Abby udpate - December 25

We've had a good day today in the Linam household. Normally, we ravage through gifts on Christmas eve, but everyone was a little too worn out to tackle them last night, so we waited until this morning. There were many, many generous gifts under the tree, but, as you can imagine, our greatest gifts were seated around the tree. It was a very special Christmas morning.

Gordon has mentioned to several friends how the Christmas season is especially significant this year. This year we have felt the anguish of having a hurting child, yet the whole meaning of Christmas is that God sent his child, with the knowledge that he would suffer and die to demonstrate God's love for us. Over the past several months we have met many people with hurting children, and it pains me to know that some will never have the chance to look forward to the recovery of their child. I cannot explain why God has granted us the gracious gift to share more days with Abby--I can only say that we have clung to a God who understands our deepest hurt and can see us through all the darkest hours. Thank you for allowing us to share these convictions--I just want to share that comfort with those whose pain is even greater than our own...

Aside from Christmas events, our primary Abby update today is musical. One of Abby's gifts was a karaoke machine, and it was a lot of fun to sing through 8 or 10 songs with her this morning. While her voice is still somewhat toneless when speaking, when singing I can hear more of her own beautiful voice. Then, this afternoon, Taylor Schaede asked her about playing the piano and the violin. Abby picked out a few notes on the piano, but muscle control in the fingers is still difficult; however, she surprised me with her violin. She very much wanted to try to play it, and was even able to play a couple of the beginning Suzuki pieces. Guess we're going to have to trim those nails that have grown so long in the hospital, Ms. Bird! ;-) Ever since she was hospitalized in ICU we've been playing music that is familiar to her. I think it helped to reach her even when she couldn't speak to us. Now I'm excited to think that music can also help in her physical and cognitive recovery!

We hope that each of you enjoyed a special Christmas day today, with your own treasures around the tree...
Love, the Linams