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Friday, September 5, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
FRIENDS......
friend
n.
1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
4. One who supports, sympathizes with, .........
According to the online dictionary a friend is someone you like and trust, someone who sympathizes with you and supports you.
When we realized that our middle child, Anslee, who has Down Syndrome, had a hearing loss we were off to the ENT. He in turn recommended a specialist. As I set out Friday afternoon, August 29th, I expected that we would hear that she needed tubes again and I'd be out the door and on my way to McDonalds for a crabby patty and plankton sticks (for those of you that do not know about SpongeBob Squarepants that translates to a cheeseburger and fries). Well, that would be too easy, it turns out that our daughter has Cholesteatoma. Cholesteatoma, Cholesteatoma, Cholesteatoma, it kept resonating in my head, but not as much as the words 'operate right away' and 'fatal'. The specialist wrote it on a piece of paper, legibly I might add, so I could read up on it later. It is a collapsed ear drum that has been pulled into the middle ear, eroding the delicate bones, preventing the sloughing of skin from the ear canal, causing the skin to form a tumor that can cause paralysis of the face if it grows in the facial bones and death if it grows into the brain. Here is where the rubber meets the road, I love God, we have been successful in raising our children to love God, so the logical side of my brain reminds me of her eternity in heaven with a heavenly Daddy that will hold her close and love her unconditionally. I know she will never know pain and will speak clearly and never face the cruelty of this world. I have faith, I have accepted His sufficient grace, I know His promise to prosper me, I KNOW HIS LOVE FOR ME!
What does this have to do with friends? Well, when I collapsed into the seat of my car, picked up my phone, I called my best friend, my husband, the man I have loved for 17 years, as always he promised that we would get through this together. What else would such a dedicated, godly man, a man of character, say? Then I called my other best friends, one being my mother-in-law, shocking huh? and Nay-Nay, my red neck, white trash, cheetah wearing, flamingo loving, self proclaimed Auntie to my children, all too loud, BFF. Then there was the call made to my dear friends, Jimmy and Kelley, in Lugoff at 1:15am. When I requested, "If she does not make it, will you conduct her funeral?", only to hear a comforting, "Yes". His wife prayed with me, she is a mom too, she knew there were no words of comfort, she listened to me cry. I called another person, whom I like and trust, my pastor, who offered to hold a special prayer time. Then there is Lynn and Dennis, two of the most reliable, God loving people I know. When I shared with Lynn what was going on, I had total confidence that she would be in prayer. I'd say these people, (along with my family that rallied around us in love too!) fit the definition of friends, I'd say they surpass it. I thank my God for you. I love you, friends........thank you!
n.
1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
4. One who supports, sympathizes with, .........
According to the online dictionary a friend is someone you like and trust, someone who sympathizes with you and supports you.
When we realized that our middle child, Anslee, who has Down Syndrome, had a hearing loss we were off to the ENT. He in turn recommended a specialist. As I set out Friday afternoon, August 29th, I expected that we would hear that she needed tubes again and I'd be out the door and on my way to McDonalds for a crabby patty and plankton sticks (for those of you that do not know about SpongeBob Squarepants that translates to a cheeseburger and fries). Well, that would be too easy, it turns out that our daughter has Cholesteatoma. Cholesteatoma, Cholesteatoma, Cholesteatoma, it kept resonating in my head, but not as much as the words 'operate right away' and 'fatal'. The specialist wrote it on a piece of paper, legibly I might add, so I could read up on it later. It is a collapsed ear drum that has been pulled into the middle ear, eroding the delicate bones, preventing the sloughing of skin from the ear canal, causing the skin to form a tumor that can cause paralysis of the face if it grows in the facial bones and death if it grows into the brain. Here is where the rubber meets the road, I love God, we have been successful in raising our children to love God, so the logical side of my brain reminds me of her eternity in heaven with a heavenly Daddy that will hold her close and love her unconditionally. I know she will never know pain and will speak clearly and never face the cruelty of this world. I have faith, I have accepted His sufficient grace, I know His promise to prosper me, I KNOW HIS LOVE FOR ME!
What does this have to do with friends? Well, when I collapsed into the seat of my car, picked up my phone, I called my best friend, my husband, the man I have loved for 17 years, as always he promised that we would get through this together. What else would such a dedicated, godly man, a man of character, say? Then I called my other best friends, one being my mother-in-law, shocking huh? and Nay-Nay, my red neck, white trash, cheetah wearing, flamingo loving, self proclaimed Auntie to my children, all too loud, BFF. Then there was the call made to my dear friends, Jimmy and Kelley, in Lugoff at 1:15am. When I requested, "If she does not make it, will you conduct her funeral?", only to hear a comforting, "Yes". His wife prayed with me, she is a mom too, she knew there were no words of comfort, she listened to me cry. I called another person, whom I like and trust, my pastor, who offered to hold a special prayer time. Then there is Lynn and Dennis, two of the most reliable, God loving people I know. When I shared with Lynn what was going on, I had total confidence that she would be in prayer. I'd say these people, (along with my family that rallied around us in love too!) fit the definition of friends, I'd say they surpass it. I thank my God for you. I love you, friends........thank you!
Monday, August 25, 2008
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Family........... nothing better than having a house full of people you love. Laughing, making memories that will last a lifetime and just having a great time! My brother, in the white shirt, is Ben, I used to call him "Beaner Weiner", he's 13 years my junior. My parents waited for a free babysitter.....another therapy session. Ben's beautiful wife, Melanie, is one of the sweetest people I have 
ever met. She did 2 of the nicest things for me, she married my bother so he didn't live with the family forever and she let me watch my precious niece be born. My niece, Taylor, another joy in my life, was not named after me, but I am over that.......My mom, Joan, is to my left, with her....uh hum.... 'natural' blond hair has always been a scrappy, tough woman. I admire her ability to handle the big things in life. She is now the matriarch of the family, probably the biggest role of her life, but making great strides. My dad, Tim, is in the green and white stripped shirt, what can I say, he's 'daddy', a great daddy, but I AM HIS FAVORITE!
Friday, August 22, 2008
I AM SIGNIFICANT
The bible says in Genesis 5, I have been made in the image of God. In Psalm 139:14, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Did any of that come to mind on Thursday morning as I stood in my kitchen?
It started off with the fact that I accidentally purchased '1/2 the caffeine' coffee by Maxwell House, I know, I'll round the corner soon. I am an addict, it's my husband's fault, one he claims with pride.....another blog. The coffee didn't carry the kick needed for the day I had lined up. I called my beautiful children into the living room to give them the, Mommy-has-a-lot-on-her-plate-and-I-need-you-to-stay-in-your-rooms-and-play-nicely-with-each-other talk. Did they stay in their rooms? Did they play nicely? Did anyone hear the form of punishment laid out prior to disobedience?
As I stood before my husband, sobbing that no one listens to me and yelling, "I am significant", he turns and says, "What did you say? The kids are so loud I can't hear a word you just said." Okay, not really, but that is not a stretch..... I ran to my room (newly decorated in a victorian/b&b theme, another blog with pictures) threw myself on the (really tall, got risers) bed and sobbed.
Then it hit me, I wonder if God ever feels like sobbing, does He? Look at what he sacrificed and we are often, sometimes blatantly, disobedient. It's all there in the bible, laid out before us, what we should do, what will happen if we do and don't and so often we don't 'play nice with each other'. Thank you God for that lesson...Amen!
Just a side note - my friend Renee' called and as I shared with her how my day started, she said, "Can I put you on hold just a second?" and the phone went dead.
I hate call waiting and I get angry when the person I am on the phone with decides to talk to the person who has called in, that is rude! If you can't go without answering that call, then beep(?) over, tell them you'll call them back, don't give them time to say anything and beep(?) back over to the person who was first and is most significant at that time!!!
To her credit she called me 5 times and each time I refused to answer - repeating to myself that "I AM SIGNIFICANT". I guess I need to call her back......
It started off with the fact that I accidentally purchased '1/2 the caffeine' coffee by Maxwell House, I know, I'll round the corner soon. I am an addict, it's my husband's fault, one he claims with pride.....another blog. The coffee didn't carry the kick needed for the day I had lined up. I called my beautiful children into the living room to give them the, Mommy-has-a-lot-on-her-plate-and-I-need-you-to-stay-in-your-rooms-and-play-nicely-with-each-other talk. Did they stay in their rooms? Did they play nicely? Did anyone hear the form of punishment laid out prior to disobedience?
As I stood before my husband, sobbing that no one listens to me and yelling, "I am significant", he turns and says, "What did you say? The kids are so loud I can't hear a word you just said." Okay, not really, but that is not a stretch..... I ran to my room (newly decorated in a victorian/b&b theme, another blog with pictures) threw myself on the (really tall, got risers) bed and sobbed.
Then it hit me, I wonder if God ever feels like sobbing, does He? Look at what he sacrificed and we are often, sometimes blatantly, disobedient. It's all there in the bible, laid out before us, what we should do, what will happen if we do and don't and so often we don't 'play nice with each other'. Thank you God for that lesson...Amen!
Just a side note - my friend Renee' called and as I shared with her how my day started, she said, "Can I put you on hold just a second?" and the phone went dead.
I hate call waiting and I get angry when the person I am on the phone with decides to talk to the person who has called in, that is rude! If you can't go without answering that call, then beep(?) over, tell them you'll call them back, don't give them time to say anything and beep(?) back over to the person who was first and is most significant at that time!!!
To her credit she called me 5 times and each time I refused to answer - repeating to myself that "I AM SIGNIFICANT". I guess I need to call her back......
Thursday, August 7, 2008
LET THEM EAT CAKE!
One week later, one more birthday! Cake for breakfast they chanted! Little fists pounding the island in our kitchen, smiles on their faces, it is another special day! Lets sing the song! Let's eat cake!
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