Vday. Lips. Faithfulness. 1 year later.

So this was our update on Valentine's Day 1 year ago.
Adam had just finished 8.5 hours of surgery
Cleft lip repaired and a major leg surgery
We had 3 weeks of ICU ahead of us.
And a tracheostomy that would stay longer than we would have hoped
He was on a ventilator with every piece of equipment possible around him.
And he had a label of "CRITICAL AIRWAY" roughly scribed in bright red marker above his head

This was how we spent our day:

Reading "Adam the Elephant" (by Jennifer Norton!) to him. He was totally out ...no responsivness...on heavy sedation meds with all those tubes I tried so hard to understand in nursing school....but WAY more tubes than I ever wanted to deal with for my own child

BUT 1 YEAR LATER...

This is us in story time now. Adam alert, oriented, SEEING, TAKING IT IN, LOVING EVERY MOMENT. No tubes attached;)




And THIS is where little Elliot Justice was a year ago...

Me with a best friend Diana who just had her little girl too! Elliot is basically hiding in a few little muffin top rolls...haha

Look at him now;)

 So dear ones, whatever you are walking thru.
Whether a sick loved one, someone in the hospital, a pregnancy, a loss, a waiting, HE IS FAITHFUL.

This year has had many ups and many downs.
But He has surely been faithful.
And if we would take the time to consider what our omers are
And if we would remember that HE IS faithful
We will walk on.
I love this quote by John Piper (I will initial a few of the key words)

“Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. Switchback after switchback. And the point of bblcl* stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones (not just know in our heads) that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble and cleaning it up. He is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of JC"

Dear ones, it is a winding and troubled road. 

There will be many switchbacks along the way. 

Do not spend your time trying to avoid them.

Do not spend your life trying to pave a straight line to glory.

For it is vanity indeed.

The switchbacks will come. 

But we can FEEL IN OUR BONES that HE is for us. 

And it is all for OUR GOOD. 

Because it is for HIS GLORY. 

So REST. REST. REST. 

So for some comic relief (probably more for myself and maybe the Senior family;) )

This was some of our coping mechanisms last year when our baby boy was in the ICU for 3 weeks.

pretzel cigarettes/cgars/dont really know....with Senior lady #2

And Senior lady #3 as well;)  

relishing in the snowfall on a night back for dinner

snow!

This little bundle of preciousness went thru a surgery on the same day. Her momma was in the waiting room with us and we loved visiting them while going on walks out of the ICU

Me and momma...excited to reconnect with them on returning this summer

NOW TO FINISH...

Love seeing these boys figuring each other out