Rhonda,

I know it is difficult for Ben, and yourself as well watching from the
distance of not actually being him in the situation, and it must be hard as
well for the doctor to know that yawl want to be together for Christmas,
and he is trying to keep hope yet not false hope in yawl too. If you know
he is depressed, the doc does too and it probably trying to keep him up as
much as he can. It might be good to recognize that Ben still has his foot,
will not have to find rehab in how to deal with that adjustment. It is
proven that attitude goes a long way in producing medical benefits, even
the Bible talks of that so we know it is true without medical proof. Ever
notice if you are riding in a car going somewhere you really want to be and
haven't been there before, that it seems to take a long time? You think we
must  almost be there by now I'd think. You run that over a few times and
still not there and then finally you get there and you thing, wow, that
took a long time. On the return trip you get set to read or what ever for
the long trip and before you know it you are home and now you think... wow
that didn't take as long as I thought. It is because we were in so much
expectation in the first trip and the second we just laid back and didn't
think of when we'd get there much at all. Perhaps helping Ben to focus not
on being home for Christmas but just support and etc. will be good and
trust the doctor's advice to not over tax the foot just yet. Just a
thought. Also, with Christa off of school, you off of classes just now, and
Ben going to have some time off yet, Christmas can be when you want it to
be and not when the calendar says. Just like church is not the physical
building, Christmas is not December 25. We here are having our Christmas at
home tomorrow because of our trip to the east side of Wisconsin. If it was
after, it matters none to me, the point is Christmas is spending time with
family sharing the celebration of Christ's birth and what he did for us.

Brad