Very early the next morning, as the week began, I realized with that new day, things would necessarily be different from here on out. Triple bypass surgery meant that, in many ways, life forever changed. It dawned on me that through the many years of our marriage, when one of us was ill with a cold or the flu or pneumonia, we rested, took the prescribed medication and got better — that illness, whatever it was, subsided, we got better; health returned. Not so with heart disease. And although my husband’s life isn’t defined by this, it is a fact…
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Throughout the seemingly long afternoon I received surgery updates from the nurses and soon I would hear the words I longed to hear: He’s doing fine. After Dr. Ryan explained a few specifics about the surgery, he said Wes was very cooperative throughout the surgery. I still wonder what that meant. 😉 Then he asked if I had any questions. I thought, Owow — I ought to have some questions — I’ve had all afternoon to think of questions — surely there are some important questions one would ask at this point. All I could say was, It’s a new…
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At some point in the night, I went from the chair beside Wes’s hospital bed to the couch at the window… the shade was down to darken the room but I was suddenly aware of the bright overhead lights in his hospital room. The morning had come — and true to the testimony, all I knew of that morning was that Providence had risen before the sun. I thought back on the previous Wednesday afternoon… I’d come in to the dining room having spent the better part of the day working in our gardens. I was doing some preparation for…
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I am grateful to the Lord for using the hands of these gifted men and women to bless my life in caring for my husband and saving my husband’s physical heart… Dr. Sheridan… for the heart cath and straight talk, Dr. Gardner and her encouragement, Dr. Austin for diagnosis and more straight talk… and for Dr Ryan and his great skill and for giving up a Sunday for an emergency healing surgery.
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On that Friday afternoon it seemed we were leaving with more questions than answers — more of a dilemma than a solution. Strangely, as I look back on the whole sequence of events, it wasn’t necessarily the wisest thing to do—to leave the hospital. But at the time, it seemed like the logical next step — even though we weren’t exactly thinking in or planning for sequential steps of action. Earlier in the day, when the doc had said bypass surgery was the next step, my husband thought he needed more time in order to plan for and schedule such…
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I haven’t written in awhile… well, at least not here on my blog—mostly bcz I’ve not really had motivation to write. Words… gazillions of words are posted day after day and so many are worthwhile—but in the heaps of gazillions of words so many worthwhile things are buried. I receive and delete entries every day. You probably do, too. I guess I’ve not wanted to add to the heaps of words — or to the trashbins of email accounts, either. I love to write. I love to share what the Lord is doing. But I’m also really insecure about writing. …
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Each Tuesday morning I make a short trip north in our little town to a church where I join others in gleaning what the Lord’s provided. It dawns on me that each week that’s not all He’s provided and the purpose for me being there isn’t simply to glean. But I miss that truth sometimes in my gleaning hustle and bustle. Gleaning’s a lot like other stuff that has to do with food. You know what I mean, gleaning? It’s where there are boxes and boxes of breads and fruits and vegetables that have been culled from, primarily, the different…
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It’s been nearly a couple of weeks since the Christian Heritage Homeschooling and Family Discipleship Conference (whew! that’s a mouthful!) and I’ve continued to mull over some of the more “life impacting” elements of the conference. I don’t know when the CH site will be updated, but it will be worth bookmarking and looking through the resources and future events/opportunities. First, I’m sure glad we decided to attend the conference — and that we went to the many of the keynotes and workshops we did. And, I’m so thankful for the opportunities we had to visit with old friends and…
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It’s a beautiful day here! Sunshine always seems to change my outlook — sort of, no matter what I’ve got to do, if the day’s a sunny one, generally, my attitude is sunny, too! It’s taken me all these months of ‘working at’ the Trim Healthy Mama plan to get confident enough to begin sharing some of the different recipes or how I’ve learned to use the different recipes in the book — but every day I learn something new! Ever a “free-styler” I have to really work at following the recipes. But I’ve come to see and really appreciate…
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NEW! TrimHealthyMama Online Store Many women are enjoying great success following the Trim Healthy Mama book & eating style or plan. But many women aren’t. I notice this many times as I read the different posts on the Facebook THM group “encouragement page” [my description] and the number of comments that are either negative or reflect a lack of being able to stick with the THM meal plans. Many women are simply feeling defeated as they try to “stay on plan.” I don’t know why this is, exactly, but I think it has a lot to do with the proliferation…