(AMAZING) Grace

I don't even know where to start.

I got a call Tuesday morning from my friend, Julie. The first thing she said was "Can you help me?" I thought to myself, of course I can but before I could even say anything, she told me she would have to call me right back. Five minutes passed and as I was starting to get concerned she finally called me back. Then she proceeded to tell me that the reason she initially called me in the first place was to help her locate her husband. Huh? Then she told me the rest of the story. Earlier that morning she received a call from a man (whom she did not know) on Steve's (her husband) phone. The man called her by name, then asked if she was Steve's wife. To which she replied that she was. The man went on to tell her that he found Steve lying on the ground, in a semi-unconscious state. He had called EMS and they were en-route and were taking him to HVSH. She immediately got dressed and went up to the hospital. When she went in and said she was there for her husband, they told her they had no one there by that name. That was when she called me. She wanted me to call other hospitals to see if they had taken him somewhere else. When she finally called me back, she said that as soon as she got on the phone with me, someone stepped out and asked for her. So he was there, PTL!!!!

The man who found Steve "just so happened" (OK you know that was God's providence) to be an Army medic, with his entire medic bag. He was able to care for Steve and take his vitals while they waited for EMS. (AMAZING) Praise God! And what the guy saw was Steve drop as if he had been shot. That's why he turned around and went back.

On Monday of this week, my friend, who does a load or 2 of laundry a day, told her kids (she has 6, but we will get to that later) that they were going to have a "laundry day". This day consisted of 14 loads of laundry, but also ended with them having all clean clothes and no dirty laundry, so that when they had to not be home for a week there were no clothing issues. (AMAZING) What a awesome providential outpouring of God's love!!

Julie and Steve have 6 kids. They range in age from 14 to 3.5 months. In yet another act of God's marvelous working, their 5th child was in Florida with Julie's parents. This sweet girl is high maintenance. She is very needy of her momma and a little jealous of her baby brother's attention, I think. She is also a worrier. So for her to be enjoying Disney World, instead of worrying about her dad and wanting her mom was incredible. (AMAZING) This is not to say that it was better to have her gone, but it did make things a bit easier. And in this situation, every bit of easy was something welcomed and cherished.

The first diagnosis for Steve was a stroke. Multitudes of tests revealed that this 37 year old man was in total good health. There was NO REASON for him to have a stroke. Therefore, more testing ensued. The stroke happened in an area of his brain that controls motion and balance. This part of the brain is the one place that also can recover COMPLETELY after having a stroke. (AMAZING) This additional testing revealed an even bigger issue. He had a blood clot in his brain. Oh Praise God! And isn't this just like Him to allow Steve to have a completely unexplained stroke to uncover a potentially deadly blood clot. (AMAZING)

While Steve was in the hospital, he had a doctor that was assigned specifically to him. Not 14 other patients like most doctors, but one doctor, one patient. (AMAZING)

Thursday, when Greg got home from work, we piled in his big van and drove to where Julie's kids were staying that day. We were going to take them up to see their dad. So, we were in the big van - Greg and I and 8 kids. We were driving along a back road and there was this car in front of us that was going so slow.....I mean REALLY slow. I urged Greg to pass him, but he thought it would not be wise to do that in his van. When we got into downtown, we made a detour down a side street in an attempt to get ahead of this car. Guess what? He ended up in front of us again! Seriously? I wanted to get these kids to see their dad. I did not want to sit idly behind this freaking slow car! About 5 miles further down the road, the 3 cars in front of the freakishly slow car were in a huge accident, that we watched happen. That would have been us if we would have passed. (AMAZING)

When we got there with the kids, we walked into the room to find Julie crying. She proceeded to tell us that the clot was very serious and they were planning to take Steve by ambulance downtown to a neurosurgeon to have surgery THAT night. Wow. That was something I was not expecting to walk into, especially with all those kiddos. I asked Greg to step out into the hall with me and we started formulating a plan. He was going to take all the kids home and put them to bed and I was going to go downtown with Julie. I was not going to let her go alone. We went back in and started talking about this plan and the doctor walked back in. The doctor proceeded to tell them that she had talked to the neurosurgeon and he felt that they might be over-reacting a little. What? The neurosurgeon was going to review Steve's films and get back to them with what he felt they should do. So the plan changed. We would leave their kids there to spend time with dad, and they would call us when they heard. Then, if they had to go, Greg and I would go back up and he would take the kids and I would go with Julie. We went home and I told Greg I was going to lie down for a little while in case I had to go. I just laid in bed, fully clothed, praying for them all. By 8:30 when I still had not heard anything, I texted Julie. I didn't want to bother them, but I HAD to make sure they were taken care of. She ended up calling me back a few minutes later from home. I was glad that she was able to go home - that also meant no surgery. She told me that they were going to change Steve's medications and that the neuro team from downtown was going to come to Steve in the morning. (AMAZING) To not make him leave.....there were just no words. God is unbelievable, yet oh, so totally believable!!!! That was Thursday.

Friday the neuro team came and visited with Steve and the diagnosis was a "dissection of his artery". What this means is, first of all, there is no hole in the artery. Therefore, the clot can be treated with anti-platelet therapy and, hopefully, dissipated. Second, this means that the layers in the artery have separated from each other and blood has filled the gap. So if the clot is "dissolved", there is not a hole left to "bleed out" from. (AMAZING) They have not ruled out surgery entirely, however, they are going to try this medication course of action first. We are prayerful and confident of God's plan. Also, this medical team said that Steve was able to go home the next day - Saturday! Woo hoo! But the most awe-inspiring thing of all was what the neurosurgeon told Julie. He said there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASONABLE EXPLANATION why Steve had the stroke. The stroke and the blood clot are completely unrelated! Well.....we know why. We serve an (AMAZING) God, who sometimes uses irritating smaller things to protect us from dangerous bigger things. He is so (AMAZING)!!!!!

The other thing I encountered through this journey was the (AMAZING) outpouring of love from the people at our church. They are truly (AMAZING) and a real testimony of Christ's love in action. There were times that my phone rang non-stop for 2-3 hours, with people wanting to help Steve and Julie in some way. It was overwhelming - in so many ways. I felt like I lived on the phone, but with every new call, I was re-energized. I was so blessed to help my friend. I love her and would do anything for her. (I guess I would have to since she moved her whole family in with me for a week when I broke my leg) But seriously, I would. I wanted to make sure that her needs, and the needs of her kiddos, were met. The (AMAZING) thing of this is that it was not a "me" thing. It was the body of Christ, working together, to get the (AMAZING) done. I was so excited when people came up with neat, and different, ways to help. I definitely have so much to learn. But I have (AMAZING) teachers.

An instance of this, was shown on Friday in lunch. A lady from church, RT, was planning to have lunch with another lady from church, CC. RT was making and bringing the lunch to CC's house. When RT arrived with lunch, CC was amazed because there was so much food! It was supposed to be just the 2 of them, but RT made an entire roaster pan of macaroni and cheese and had different salads and sandwich makings. Well, wouldn't you know...Julie called CC (because she lives close to the hospital) and asked if she could take her boys. They were fighting and driving her crazy. Isn't that just like God, to have more food ready for those unexpected guests? (AMAZING)

Steve is not done yet. He has a long road of recovery, but he is home. God is good all the time, and definitely has a plan for Steve - that much is sure. We serve a truly (AMAZING) God!!! All praise and glory to Him forever and ever!

Sacrifice in the Name of Love

I was reading this morning in Philippians (Ch 2) and Paul was writing about sending a messenger back to the Philippians. This man brought money and help to Paul while he was in Rome, but then became sick and longed to be home. Paul was finally sending him back and finished speaking of him with these words,

So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me. (vs 29-30)

To make up for the help you could not give me? Could not, or would not? What about us? Obviously, this is talking about missionary work (taking the gospel of Christ to those who have not heard), but I was thinking about it differently.

Yesterday, my plans changed because my friend's husband was in the hospital. I took her lunch and sat with her. To some, this would appear as a sacrifice, but to me, it was not. I love my friend and I WANTED to be with her. I wanted to support her and care for her.

Then as I was thinking about this this morning, I realized there was another sacrificial love taking place. My parents. Of course. I am so truly blessed. They had already kept my kiddos overnight, but when I called to tell them I needed to go to the hospital, there was no complaining or grumbling. There were words of encouragement and telling me not to worry about the kids and to take the time I needed. There is sacrificial love. Oh, I know that my parents love my kids (and me) and would do anything to help. But Grandpa is always caring for one of my kids (Grant) and Grandma just got off working all night.....so trust me....there was sacrifice involved. But, and here's the point......I don't think they looked at it that way. Same as me with my friend. They love me and my kids, and would just do anything to help. Even if it messed up whatever they had planned for the day.

THAT is what I mean by sacrificial love. You sacrifice your plans for the sake of someone else, but because you love them, it is not really a sacrifice it is what you WANT to do. Does that sound like anyone else? Especially coming off Easter....His name is Jesus. And He sacrificed because He loves you.

Stealed

While in the grocery store with all 4 of my kids, Grant came up to me and said something I could not understand. After making him repeat it about 4 times, I realized what it was.

"Grace was not by you. That man almost stealed her."

I love that he knows why he needs to stay with me. I love my kids!!!!

Jacob's 4th Grade Travel Basketball

Love Note from Grace

I hope she ALWAYS feels this way!!

Grant

Recent Happenings

Never a dull moment around here. Last night Grandma called me and said she was coming over to get Grant to spend the night. I obediently obliged, got him out of bed and started packing his stuff, then I thought.....what the heck? Doesn't she even have to ask me? I mean I always had to ask for things when I was not the adult, but now here I am the adult and my own mother is not even asking MY permission to take my kid. Overnight. Oh well...I quickly got over that (because she bribed me with mint chocolate brownie ice cream) and was so thankful to have parents who WANT my kids overnight. It also really helped me out for this morning. Grant was more than thrilled to go. He got to go to a "nut farm" with Grandma and Grandpa. And if you know Grant, you might think he took THEM there, but it was vice versa. My aunt and uncle recently purchased a nut farm and my parents were going out to deliver some equipment and check it out. Grant got to go too. Apparently while he was there, he was some sort of big shot. He talked with the "big kids" (my cousins), shook Phillip's hand and told me about the other girl (my cousin) who "ate a bug". When I asked him about the bug eating he told me that "she didn't do this" (putting his hand over his mouth). What that meant was that while they were on the golf cart, she was talking without covering her mouth and a bug went in. He said this as if it was just everyday common knowledge. I guess for him it is. He spends almost everyday on some sort of equipment. Later in the day, he told Phillip that he knew how to use the chainsaw. You just turn this and pull this and then you can cut. Seriously? The kids is 3 years old. I guess I shouldn't mention that he can drive - blinkers and all. Geez.

A short while ago I received a phone call from the mom of one of the players on Jacob's basketball team. She asked if she could come over and give Grant a present. I thought it was weird, but she is a very nice lady and well, what the heck. When she got here, she had a hooded baseball sweatshirt for Grant. She said it was too small for her youngest son and her husband thought Grant HAD to have something to wear to Jacob's baseball games. That was because Grant was the unofficial mascot for Jacob's basketball team. He ALWAYS had a basketball jersey and shorts on, his basketball shoes and a warm up suit. He was one of the big guys. He still thinks he is. Every time Jacob gets ready for baseball practice, Grant goes and changes his clothes and says he is ready for his baseball game.

As I was lying in bed with the girls, our conversation turned to Grace's upcoming field trip. I asked her who she wanted to take (obviously sure that she would pick me). First she said Dad (Greg). What? I told her he couldn't go because he had work and he was already going on a field trip with Jacob. Then she suggested Grandma. WHAT??? What about Mom??? Hello??? Can you see me??? She asked to call Grandma, so we did and she asked and Grandma said yes (of course). Then Grandpa said he wanted to go and THAT made Grace even more excited. Now she had both of her grandparents going on the field trip. I started playing sad. Jadyn (the lover of the bunch) crawled onto me and told me SHE would pick me for her field trip. It would go "Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa...." What about just taking Mom. Really....where am I going wrong. The straw that broke the camel's back was this....as I was leaving the girl's room Grace says, "Don't take this the wrong way, Mom, but you are old news. Grandma is NEW news." The wrong way? I mean, is there a RIGHT way to take that? THANKS Grace. Thanks a lot.