Things Are Suddenly Moving At Light Speed!

So, today marks the beginning of an exciting week! We are still coming off the high of the Snowflake 5K and we now are looking forward to hosting some cool folks in our home today. A camera crew and reporter from a popular, national talk show will be coming to spend the entire day with us to get a glimpse of our family's routine and Sy's God-authored story. As some of you know, there will be plenty of energy from this household for these folks to capture. We just hope that these peeps like the smell of veggies simmering, the aroma of fresh carrot juice, and seeing every Lego creation in our home!

Today will be a big day and we hope to clearly portray the way that God has blessed us with the immense challenges and miraculous times of provision through family, friends, and even those we don't even know. Anyone can easily see the incredible power of love and support poured on our household as we struggle through healing our son.

After this experience, we will step onto a plane early next week and find ourselves in the midst of the Big Apple for his national TV debut. (Is America really ready for such a handsome and lion-hearted boy?) With the help of our hosts and countless logistics, we have made arrangements so that Sy's therapy will hopefully be seamless and without interruption. We will keep y'all up to date as we encounter these unique and fun changes. (We promise lots of pictures to come!)

I'm not exactly how much we can share in the digital world yet, but we promise to provide whatever details we can when we can... Stay tuned for more!

One last thing before we embark on this journey... Please pray for us and that the true reason behind our family's adventures shine through Sy's smile, Heather's smokin' hot looks, and my buffoonery. For all of you who know us, you know that all of this could not be happening on our own efforts. We ask for the right words to express the events and emotions that have emerged over the years. We love all of you and know that our bottom line is to bless those who can benefit from our experience and our desire to reach out to those in need.

And away we go...

This Race Is "Snow" Joke! (Insert Groan Here)

We just wanted to take a moment to let you all know how important this upcoming race is to Sy and our family. It appears that all the registered racers have blown the doors off the original estimates! Everyone is ready to have an all out party this weekend!

Although we will not be able to quantify the amount of fun that everyone will have (playing in real snow, sliding on a huge inflatable slide, eating baked goodies, hanging with firefighters, etc.), we can quantify how much your participation means to Sy's therapy...

For every one 5K runner plus one Fun Runner, we will be able to purchase one of Sy's 25 pound bags of carrots or two bags of his yummy apples. If we didn't have you, Sy would still be on his yucky nutritional formula and possibly unable to eat by mouth. If we didn't have any of you volunteers this weekend, we would not be able to even have this event! We hope to thank everyone in person who has played a part, but there are so many of you!

This blog will never do it justice, but we SINCERELY THANK YOU ALL from the bottom of our hearts! Even before the starting gun goes off, this race has been a huge success. Thank you for being the volunteering hands and running feet of love! We are completely overwhelmed by it!

Wowed Yet Again!

We just had an amazing gal at The Gerson Institute bless our family by posting an article on their website about Sy. He is well on his way to getting his own star on Hollywood Boulevard! (Kidding!) This is the same person who is traveling all the way from California to participate in the road race to help support our family. It is so mind blowing how this group of folks on the other side of the country is rallying for our little boy's health and wellness.

You can read her great article here.

If you want more details on Sy's Snowflake 5K and Fun Run, go here.

Go Gerson!

Silent Awakening

As I (Heather) lay awake at 3:48 a.m., my house is absolutely silent except for the ticking of an old clock. It is so loud that it's almost a distraction. I never even realized that this clock made sound before and now all I hear is the consistent beating--tick, tock, tick, tock. The pulses have a calming and consistent rhythm to them--much like that of a heartbeat. With each passing "beat," my heart overflows and seeps gratitude for 2012. As I start with January and reminisce through each passing month, there were so many wonderful memories and amazing blessings. Through some trying circumstances, it was in many ways one of our greatest years. We witnessed actual miracles--including the wild birth of our son, Asher, and the beginning of healing for Sy on top of countless others. Looking back, we saw Jesus' hand over our lives daily with the steadiness and flow of an old clock ticking--always there but often missed through the hustle and bustle of our days. So as I sit here and listen to that soothing cadence, I am so thankful--  with every second that passes--for each memory, each relationship, and each blessing. Wow!

In 2013, I hope to have a better rhythm to my life and to take more time out to listen to that ticking of my heart--always there but often overlooked, yet so vital to my very existence. May it always remind me of my blessings. Thank you to each of you who journeys with us. We are so grateful!

Looking Ahead to Hindsight...

As we've been approaching the New Year, our family has been thinking through some big questions. We've been taking a real hard look at our life and looking at it from the perspective of 30-40 years from now. Do you ever think about that? It sure brings up A LOT of questions...

Did we follow our God-given passions or sell out to someone else's idea of success?

Were we obedient? The first time, every time, and with a happy heart?

Will we have accomplished what we felt we needed to or did we waste most of our time?

Did we do absolutely everything we could to honor our marriage?

How will we be seen by those around us? Faithful? Joyful? Kind? Peaceful?

Will we have any regrets?

Were we ACTIVELY involved in raising our children to the best of our ability?

Did we pursue health in all aspects or did we allow unhealth to seep in?

Even as I write these questions, I'm kinda scared to answer these now. So, how do we make sure that we will be able to answer these with no hesitation and with ethusiasm?

As you may know, 10 years ago, Heather and I took a huge step and obeyed a call made on our lives. Although it was scary, it was the best ride we've ever been on. We saw miracles happen frequently and our direction was clear. I'm not kidding, our paths really were straight! Even though that phase didn't end the way we planned, our hearts and our marriage were in the best place they could be. It was a life of living with no regrets...

10 years have passed now and we continue to see blessings and miracles come our way, regardless of the amount of our faithfulness. We look around and see more than we deserve and we are watching Sy be healed from a disease with no cure! From the outside, everything is perfect. We have pursued the more "traditional" route and it's worked out fairly well. Even though our resources don't add up on paper, God has provided for us in huge ways. Our life has definitely felt like Elijah in 1 Kings 17:

God then told Elijah, “Get out of here, and fast. Head east and hide out at the Kerith Ravine on the other side of the Jordan River. You can drink fresh water from the brook; I’ve ordered the ravens to feed you.” Elijah obeyed God’s orders. He went and camped in the Kerith canyon on the other side of the Jordan. And sure enough, ravens brought him his meals, both breakfast and supper, and he drank from the brook. Eventually the brook dried up because of the drought. Then God spoke to him: “Get up and go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I’ve instructed a woman who lives there, a widow, to feed you.”

But, the question is, what do you do when you sense your brook has dried up? What do we do when we feel that God is calling us to a new life? How do we not question God and say that the way he has been providing was just fine and we'd prefer to just keep things that way?

"Before we respond, could You please give specifics on how exactly you will provide next?"

"Lord, it just doesn't make sense to change things now!"

"Even though we are continuing to struggle, look at all the work we've done to get here! And we may not be able to get back here if Your plan doesn't pan out!"

These are all conversations and feelings that have been stirring around... However, when the worrying settles down and we stop and listen to our hearts, we know that we have been circumventing the life we were created for. Oh brother, if you only knew the things we have considered...

Late last night, Heather and I came across a network of people who have left the life they knew to live a fuller life. An abundant life. A life of spending time investing in a Kingdom, rather than things we could care less about. A life to use the gifts we love to use, rather than burying them deep under busyness, menial tasks, and stress. A life that doesn't push our faith, our marriage, our children, and our friends to the side. It's calling to us...in a big way.

But how do we get from here to there? Open doors, Lord! We're ready!

Say What, Doc?

For all of you who are praying for Sy's health, we have some HUGE news for you!

As some of you know, Silas underwent an endoscopy late last month in order for us to see any effects the Gerson therapy on his esophagus. With the number of grueling hours we have spent juicing, simmering, grinding, and washing, we had to get some sort of status on our direction. Is all of the energy and resources invested in this therapy really worth it? We've definitely had our moments of wanting to quit. But after starting Gerson, we've seen outward improvement, so we were expecting to see some inward improvement. That same day, the doctor told us that the pictures from the procedure showed that Sy's esophagus was indeed healing. Needless to say, we were thrilled with that news! However, we have been disappointed before with decent pictures of his esophagus and the biopsies later revealing that his disease was as active as ever. Talk about frustrating!

So, after this recent endoscopy, the real answers would lie in the results of his biopsies... So we've waited and waited for results...

Finally, I anxiously took the call and the doctor informed me that Sy's eosinophilic count was extremely low. How low? Low enough to be considered in normal range!!! 

How do you put a miracle into words? This disease supposedly has no cure and now his count is within normal?! This is nothing short of God using the Gerson Therapy to heal our boy. In fact, we were strongly advised against doing the therapy from the doctors a couple of weeks before this last endoscopy and we were almost overwhelmed with discouragement, but we've known God has placed us on this Gerson journey for a reason. Despite having heavy hearts, we clung to prayer and hope. And now this is the news we've been dreaming about... This is truly a miracle! We can't stop smiling.

So does this mean that all of the work of the therapy is over? No way. This confirms that all the work we are doing is worth the effort and we are moving in the right direction. Sy's body has had an extremely rough start, so must continue to slowly reintroduce new foods that will give his body the nutrition it needs. He still has 2-3 more years on the therapy so his body has a chance to fix what has been wrong for so many years. In reality, Sy may never eat "normal" but he'll certainly eat healthy. :) So now we will try to fill in some of the nutritional gaps with some additional foods from the therapy very slowly--starting with one food at a time. Needless to say, Sy is excited to taste something new! Just imagine that in time, it is possible that he may not have the same lunch and dinner every day!

Well, I need to mention again that Sy would not be where he is with his health and we could not continue the therapy without the love and support of those surrounding us. Let us just say that God is doing an amazing work here through you all! He has used you to perform this miracle. It has taken a village to keep Sy on the therapy and we are so grateful. There are too many of you to count, but know that the Harger family thanks you from the bottom of our hearts--with every carrot we juice (which is right around 1,000 carrots per month)!

I'm sure you all have lots of questions about what the doctor said, future endoscopies, etc. and we will gladly give more details later. We just wanted to get the news out asap. We love you all and please spread the word for anyone you know struggling with EE that there is an alternative way that seems to really work. (I'm still speechless...)

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finishing on the very day Christ Jesus appears. (Phil 1:6)

Frozen Sweat?

Hey Everyone!

We have some exciting news to share!

If you haven't heard already, a great group of folks are organizing a really fun road race here in Clermont to help with the cost of Sy's treatment. They are even bringing 4 tons of snow into the sunshine state. Check it out!

Sy's Snowflake 5K

In just the few weeks of organizing this event, there have been some more than incredible happenings. We have some huge sponsors already and we will start posting some of these specifics soon. The starting momentum of this event is telling us that this is going to be much bigger and better than we hoped!

Come join the fun and don't pull a hammy!