So this is the end of 2022.... as usual a year with high high and low lows. A good medium year would be great if I could just order one
2022 literally started in the ER for Sarah as we realized her tummy situation was not resolved in spite of a week in the hospital in December 2021, She ended up staying almost the whole month of January at St Joe's. At one point they wanted to send her home with the issue unresolved. We literally had her dressed and I literally felt "that nudge" so I changed her back into her gown and refused to leave unless they were transferring us to another hospital. It got a bit heated with the doctor but I've got broad shoulders (literally lol) and really do not give a fig what someone like that thinks of me. The little doctor girl got snooty with me and asked me for my diagnosis. So I told her I thought it was her small intestine I had been researching everything. So the doctor agreed to do an upper Gi with contrast the next morning but warned me we would have to leave if there was nothing wrong. Sarah's entire chest/belly area was swollen like she had a giant beer belly. Well..... as they test was running I looked at the screen that was lit up under her arms with what looked like her intestines and her belly had absolutely not contrast When I pointed that out all hell broke out! Her intestines were literally up and down under her right arm pit instead of across her belly! Her appendix was under her left lung......needless to say we got a new gastro group/doctor immediately and did not leave the hospital. She had surgery as soon as they could arrange it with a surgeon that we personally knew. He basically told us she had had many volus (where her intestines twisted) she could have died from this! So again trust your gut in situations even if you don't understand everything medically!
Sam had a rough January- May as he has seasonal depression (just diagnosed through the DNAstudy he is in. They found another deletion and it is related to seasonal depression which he has had every year of his life. I've bought a light box to see if that will help him in the coming year. We also had him checked for Malrotation of the small intestines & guess what he has it too but his is a more normal case. It could still become very serious and now we have to decide about surgery for him. Since he had a very bad anesthesia reaction in 2021 we have to really weigh it. We gave ourselves a little time and have had a few consolations. Right now I think we are leaning towards doing it.
In February after ten months of paperwork calls to Tallahassee we were able to get Selah into a wonderful medical group home. They were originally not taking clients under 21 but I knew it was the place for her if we had to place her in a group home. It was very bittersweet to move her but after 10 months we are still so very happy with it. It is an amazing group home. She is well taken care of- they have a nurse, CNA and a respiratory therapist on every shift for just 6 clients. In fact Selah has had a private nurse 6 days a week for 12 hours daily. They also have their own doctor, physical and occupational therapists and many volunteers. It is a dream for young people like our daughter. Last night I walked out with one of the therapists and she told me she has never gone to such a wonderful group home. That made me so happy! We are blessed! On Christmas Eve we did a little Christmas service for the clients and staff. We brought in stockings for the clients and for the other group home they run and goodies for the staff. While we are so happy it's still not what we wanted. We wanted to keep her home but we feel God helped us to find the best place possible for her.
Our dear friend who was like a family member was losing his battle with cancer during the first part of this year and passed away in May. That has been such a hard thing for me and for Jon too. Our whole family has missed him so much. But we are thankful for all the years he was a part of our life. There will never be anyone like Guy for us. He was an uncle to my boys, loved all our kids and was so supportive to us and our church. It was an honor to be part of his funeral, we along with others watch over his grave for his family who live out of town/state. I've had lots of losses in my life but most were older folks who had lived good long lives. There was and is always sadness about their passing but Guy's death has affected more than anyone's except my twins. I don't love (or even like) people easily and I certainly do not trust people easily. He was someone we knew had our backs and as pastors that is so important! I could call him and ask him to pray about something and I knew he would! He's the one I called as I was following the ambulance with Jon in it when he had his heart attack. While we know we will see him again it's been hard. He was truly my brother. Until he was sick we always keep clear respectful boundaries even though we were very close. The three of us were close and it was an unique situation as we worked together in our church. Once he was sick things were different, I even went with him to doctor appointments and he became even more like family. Just days before he passed I was able to sit with him and talk. We knew it was going to be our last conversation until heaven. It was the most precious time. He gave a blessing to my children that meant so much to me. He gave me a few assignments -so I gave him some too! I asked him to find my twins in heaven and tell them how much I love them. I also told him to tell Jesus to send us more people for our church! That hasn't happened yet....we laugh about it sometimes that he hasn't done his job! In those few minutes I just told myself to "be in the moment" and soak it in. Not everyone gets the privilege to say good bye to a loved one and I realized despite the fact that my heart was breaking it was a blessing. I'm so thankful for the hope of heaven We told each other we would see each other again! Jon saw him more often and had some special moments with him mixed with tears too.
So those are the biggest challenges that 2022 held for us. It was hard to walk through them but God....
The highs of 2022 for us were...
Shad graduating the Academy and getting his badge from the Department of Corrections. He was only 18 years old, one of the state's youngest officers! He's now been working for a year and has done so good. We are so proud of our son. He is very mature and has his head on straight. He has done exceptual for such a young man. I LOVE how our relationship has changed as he has gotten older. I love that boy with my whole heart. He is an unique young man. He has confidence and knows who he is. He doesn't try to impress anyone he is just his own person. We really have fun together and laugh alot. He still lives with us. He was going to move out but since he works so many 16 hour days it's crazy to move since he's not here much but to sleep lol I like having him home where I can still baby him a little.
Of course with Steve..... he gave us a huge high mountain top moment marrying his sweetheart Nichole. I love having a daughter in love and she is just the best! I enjoy spending time with her. She is a wonderful girl and worth every prayer I ever prayed for Steve to find a wife! They included us in their proposal on a cruise this past summer which was very special. A few years ago we were on the same cruise during a rough spot in our family. And I remembered standing on deck watching the ship move out of the harbor pass a lighthouse. I was praying about our family and how to deal with a situation that seemed hopeless. Fast forward to this summer I was sitting with my newly engaged Daughter in law to be watching the same scene as we moved out of the harbor. My heart was busting with happiness as I saw how God dealt with that situation for us and brought such a wonderful lady to our son! Their wedding was perfect and just brought our families together. Every moment was special to me. It was a happy moment/day in which I reminded myself several times to "stay in the moment" I just wanted to experience it and soak it up.
Life is full of highs and lows and I do feel like we seem to have such extremes but God is faithful in the hard moments as well as the happy moments. Even in the hard moments God is there giving wisdom hope and comfort and in the high moments we do not forget God's faithfulness.
In less than an hour it will be 2023 for us I pray this is an easy year. The last 3 years have been so hard for the whole world there's more than enough turmoil unknowns and trouble. For us we've had challenges and heartaches as well as happiness. I'm hoping for a year with lots less challenges and heartaches! And I hope the same for you!
2023 will be our 17th year at Grace Church! Jon will have 26 years as a chaplain and we will be married for 34 years.... we are getting old! In fact Jon will turn 60 next year....I have no words for that LOL It will be the last year we have a child under 18 the whole year Cr
I'm not one of those spiritual girls who get all kinds of words from God LOL but believe it or not I actually feel God gave me a word for 2023 and it is SERVE. It came to my heart a few weeks ago. I feel like I should serve my family/friends, community, church and God without expecting anything in return including recognition for my service. I know that sounds so spiritual lol and believe me I didn't come up with this idea on my own! This is something I think God has been teaching me for a long time but I want to embrace it instead of grumbling inside when I feel unappreciated In this world we are told we should be acknowledged for everything we do. Anyhow that's my word for 2023 and the first time I've ever felt impressed to have a word. BTW we don't even teach or focus on having a word for the year LOL it's a little charismatic for me but look at me....lol Let's see if I can actually do it!
Well Happy New Year 2023....I pray it will be a good year for each of you!
