A New Life

No, I'm not pregnant. :o) Please read this post that I found on my cousin's blog. I couldn't wait to post it on ours! It's 10 Great Reasons to Have Another Child. This is very much in line with the revelation God has given us about children. However, Reason #6 especially touched my heart in light of Gram being in the ICU for a week. She's been given a new life since last Friday!

http://www.mommylife.net/archives/2007/03/ten_great_reaso_2.html

An update on Gram...
She was moved to a room on the neuro-science floor yesterday...PTL (Praise the Lord!)! The nurses are so loving and patient. They've taken her off of all of the oxygen, the monitors and the feeding tube!! Everyday brings baby steps on her road to recovery. She's a little more alert and a little easier to understand everyday. They've started some physical and occupational therapy to keep up her strength. The doctors are trying to help keep her body healthy so her brain can get healthy. She still doesn't remember everything...for example...today she thought it was 1947, but she knew that George W. was president. But she called me by name when I visited her yesterday! :o) Thanks for all of your prayers.

A Fragile Life

Gram is fragile. Her life is fragile. All of life is fragile. Health and life, so often taken for granted, can become delicate and fragile before you can realize what's happened.

My dad dropped by Gram's on his way home from work on Friday around 11:30 to check on her, because she didn't answer her phone. He found her in a dilusional state, much more severe than as has been the case with her mini strokes. She was taken to the ER, and the standard procedural tests were run. The doctors found blood on her brain, and because she was on a blood-thinning medication, it wasn't clotting. She didn't know where she was. She didn't remember what had happened. She didn't know what year it was. Her mind and her memory were going quickly because of the blood. The blood eventually clotted, and the bleeding stopped. She was moved to intesive care shortly before J and I got to the hospital around 5:00. Dad was teary and emotional, Aunt Barb was reading her Bible, and Uncle Mark rattled off the latest update. Upon entering Gram's room, she was no where to be found. What was there was a fragile, white-blonde haired lady who somewhat resemebled my grandma, not the grandma who cared for us after school, who taught us how to play cards, and told us we could do anything we put our minds to. She was so fragile. I know she didn't realize how her life had changed in the last few hours, but when I saw her, it was as if I hadn't seen her in years. She had aged and become delicate and fragile. Fragile is the only word I can think of. Fragile describes her condition...the tense feeling in her room...the decisions that would have to be made...her life.

We're just taking things one day at a time; a few hours at a time. No one knows what's going to happen next. We are at peace that our Sovereign God is in control, no matter what is next. He has shown me that life is fragile. We never know what lies ahead, be it a year from now or 5 minutes from now. I spent most of last Saturday with Gram, and I've never been happier to have done so. Cherish the life and the health God has given you. Make the most of every opportunity He presents. Let the people you love know you love them, because life is fragile.

Our New Addiction...

So, we recently discovered Burnout Revenge. For Jeremy's birthday, we got an XBOX 360...an upgrade from his old XBOX. The 360 came with a demo version of Burnout Revenge...this really awesome car game. There's all kinds of events but the name of the game is to cause damage. You get to use these really nice cars to takeout other racers and to cause huge crashes...the more monetary damage you do, the higher you rank. We played the demo a few times before we rented the full version. It wasn't long before we clocked about 8 hours on it. We'd play it after work, on the weekend, whenever we had some free time. Jer got the game for his birthday and we've been playing like crazy! Kari and Jake play with us, too. Our current rank is "Assassin" and we're about 48% complete. Of course, we're not content to just advance...we have to get a gold medal in every event, complete all of the challenges, and get the highest crash rating...we're obsessed! :o) But it's something we totally enjoy doing together.