Friday Funding Update:
March 31, 2017

What a gracious God we serve! We praise His name! We praise Him during our times of trial. And we praise Him during times like these.....Times when He is doing "exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask of think."

The pool construction begins this coming week. Lord knows I am telling the truth when I say I could have never ever imagined that this would be happening so soon! David Foust from Foust Pool Construction has been a joy to work with. We cannot say enough about how thankful we are for his efforts to help us!

My brother Jonathan has a whole slew of friends who are helping us get the therapy room plans finalized. We can't thank his company LaTour Electric enough! Things are a buzz around our home, and change is in the air. It's an excited time, and we know that this could not have happened without the help of so many people who have given. Josiah sniffs each new person that walks in the door, and he seems to really be enjoying their visits. I don't know if he has any understanding of what is about to happen. But I talk with him a lot about it. And I tell him about all the people who have shown such love and care for him. And I tell him about how much Jesus loves him, and how He is taking care of us all.

Our Pool Party Fundraiser is tomorrow!!! We have officially sold all of our tickets!!! Thank you to all of our friends who have purchased tickets to swim, and thank you to a very special person who reached out and bought all of the tickets we had left to sell. Even though all of our swim tickets are sold, we still need spectators to come and support us! We will have pizza, drinks, and baked goods for sell during the pool party. Please come and purchase something to eat while you enjoy the fellowship! It is going to be a blast!
So come on out to the Maynard Aquatics Center tomorrow (April 1st) from 10am-12pm!

Josiah checking out the markers for his new therapy pool!

I took Josiah to the doctor yesterday afternoon. Have I mentioned how much we love our pediatrician? Dr. Mertz confirmed that the antibiotics don't seem to be working to heal Josiah's ear infection. So we have started a new medication. Today was some better. Please pray with us that this new medication will heal Josiah's ears. Thank you for praying for our boy!



And thank you to everyone who has given to help us reach our goal! Our current total is......  $50,387.49!!!!   Our goal of $60,000 seems so close! As soon as we get there, we can order our Aquashield Enclosure for the pool! All of the pieces are coming together to bring about HUGE changes in Josiah's life! Changes for the better! We can't wait!!!!

Because of His grace,

Christy

*The video below was taken in the dark while Josiah and I were having one of our "before bedtime chats." He is precious to me!!!

Amazing News!

It's Official!!!! We just got the call today that our petition for home modifications was APPROVED! This means that Josiah's room will have a bathroom, shatterproof windows, and padding on the walls and floors! And all of those things will be funded via his waiver. This has been a very long process of advocating, but it has been worth the effort. 

None of this would have been possible without the help of some pretty amazing people! Josiah's doctors, therapists, community guide, and QP all wrote letters of support that made a huge difference in showing his exceptional need. We also had a wonderful care coordinator who truly went the extra mile to advocate for Josiah. This took two different petitions and a lot of man hours, but we made it! I posted last week that things didn't look very promising. I answered the lengthy list of questions they had for us with very little hope that it would make much difference. I think my answers helped sway the committee some. And then Congressman Walker and his team wrote a letter of support for Josiah. I think it went a long way towards helping to prove Josiah's need.  

I also want to thank my Mama who has washed a lot of laundry and dishes and cleaned my house countless times all while helping me care for our children. Her sacrificial love provided me with the time needed to petition. 

And thank you to the many people who have prayed for this petition specifically. 

I would love to share more, but Josiah is struggling greatly today. In the midst of days like today, we are so often reminded of God's sufficient grace. He is faithfully sustaining us, and it is often through the prayers and generosity of our family, friends, and even complete strangers. 

We give HIM all the glory and praise!

Because of His grace,

Christy

Friday Funding Update:
March 24, 2017

I have sat down several times to write this post since I got the balance update for the fundraiser yesterday, but I am having a hard time finding the right words to say. I think it is because I am just so amazed by God's goodness and the support and generosity we have been shown by so many people. It is with a grateful heart and excitement beyond description that we announce our current total is $50,187.59!!!!! Our goal of $60,000 seems so close! We have had several people tell us that they have been praying that all of the funding would come in within six months of us starting this fundraiser. In just a little over one week, we will reach the six month mark, and we are amazed at how far we have come and how greatly God has blessed our efforts! We now have enough funds to complete the therapy room and therapy pool! We just have to finish raising the funds for the Aquashield enclosure that will be over the pool. This enclosure will allow Josiah to access the pool year round. 

We can't say enough about how thrilled we are with Foust Pool Construction and how helpful their team has been already! We truly believe that God directed us to the wonderful couple behind this company. As construction projects often go, there are changes in the plans along the way. I originally thought that we would complete construction on the building first, but we are actually going to get the pool construction started very soon.

Once the pool is complete, my brother's company LaTour Electric will start construction on the therapy room. We are so grateful for my brother Jonathan's help with all of this. I have been calling him often with questions and ideas, and he has been a huge encouragement in helping us get started! 

Please consider supporting us at Josiah's 
Pool Party on April 1st from 10am-12pm! We are hoping to sell enough tickets to have 100 swimmers. Each ticket is $10! If you would like to come and support us that day but are not interested in swimming, PLEASE COME! We will have pizza, drinks, and baked goods for sale to help us raise even more funding for Josiah! We still have several tickets available for purchase so please reach out to anyone in our family to purchase a ticket or email me at christyverroi@gmail.com! 

I want to take a quick moment to give a shout out to our wonderful pediatrician Dr. David Mertz at Burlington Pediatrics. He has cared for our children for almost 14 years, and he is such a blessing to our family! Josiah has had such a hard week. I knew something was wrong medically, but I couldn't figure out what was going on. When Josiah is very off, it is almost impossible to get him into the doctor's office. Dr. Mertz has graciously come to our van on numerous occasions to examine Josiah. It isn't every day that you run across a doctor that humble and giving! With his help, we think we figured out what is going on. We are treating Josiah for a GERD flair up and ear infection. He is doing a lot better since starting meds yesterday. We pray it continues!!!

Thank you to everyone who is loving and supporting us through this fundraiser! When we met with Foust Pool Construction, the owner David gave us a pool brochure. Josiah has been carrying it around everywhere looking at the pictures! We can't wait for his dreams to become reality!!! 

Because of His Great Grace,
Christy   

  

"Look for the Helpers"

"It appears that this room is isolated from the rest of the home. Is there concern that Josiah will feel like he is being punished when taken to this room because he cannot sleep?"

I read the words on the page in disbelief. How could anyone who has read the amount of documentation and letters of support from Josiah's doctors and therapists come to this conclusion. And my second thought was how could I possibly still be surprised that this was the response I got back to our request for Home Modifications. I should be used to this by now.

The final determination about the Home Modifications request has not been made, but it doesn't look promising based on the initial responses we have gotten. This is the second petition I have submitted, and it represents hours and hours of work. But I really don't have a choice except to press on. Josiah needs the things we are requesting to keep him safe. To date, he has put his head through six windows. He has caused injury to his head an untold number of times from beating it against the floor or slamming it against our walls. 

I always feel the need to clarify when I share about our petition here on Josiah's fundraising website. We are fundraising for things that we could not get covered via Josiah's waiver. His waiver is supposed to cover things like shatterproof windows, padding on the floors and walls, and bathroom modifications or additions. Those are the things we are petitioning for. And they are things that we have very clear documentation to support.    

The bottom line is that the company who manages Josiah's waiver slot tries to save money at every turn. Careful funding approval is important, but sometimes the needs are so obvious. And I feel they forget to consider that there is a life behind the name on the paper. And there is a family supporting that life. 

I swallowed my anger and went to answering the multiple questions they had for me. And I thought of Mr. Roger's words, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." I know he said this in reference to seeing scary news stories on TV, but the message is still the same when considering many hard situations we find ourselves in. Josiah has many helpers. He has a wonderful team of doctors, therapists, and teachers who advocate for him often. And he has all of the wonderful people who have supported him and our family through this fundraiser. 


We will keep advocating. We will keep trusting that God will bring about exactly what Josiah needs in His perfect timing. And we will remind ourselves often to "look for the helpers."

Because of His grace,
Christy

*Please continue to pray for Josiah. He is still struggling greatly. We have made the decision to move his schooling to a homebound status for the time being. 

Friday Funding Update:
March 17, 2017

First, let me start with our current total!!! I realize that I tend to way over punctuate, but one exclamation point just doesn't nearly convey enough excitement sometimes!!!!! Our current total is $48,698.69!
We are so close to $50,000! And that means we are almost within $10,000 of reaching our $60,000 goal! Forgive me! I know most people don't need me to break down the math quite so thoroughly, but I'm just trying to wrap my own brain around how close we actually are! This is amazing! And all I can say is Praise the Lord and Thank You to all who have given!!!!!

Let me tell ya folks! The reality that this is actually happening for Josiah started to set in more this week. We met with our awesome pool and construction team on Wednesday morning, and the planning has officially started! A HUGE shout out to our team: 
Foust Pool Construction and LaTour Electric!
We can't thank them enough for all the time and effort they have put in to helping us advocate and to helping us make the absolute best choices for Josiah! 

Will you help us reach our goal? We have had so many people give, and making a donation is a wonderful way to help us! We have also had a lot of people host their own fundraisers for Josiah. If you have an idea for a fundraiser that you could host, we would LOVE to have your help! We are praying that the Lord will continue to bless our efforts and that the last $11,301.31 can be raised quickly! 

Please don't forget about our Pool Party on April 1st from 10am-12pm at the Maynard Aquatics Center! We are hoping to sale enough tickets to have 100 swimmers. Each ticket is $10! If you would like to come and support us that day but are not interested in swimming, PLEASE COME! We will have pizza, drinks, and baked goods for sale to help us raise even more funding for Josiah! We still have several tickets available for purchase so please reach out to anyone in our family to purchase a ticket or email me at christyverroi@gmail.com! 

Jaon and Josiah in a sweet moment of play. 

I mentioned in my last post that Josiah is very off. Our family, his support staff, and his wonderful teacher Miss Beth have all been brain storming to try and figure out what is going on. Josiah has not left the house since last Saturday at lunch time. That is almost six straight days at home with NO van rides. This is unheard of for him! There have been a lot of changes this past month: illness, medication changes, getting an awesome golf cart, etc. But we really aren't sure exactly why this dramatic change has occurred. I realize that this sounds like a really good thing, but, like is so common for kids similar to Jo, he is still living in extremes. Instead of riding all the time, we now can't get him to leave the house at all. No school. No church. No Papa and Meemaw's house, No community. And he is pretty much swinging all day long. Please continue to pray for him and for us. He needs a silent environment, and that is very hard to provide with five other children in the house. The two year old and his other brother who also has an AU diagnosis drive him absolutely bonkers at times. 

With Josiah staying home for such a long time, it has made us realize yet again how helpful this therapy room and therapy pool are going to be. And how truly needed they are for the purpose of increasing his safety and improving Josiah's quality of life.

Thank you for helping our boy!

Because of His Grace,

Christy

*Here is a sweet video of Jason trying to love on Josiah. Please excuse the two year old's droopy diaper. Trust me, after over 14 straight years of diapers (often 3 kiddos at a time), we get the good out of each one! 

Guessing Game

A brief pause in swinging.

As I type this, I am watching one of our support staff workers swing Josiah in the hammock that is hung in our living room. He has been swinging all day every day since Saturday at lunch time. The only time he has stopped swinging is when he has taken a handful of showers that lasted less than five minutes each. Many of them were "step in-step out" showers. Something is off. And I can't figure out if it is "off good" or "off bad." But there is no question that Josiah is off. 

He hasn't been to school in almost a month. There are so many factors that could be the cause or at least contributing to the difference we are seeing. But it's a guessing game. When this has happened before, rarely have we actually determined the cause. All we can do is try to help. And we wait. We ride out the wave. We see where it takes us. 

While the uncertainty is hard and the unpredictability can be scary, there are still blessings that we see. The obvious is that our van has had much less wear and tear. And we are appreciating the break in driving! Another blessing is that Josiah's appetite has improved the past two weeks, and he is even eating things that he has been unwilling to eat for quite a while. Pizza, bacon, peanut butter and even some apples have been on the list. And he took two bites of ham and one bite of chicken casserole this week. Trying new things is huge! Especially when you consider Josiah's diet had narrowed to crunchy carbs like chips and gold fish, french fries, ice cream, and occasionally pancakes. I don't know if these positive changes will be permanent. His track record says that they will come and go. But we are thankful to see less driving and better eating for now. And we pray these positives stick around. 

The hard and concerning aspects of swinging all day long revolve around quality of life and Josiah's need for silence. He has taken up residence in the front of our house and he needs the room to stay as silent as possible. This means our other kids have to stay outside or in the back of the house pretty much constantly. THIS is where the therapy room will make such a huge difference for Josiah AND the rest of the family. Having a silent therapy room right near the main portion of our home will allow us quick and consistent access to Josiah while allowing everyone else in the home to function better. Josiah can come in and out of the kitchen and living room when he is able to tolerate the noise, but he will also have his room that he can quickly retreat to whenever needed. 

Judah giving Josiah an arm and back scratch before bed. 

And the therapy pool is going to be such a huge help in improving his overall quality of life. He will be able to get the sensory input that he needs while actually moving and stretching and being active. Right now he is seeking that input via the hammock. Our arms are surely getting a work out, but he is just swinging for hours often with his head covered. We want him to be able to get the input that his body needs while still joining and enjoying the world around him. 

Thank you to everyone who has been saying some extra prayers for us this month. We still have a few kids on antibiotics, but it seems we are on the very end stages of the flu bug. We will be so grateful when everyone is past this completely. Please pray that God will give us some insight and direction in terms of what is going on with Josiah right now.

Thank you to everyone who has given to help us!

God is faithful! I am thankful that He has a plan! I am thankful that we can trust Him!

Because of His grace,

Christy      

  

Friday Funding Update:
March 10, 2017

Isaiah 41:10 - “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” 

Our two year old son Jason and I have been working on learning this verse for quite a while. It came to my mind last night at 12:30am when Josiah woke from his sleep completely distraught. After several minutes of wrestling him to prevent self-injury, I finally had to scream out for Jack and Olivia to come and help me. The door to the boy's room was shut so Jack didn't hear me. In retrospect, I am thankful for this. Jack had already had to help me manage Josiah through a very difficult meltdown earlier in the evening. Olivia came running from her bedroom. She helped me restrain Jo for a few seconds before the baby woke and started crying. She quickly took him to the back of the house since his cries were only going to make the situation worse. I called Jeremy begging for him to come home since he had to work last night. While I talked to him, Josiah began to slowly calm. I told Jeremy to wait, and to just start praying that this would be the end of it. I muffled my crying for the next 30 minutes as I worked to calm Josiah completely down and lull him back to sleep. It felt like the worst ache a soul could experience. But then I started recounting in my mind the many trials God has asked others to endure. I reminded myself that, while this was terrifying, calm would eventually come. I prayed and prayed that God would allow this to be the only meltdown of the night. I reached out to others on Facebook asking them to pray as well. I pleaded to God for wisdom and comfort for the future. And then I finally drifted back off to sleep.   

Sickness is lingering in our house. Judah has missed this entire week of school due to a sinus infection and double ear infection. I think Josiah has the same, and that might be the reason for the increased agitation and episodes of self-injury. We are praying that the antibiotics both boys are now on will do the trick...and quickly. The past few days Josiah has stayed in the hammock almost the entire day. The swinging helps to soothe him. But he has required silence in the room where he swings. This hasn't been easy to provide since it is the main room in the house and we have other children. Any noise can set him off. It makes it impossibly hard for all of us. These days are the days where I think of the therapy room and how helpful it will be to have a place where Josiah can get the silence he needs. This will also help our other children since they are the ones constantly being hushed and sent to the back of the house so their brother can have peace. 

Please pray with us. Yesterday I submitted a second petition for home modifications. Our first was denied. This petition is a request for a bathroom installation in Josiah's therapy room, padding on the walls and floors, and shatterproof windows. All of these things are needed to help care for Josiah and to keep him safe. I did not include these things in the total needed for our fundraiser, because they are items that I can request via Josiah's waiver slot. It takes a lot of effort and paperwork to request, but it was important to us that we try. Please pray that, if it be the Lord's will, we will receive approval. We should hear back from the committee in 14 days. If approved, we will start construction very soon on the therapy room. If denied, I will try petitioning one more time. 

Our current total is $47,388.79!!! It is such a blessing to see how God is providing for our needs each and every week. Please continue to pray that He will bless our efforts, and that we will reach our goal of $60,000 soon! I am so hopeful that all of the construction can be done this summer! 

Don't forget about our POOL PARTY at the Maynard Aquatics Center on April 1st from 10am-12pm! We were given permission to sell tickets for 100 swimmers! If you have a kiddo that would like to join us, tickets are $10 each! I have Josiah's cousins helping me sell tickets so feel free to contact anyone in our family to secure your spot for the event! We will also be selling pizza, drinks, and desserts at the event to raise more funding! If you have questions or would like to purchase a ticket, you can also email me at christyverroi@gmail.com. 

Thank you to everyone who is supporting us through this fundraiser!!! God is using you to help our boy, and we are forever grateful! He is GOOD and He is FAITHFUL!

Because of His grace, 

Christy  

Magic Bullet

Autism is such a complex disorder. As parents, we try and we try and we try, and, sometimes, it works. Sometimes we find a technique. Sometimes its a specific toy that does the trick. Sometimes we learn that if we hold our mouths just right while we hop on one foot and whistle Dixie, we can make life ok for our kids. Even if but for a moment. But there are rarely magic bullets when helping our children navigate this world with the impact of Autism affecting so much of their lives.   

We were given a golf cart for Josiah this week. I cannot begin to describe the joy and comfort and help this has been and will prayerfully continue to be for our family. And specifically for Josiah. The joy he has experienced with this gift has been a blessing to see. A few people have asked me if the golf cart will solve the issue of Josiah needing constant van rides. We certainly believe that it will help tremendously, but it won't take the need completely away. He has to eat, and, since one of the places he is willing to sit and eat is inside the van, we will have to drive some. And there will be days where he is just too overwhelmed to do anything but ride. We know our kid, and so we know those days will come. The golf cart isn't a magic bullet, but it is a TOOL! 

Instead of looking for magic bullets that will fix everything every time, we are much better served to seek out a variety of tools for our tool kit. It's about having options for a kid whose life is pretty simple but super hard. Josiah doesn't have many things that capture his attention. He spends much of his day just trying to soothe himself with self-stimulating and repetitive behaviors. He tears a bit of edging off of the side of his diaper, and he pulls the stands apart in the same particular way each time so that he can suck on one end while twirling the other end. He rocks back and forth a lot. He tears napkins and shakes or twirls them into what look like small cheer-leading pompoms. He enjoys very casually watching snippets of familiar cartoons or movies, but it is a select few. He swings.....A LOT. He takes showers and baths throughout the day. And he rides in the van and now the golf cart. Every so often, he looks at pictures in a year book or gazes into the eyes of some old Elmo toys. And, other than consuming the same foods and drinks or sleeping, that is pretty much it. Because his interests are so very limited, we have very few options in terms of comforting him. When he was able to tolerate going to the Aquatics Center, that was our daily outing and everything revolved around it. But, once it became too overwhelming to continue going, we lost one of our biggest and most helpful tools. 

That is really the whole point of this fundraiser. We have so few tools to help Josiah stand living in his own body. We are trying to build our tool kit so that we can bring our boy comfort and joy in the safety of our home. We know there will be days where nothing can help, but we pray that the tools of having a golf cart, therapy room, and therapy pool will make those days much fewer and far between. 

Thank you to everyone who is donating to help us build our tool kit. We are forever grateful for your love and support of Josiah!

Because of His grace, 

Christy  

Friday Funding Update:
March 3, 2017

The ache is indescribable. Watching your child inconsolably cry and hurt themselves due to the pain and distress of a disorder that isn't ever going away. This week has been excruciating. Josiah is sick with the flu on top of being significantly injured due to his self-harm. He has a large hematoma on the back of his head from beating it against the floor. I feel confident he sustained a concussion this week, and there is a lot of bruising from where he has smacked and punched the sides of his head and face. Weeks like this, we have no choice but to protect Josiah as best we can and pray it passes soon. Our hearts ache and we long to be able to help our boy. Josiah's self-injury pushes us to advocate as much as we possibly can to improve his quality of life and to find him some relief. That is why we started this fundraiser. That is why we continue to plead for your help. 

God has always been faithful to provide for the needs of our family, and that is exactly what He is doing through the generosity and love of all who have given. Five months ago we started this fundraiser. I cannot believe how quickly God has blessed our efforts! Our current total is $47,088.79!!! What a blessing it is to have hope! We are hopeful that God will bring greater protection and positive change to Josiah's life with the construction of this therapy room and therapy pool! 

There are a couple of awesome ways that you can Support Josiah and help us reach our $60.000 goal! Tax deductible donations can be made directly to our church by mailing a check addressed to Beacon Baptist Church. Please write "Josiah Verroi Fund" in the memo line, and mail the check to: 
Beacon Baptist Church 
1622 Kirkpatrick Road
Burlington, North Carolina 27215

You can also give online by visiting our church website: http://www.beaconbaptist.com/donate/
When you give online, select "Verroi Fundraiser" under the "Designation" tab. 

We have a few super exciting fundraisers happening right now!

Stefanie's fundraiser ends tomorrow (March 4)! If you would like to support us by ordering Mary Kay products from Stefanie, get those orders in today or tomorrow! She is donating 100% of her profits to support Josiah. You can read all about our friendship and connection here.  And follow this link to find out how to order: https://www.facebook.com/events/647839212069681/ Thanks again Stef for all of your love and support!

We are so excited to officially announce our POOL PARTY for Josiah! The party will be on April 1st
from 10:00am-12:00pm! We have 100 tickets available for purchase. Tickets will be sold for $10 each, and you can purchase a ticket from any of our family members! Anyone swimming must purchase a ticket since we cannot have more than 100 swimmers. There will also be food and drinks available for purchase on the day of the fundraiser. We are really hoping to sell all of our tickets and raise a lot of funding at this event!!!! A BIG shout out to the Maynard Aquatics Center for supporting us in this way! (If you have any questions or would like a ticket, please feel free to email me at christyverroi@gmail.com.)

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Josiah this week. Your prayers and support are such an encouragement! 

Because of His grace, 

Christy