A debt of gratitude...

Yesterday evening the LC, FFA put on a BBQ Fundraiser for me. What a humbling experience to see all these people come. As I mingled from table to table to say thank you to as many people as possible, instead of feeling awkward I felt loved by folks who knew me well, those who knew me little and even those who did not know me at all. Really, what can I say that would express the magnitude of gratefulness? This BBQ marked the end of the long road from May 23rd. It began in company, endured in company and ended in company.

Harvey who sang to me and prayed for me while we waited for the ambulance...
The whole team who prayed, carried and worked to get me out...
Carol who called my family and said what needed to be said when it needed to be said...
The medical staff who gently put all the pieces together...
For Dr. Miller who always brought calm and a moment of his time...
Everyone who came and sat with me in the hospital room...
For Dawn who brought the sunshine every time she came...
Those who built my ramp so I could get in and out...
For all the flowers that filled my room...
For all the meals that we so gratefully ate...
For Elfrieda....too much to list for so much she did...
For My Dad who gently filled our home with his love...
For the money that was given and the notes that were sent...
The emails, the Facebook messages, for the cards...
For my brothers who called...
For the many phone calls from so many who needed to hear me and I needed to hear from...
For the students who prayed and gave...
For the sign in my room...
For the books that Jeff and Anita dropped off...
For Kristi who trimmed my hair and Dawn who washed it...
For the plants from Mrs. Unema's Biology class that are still growing in my yard...
For the ladies that came and sat with me and talked and made me laugh..
For my sister-in-law and father-in-law who made the long drive to check in on me...
For Mijo who stepped up and became...
For Nick who would always do without complaint...
For First Reformed who prayed for me every week...
For everyone who keeps asking if I am ok...
For Gerrit who called and made sure always that we were taken care of...

For my Scott who became my voice of reason, gentle reminder, strong will, silent strength...

And finally, for all who came to the BBQ, for the many hands of my co-workers, for the encouragement, for the effort it takes to put something like this together.

To my Father in Heaven who made the space between heaven and earth a lot thinner...

A debt of gratefulness...

All at once

It is one of those late summer hot days here in Lynden. It will be grand to get some things done in the yard before the rains begin. It is also quiet in the house...Scott is away for the next three weeks for work and since he is always the first one awake and making noise...it is quiet in the house. Kids are sleeping in on their one day of the week...school has been in session for two weeks now and they are learning how to juggle all the details of their very busy lives. This week...I turned 46 and the doctor told me that I would not need surgery (yet) and that I could do as much as I could do and finally get rid of my HUGE black brace I have been wearing for 3 months. Every morning my first waking moment, I pray a prayer of thanks...I have been sleeping all through the night without aide and without much pain. What a gift. Yesterday, with some monetary gifts from Scott's union and family we were able to pay the last 2 doctor's bills off, now all we have is the hospital bill. All at once it seems the clouds have parted and the sun (flower) is shining.

So I sit here in the silence of the room..wishing my husband here but knowing his absence means he has work. I am so grateful for the reprieve, for all the good news, for all the blessings...that a weird painful part of my journey though far from done is so much better. I am breathing, bending, picking up, walking...when in June this was so far far away from my reality.

These days are breathers. We all have them when things seem in order and there is a relative peace. As much as I want these breathers every day... that isn't life.

At this very moment as I write these words...Mocha is throwing up in the kitchen. Morning peace has been officially broken .... So much for the breather....BUT, at least I can bend over and clean it ....