Thursday, March 23, 2017

Remembering blessings

So, the last couple of weeks have been filled with prayers and thankfully, those prayers were answered and they really helped our family.
First off, Rob.  No photo of him but he has had some prayers answered over the past few weeks.  I cannot speak personally if the prayers we have offered have helped him in work, I hope so though.  But I do know that our prayers for him to get better when he was sick worked out.
Diedre; well, I can definitely say, I am grateful for the body I have been given that is able to bounce back and deal with pain.  Last week sometime, we were passing out flyers for Scouting for Food.  Dangerous business, people.  I was merely walking up some cement stairs to hang a flyer on the door, I guess I misjudged the height of the step because before I knew it, I rolled my ankle on the stair and you could tell it had a bump.  There was more work to be done, and I could still walk on it, so William and I finished the route and when I got home I grabbed some ice and started elevating it.  OH, I also said a few dozen prayers that my foot would not be broken.  Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers.  By the next day my foot was still tender, only a tiny bit swollen but I could get around on it.  No break, only a minor sprain.  I have had friends and family go through the same thing recently.  Only their ankle/foot was broken.  I am sure they were praying for only a sprain, no major injury.  I cannot say why sometimes things work out for only minor problems/inconveniences and other times Father in Heaven wants us to go through a bit more.  I can say that I am so thankful for the blessing of having a foot I can walk on, and being able to recognize the blessing of prayer and faith in our life.
Caleb; cool awesome man.  Two weeks ago he woke up at 3am with MAJOR stomach pains!  He could not sleep, he could not find rest or relief.  We prayed, he threw up, we tried to rest as best we could.  Did I mention prayer?  The entire 2 and half hours he was in pain I did not stop praying.  Finally, call it an idea or inspiration, I thought to go grab some Alka Seltzer and see if it would help.  He was tough and drank it, even though it was "nasty."  About 20 minutes later, he was able to sleep. Ahh, blessed sleep.  He woke up the next morning, he still felt exhausted and icky, but the pains were gone.  Turns out, he passed something on to Haley, Peter, William and Rob....but we survived.  One other blessing to mention, his good attitude and never giving up.  Soccer has been different this season, maybe not as much keeper. But he is still giving it his all and doing so good out there on the field.  Not to mention the fact that he has pulled straight A's for the 3rd term this year!  Wow, a lot of work on his part, patience on parent's part, and terrific teachers to help him along the way.  Those teachers are definite blessings.
 Peter, man this boy has a good heart!  Like I mentioned, Peter got Caleb's weird stomach thing.  No major cramps or pain, just throwing up and feeling yucky.  But he handled it like a champ.  He was back at school the next day and I am so thankful that I was able to rely on prayer and know that Father in Heaven would watch over him while I could not be with him.  Also, he is doing so good with this Boy Scout role.  He may not want to do it, may not want to go to the meetings, but he has stepped up and really been responsible.  He chose the chore of unloading the dishwasher, BLESSING!  Plus, he has randomly comes up to me and offers any help at dinner time, help with laundry, or help with Haley.
William, got the stomach bug, but with prayer and help from Rob, he made it through the rough part.
What else is an unknown blessing?  He fights me every single morning in getting ready for school, but somehow he gets up and is ready.  He has not been late to school once this year.  Also, he is working through his, "I do not like church" phase.  Slowly but surely, we are getting this sweet little boy back to happy when it comes to church.
Haley, got sick - but it was UGLY!  When she was sick, we are talking throw up every stinking half hour!  NOT EVEN KIDDING!  She and I were up all night long, and when her body finally said it did not have anymore, she was able to sleep for an hour at a time, before waking up to dry heave.  Ugly details, but the truth.  The blessing, she made it in the tupperware every time, no big messes to clean up.  The other thing I want to remember, at 11 pm, when I was downstairs getting a heat pack ready and just praying - I remember praying that it would just be taken away.  Just make her better instantly.  But at like 12:30am, I started realizing, it could be worse.  At least we were not in a hospital.  At least we were managing it ok.  At least there was nothing horribly wrong.  Sure, it was no fun!  But I just started holding her and asking that somehow, we would be able to get a little sleep and relief.  My prayers had changed, but I had also realized to look at things a little differently.  We made it through.  She got better.  The next night we went through this scary dream time, where I was just as worried about her as when she was throwing up.  But again, with a priesthood blessing and love, she was able to sleep and feel better.  Now she is back to princesses, soft cute stuffed animals and sleeping well.
So thankful for how life is rolling right now.  Not perfect, but trying to remember to be thankful for the moments that are good.

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