A really cool thing happened during the fast this year. Our son James has been having hearing problems for 6 months or so. It was getting so bad that he acted like Treys grandfather used to when he couldn't hear, smile and nod. James was constantly asking "what?" It was getting pretty concerning. He had a few ear infections last year, but not that many. And they weren't very bad so I wasn't sure if the two were related. The peak of his hearing loss was at the holidays this year and right as we started the fast. Trey and I got very concerned. I admit, some fear crept in. I started wondering if too many loud concerts had done this. Or maybe it is his drums that did it. If you know James, the kid is a killer drummer already. My heart was deeply troubled that we might have a child with hearing loss when his dad is a musician and music is our life. During the fast, Trey and I really began praying over him. One particular Saturday night as James said his prayers, he prayed for himself, asking God to make his ears better so he could hear mommy and daddy. The next morning before church, Trey and James were in the kitchen making breakfast. James said, "daddy, I can hear you...." in a whisper, something he has not been able to do in a while. He had been speaking loudly just to hear himself! Then he said "God healed my ears, there was a big boom and I now I can hear!" Immediately Trey went in the next room and whispered to see if James could hear it, and he could! I was ecstatic. Our God heard our cry. James already had an appointment with an audiologist and an ENT surgeon so we decided to take him anyway. He passed the hearing test but the audiologist said his ear drums were like pancakes when they should be like trampolines. So the sound wasn't vibrating like it should. Yesterday we had the follow up visit to the ENT surgeon to evaluate for ear tubes. Guess what?! To our surprise, the cause of his pancake ear drums is fluid build up from pre-molars coming in! There is no need for ear tubes. As for the cause of the hearing loss over most of last year, we will never know. And I don't need to! God is so good to hear a precious boys' prayer. Truly a miracle and the first fruit from the fast!