The below video of Dillon is from this past weekend. Can we just take a moment to be amazed together and praise God that our brother is shown here going up and down stairs just 2 weeks after a spinal cord injury that was so severe we were overjoyed to see the tiniest twitch in his toes just 14 short days ago? I talked with my mom yesterday. She said his caseworker almost teared up when she saw him the other day and told my mom something along the lines of "If you had only seen the papers I initially got for him." Based on the papers, she thought she was handling the case of a young man who might never recover. She told my mom she'd seen similar cases bedridden on respirators long term, or take a year to start to see the kind of improvement Dillon got within the first week.

I'm not surprised, but I am incredibly thankful to the God who heals and the faithful intercessors who continue to plead for Dillon's full recovery even now that the initial shock of the situation has worn off. In the background of this video, you'll notice he's now using a wheelchair that he can propel himself. On Thursday, he'll be moved into an "apartment setup" room in the rehab hospital so he can re-acclimate to a more normal-world physical environment, and major answer to prayer: HE WILL BE DISCHARGED ON THE 23rd!!! My mom was emailing his professors tonight (NCSU starts tomorrow) to let them know he'll be a little late, but he'll still be coming this semester!

When I talked to him today, he said he'd been doing more work in the pool throwing beach balls around, some upper body resistance training, and working on getting his walk smoother. He said he's been working on improving things all day long. He said in OT today, his handwriting was legible, and when I called, he was building my sister Carly an igloo out of packing peanuts (a task she had decided would be good for his coordination awhile back but that he just hadn't quite gotten around to yet). As we continue to pray for, celebrate, and rejoice in Dillon's miraculous recovery, I'd also like to encourage praying folks out there to persist in prayer for others in our lives where the answer to prayers for healing might not have been as overtly "yes," or it may not be happening on the timeline envisioned. Don't be afraid to ask to the point of nagging. Don't lose hope when things happen slowly. As you continue to pray for Dillon and praise the Lord for what he's already done here, would you also take the time to ask for others in your life? Would you join me in praying for my good friend Alison who has been through quite an ordeal with brain surgeries and my aunt Suzanne who is still having trouble with mobility following back surgery months ago? When friends are suffering, the last thing they need is for us to give up on them. As you share this, feel free to share others that we need to be faithful in still praying for as well. Love to all of you reading this! You mean so much to my family! - Kari Staples