Recovery...

My crazy son and I... model pose day after surgery... Yeah right... So bad!

 Sometimes you have to laugh and keep your sense of humor...

Oh to catch up on sleep and have your mama care for you!  It has felt so good... (I know, funny right?  It felt good to recover from surgery???)  It is true though... 

My family has been so amazing over the last 5 days.  They have stepped up and really taken care of me!  

My mom came into town and literally worked from sun up to sun down... cooking, cleaning, deep cleaning closets and clutter, doing laundry, motivating big kids to help... all on top of taking care of the littlest and ME!  She was amazing!  What a huge blessing, and one I do not take for granted for a second!  She is such a gift to me!  

So I went back to work today... part time preschool teacher, back in business!  

I actually feel great!   My neck is a little stiff, but besides that I feel REALLY good!  I KNOW that I have caught up on sleep (which hasn't happened in FOREVER!) and I have really taken it easy and it feels really good.  

My parathyroid gland was down into my chest, not in my neck like it was supposed to be... so that complicated things a bit and made the surgery last longer.  I was so thankful to be downtown at a hospital with doctors that had more experience with surgeries like this... I am not sure they could have gotten to it at the local hospital.  God was good to go ahead of me and prepare for me to be exactly where I needed to be:)  

Hopefully, that will be the end of my kidney stones (well as least for new ones:)  I will still need to get the ones I already have blasted but this should solve the problem of forming them in the future!  I am thankful for that!

Thankful for good doctors!

Thankful for caring family!

Thankful for a loving mama! 

Thankful for the Great Physician that heals!

Would love your prayers...

I would love your prayers as I head in for  parathyroid surgery tomorrow morning.

I have a great surgeon that I trust so I am thankful for that.

We aren't sure yet how many glands are affected so it may or may not be out patient surgery, but we are trusting God knows exactly what it will be:)

Our hope and prayer is that this will solve my kidney stone issue and that I will stop forming new ones and that the existing ones that I have won't grow any more.  :) It does look like I will need to go in for some kidney stone blasting sometime this fall as well... and then Lord willing  I will be good to go:)

So prayers for a successful surgery and good recovery would be greatly appreciated:)  The shorter amount of time I need to be away from my favorite 26 preschoolers the better... :)

Thanks so much friends!

Feeling Different....

Life with this crew posted above is on overdrive...

I have always been more of a homebody... Greg always laughs because he hates big crowd gatherings (like when the packers won the super bowl types of parties in the streets)  I on the other hand would love to be there...

But when it comes down to it, Most of all,  I love my home and love hanging out there...with the whole family. 

It is almost April...  normally it takes me about 4-5 weeks at the beginning of the school year to feel like we are in a groove... This year there are days I still don't feel like we are there... I have been trying to figure out why it is so different this year...

Is it that Hope was 2 1/2, all over the place, and always needing to be entertained  when we started school last fall?

Is it that we added Levi last Spring and we were trying to get used to a new little guy in the mix?

Is it that we started doing the coop this year?

Really, I feel like it is a combination of a lot of the things listed above... but more importantly, the other day I was struck with the fact, that I am FINALLY living again... I am finally feeling fully alive...

When I look back, the first year after Samuel died is sort of a blur...
We got school done, the house picked up, the kids fed... but I think I was sort of floating through life...just trying to survive each sad day and keep going...(I know that sounds bad, but it really was unfortunately the reality at the time...)

I remember last summer finally feeling like there were parts of me that were coming back to life... That were being reawakened inside of me...:) Spring was coming so to speak and it felt so good...

I have always had a passion for certain areas of ministry (especially women's, young women, marriage,  and family ministry)... but after we moved here and Samuel's death, I  hadn't really had the energy to start anything, much less even participate on some days:)

But in the last year I have finally felt the energy to move towards some of that... and I am so thankful...

 I loved doing the mother/daughter class with Anna last summer.  It was such a special mommy/daughter time for us.... and the Wisdom for Mothers class that we have done on Sunday mornings has been such a benefit to me once again...Being able to be a part of the homeshool coop came at the perfect time for us:)  I loved leading the modesty talk for the youth girls at the true love waits weekend, and doing the mini  couponing class...  Not to mention that my dinner divas make and take meal nights have kept me super busy as well...

It is just funny to all of a sudden feel the exciting life blood pulsing through my veins again.  To feel alive and able to really participate in so many fun areas of life with my family brings my heart such joy and contentment... It is what I was made to do... be a wife and mommy. 

I don't mention any of those things to bring any attention to myself... but rather to help me remember in the future how Gracious our God was to bring me out of the muck and mire and give my heart a new song to sing...

And just because my heart is singing a new song, that doesn't mean the challenges are over, or that we miss Samuel any less... NOPE... Honestly, we face them everyday... we are praying the Lord gives us the grace to meet the challenges in the best, most loving way possible...

So now as we see the school year getting ready to start to wind down... there is so much to do...
So many little and HUGE projects to take care of around the house... 
So much relying on God to lead and guide our family through the road ahead...
So much prayer taking place each day...
So much thankfulness for the blessings that each new day and life with my crew brings to me...

Pastors wife... never thought I would be...

I am linking up with Kelly's Corner blog link up... I rarely do any link ups... but I thought this would be one that I would do... It is nice to connect to others who are walking the same path that I am...

Never would I have thought that I would be a pastor's wife... never would I have thought that we would lose a child... There are a whole lot of things that are a part of my life... that I never dreamed would be...

Being a pastor's wife can be a little lonely at times... but there is nothing I rather do than walk along side of Greg and be His mate as he ministers to many.  I am so thankful when I have the opportunity to be there for members of our congregation.  We have the opportunity to be there for people and support people in their most special times of life and their most difficult. 

When we lost Samuel, and we were in a brand new city...I had never felt more alone and sorrowful... That has been one sweet nugget I have gleaned from losing Samuel... that I NEVER want someone to feel so lonely in their sorrow.  I know not everyone may want to share their sorrow... but if they are?  Then I want to be able to be there to help carry the burden...

Many days I feel very ill equipped to be a pastor's wife...But I am trusting God to fill me with himself, to give me the right words when needed, to open my eyes, to prick my conscience, to strengthen and equip me to be His hands and feet here, to fill me so full of His love that it overflows to those around me:)  Life can be so hard, but,  God is so good...

AT HOME:)

Can I just say... I love my bed:)

And can I also say that a 6 inch stint is not really "little"  OH MY GOODNESS!:)

I busted up laughing at the fact that it will stay in there for at least a month and that they can take it out in an office visit.... ARE YOU KIDDING ME???:)  They weren't :(

I am at home recovering...

All in all, I feel pretty good...

I was more nauseous than I expected... and this is going to be TMI but...
going to the bathroom is way more painful than I thought it would be and hurts far more than any kidney stone that this northern girl has ever passed ... still waiting to pass the fragments they blasted the stones into today... hmmmm I wonder how long that will take:)

I had a surprising thought (to me) enter my mind  the first thing after I woke up in recovery... we will see if I share about it in the near future or not... not sure...

They weren't sure if they got it all, they will be able to tell when they do a scan a month from now... so we will see if we have to back for round 2 or 3...

Greg and I laughed at all the funny things the guy next to me in recovery was saying... needless to say, I think he had just had a vasectomy done...:)  Funny... is that bad?  We totally weren't eavesdropping, you couldn't help but hear it:)

Ok, going to lay back on the couch and snuggle with my littlest boy... and probably the rest of the kiddos too...  Thanks for the prayers friends!