me to see Him more through you, and I am very thankful for that.
Sometimes, it does get hard when there are so many people involved from your side and our side of the world, so I am very thankful that you know that, and that you can be patient with us and that you trust God and me.
This has been a long journey, our goal is finally here and I am praying to see what God has next.
Probably, something different from what I think, like always……..
OK, I will keep you posted and know that I am thinking about you and I miss you.
I am sure that Vedat would say the same, so be blessed and I will hopefully write soon.
Love you.
Here are some pictures
Me with Carol and Bob, notice a Zagreb handmade picture in the right corner from me
Their love for Croatians is just visible everywhere-ha,ha,ha..
I am sure you all know what this means..
This picture shows his personality and that he is true Montenegro-Serbian boy, where chicken is a speciality and it is home made-on the bone..
having fun..
special friends
Vedat “playing” with the halo
In the Science and Industry Museum (last Sunday)
My new pet and I are in the Chicago snow..
These are my tools; today I had my second lesson and it was great-I am very happy and hoping that I will have time for this great gift
I hope to write soon..
Love you
Hello
It is Sunday night and I am full of thoughts and new things to pray and write about.
I had a great week and I praise God for that.
Vedat was doing great, and everything went well.
I found out that there is a girl in the neighbourhood that teaches piano and she wants to teach me for 8$ for 45 min and that is great.
JoAnn and I went and got the book and now I am praying and waiting to see her on Tuesday.
That is the desire that I had for more than 2 years now, that somehow, somewhere, God would allow me to learn how to play piano just enough to be able to worship Him with that instrument..
It was great to see how the time, the place and the price work right to meet my need, and that seems like it will work out just great.
The other nice thing is that she is my age, so maybe God opens the doors for a new friendship.
Anyway..
Vedat was on the try this week to walk with the walker, but he is more comfortable in the wheel chair and walking is a little painful, so he didn’t want to stay in the walker for a long time.
But everything was OK, and they don’t pressure kids to do too much, so that is good.
That gives him a feeling like he is in control..although that is just a feeling, not the reality.
I want to share some things with you guys that have been going on in the hospital.
Vedat has got a new roommate.
He had a bad accident and he was paralysed 4 month’s ago.
Today JoAnn and I went to see Vedat.
I had a great conversation with Vedat’s roommate and in the end we all prayed and said that we will do Bible study everyday all together.
His father is with him most of the time so he was there with us when I shared my testimony with him.
Afterwords he was looking so happy and today he said that he was so encouraged that there are churches that are wiling to help.
It is hard to share things in details on blog because it is public, and I don’t want to put their story out there, but it was great just to see how God opened those doors and when we were going to pray before we left, I asked what to pray for (Vedat’s roomate), and he said: “for me to walk again!”
I just want to encourage all you guys who are praying, that God is doing something there and that it is so great to see the ways that He uses and how He does things.
Vedat was listening all that time and coloring with JoAnn but she said that she saw how happy he was that all that happened.
That was interesting because I had a harsh conversation with him about the movies that they watched (not kid appropriate movies), going to bed late, and then sleeping through breakfast, so I reminded him where the boundaries are.
That was not fun but (praise God) he saw the love in all that and it was great to see him being so happy and blessed with all that happened in that visit.
God is answering our prayers.
I told you about Vedat’s friend, that had surgery.
He is good praise God!
Everything went well and although he looks tired from everything he looks good.
There is also a new thing going on and that is that Vedat’s aunt’s husband is calling him from England so he got to talk with his cousin and that was great.
God is also answering that prayer! (to keep him in touch with his people)
I will write more about things that were going on and I will put some pictures but until then I just want to tell you that we are very thankful to have you guys and I really appreciate your payers.
I am continuing to pray to see how to deal with this new situation with the Bible times with the boys in the hospital, because that will now include one more child and a child that in a need too, but in some great way opened to the Gospel.
I am very excited that Vedat has an opportunity to see how Gospel shines in the darkness and how it is so visible to see hope on the faces of those who saw that light, I hope and pray that he sees it because I do and it is beautiful.
I will write again soon..
Today is Tuesday.
There are so many new things..
Today, we have a blizzard. My host mum said; that means that you don’t go outside and if you have to, you run and hide because it is COLD.
Yesterday I was in the hospital again and Vedat is great, they have him on 21 pounds now on his halo and he is handling it great.
Now he behaves like he is at home and that is good but it has it’s bad sides too.Yesterday, I was coming to the hospital with the train and then I called the cab and waited for 40 min. for him to come and then finally got to the hospital. He was in the play room wathing TV.
He is watching TV a lot and that is OK but we had to talk about other things because his attitude changed and he was not talking nice to me and there is a lot of bad launguage that came out of his mouth from the TV and other kids there.. so that was challenging. But, it all turned good in the end, praise God! We talked and prayed together..
It is very interesting to see that as soon as I am not there, he changes and turns back to his behavior which is probably how he bahaves at his home, but God is very powerful and can change things and people.
We saw Vedat’s doctor in the cafeteria and he said that he is pleased with Vedat’s traction and that everything looks like it will be on time, and that means that he will be in traction for another 3 weeks and then hopefuly they will do the surgery.
Vedat is now totaly adjusted to the halo so he doesent have any pain other than feeling his muscles but that is not bad either.. He is wearing his regular clothes and even T-shirts.
Today, they will try to get him to walk with the walker..
OK, I hope that I have coverd all the posible questions.
Now a little about me, I just want to say thank you to everybody for understanding and not calling me first few days.
I will give our physical address to Janet today and you can get it from her.
I am very thankful for your care and I hope that soon Vedat will hear from you all little by little..
You can call on my cell phone and talk to him, if I don’t answer we will call you back.
I am very happy to see you guys taking care of us especialywith us being so far.
I feel like I have not just one mum but a lot of them and a big family.
I am OK, JoAnn is taking good care of me and I am in a restful place here, God has provided care and frendship for me through her.
The train is very nice and safe, it is also fast so that is great..i am trying to find a good cab company and I hope this one that I am using now will be the one.
This Sunday I have been in Wheaton Bible Church with Laura and Adam (young couple from the church that has vouluntered to house me) and it was very nice and I liked the church and God blessed me there and spoke to me.
I realized that in the midst of all that is going on I lost that time to just be with Him and not come to Him because I need something from Him but because of Him. I was very sad and realized how there was a pride in my hart and independence that said that I can do things without seeking Him first. Although, I was sad there was a joy because I knew that that is grace that God wants to clean me and like a Father who cares he cares and disciplines me and doesen’t want to let me go in the wrong direction.
JoAnn is a great example and encouragment to me , we are praying together and God has blessed me to have more time and energy to do things right.
OK, I hope you will be blessed with this blog and I hope that the name of Jesus will be glorified because he is the beginning of this story and he is the One who is giving me more and more good things to write about.
I love you.
Here are some pictures..from past few days..
day one: Vedat in his room with new toys
day one: me and Vedat playing on his bed
day two: getting ready for the halo surgery
day four: Stacey and Vedat, already going..
day four: hungry, eating chicken
day five: playing with dog, they have lot’s of activities in the hiospital
as I told you..
day six: Adam, Laura and little Gabriela, they are my friends from Wheaton Bible Church that have volunteered to house me after JoAnn
day seven: Morgan and Liam, JoAnn’s kids, we all went to visit Vedat on Sunday
JoAnn and me
Hi guys!
We have arrived last Monday to Chicago and it was very cold, I think -40 in the wind chill..
We went straight to the hospital and Vedat was admitted there and Stacey and I just stayed there with him..
At the end of the day we were all very exhausted so Stacey and I went back to the hotel and Vedat stayed in the hospital.
As soon as he stepped into the hospital his Disney world experience continued because they have tons of toys and stuff for kids, and that is great. Fun place for him to be and a blessing for me to be able to leave for a while and rest.
The next day they did a litttle surgery and they put the halo on. The procedure was fast and not a big deal. I was worried what it would look like and how Vedat would receive that because and he was mad and the sentence that describes it all is : ” I want to go home, it is not fun any more!” But after a while he calmed down and was OK with the new situation.
That day was OK. He wasn’t able to eat much because of anesthesia that was still in his system..
Stacey and I went to JoAnn’s house in the afternoon. We took that ride on the train and it was nice but the weather was still very cold.
When we came here I wasn’t able to talk or do anything but I just thanked God for my bed here. I crashed on it and woke up hours later when it was time for us to leave..
We spent that night in the hotel close to the hospital and went back to the hospital the next morning..
Vedat was better but he was still in intensive care because they wanted to follow up closely and make sure that traction is not too big of a shock for his body and nervous system..
That day Stacey left and I was coming here to my new home by train. Everything was OK but when I came home my cell phone was loaded with voice mails and I was sitting for a few minutes and listening all the voicemails. I just felt tired but I had to take my things out of the suicase so that I know what to wear tomorow..
Anyway, Stacey left and I was on my own and I did fine with the train and the cab and all that.
Vedat was back in his room yesterday and the nurses and doctor are very pleased with how he is doing.
He is in traction all the time; that means that when he sleeps and is sitting in the wheel chair - he is not walking yet - he is connected to the weights and they are pulling on his spine/neck to stretch him out..
The doctor said to me today that they plan to have him in traction for a month and then they will do the surgery; that would be the beginning of March, maybe around the 6th or so..
Anyway, today my next host mum has called and went with me to the hospital. Vedat was doing fine; he is playing and watching kids’ movies, and they have a big mall area where I take him and it is lots of fun there..
He was rushing me up to go back to the room because he wanted to watch the movie and I made him some popcorn, so that is how great he is doing, praise God.
* Special Note: Vedrana has some pictures to post, but we’re working that part out. She’ll post them as soon as she can.
