“Christian consecration is a transfer of one’s plans and ambitions, into the hands of Christ. It is a solemn pledge, too, to accept the plans of the Master for the occupation of the day, no matter how much they may interfere with arrangements we have already made, or how many pleasant things they may cut out of the day’s program. We will answer every call. We will patiently submit to every interruption. We will accept every duty. We will go on with the work which seems best to us, if the Master has nothing else for us to do. But, if He has, we will cheerfully drop our own and take up that which He clearly gives instead.”
~ J. R. Miller, 1911

When I came across the quote above in my morning quiet time earlier this week, I was badly in need of this reminder. Scott had graciously been blessed with several better nights, and we had begun to hope that things were finally turning around for him. Then, the bad nights returned.

This was a blow.

But mostly it was a blow because I had unconsciously begun making my plans. Normal life was in sight; Scott and I would soon be able to begin, once again, sharing the load for the kids’ appointments; the two of us would be able to start getting up early again soon and resume our morning work-outs; taking the family back to church was just on the horizon; maybe we would be scheduling book signings again soon; etc. etc. etc. And when the bad nights returned, I was faced with disappointment about my broken/deferred plans, and sadness over watching Scott continue to struggle.

I have to confess that I had a couple of pretty tough days after that because of my impatience and my unwillingness to “transfer my plans and ambitions into the hands of Christ.” 

God will continue to remind us all through life that our times are in His hands and not our own. And it’s obviously not, yet, time for us to relax back into the crazy rhythm of our “normal” normal. He has a perfect plan for all of this.

I already know that true peace and joy can only be found in trusting God’s all-loving and all-wise plans minute-by-minute. But I lose my grip on this truth sometimes. I’m so thankful for the reminders He sends when I need them, and Scott and I both continue to pray that we won’t waste any of this time God has sent to us as a means of teaching us more and more how to be a Christ-follower. Would you pray that for us while you are also praying for Scott’s healing? 

So, here we are — back to taking things one day at a time, and sometimes one minute at a time, while holding loosely to our plans for each day. Friends have helped so much by delivering food left at the church for us, picking up our very large Kroger Click-list orders, stopping at the pharmacy to grab prescriptions, dropping Meghan off for her OT appointment as her left hand continues to heal from her last surgery. We are very blessed by friends and family who are so willing to come alongside us. Thank you all!

We have managed to move many of the kids’ appointments out to the fall, but some were pressing enough that we’ve had to keep those on our calendar.

• Caelyn saw her urologist so that we could begin planning her out-patient surgery to have the stones removed from her bladder (most recent x-ray shows seven this time!).
• Meghan saw her hand surgeon because all of the work done on her right hand a little over a year ago seemed to be coming undone. She is in pain, and as before, losing function and strength in that hand. Her surgeon confirmed that she will have to have another surgery done in the coming months. This time, he will fuse the joint at the base of her thumb. This will, sadly, result in some permanent loss of function for her, but we hope it will also resolve her pain issues. More occupational therapy should help her learn how to live with the lower level of function after that surgery.
• Nathan saw his leg surgeon again, and while he is way (WAY!) behind what everyone had hoped and expected to see in healing, he is doing very well now, considering the new healing curve. His pain is pretty much completely gone (this is HUGE!), and the wound from his incision is still slowly healing. His surgeon decided to have him consult with Wound Care at Children’s, and after some cleaning and a bit of debridement, they are now treating him with every-other-day applications of medical grade honey. Apparently, honey is a natural debrider, and also draws healing fluids naturally from the body into the wound to speed up healing. Very cool! After a week of these treatments, it’s continuing to look better, but we still have a long way to go, and he is still not able to wear his prosthesis. We are very thankful, though, for so many answers to prayer about his constant pain over the past couple of years. Nathan is, however, really hoping he won’t have to skip swimming for the whole summer.
• I hope to spend some time this afternoon scheduling these two surgeries, and finishing up some of the rescheduling I still need to do with other appointments.

Honey therapy. Who knew!?

On Memorial Day, God gifted us with a wonderful day in the midst of our right-now life. On that day, our whole family gathered here to also celebrate a late Mother’s Day and a late celebration of Kathryn’s twelfth birthday. It was so good to have all of us together again.

Some of you may remember that Kathryn suffered a pretty severe seizure last year on her birthday (and this isn’t uncommon during days of intense activity or high excitement), so I was a little stressed when she began to show possible signs of building seizure activity during the afternoon that day (staring into space, not responding to questions, drooling, poor muscle control…). She and I (along with her oldest sister, sister-in-law, and youngest nephew) took a quiet little after-dinner walk, though, and that seemed to stabilize her. Although we believe she experienced some small “absence seizures” that day, she still hasn’t had a big one. In fact, it’s been a full year now since she had a big seizure, and we are so thankful for this! She was able to thoroughly enjoy her party and the time with the family. The photos below give you a glimpse of what a special day it was.

Thanks for all of your prayers and continued notes of encouragement. They mean more than you know. We will continue to keep you posted as this current season in our lives slowly plays out.

Mother’s Day flowers . . .

. . . and more flowers

Such a happy birthday girl who is still crazy about Frozen!

Determined to blow out her candles by herself

And she did!

One of her gifts is a trip to Build-a-Bear with Mommy and Daddy once Scott is well

My princess — exhausted, but happy at the end of her special day