I know the plans I have for you

It has been over a month now since I took Jake to Cleveland Clinic to evaluate his epilepsy. Surgery was denied, my heart was broken for him, and yet in the midst of that there is always hope.

Last Saturday, while watching Notre Dame play he looked over at me and said " I really miss playing football".

and my heart fluttered a little bit.

and I thought about what it would be like to re-enroll him in high school
and what a royal pain all that was for me
but how very much he loved it.

And the answer just came out of my mouth: well, if you want to go back and play, we could make that happen.

Jake is in the midst of his growth spurt- at his last visit with the neurologist two weeks ago he was 6'3" and 260#. He is a massive human being - perfect size, though, for a lineman or any other Paul Bunyan sized job you might need done.

Back in June, he was in the pool and had a seizure as he was coming out of the pool. Our friends, Nick and Jim Auby happened to be at pool right as it happened. Jake, being a substantial person who was now dead weight, needed to be pushed and pulled out of the water. Thank God that Jim and Nick were there to help Brady and I get him out of the water.

The beauty of this possibility is that if Jake were to go back to school and play ball, he would be an offensive lineman responsible for protecting Nick Auby, who will be the quarterback in the same age-group. Seems only fair, doesn't it.

So then there is the question of letting someone with epilepsy play football- I googled it- there are about a dozen pro players who have well controlled epilepsy- and tons more who play high school and college ball successfully.

We have had a month without a seizure- and he feels good - and he is sleeping well- and for right now, he has the potential to get a normal ( thought well medicated) life back. Makes sense that he would want one.

There is a passage in Jeremiah that I have thought of often during these days of uncertainty: I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you a bountiful life and a future. Those words give me comfort - and in the -past couple of days as I am thinking about sending him back to school, I wonder if this was perhaps the plan all along. We shall see.