A piano!

Cam’s Nanna had it on her heart to buy him a piano, and it was delivered this afternoon! What an awesome blessing – we are so excited! It is 60 years old – restored and absolutely beautiful. We had lots of fun trying it out!

‘O sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done wonderful things…’ Psalm 98: 1

Goggles and patient cousins

We’re trying to get Cam to wear goggles when he swims, because he likes to put his head right under sometimes, and we don’t want him losing his contact lenses in the pool!

Meagie and Craig slept over last night, and I played them an ABC sing-along DVD. I explained that it’s easier for Cam to watch the TV right up close, and they very patiently made room for him, and watched right up close, too. (I realise this is not necessarily a long-term solution...!)

A few things have lifted our spirits lately. Cam has started recognising us in photos. My Mom has put pictures of me in some of his visual therapy powerpoint presentations that she has designed for him (who ever said Grannies weren’t techno-savvy?!). The other day I was drinking my morning coffee from a mug that has on it a picture of me and Cam. He pressed his nose right up to the mug then pointed at the picture of me and said, ‘Mom’ – and that was without his lenses in. This is technically impossible, and definitely miraculous. He did the same with a photo of Murray; then he also got hold of my ID book and did the same again, even pointing to my eyes and nose. Yesterday he was pointing out two of his cousins in photos – ‘Gark’ (Mark) and ‘Niggie’ (Nici)!

Cam just doesn’t seem to notice or interact with other kids much. They certainly don’t freak him out, but he doesn’t really play with them (Meagan and Craig are an exception, to some extent; I suppose because he knows them well). He also hasn’t grasped the concept of sharing, because he can’t see that there are other children playing with various toys and that if he happens to stumble upon a toy, and if that toy happens to be in another child’s hands, he can’t just take it. When Murray dropped him at school the other day, he hung around and played a bit with Cam on the carpet. They were playing with a cow and making cow noises, etc. One of the little boys in Cam’s class came up and said, ‘Hello, Cam!’ He had a pig, which he proceeded to give to Cam. And then Cam gave him the cow. And then they all made piggy noises and laughed. Progress!

‘That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.’ – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Friends, mud, hats…

Bits of news

Eye news

Cam is now wearing a +26 lens in his left eye, because his prescription for that eye has changed (he is still wearing a +39 in his right eye). Interestingly, he is using his left eye a little more, but is holding objects really close up to his face – that’s obviously where he is seeing things more clearly. The new lens also made him a little unsteady on his feet for the first few days – he seemed to lose even more depth perception – but he seems to be adjusting again.

Murray got a call from a company that specialises in low vision equipment and visual therapy, and they’ve offered him a staggering discount on the quintessential visual therapy software suite, so we’ve got a demo and will check it out – a real blessing!

Healing service

Family friends invited us to a healing service at their church in Alberton, on Saturday. We went along with mixed feelings – it raised many questions again in our hearts. Certainly, God has gifted some in the area of healing, but he can also use anyone, anywhere, for His healing purposes. Certainly, Jesus says that ‘you do not have because you do not ask’, but we have had such a strong sense, from the beginning of our walk with Cammy, that it is because of – not in spite of – his eyes, that he will be used mightily of God. We also love him so holistically and can’t imagine him any other way, and yet if he can be healed and spared the suffering of visual impairment then of course that is what we would choose. Eish...

The people were so kind and genuine, so encouraging in their sense of God’s hand on Cammy’s life and His plans and purposes for him. We were glad we went, even though nothing miraculous happened. If the prayers of the saints are a sweet-smelling incense to our God, then prayers are never wasted, however He may choose to answer them.

Tough days

I've been quite emotional about Cam’s situation, this past week. The pain of it has been close to the surface, where normally I keep it firmly in its place, right down at the bottom of my heart. I suppose I’ve noticed more the difficulties he is facing, and will face. Like, his little buddies can walk down stairs by themselves, whereas he still struggles because of his lack of depth perception. Sometimes he’s naughty - and too cute! - at bedtime: he climbs out of his bed after lights out and comes running into the lounge, grinning his head off, thinking that he is undiscovered and planning to surprise us in our room. It breaks my heart because he runs right past us and can’t see us sitting on the couch watching him.

Lola is an angel

Lola is one of God’s more amazing creatures, and one of Cam’s best teachers. Besides teaching him how to deal with being smacked in the face by a wagging tail, she is so patient. The other day Cam poked her in the eyes and said, ‘Eyes! Eyes!’ I then showed him Lola’s ears – which feel quite different to his own – and so he spent a while (roughly) contemplating her ears, and nose, and mouth… Through it all she sat completely still, stoically enduring his tugs and pokes. :)

Two kinds of blindness

I went away on a ladies’ retreat this past weekend, so Murray and Cam stayed home together and talked about ‘guy stuff’… and ate Marie biscuits in bed… which doesn’t generally happen if I’m at home :). Cam also spent an afternoon with his cousins (the naked photo).

Last week I read some commentary on Matthew 20-21, by Graeme Gilmour. He writes the following:

Here we have two kinds of blindness. The two men on the outskirts of Jericho were physically blind (as were those who came to Jesus in the temple). But these two men seem to have had much clearer insight into who Jesus really was than the sighted ones around them. On the basis of what they must have heard about Jesus, they ‘saw’ who he really was – the Messiah (hence their use of the Messianic title, ‘Son of David’). As those who knew their own neediness, they simply cast themselves on the mercy of Jesus, and found that his grace met their deep need. They also ‘saw’ that the appropriate response to Jesus’ grace was to follow him (v34).

The chief priests and teachers of the law had no trouble physically seeing the wonderful things Jesus did in healing the blind and lame in the temple (21:14-15), but they suffered from a much more damaging blindness than had those whom Jesus had healed. They couldn’t see that Jesus was God-in-action-on-earth, despite the overwhelming evidence before their very eyes. What had blinded them – self-interest, prejudice, theological blinkers?

Closer to God © SU 2009

God is good

Praise for good news!

Cam had a routine EUA yesterday (his 13th general anaesthetic…) and his eyes look great: healthy and clear. The pressure in both his eyes is fine, too (approx. 15). His left eye has grown ever so slightly, and his contact lens prescription for that eye has changed a little.

He has graduated, in the kiddies’ ward at the Pretoria Eye Institute, from cot to bed, and from wearing his own kit to wearing smart green hospital pyjamas, almost the same as what his Dad and Uncle Jacobus wear, though he doesn’t get the weird headgear. He is also now old enough to know a little more of what’s going on, and he was not a happy camper when I left him at the doors of the theatre!

Debut!

BREAKING NEWS:

City toddler, Cameron Reyburn, gave his dazzling debut stage performance at a theatre in Pretoria East on Saturday 17th October.

The theatre group Heavenly Babies and Tots, which has not yet quit its day job as a nursery and pre-school in the eastern suburbs of Pretoria, staged the hit musical Soccer 2010 on the weekend. Reyburn (18 months) stole the show with his charmingly nonplussed I-don’t-really-know-what’s-going-on smile, and his unique foot-stamping, arm-waving interpretation of the compositions. Reyburn took on the role of a Jamaican soccer icon. Ironically, his act opened with the song I can see clearly now, followed by a Jamaican dance which he completed with palpable flair, the result of months of rigorous rehearsals. The other children were quite good too.

A crush of adoring fans – mostly close relatives – thronged to greet Reyburn as he exited backstage. Reporters clamoured to get a brief post-performance response from the actor. Though a little tearful after an arduous show, he seemed to be taking it all in his stride and nonchalantly announced to the public, ‘Da da da!’ which suggests that the young artist may have philosophical affiliations with early twentieth century modernist Dadaism.

Reyburn’s mother, Dalene (32), says she is ‘never one to brag’ but is simply pleased that the world has recognized her son’s evident genius. Reyburn’s father, Murray (30), was unable to be at the performance, but was deeply moved by the accounts of his son’s concert, saying ‘Upon hearing his first cry in the delivery room, I knew that Cameron was destined for stardom. Today Pretoria; tomorrow Broadway.’

Reyburn’s theatrical pursuits are briefly on hold, after the glittering weekend musical event, as he will be in a theatre of a different kind on Monday afternoon, undergoing an examination under anaesthetic at the Pretoria Eye Institute.

Watch the press for more news of this up-and-coming celebrity.