God is Faithful! Woot Woot!

First I want to thank you all for your prayers. It's been really cool to see God orchestrate things by putting the right people in our paths to help with this situation. We are happy to report that the doctor who declared Joel "fit for duty" gave him two extra months to put together a Med Board packet. This is great news and means that we don't have to abruptly leave or sell the house. Joel also finally got a referral that we have been waiting for to the Autonomic Clinic. We are just so thankful that things are falling into place. Please continue to pray for Joel's healing. Also pray for a concrete diagnosis which would help out a lot with the Med Board process. The doctor warned us that since Joel doesn't have a real diagnosis that we might not get medically discharged like we are hoping. We are just happy that we are at least on the right path! Thanks again friends for your prayers and support!

Update on the Stewart Family: Please join us in prayer for what's next!

So much has happened since my last post. About a year ago Joel was going through the medical discharge process for his shoulder in the Navy. He was misinformed by his detailer that if the med board declared Joel "fit for duty" that he would be deployed to Afghanistan, so she instructed him to write a resignation letter just in case. Since then Joel has become ill and has been depending on military healthcare to go to a numerous amount of doctors to figure out what is wrong with him. The med board process was discontinued a few months ago and Joel was put on limited duty so he could continue to go to doctors to seek a diagnosis. On Friday we were informed that a doctor looked at Joel's record and declared him "fit for duty" (although one look at Joel and you would know otherwise) and therefore the resignation letter is in effect (last day will be July 31st). It feels like a punch to the gut when you find out that you will have no income and your husband is still ill and won't have the access to the healthcare he has now. We are blessed though that the delivery of our baby will be covered by our health insurance since Baby Stewart is due July 12th. We contacted the Navy lawyer but he said that writing that letter made things near impossible to fight their decision for Joel to resign. Our only option is to find one of Joel's doctors to advocate for him and convince the doc who declared Joel "fit for duty" to change his mind, but if you have any idea of the egos in the military the chances of that happening seems super slim. Our goal was to be medically discharged from the Navy so that Joel could continue his treatment/healthcare. The benefits are much greater through the medical discharge process. Plus we would have time to figure out what's next. We only have two weeks to get this sorted out. Due to Joel's condition he would be unable to watch the kids. So if we are in fact forced to resign, then our best option seems to be to sell the house here in Mississippi and move in with our parents in Connecticut (til we get on our feet again). My mom would take care of the kids so I could work full-time. It's scary to think of all the things that would have to be done to make this happen especially since we will have a newborn in tow. We know God is faithful! We also believe in miracles and prayer, so we ask you, our friends and family, to pray for our situation. We pray specifically for direction and that if it's God's will for us to stay in the Navy that He will change the heart of the doctor who made this decision. If it's His will for us to move on and to depend on Him for provision rather than the benefits of the Navy then we pray that He will give Joel and I the strength to do everything necessary to move on. Most importantly we want Joel to be completely healed. Our fear is that he won't be able to receive the healthcare he needs and that his condition will get worse. Also it's tough going through all of this being pregnant and emotional. Please pray for strength for me because Joel is unable to do a lot and I just need the strength and energy to run after a toddler and do everyday activities! We appreciate your prayers and will keep you posted on what happens in the next few weeks! Thanks so much!