July 24,2006
Psalms 100
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful song, know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
What a day! Whitney started her day with 2 hours of a neuro-psych exam.
She will have 2 more mornings of testing to finish this complete test. We are all excited and interested in the outcome. It is important to us to see if she will be ready and able to handle going back to Taylor in the fall.
Whitney got ot go out for lunch with her recreational therapist. I am thiniking I could like that job:)
During occupational therapy she got to show off her cooking skills and got an A+ on Mac and Cheese. When we visited Hope they were asking questions about Whitney wanting to help her get back to who she was before the accident. We jokingly told them that she was a gormet cook and kept her room really clean. Well... we are on the way, mac and cheese today, chicken cordon blue tommorrow.
Whitney does good when she has a goal in front of her. When we came to Hope 3 weeks ago she tried the dynavision, which tests her reaction tme. The goal of 70-80 was given for driving again. (I was glad that I got 70 when I tried) Well today Whitney got 69! She is getting close and it is good to have these tangible goals.
Whitney is walking and that is so exciting to see. Her ankle was alittle swollen at the end of the day but she iced it and elivated it and is ready to go tommorrow.
Tonight ended on a sweet note with a trip to Cold Stone ice cream with friends. We have so much to be thankful for but still our hearts are with the friends and family of the Erbs, Smiths, Felvers, Larsons, and VanRyns as God loves them through this difficult time.
With love,
Whitney's mom
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful song, know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
What a day! Whitney started her day with 2 hours of a neuro-psych exam.
She will have 2 more mornings of testing to finish this complete test. We are all excited and interested in the outcome. It is important to us to see if she will be ready and able to handle going back to Taylor in the fall.
Whitney got ot go out for lunch with her recreational therapist. I am thiniking I could like that job:)
During occupational therapy she got to show off her cooking skills and got an A+ on Mac and Cheese. When we visited Hope they were asking questions about Whitney wanting to help her get back to who she was before the accident. We jokingly told them that she was a gormet cook and kept her room really clean. Well... we are on the way, mac and cheese today, chicken cordon blue tommorrow.
Whitney does good when she has a goal in front of her. When we came to Hope 3 weeks ago she tried the dynavision, which tests her reaction tme. The goal of 70-80 was given for driving again. (I was glad that I got 70 when I tried) Well today Whitney got 69! She is getting close and it is good to have these tangible goals.
Whitney is walking and that is so exciting to see. Her ankle was alittle swollen at the end of the day but she iced it and elivated it and is ready to go tommorrow.
Tonight ended on a sweet note with a trip to Cold Stone ice cream with friends. We have so much to be thankful for but still our hearts are with the friends and family of the Erbs, Smiths, Felvers, Larsons, and VanRyns as God loves them through this difficult time.
With love,
Whitney's mom
posted by ncerak | 6:35 AM
24 Comments:
We'll be praying about this testing Whitney is going through and that she will get the results your looking for. I know it would be great to see Whitney be able to continue at Taylor this fall. I'm sure your trip to Cold Stone will give her just what she needs to do well :) At least it always helps me out. Praying for a great week in therapies - and your return home soon!
Love from Gaylord!!
What a special treat, Cold Stones! Next goal...Ivahoes! (For those not from TU, this is the incredible ice cream place in Upland. For generations, every TU student knows Ivahoes!)
Thank you for your updates!
Hey Mac & Chesse taste better than Cordon Bleu anyways!! What a change in such a short time. We in the Hoosier State will welcome her back with open arms.
Yes, Ivahoes is the happening place - even for this 55 year old in Wabash.
God's blessings on all who are represented by or read Whitney's blog.
It's been nearly 40 years since I attended Marion College (now IWU) and Ivanhoe's was a frequent treat. How nice to hear it's still around - many happy memories!
Our prayers are with you all.
Keep up the great work Whitney!! We miss you here. Praying for you and your family everyday.
Love,
Barbi
Wow, sounds like Whitney is doing great. Her progress shows in your writings.
So happy for you all!!!!
Mac n cheese & Cold Stone. Nothing better than that! Now, personally I like to really gourmet up the mac n cheese with hot dogs. My boyfriend calls that "babysitter food" which I guess is appropriate, since even my babysitter made that for me as a kid. I've gotten really sneaky now and toss the dogs in the boiling water with the noodles the last few mintues to cook them and not have to dirty another pot or make them in the microwave! :) It's a fine delicacy. Now for Cold Stone, I hope that Whit has discovered the cake batter flavored ice cream. SO GOOD! B-day cake remix is a sure cure for a speedy recovery! I had 2 friends bring me batches of it while I was recovering from my tonsilectomy last year at the age of 25. Oh how I wished I had done it when I was 10, but hey I couldn't interrupt my little league schedule in the summer or school!
Hello, I have been following this story since the beginnning. I have cried, laughed, and prayed as I almost daily read your journal. I do not know you or the Van Ryns, but am a believer and have a little understanding of the pain of loss. My daughter went to heaven at the age of 21 after becoming ill on a mission trip. She had Cystic Fibrosis and was a strong Christian. I think of her often when I visit your blog. Whitney's determination, attitude, committment to the Lord, love of family, and lots of friends reminds me of my daugher. I will continue to pray for total healing for Whitney. God's Blessings be yours in abundance.
Hi Cerak family-
Thanks for granting us these almost daily glimpses into all that the Lord is doing in His amazing work of healing and restoring Whitney.
I so appreciate your candor,your faith, your tenderness and your humor.
As a dear friend of the Larson family, I also appreciate your continued prayers for what someone has called "the Chosen Five". Well put. Their grief is so deep right now- You all understand that yurselves so well.
Thank you for lifting up Christ before us all.
Blessings-
Hi Cerak Family-
Thank you for allowing us these almost daily glimpses into all that the Lord is doing to heal and restore Whitney.
I so appreciate your faith, your candor, your tenderness and humor.
As a dear friend of the Larson family, I also appreciate your prayers for them as one of the families of what someone has aptly called "The Chosen Five". The grief these five families are feeling is so very deep right now as you amazingly can understand.
Thank you always lifting up Christ before us!
Blessings-
Small oops on the previous blog. It's Ivanhoes. sorry for the misspelling! To the former Marion College student, it's still there with 100 kinds of sundaes & shakes! & great food! Whitney, I hope just thinking about it helps you to keep up the good work. Still praying!
Former TU student from the late 70's
I've been reading Laura's blog from the week after the accident, and have continued reading Whitney's blog since the truth was known. This is my first time commenting on your site. I feel, like many of the VanRyn's friends, a certain sense of "ownership" of Whitney. After all, we prayed for her for weeks (without knowing it was her), and continue to do so. I love hearing how well she's doing, and my family and I will continue to pray for Whitney well into the future.
Your funny story today reminded me of an old hockey story. Shaun Van Allen, a rookie playing for the Edmonton Oilers, crashed into the boards, and was clearly in a fog, not knowing who or where he was. The coach yelled at the trainer, "tell him he's Wayne Gretzky!" :-)
Love and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I read Whitney's story on MSN. I pray for a full recovery for her. What a blessing for your family!
Awesome! Our God is so good. These blogs have stretched me to deepen my faith and to realize that this life is but a breath. I will be a sophomore this fall at Huntington University, and have been praying for you all since the night of the accident. I was thrilled to read that Whitney is able to put all her weight on her leg as well as make a wonderful meal of mac-n-cheese and hot dogs :) I was also touched by the donation to the Invisible Children. I am actually going to Uganda, Africa to study abroad this coming semester. I will be learning and understanding more about Invisible Children, and as I learn, I will think and pray for Whitney, family, and friends. Prayers to you all as she continues to be strengthened. I pray I can meet Whitney someday at TU since HU is just 30 or 40 min away. It seems we both same the same passion for these children!
God's Blessings,
Katie Mitchel
Huntington University '09
John 15:5
This is the first time I've sent a comment, but I've read many of the journal entries over the past 3 months. I am so moved by the reality of the body of Christ. To be so connected to you by the Truth that we both know is really an amazing thing. How wonderful Heaven will be! I see Deut. 32:3-4 as a banner over all that has happened: "I will proclaim the name of the Lord; how glorious is our God! He is the Rock; his work is perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!"
Yeah for Mac N Cheese!! And I'm sure you're missing Hoes though Coldstone can come as a close substitute :D Anyways, Whit I'm so excited for you. You're doing an amazing job! And driving!! It'll come soon! I'll definitely be praying for the neuro-psych tests. You guys are a wonderful family. Thanks so much for all the verses you've written. They've been an encouragement to all! Our God is good. So good. And thank you once again for reminding us to pray for our friends and families the VanRyns, Erbs, Larsons, Felvers, and Smiths. All of you are in my prayers ever day.
TU student '08
Ceraks,
Thank you for sharing your faith.
What a witness you all are for God!!
"The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him." 2 Samuel 22:31
Continued blessings to your family!!
Newell, Colleen, Carly, Sandra and WHITNEY,
I haven't posted for a while but believe me, I'm on the blog every morning with my coffee. I need my daily updates!!
It's so awesome to hear the progress Whit has been making and I am amazed daily at the positive steps forward that are being seen.
It was nice to see a post from Carly and Sandra the other day. Good Job Girls!!!
Whitney, keep up the good work. You just keep getting better and seem so motivated to do so!! Oh, the Chicken Cordon Bleu sounds really good, mmmm!!
You guys are such an awesome family and I respect all of you so much!!
God Bless all of you and GO WHIT GO!!!!!!!!!! You'll be home before you know it :-)
NEWELL, COLLEEN, CARLY, SANDRA...
I am Amazed at God's faithfulness in healing Whit over these past few months. I remember sitting with ya'll at the restaurant in early June rejoicing that she was ALIVE. and now, she's slowly but surely getting back to normal life again, cookin, and cleanin, pretty soon it will be the homework!!! (sorry whit) how amazing!
WHIT...
keep up all the hard work! i'm praying for you, and so excited that you can finally walk!!! i love hearing about how God restores something new in you everyday. SO faithful. I miss you and Car so much.... Hope to see you guys soon. LOVE you ALL:)
-Malee
NEWELL, COLLEEN, CARLY, SANDRA...
I am Amazed at God's faithfulness in healing Whit over these past few months. I remember sitting with ya'll at the restaurant in early June rejoicing that she was ALIVE. and now, she's slowly but surely getting back to normal life again, cookin, and cleanin, pretty soon it will be the homework!!! (sorry whit) how amazing!
WHIT...
keep up all the hard work! i'm praying for you, and so excited that you can finally walk!!! i love hearing about how God restores something new in you everyday. SO faithful. I miss you and Car so much.... Hope to see you guys soon. LOVE you ALL:)
-Malee
I wanted the whole Cerak family to know that my family has been praying for you during this rough journey. We are also a Taylor family. My two sisters, brother and I are Taylor Alums. We have mourned with you and celebrated with you. We continue to pray for Whitney and her recovery. We also continue to celebrate her victories along the road. I live only a few miles from the accident site. Everytime I drive by and see the crosses, I pray for each of the families affected. God bless you and your family for your strength and faith. ~Joy
it's so good to hear how whitney's doing. thank you so much for your faithful upkeep of the blog. God be with you all:)
To the Cerak family - I love reading updates on Whitney every day. It has become my routine to check the site for updates every morning. God is so good and deserves our praise. I rejoice with you as He shows his mercy and grace every day. It is so nice to be able to pray specifically for Whitney's needs - thank you again for keeping all of us "in your loop."
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