A Bit of Off Road Driving

The night of December 13th was the Cantata at our church. I had to be there earlier to warm up and go over last minute instructions. Brian was going to bring the kids later.

It had snowed earlier in the day, then turned to rain. The roads seemed clear. Thus the problems began. I have been driving for a very long time. I have never gone off the road before. I was preoccupied and not noticing that the paved road changed to the dirt road. I went to go around a curve and the car continued forward. I knew I was going off the road.

My first thought was not to hit any trees...I hate the idea of the air bags going off. I know, pretty silly. Once I was off the road, into the snow, I had a bit more control and was able to steer between two trees and over the bank I went. It was quite the ride to say the least. My purse went flying, with my cell phone. I was able to unbuckle the seatbelt and feel around for my purse and get my phone. I called Brian, he came and picked me up in our 4-wheel drive truck, took me to church and I sang in the Cantata.

These pictures are from the next day.

We called a towing company. The guy was terrific, making sure he angled the cable and used a pulley to pull the car between the trees.

Brian got in and drove the car home...amazing. There was only a small dent in the front fender, no other damage except some scratches and this is an older car, so no bother there.

Here you can see how steep the bank was.

I am so thankful for so many things...I was not hurt, I had no children with me, the car sustained almost no damage, the towing guy was so careful, Brian was home to rescue me, Bess was able to stay home with the rest of the children so Brian could bring me to church and the car was able to used again right away.

Lesson learned...no matter how preoccupied and busy life gets...PAY ATTENTION TO THE DRIVING CONDITIONS!

New Van

After a year and half of looking and praying, we finally found a new van, well used, but new to us. Our old van, with 200,000 miles, was a bit too cramped, especially when we traveled or went camping. We had wanted a larger passenger van, but we were finding 12 seaters quite a bit harder to find than 15s and we did not want to go as large as a 15.

We feel so blessed to have found this van, which is newer than we had hoped, less expensive and has fewer miles. The old owners called it Moby Dick Gabe thinks we should call it Frosty! Whatever we call it, I am thrilled to have a van where the kids don't have to all sit crammed together, the A/C works and we aren't losing parts of the body as we drive down the road.

Providence

I am using a book called For the Love of God, Volume I by D.A. Carson to read the Bible in a year. It is a reading program, but also has daily thoughts by Mr. Carson on the passages. It isn't a commentary, but a short writing that draws the passages being read together in a common theme (at least two of the passages).

I am behind, last night I read the scriptures for January 26th. I am so glad I was behind. The passages of scripture and reading by Mr. Carson were a balm to my aching head and heart during this week of Super Tuesday Primaries and a political landscape that seems riddled with landmines.

The passages were Genesis 27; Matthew 26; Esther 3 and Acts 26

Genesis 27 finds Esau and Jacob vying for Isaac's blessing, Jacob swindling the blessing from Esau and Rebekah being disloyal to her husband by playing favorites with her children. In Mr. Carson's words "Genesis 27 is in many ways a pathetic, grubby account."

Matthew 26 finds Jesus celebrating Passover with his disciplies, agonizing in the Garden and being betrayed.

The book of Esther finds us in a world where a genecide is being planned for an entire people.

In Acts 26 we find Paul pleading his case in a Roman court.

If you read these passages in the entirety of the books, you can see God working out his plan, but the people in each case are inbroiled in political and social upheaval and conflict. Does this all sound familiar to our day?

The final paragraph of Mr. Carson's reading sums it up so much better than I can.

"Providence is mysterious. It must never be used to justify wrong actions or to mitigate sin: Isaac and his family are more than a little sleazy, Judas is a deceitful wretch, Haman is vile, and the Roman court trying Paul is more than a little corrupt. Yet God sovereignly rules, behind the scenes, bringing glory out of gore and honor out of shame."

Aren't you glad God is in control? No matter how dismal things may seem, God has a plan, His plan and he is working it all out for His glory.

In a Moment

Early Wednesday morning, my Dad had a heart attack. It was all very sudden and unexpected. My Dad is in awesome shape...he runs and rides a bike regular, eats fairly well and is very healthy, but you can't always undue the effects of genetics. He has lost two brothers to heart disease and has two other brothers that have had bi-pass surgery.

We do have so much to be thankful for over the last few days. He realised he was sick and let my mom take him to the hospital...something he is usually very reluctant to do. It was a clear day, with no snowstorms and my mom decided to drive him herself instead of calling the ambulance which would have taken quite a bit longer as it comes from a neighboring town. He wasn't out in the woods working or hunting miles from home.

Within 5-10 minutes in the hospital, he suffered a non-pulse arrhythmia caused by the blockage. The dr. said this is like your heart turning into a wiggling bag of worms...no useful function at all, basically, her heart stops working. At that point they had to shock him twice to restore a normal rhythm. The dr. said this type of arrhythmia often causes death. Again we are so thankful for God's hand in it all.

He was air-lifted to a larger medical center 1.5 hours from my parents home and about 2 hours from us. I have been doing a lot of driving. I have two brothers locally that have been here, my sister in Ohio flew in on Wednesday and my youngest brother flew in yesterday from CA. It has been nice having everyone together, but not under these circumstances.

The hospital staff have been wonderful. Everyone has been pleasant, helpful and very concerned for Dad's well being and for the rest of the family. They let us stay with him as long as we wanted and all of us, not just one at a time.

It has surprised me how exhausting it is to be under such stress. We were literally doing nothing put sitting in a car, driving/riding, or sitting in the hospital room and I am so tired and weary. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to deal with a life-threatening, long term illness of someone you love.

Dad had an angio-gram Thursday morning and the results were very positive. They did not do any angioplasty or put in any stints. There were not significant buildups in any vessels. There was virtually no damage from the heart attack. The cardiologist said that this attack was probably from a vessel that had minor plaguing where a piece broke off and blocked the vessel. It was cleared very quickly, resulting in little damage.

Dad will be coming home in the next few days, with lots of meds and under the care of a cardiologist. He may need some type of bi-pass in the future, but for now, all looks good.

We are praising God for his provision through it all...the flights that my siblings were able to get, for good traveling conditions, for doctors, nurses and other medical staff that have done their jobs well and efficiently, for His comfort and peace in very stressful times.

"God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble."

Psalm 46:1

Then and Now

One year ago today, Brian and Bessie brought home the Littles from the Philippines. I can not believe it has been a year already. We call this special day the kids "Plane Day".

Our first family photo 2/16/06 at the airport

This past year has probably been the most difficult our family as ever faced. I wonder if we had known just how difficult it was going to be, would we have still gone forward? I would like to think so, but it has been so tough for us. We are secure in God's plan, but sometimes it can be a very rocky road.

The main thing we have learned from it all is God's faithfulness and grace through all the trials. The daily "manna" that we needed to make it through, but often, just enough to get through. We had to depend totally on his provision and strength.

We all have grown by leaps and bounds and it is so encouraging to see how each of us has been molded and changed, the "old" family members as much as the "new".

We still have far to go, but we are walking more together as one unit instead of two and we can see how shifts in family dynamics are taking place...different pairings instead of the "old" foursome and the "new" threesome. Bonds are being broken and new ones are made as we reform our family into a whole! God is so faithful.

A much different family 2/16/07

The "real" us!

All is Quiet

The house is quiet now. Everyone has gone to bed...except for me.

After the kids were all in bed, Brian and I sat in the family room enjoying the woodstove with the doors open. The crackling of the fire and the sound of the rain on the roof are such musical sounds to me and ones that I love. It was peaceful and calm.

I am so thankful that God pushes us out of our comfort zone and continues to push us. I think of the five children sleeping upstairs and marvel at how they all ended up as our children. So many lives were needed to bring these children from far away places to our home. It is almost more miraculous than their actual births.

Yes, I am thankful that God sees our need for growth even when we would like life to be nice and "normal", comfortable and easy. This Christmas has reminded me how many blessings God can give when you listen and try to obey. We have been blessed beyond what we could imagine.

Praise!

Brian picked up the bunk beds tonight and they are so nice. We have really been blessed by finding them. They are in great shape and only about seven years old. The mattresses look new and it came with bunkie boards which are always nice and make it much easier to make. The woman we bought them from even gave us four sets of bedding, sheet sets and comforters. She said they are going to a full size bed for their daughter and would not need the twin size.

We are hoping to get it set up this weekend and move Hannah in with Bessie and Rachel. Gabe will take Bessie's old bed and move in with Dan...and least that is the plan!