A Happy Mother's Day

I hope all you moms have had a very Happy Mother's Day! Mine was special even though it was different than in years past. I was hoping this would be my first Sunday back at church since surgery, but with my little setback in recovery and Olivia having croup, I had to adjust my plans. Praise the Lord--I'm doing much better now, and Olivia is too. She and I enjoyed our morning together at home. Kris and Emma picked up Applebees after church, and we had an awesome dinner together here! The girls made me precious cards, Kris gave me a sweet card, and they gave me a new Willow Tree figurine. I have 15 now! We watched a movie together and enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing.

I am thankful for my mom and love her very much. She and my grandma are still both living, and that is a blessing. Kris has lost both of his parents and all of his grandparents now. He has a godly heritage to remember and to share with our girls. I miss my mother-in-law. I wish I had had the chance to know her better. God has blessed both Kris and me, and we are both grateful for what we have learned from our mothers.

My mom posted on her blog some of the pics from the trip she and my dad took out here recently. They were such a help to us, and the girls loved being able to spend time doing fun things with their grandparents.

It is a privilege to be a mom. I love my girls more than words can say! God has blessed me greatly. I'm glad that we've been able to be home together this year more than ever. It's been a wonderful time of learning each of my girls better and growing more and more in my love for them. I love my "job!"

Awake

Well, I guess I shouldn't have taken that nap today that lasted until 5:30 PM. It sure felt good though! I just don't have the desire to go to bed for the night yet. My post may read Sat., but I would consider this late Fri. night. :-) I've been "stuck" doing nothing but resting these last two days, and tomorrow will be the same, so I guess I don't need to worry about going to bed at a certain time.

A lot has happened around here these last few days. On Wed. morning we received a call from Kris's Uncle Dave that Aunt Carol had gone home to be with Jesus in those early morning hours. Tears were shed, but we rejoiced that she no longer had to suffer and is now whole in the presence of her Savior. Kris had the opportunity to spend the day with Uncle Dave and was so thankful that he could. He was with Dave when the funeral home came to get Aunt Carol and was also able to go with Dave to talk through everything with the funeral director. One of Dave and Carol's sons is out of the country teaching a class that doesn't end until the beginning of this next week. Dave told him to finish that, get back home to Atlanta, and then fly out with his family to CA. There was thought that the funeral could be Friday of next week, but that won't work. A little background. . .Aunt Carol was the principal of San Bernardino Christian School for many years. They are a church school, and the plan has been to use their facilities for the funeral. There is a conflict though for next Fri. because of a yearly event that they have going on that day. A Sat. funeral would be $1,200 more, so the only other option was to have it on Mon., May 18. The funeral director does not believe it is a problem to wait that long. Please pray for Kris as he prepares to preach the funeral.

I didn't feel like I needed Kris home in order for the girls to get some school done, feed them lunch, etc. on Wed. They are not so dependent anymore. Besides, I was really looking forward to being up and around more anyway this week, since I've been feeling better and was close to the 1/2 way mark of recovery at that point. Well, after lunch I was surprised at some spotting that I all of a sudden had. I called the surgeon's office and left a voice mail with the nurse. She finally called a while later, told me my surgeon is out of town, and went over things with me that she could discuss with the other surgeon. I told her that it wasn't anything major, just very apparent and nothing I had seen before. They never called back that day. I figured that if they were concerned, they would have let me know. I went to bed without worrying too much about it. Well, first thing Thurs. morning, I get a call from the nurse, telling me that I need to go on bedrest for two days and that this is a setback in my recovery. The surgeon says that I probably am having stitches dissolve, and I am not quite healed, so I need to be still to let things heal better. Aaaaah--not the news I was wanting to hear, but ok, I certainly don't want to compromise my healing. I never want to have any of this done ever again, quite frankly!

I was a good patient yesterday, keeping my feet up and only getting up when necessary. :-) My husband is the most amazing man and has kept things running without complaint. I feel he has a lot on him right now, and I wish I could do more, but I know God has a reason for everything, including timing, so I trust Him. I figured since the spotting was all but gone by last night, I would do my one more day of resting and be good as new. This morning I realized I needed to adjust my plans. Things were actually worse when I first got up today, and they have continued to be a problem as the day has gone on. My plans for this week got shot, and I'm not sure that this Mother's Day will actually be spent with my kids the way I was intending, but again, I need to rest in God's sovereignty in this and get BETTER! I do appreciate your prayers for us.

Good things happening through this--I've been reading through Proverbs this week and have been greatly moved. I also am continuing to enjoy a good devotional book with current day missionary testimonies that my sister got me for my b-day last year. I've received uplifting cards from family and friends over the last couple of weeks. I've been on facebook tons and talked with so many people through chat or notes on each others walls. It's also allowed me to be more aware of how people are doing and if they've requested prayer for something. God has provided meals through the homeschool group all this week, even when one got canceled. Another mom saw the cancellation on the caringmeals site, called me that afternoon, and said that she wanted to bring us something. What a blessing! It was a wonderful meal too that we all enjoyed very much. It's been quite a week. We've cried, had our disappointments, etc., but we don't lose hope, because our God is bigger than all the tough things going on, He has a purpose for it, and He brings joy and laughter in the midst of it too. My fun kids and silly husband put a smile on my face many times a day too! I have much to be thankful for!!!

Works of God Monday

Hello again! I am feeling like I might be able to sit here for a few minutes and update my blog. As I write this, my heart is full as I think about all that God has done in the last several weeks. I'm not sure I'll be able to communicate all that I would like, but I'll try. :-)

Two and a half weeks ago I had my surgery. So many of you were and still are praying for me, and I can't tell you how much that has meant. I must admit, I was nervous about having another surgery and all that had to be done for this one. There was also concern, more on my part than probably Kris's, about how we would keep up homeschooling, work for him, the house, meals etc. I knew God would provide our needs and only give us what we could handle by His grace. I struggled applying that knowledge at times though. Well, it was amazing to see things come together even before the surgery. We realize how spoiled we have been being in big churches where so many people have volunteered in the past to help with the girls and meals. We did not take that for granted and were so appreciative, but being in those situations, you can more easily forget to depend on God and depend on people instead. It's been a whole new learning of dependence on God alone as the situation is very different now, and there is not a wealth of people around. It's always so good to be placed in situations where we are shown our continual need to trust and depend on God!

We were so blessed to have one of the families from our church take our girls from Wed. through Sun. the week of my surgery. The girls were able to do school there and had a very fun time too. It was a wonderful thing for Kris and me not to have to worry about what was going to happen with the girls and have peace of mind, knowing they were well cared for and having a wonderful time.

The day of my surgery, my parents called to say that they had plane tickets to come out and help us! We couldn't believe it. With my dad's heart surgery in the fall and his not being able to go back to work yet, we knew that money was tight for them, and coming out here was not a possibility. Well, someone from their church provided the financial means for them BOTH to come and stay with us for 10 days! We were blessed more than words can say to have them help the girls with school and do all the things around the house like laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc. They also spent some very special times taking the girls out to do fun things. God truly did above all we could ask or think!

Another way that God has met our needs is through the homeschooling moms group that I have been a part of this school year. I never mentioned our need of meals or anything. I just gave a prayer request at one of our meetings about my needing surgery in a couple of months. Afterward one of the moms said something about meals we might need. Someone else mentioned it at park day and then someone organized getting a few together. Well that has turned into more than we could have ever dreamed! TEN LADIES signed up to bring meals! Some of these ladies have met me only once or twice this year at things, yet so many volunteered to help us! We had meals for the first several days of my coming home from the hospital. Then I told the lady who spearheaded it all that my parents were coming. She came up with a plan to suspend the meals for the time my parents were here and then resume them for this week. I never expected that, but I tell you, what a blessing it has been even today! I figured we would be okay by now, but I'm not were I can do very much still, so I'm thankful that Kris doesn't have the extra pressure of cooking (or going out for) meals. By the way, if you need to set up meals for someone, a great site to help with that is this site. It's been a great tool!

So much of me did NOT want to have this surgery done, but the surgeon told me that there were multiple things that needed to be taken care of. I knew that I had endometriosis from having the last surgery, but when I found out about my diseased uterus (adenomyosis) after surgery, it was a confirmation that this needed to be done. I had bladder surgery and a couple of other repair and reconstruction things done as well. I am already noticing some good results. The doctor says that after the 6 weeks of recovery, I will be a new woman. I can't wait! I guess "no pain, no gain" is applicable here. I really do look forward to seeing how much better I will feel, be able to move, etc.

God has been our Jehovah-Jirah, the Lord will provide, each step of the way! We give Him praise for the great things He has done. While I cannot do a lot right now, and I go a little stir crazy, I am thankful for more time to be still and know my God. I'm able to catch up on reading a book for church planters' wives, some homeschooling books a dear friend gave me, and most importantly, dig deeper into my Bible reading. I have an amazing husband who does so much for our family. My kids are such a blessing too. They are the best! I pray we all know our God better through this time and grow closer together as a family too. There are other things I would share, but I can't stay in a normal sitting position for very long, so I best be closing now. :-) I was able to write more than I thought though. I'm thankful for daily progress! Thanks again for your prayers. God is so good!