A Memorial Day Weekend that we'll NEVER forget!

What a weekend! We left early Friday morning and made it to Stephen and Mandy’s about 10:30. It was so good to get to spend some cuddle time with little Gracie! She is growing so fast! Dennis and Stephen went to the office for awhile to take care of business, while Ricky and I played with the boys and held Gracie. Mandy fixed us a wonderful lunch, and then it was time to hit the road again.

We got to Benton around 5:30, so we went to our hotel and got checked in. Then we grabbed a quick supper and headed to the church house. We had time to visit with a lot of folks before time for the service to start. Ken gave a good lesson, and then we spent a lot more time visiting with more folks. Dennis and I headed back to our room, and Ricky went to Sarah and Jeremy’s house for the weekend.  Saturday morning, we enjoyed a good lesson from Logan and then spent the day at Warren and Linda’s. They had a water slide and bounce house for the little ones, and plenty of chairs in the shade for us older ones. The guys provided two great meals for us:  burgers and hotdogs for lunch and a shrimp boil for supper! (Not to mention the homemade ice cream!) If anyone didn’t have a good time, they had no one to blame but themselves. There were a lot of wonderful people to visit with, and a couple of sweet babies to enjoy, too!

We got to bed around 10 or 10:30 Saturday night. I went right to sleep and slept hard until my phone woke me around 12:15. Stephen told me that Gracie was sick in the ER and they were fixing to transfer her to Children’s Hospital in Dallas. They thought she might have meningitis and needed to do a spinal tap. We had a bad connection, and he didn’t have much time to talk, so I didn’t get many details. I tell you for certain, that is NOT how you want to get woke up from a sound sleep! I couldn’t sleep after that, so I got on my phone and started researching meningitis in infants. That probably wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made! I was really scared after that! After praying for Gracie and her parents, as well as for my own peace of mind, I finally settled into a fitful sleep. I would wake up every hour or two and send a text to Stephen to see how things were going. He finally stopped answering me around 6:30 am, when they got Gracie settled into her room in Dallas. I figured they were finally trying to get some sleep, so I got in a couple of hours myself. Then about 8:30, I received a phone call from Daddy saying they were taking Bobbie to the ER because she was having trouble breathing. I contacted Charles and Linda, since they were supposed to be driving them to services, and let them know what was going on. Then I messaged Tonette to get more details. I thought it was going to be her “normal” anxiety problem, but it turned out to be some small blood clots in her lungs. They originally planned to admit her to the hospital, which really had Daddy upset. They ended up, however, putting her on a new blood thinner and sending her home.

We planned to leave immediately after the morning assembly, so we could go check on Gracie. The Salem congregation had their services organized with the Lord’s Supper before the lesson. Since Jamie was speaking and we had already heard the lesson he was going to give (last Sunday), we decided to leave after communion and get a head start on getting to Dallas. I still hadn’t heard anything else from Stephen and was getting pretty nervous and upset. So we took off and headed south. About an hour down the road, we finally heard from Stephen, and Gracie’s fever was gone. She was resting well and they had ruled out bacterial meningitis. They still wouldn’t know for another 40 hours whether it was viral meningitis or not. After five hours on the road (and going to the wrong hospital first), we finally made it to the right place and got to see Gracie for ourselves and get all of the details from Stephen and Mandy. Gracie looked good, still didn’t have any fever, and was eating well and sleeping a lot. They still don’t know for certain that it isn’t meningitis, but nobody really thinks it is. At her age (just one month old), they just have to be very careful and make sure because just about any kind of infection can lead to meningitis or septicemia (since their little immune systems are so undeveloped). We still won’t know until the culture results come in tomorrow, but it is looking more and more like she will be ok and get to go home after the results are in. What a relief! I know I will sleep a LOT better tonight after having seen how well she looked.

So it was a great weekend, but also a terrifying one! I tell you what, I can’t seem to leave town without SOMETHING bad happening! But all in all, I’m very glad that we made the trip. It was good for all of us. And I am very thankful for the prayers and concern of SO many people on Gracie’s and Bobbie’s behalf! I love and appreciate every one of you!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms out there! I hope that you are getting to spend your day with those who graced your lives and enabled you to become mothers. I am so thankful for my three! Even though they couldn’t all be here, I’m very blessed with their love (as well as their thoughtful and much appreciated gifts).

We celebrated a day early, since I really don’t like facing the restaurant crowds at lunchtime on Mother’s Day. We drove to FW and had lunch with Sheila and Nam. It was an extra special day, since this is Sheila’s first Mother’s Day to be a mom. Nam gave her the little wall hanging of his handprint that we made, as well as a Willow Tree that matches the ornament that he loves so much of “Momma and Nam”.  That kid loves my Willow Tree collection, so I wanted him to be able to enjoy having one at their house. He loves to look at them and ask, “Who’s that? What they doing?” A day doesn’t go by that he doesn’t go through our family, wanting to talk about how we are all related, and how we all became a family. Now that he has discovered our wedding album, he loves to go through it and talk about our marriage. He also loves to point to our wedding rings and my “mother’s ring” and ask us about their meaning. I know I’ve said it on numerous occasions, but that kid truly LOVES family!

We also celebrated Sheila and Nam’s 6 month anniversary this past week. It fell on the night that they normally sleep over at our house, so we had a special dinner of pho, stir-fry and egg rolls. It is hard to believe that a half-year has already gone by since Nam’s adoption! Even though his presence in our day to day life feels normal, now, I still find myself watching him with amazement from time to time. I am so thankful that God provided this incredible little guy for Sheila to adopt! He adds so much joy and life to our days. His progress is phenomenal. His pronunciation is still difficult to understand at times, and his grammar still has a ways to go, but his vocabulary and comprehension are probably either on target for his age, or slightly advanced. And he always finds a way to communicate so that he can be understood! (He is quite good at pantomiming!) He has such a loving and curious nature, and is SO cute, that he wins hearts wherever he goes! He can still be a little toot at times, but what 4-year-old boy isn’t? I love watching him learning about God’s love, about being kind, about showing respect to others, about trust and fidelity, and all of the other things that children normally learn from infancy. He is getting a late start in many areas, but he is soaking it in and making SO much progress! It is a privilege to be involved in this process and have a “front-row seat” to watching him blossom in his mother’s love and care!

Being a mother has always been my greatest desire and my most enjoyable "job"...up until I gained the new role of granny, that is. Each of my kiddos holds a very special place in my heart. Stephen, my firstborn, who taught me how to be a mother. Sheila, my daughter and my best friend. Ricky, my "baby" who has so much love and compassion in his heart. Jesse, who gave me the much anticipated and highly enjoyable role of being a granny. Shepherd, who broke my heart with his beautiful, sad eyes and later mended it with his amazing smile. Nam, who fills my days and heart with sunshine. And finally, little miss Gracie, my granddaughter that I can't wait to get to know. I am beyond blessed!

Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD…He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalms 113:1-9 KJV)