The Good and the Bad

The bad news is Jackson and Clayton have both been sick with a fever virus the last few days.  The good news is that today they seem to be on the tail end of it.

The bad news is we had to endure a marathon trip to the doctor's office that had a packed waiting room full of sick and very whiny kids (can't blame them!).  The good news is my mom and dad sat outside in the parking lot with Clayton and Jackson while I waited for our name to be called inside.  (THANKS, MOM AND DAD!)

The bad news is I gave Jackson Benadryl for the first time last night and he was BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS.  The good news is I know not to ever do THAT again!

The bad news is they both have a super junky cough that I'm sure will be hanging around for a bit.  The good news is that their lungs are clear and Clayton is strong enough these days to keep coughing that stuff up.

The bad news is their fever got higher than I like to see it (102).  The SUPER good news is Clayton has been able to stay coherent through all of it!  So many times in the past he has literally gone almost comatose with any fever.  He has done so well fighting this bug, which proves again how strong his body is getting and how much healing is taking place behind the scenes when we really don't even realize it!  

From the Mouths of Babes

So in prayer meeting last night, our pastor asked members of the congregation to share scripture passages that were special to them either in the past or relative to a situation they were dealing with in the present.  Clayton was sitting with our friend Leisa during the service and he had been quite busy praising the Lord during the praise and worship time.  Leisa had already shared one scripture from the Psalms and had left her Bible open.  She raised her hand again for a second time and reported that Clayton had been obsessing over "Chapter 8, Chapter 8, Chapter 8!"  So she decided to turn to eighth psalm and see what it was all about.  She said once she read it, she knew she should share:

LORD, our Lord, 

   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

   You have set your glory 

   in the heavens. 

Through the praise of CHILDREN and INFANTS 

   you have established a stronghold against your enemies, 

   to silence the foe and the avenger. 

Psalm 8:1-2 (NIV)

Just another example of Clayton's sixth sense about what is going on around him, and definitely another example of how children seem to be more in tune to the world of our faithful heavenly Father than we adults sometimes are!

Moving Up

One of the great features of Clayton's new power chair is the elevator feature.  In his manual chair, he is relegated to one height--and with lots of tables and surfaces, it's not always the right height.  And while it is great for tables in general, this new up/down feature is great for giving him a new perspective on many tasks.  

He was more than excited the other night when I asked him to "help" me with the dishes.  He worked and worked putting things in the sink and then taking them back out again.  

 He even tried his hand at drying a bit!

When I told him I wanted to take his picture, he was glad to grin for me.  He was pretty proud of himself.  We just take so much for granted--it has probably been years (since he was itty bitty) since he was raised up to the sink to peek in.  So just getting to see what a sink even looks like was new to him!  Long after I was done, I let him just hang out at the sink and explore.  He's got a lot of learning to do about the environment above his normally three feet height.    

 He eventually got bored though.  Told me he had to wash himself next!

Love Bears All Things

I wasn't going to do a blog post today.  Mainly because I never know what cheesy thing to actually say on holidays like this.  But as I've thought about my valentine--my husband, my friend--all I keep coming back to is Paul's first letter to the Corithians.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

I Corinthians 13:7

Things have not always been easy in our marriage.  In fact, we were in active marriage counseling when our twins were born early.  Our counseling sessions were abruptly stopped for obvious reasons, and about a year after surviving all of the trauma surrounding Shawn's death and Clayton's health, our counselor declared us graduates--heck, if we could make it through those stresses, surely we could handle the everyday stresses of marriage, right?  

I'd like to say life was a bowl of cherries from that point on, but of course it hasn't been.  The stress of having what we thought was our future ripped out from under us was a lot to bear.  But you know what?  Our love has endured.  More importantly, our commitment to each other in Christ carried us when we didn't exactly feel the love for each other.  This foundation in Christ bore the load for us when together we were almost crushed by life's circumstances.  

A lot of changes have been taking place over the last couple of years, especially in me personally.  It is with these changes that a deeper peace is beginning to evolve in our relationship.  In spite of it all, we have survived together.  We bear together, we believe together, we hope together, and we endure together.  

I love you, Brian, and I'm glad you're my valentine.

Photo Friday

May they always journey together . . .

Guess What Happens Today?

You get to see my new website!

Just click on the pic above for a closer look at what I've been working on lately!

A Photo Story

So Nicole and I attempted the impossible the other day:  capture a photo with all six kids looking in the general direction of the camera.  

 We once again proved it is impossible.

And as you'll notice, the principal offenders are my sons.  Jackson was having a grand old time singing and talking, and eventually getting his cousins' attention.  And then of course he slammed his head against that rock behind him.

 This meant that even after comfort from Momma, he was sobbing and screaming.

 It was torture, you know.

By the time he had calmed down, even the dedicated poser Drew was pretty much done with the photo sitting.

 In the end, I'm considering myself lucky to have gotten this cute shot of Clayton and Taylor.

To Each His Own

This is Jackson "riding his bike."  I'm hoping he'll clue in soon that the seat is meant to be sat on and the pedals are meant to be pushed.  But for now, he seems pretty content "riding" like this.