Gifts

I think one of the benefits of walking through dark times is that laughter becomes much more precious. Laughter is one of life’s simple pleasures… a gift straight from God Himself. Simple pleasures are such a contrast to grief and sadness. When I experience one of these moments, I feel like my eyes become razor-sharp… absorbing every detail, so as not to miss a second of God’s gift.

Free-spirited Kate creates many of these moments for me. To watch her swing is to watch joy personified!! But I experience the same pleasure when I see Canon devouring a book or hear Anne singing (especially when I hear Anne singing…)

All of this reminds me of a book that I haven’t read… but I hear about constantly… One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

I was just resting with Kate, turning these ideas over in my head. I came downstairs to write this post, and the doorbell rang. It was a man delivering a huge fruit basket from someone in our church… The note read, “You have been in our prayers all year-long.” I then opened my email and found a note from a friend wanting to bring a herb pot made for me by the ladies in my old bible study. She said she was including a copy of One Thousand Gifts. Maybe I should read it :)

Squirrel’s Birthday Sleepover

Here’s Canon’s 6th Rabbit & Squirrel story. This story refers back to Rabbit Finally Wins (where both rabbit & squirrel build a robot) and Squirrel’s Wonderful Tail (where we learn that the tail is THE pride of a squirrel!) You can read all of Canon’s stories at the following links:

Squirrel’s Birthday Sleepover

It’s November 8, Squirrel’s birthday.

Squirrel: Yahoo! It’s my birthday! Rabbit and I are having a sleepover!
Squirrel calls rabbit…
Squirrel: Let’s have a birthday sleepover!
Rabbit: Okay, let’s do it. When can I come over to your tree?
Squirrel: 5pm. I’ll serve dinner. And I’ll remember to put the ladder out for you.
Rabbit: Okay, it’s settled. I’ll bring a birthday present. Do you want me to bring cake too?
Squirrel: Sure, but you know I love cake, so DON’T FORGET IT!
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Testing a theory…

I realized during Spring Break that I might be pushing Anne too much.  Yes, her seizure medicine makes her tired, but I also think her packed schedule is a factor.  SO…  I’m keeping Anne home every Friday from both school and therapy to give her a long weekend to recover.  I’ve loved having her home this morning.

We listened to music and sang together. We even waltzed to Third Day’s, Born Again.  Anne said, “Hee Hee, this is fun!”   But since I got to spend time with her during her best time of day (right when she wakes up), I wanted to test a theory…

I believe Anne can read…  She knows all of her letters and sounds.  And she has the ability to blend sounds together.  For example, if I said to her, “Anne – what is this word…  ssss    uh   nnnnn,”   (and I put lots of space between the sounds…) she’ll answer, “sun.”  So I’ve been thinking that it might be her visual perception that’s preventing her from reading.  Anne CAN see, but sometimes she has a hard time interpreting what she sees or focusing on small details on a busy page – like letters…

So, mixing a few ideas from both her OT and SLP, I got a cookie sheet and placed three chunky magnet letters on the sheet.  Holding it vertically, so the cookie sheet was right in front of her face, I asked her to touch, and name the sound of each letter.  Then I put them in order, and Anne said, “buh…   ah…    teh  ….  bat!”  YES!!!  She went on to read: sat, mat, fat, jug, tab, bam….  well you get the idea. 

Anne's first word

Anne is so proud of herself.  As I put her down for a nap, she looked up to the butterfly painting above her bed and said, “Guess what butterfly?  I can read!”

I can read, butterfly!

Special Day

We’ve had a great day as a family today. We took a trip to Fernbank with some other families. Anne enjoyed being with all her friends! Afterward, Anne had a great OT session and then we went to a friend’s house for a play date. Anne was able to rest a bit, and now she’s watching her favorite video, Letter Factory.

Anne enjoying Fernbank

We’re very excited about the service tonight and very thankful that our church would go to so much trouble for our family.

I’ve prayed that today would be a good day. I’ve felt surrounded by God’s presence and pleasure. We serve a great God!

April 13th…

Today is a good day.

This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24)!

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21b).

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left (Isaiah 30:21).

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

These are the verses that came to mind this morning. We are grateful for what God has done, and we will trust Him for the future. I’m looking forward to celebrating His goodness toward Anne with our church and family tonight!

Squirrel’s Wonderful Tail

Canon’s written another one… and it’s pretty funny :-) If you’re bored and like reading stories written by 8-year-old boys, then check out his other rabbit and squirrel stories:

Squirrel’s Wonderful Tail

Rabbit wants to play a trick on squirrel.

Rabbit (thinking): Oh, I am going to get squirrel …so bad!
Squirrel: Hi Rab-

Rabbit whips a paint ball out from behind his back and throws it right at squirrel’s tail.

Continue reading

I’m doing better…

This week has been a good week for all of us. The more relaxed pace of spring break has been rejuvenating. Thank you for praying for me. I’ve been more aware of God’s mercy and faithfulness, and I’ve been encouraged by several friends this week. I’ve received uplifting text messages, fresh tulips delivered to my door, and one friend even came over to clean my toilets and fold my laundry. That’s love!

I think most encouraging is that lots of people are remembering April 13th. From close friends to casual acquaintances, I’ve had several encounters this week of people telling me that they are praying as the 13th approaches.

God has lifted the weight of grief (at least for now) and given me a single focus for the good He’s accomplished in Anne this year. We have so much to be thankful for! So when our pastor asked how they could best minister to us on the one year mark of the accident, I decided I wanted a celebration service to thank God for the blessing of Anne’s life and miraculous recovery. The details are still being worked out, but my prayer is that the service will be an encouragement to Anne and to those who have prayed so faithfully for Anne. I pray God is glorified as we acknowledge the work He has done in our midst!

Miss Debbie was over tonight watching our kids. Anne loves Miss Debbie! She made me a care package for wednesday… Lots of chocolate, diet cokes, candles, etc. But the coolest thing is a cd she made for me. On it is Laura Story’s new song Blessings. Miss Debbie says that every word reminds her of Anne. I agree. Listen to it if you have a chance:-)  And here’s the story behind the song if you’re interested…

I’ll post more about Anne’s service when I know details. It will be this Wednesday evening at our church, ChristChurch Presbyterian. Anne will be there, and I hope it will be a blessing for everyone :-)

One week and counting…

April 13th is one week away. I’m not doing very well as I approach that day… Basically, I’m going into mole-mode – where I just want to bury myself in a tunnel and pretend like the rest of the world doesn’t exist. My poor children – it’s all I can do just to keep the house running these days.

But that’s grief. It’s very familiar to me, so I’m not panicking. The laundry is in piles now, but I’ll come out of it eventually and catch up :-) And somehow (by God’s grace) I look back at the end of each day and see that dinner got fixed, the house is semi-neat and the kids have clean clothes. There’s even a little energy left for tickles and crafts – that’s all God.

April 13th represents two very different realities for me. 1st – it’s the day that God saved Anne’s life! After reading through all the medical records from that day – it’s a miracle she survived. But 2nd – that day represents the end of the “old” Anne. Brain injury patients are never the same after their injuries… Some might think that she is like her old self – just with a disabled body. No, her entire personality is different – wonderful – just different.

So, that day represents death and life to me. And right now, I just don’t want to think about any of it. You could pray for me. That would be nice :-)

Rabbit’s Birthday

Canon continues his tales of Rabbit and Squirrel with this latest installment. From now on, it’s important to know a little of the history between rabbit and squirrel! But if you don’t want to take the time to read: Why Rabbit makes Squirrel Run, How Flying Squirrels Came to Be, and Rabbit Finally Wins – just know that in the last story, Rabbit and Squirrel each built a robot.  Rabbit’s robot has a TV in his chest, and squirrel’s robot can make hot cocoa. (Which robot would you like best?)

Rabbit’s Birthday
It’s January 13, rabbit’s birthday.

Rabbit: Yahoo! It’s my birthday baby!!!!!
Squirrel: Yeah, that’s really exciting. I’ve already built you a birthday present.
Rabbit (with a mischievous look on his face): So what is it?
Squirrel: Well, it’s a… whoops! Not supposed to tell.
Rabbit (thinking, “oh come on”): Well, let’s call all of my friends and tell them I’m going to have a birthday party.
Squirrel: How about we say it’s on Saturday, because everyone won’t have presents for you yet, except for me of course.
Rabbit: Okay. I wish I still had my robot (he took it apart so he could build something else). He could go get the phone for me. Guess I’ll go get it for myself.
Squirrel (sighing): Oh fine Rabbit, I’ll go get the phone for you.

Squirrel got the phone and Rabbit calls all of his friends. On Saturday, all of rabbit’s friends come over to rabbit’s burrow.

Rabbit: Welcome to my birthday party! We’re going to play games first.

First, they do rabbit’s favorite game, Leap Frog (because he’s a great jumper). Then they play his friends’ favorite games.

Squirrel: I’ve been waiting for cake the whole time. Can we have cake NOW?
Rabbit: But wait, we haven’t done your favorite game.
Squirrel: My favorite game is that the birthday rabbit blows out the candles and everyone eats the cake.
Rabbit: Okay, it’s settled. We’ll eat the cake.
Squirrel: Thank you. I think I’ve lost a couple of pounds.
All friends: Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Rabbit. Happy Birthday to you.
Squirrel: CHA-CHA-CHA!

Rabbit blows out the candles, and they all dig in. Squirrel eats the most!

Rabbit (thinking… I really can’t wait to open squirrel’s present): Let’s open presents now!

Rabbit opens the presents, but he couldn’t find the present from squirrel.

Squirrel (walking in with a huge box): Anybody looking for a present from me?
Rabbit: Uh, Yeah. I’ve been dying to know what your present is!

Rabbit opens squirrel’s present which is a …….. ROBOT!

Squirrel: Did you like your new robot?
Rabbit: Duh! I loved it!!! Everybody, time for TV!

Rabbit whistles. His robot pops the television out of his chest, and everyone watches ALL the episodes of CARROT WARS. It was rabbit’s best birthday ever.

Miracle of music

I’m thankful for music and Anne’s ability to sing along.

In the days after the accident, a new song by Josh Wilson entitled, Before the Morning, was released on the radio. This song ministered the most deeply to me in those early days. After one of my most discouraging days, I was driving home from the hospital just crying and praying. After much talking with God, I meekly asked, “God, would you just let me hear that Josh Wilson song…” So I turned on the radio, and his song was playing…

Would you dare, would you dare to believe,
That you still have a reason to sing,
That the pain that you’ve been feeling
Can’t compare to the joy that’s coming.

So hold on, you gotta wait for the light.
Press on and just fight the good fight,
Cause the pain that you’ve been feeling,
Is just the dark before the morning.

Now Anne knows all the lyrics and sings along in the car. That’s a stark contrast to the dark days in the hospital, and a poignant gift from God…