by pastorrobin | May 29, 2012 | Children, Grandparents, hospital, How to deal with pain
It has been one week since Kennady went into the hospital and today she goes back to school! She was admitted into Dell Children’s hospital because of severe vomiting. The source of the nausea was low sodium levels. It took eliminating all food and drink to get her levels correct again. It was a drastic step. The doctors telling you that your child can not eat or drink anything for the next 36 hours is intense. Erica actually asked them, “Would you treat a normal child like this.” The answer was yes.
It only took a few more hours and she was doing better. We were sent home on Friday night.
During that time, life goes on. Our other two boys are doing their 6yr and 8yr old thing. I have to pastor a church. Erica balances life, school, mothering, being a wife. The rest of the world doesn’t stop. It takes the GRACE of GOD to maneuver through. We decide several things:
1. We need help. When people ask what they can do, we have learned to tell them. It is so difficult. Our natural response is to say “Thank you” and then not use their help. However, we have learned that people are blessed when they help and we need the help. It is a double blessing. Every time we go through a challenge at this level, we have a huge outpouring of prayers and people calling to support. We had people buying breakfast, visiting, helping with our kids, and more. Here is a clip that “Grana” took when she went to field day with Jude.
2. We need to connect. Before the storm comes we need to connect with people. We make the conscious decision and effort to connect to a local church body. I don’t know what we would do without our church family.
3. We need to focus on the need. We need to be there for our daughter. God has put us in her life to raise her, provide, and protect. We need to research the conditions. We need to TAKE INITIATIVE with the doctors and nurses.
4. We need to keep moving. We must have balance and continue to walk through the rest of our life with as much normalcy as possible. One day, I took the boys to my parents house and we worked on a new playhouse. Or should I say play mansion??
All of the movement is a dance with life. We take a step and then life takes a step. We move and then conditions change. The only way we are able to smoothly move is through the Grace of God. His power enables us. He has endued us with the ability to move through challenges and valleys.
Thank you, Jesus.
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by pastorrobin | Apr 5, 2012 | Book, How to deal with pain
Almost everyday with Kennady is uneventful. Well, to us it is. It is normal. Ever once in a while, we get a ‘revelation’ of what life would be like without Kennady or with 3 ‘normal’ kids. Those revelations remind us briefly the challenge of daily care and mobility. However, even those revelations only last a few minutes and then we go back to the thought of “we are really blessed and could have it so much worse”.
It is when we see the difficulty we face and at the same time feel like it is normal and ordinary that we are refreshed with the truth that God’s grace is sufficient. When there is a ‘thorn in our side’ and God chooses to leave it there, scripture is accurate saying that His grace is enough. His grace is able to make impossible seem not only possible, but ordinary and normal.
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by pastorrobin | Apr 3, 2012 | Book, How to deal with pain
The next 2 posts are parts we wrote for an upcoming book. We wanted you to get first dibs on it:
At the end of Erica’s pregnancy, we were at a point of brokenness. We had hopes that this would all go away even after the initial tests. We thought we would pray, believe, and get the results we wanted. However, after weeks of ‘no’ from God, we finally arrived at the breaking point. At this point, we finally realized our plans and God’s were very different. We came to the realization that we were in a race, a marathon not a sprint.
Now, many years into the race and as a senior pastor, I have come to grips with the fact that God allows everyone to sink to the breaking point. To some it comes early in life and to others, it comes much later. However, it is to our benefit spiritually and naturally to go through this breaking point. This is the point where you realize you cannot see victory on your own and you need the help of God to survive much less thrive.
Through our blog (book), we simply want tell the story of breaking, healing, restoration, and blessing. By sharing lessons we learned along the journey, we pray you are encouraged as you work through brokenness in your own life.
I see clearly now the reason for the path of our brokenness and why it was essential. Its essentiality was not for me, but for God’s kingdom to be established on the earth. His kingdom is not established in castles, temples, or government structures. The Kingdom of God is being established in the hearts of human beings. The writer of Corinthians says, (more…)
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