This past week my women's Bible study met after a month off for Christmas. It was so good to be together again! A few of the group could not come and we missed them. We met this week at Carolyn's home. She is the one on the far right. During prayer time, Carolyn mentioned a prayer request for her sweet grandbaby, Maddie.

Carolyn wrote a letter this evening requesting prayer again. I have copied it below so you can read it and pray for this family.

I come to you knowing how precious moms, dads and little children are to
you. Would you please join me (and pass on this request to anyone you know)
in prayer for our new little granddaughter, Madelyn Rose, or Maddie as we
call her. She will be seven weeks old on Monday and has not been able to
open her eyelids more than just little slits.

Yesterday Jeremy and Renee (our son and daughter-in-love) took her to a
specialist and Maddie was diagnosed with congenital ptosis, which means the
muscle that lifts the eyelid is non-existent or considerably
under-developed. Surgery is the only way to correct the condition but it is
not a one-stop fix, rather it will be multiple surgeries over several years,
as her body continues to grow.

There is a real time issue here. Light is critical to the development of the
infant eye. If you cover a baby's eye with patches for three months, they
will be blind. So you see, there are really just a few weeks in which to
consult with surgeons and make the proper decisions; decisions which will
affect Maddie for the rest of her life. You see, with surgery it is a
permanent fix, she will not be able to blink or close her eyes, not even to
sleep, at least that's what is being said now. The next step is to consult
with specialist surgeon at the world renown Jules Stein Eye Institute at
UCLA and proceed with surgery ASAP.

Apart from this, Maddie is a very healthy, sweet, mild little baby. She
cries only when hungry, and does love to eat! Hey, she's a Dewey! From birth
she's been so pretty with gorgeous porcelain-doll-like skin and such a
pretty little mouth. Her eyes (which are fine, thankfully!) are a navy blue,
we'd just like to be able to see them and have them see us!

So requests would be:
* a prompt appointment and surgery date at UCLA
* wisdom, discernment, peace for Jeremy and Renee as they seek the best for
Maddie
* Maddie's eyes would get enough light for their development
* may God, and only God, be glorified through all of this

I know how busy all of you are, so thank you for wading through this
message. For those of you who blog...I know your blogs are far-reaching and
I'd be EVER SO GRATEFUL if you could put a plea for prayer for Maddie on
your blog. You may use the attached photos and any of the text. It's so hard
on this grandma to be so far away, if only I could rush to California today!
- but I know the power of prayer is far greater than anything I can do. May
God's plans for Maddie prevail!