Thankfulness

I want to start this post off by saying, "Thank you!" My family and I have been so touched by the outpouring of prayers and well wishes from all of you.

Proverbs 16:24
"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."

It's hard to admit sometimes, but I struggled so much with starting this blog. I felt the Lord leading me to do it, but inside, I was so fearful. Fearful of looking and sounding like an idiot, and I was even more fearful of tens of people reading whatever I wrote and telling me that I looked and sounded like an idiot. Writing was not (and still isn't) my strong point. If you don't believe me, just ask my "Remedial Writing Composition" teacher that I had in college.

Sigh.

Much like Moses, I argued with God as He was leading me to write and share stories about Him and His presence in my life.

Exodus 4:10-12
Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." The LORD said to him, "...I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

And much like Moses, I got over myself and followed God, and I am so thankful that I did.

I have been overwhelming blessed through this journey in Blog Land. I am just so thankful to have met each and every one of you. You have all been such a blessing to me and my family.

I have been at the hospital with my dad for most of this past week, which is why I have not been able to give you an update before now.

As I type this he is pulling up in the driveway of his home.

It has been an incredibly long week, but we have all been blessed beyond measure.

I was the first person in the family to see my dad once he was awake and had the ventilator tube removed.

When he saw me, his eyes lit up, and he said, "Hey, Sissy!" And then he looked at me very seriously and asked, "Am I alive, Amy? Did I make it?"

And I answered him by saying, "Yes, Daddy, you are alive; you did make it."

Sigh. Thank you, Jesus.

His recovery has been amazing! Although he has a long way to go, he has come so far.

Yesterday, the physical therapist came by to help him walk, and he walked a long way down the CVICU unit hall and all the way back again. It dawned on me as I saw him walking, that last Friday, when my mom brought him to the hospital for his heart cath, he had to ride in a wheelchair from the hospital entrance to the Same Day Surgery unit. He was in such bad shape that he could not walk that far. Then, there he was, just three days after surgery, walking farther than he had walked in a year.

It was incredible to see, and I was once again reminded of his "blessing" that I pulled from the blessing jar at the hospital.

Psalms 13:5-6

"I trust your love,

and I feel like celebrating

because you rescued me.

You have been good to me, LORD,

and I will sing about you."

God did indeed rescue him.

I have quite a few stories to share with you about our experiences this week, but for today, I just want to tell you all that he is doing well.

He will, obviously, have a long recovery ahead of him, but the surgery went so much better than we could have ever hoped for, and he had the best sense of humor even on the roughest days.

One morning while I was in the room with him, he looked at me and said, "Amy, when you leave, tell your mom to come in here. I want to talk to her about my will."

I looked at him strangely for a second, hoping that he was not going to get all morbid on me.

Then he continued talking and said, "I want to tell her.....that I don't have any money....." At that point he started laughing so hard, that he had to grab his heart shaped pillow and hug it tightly to his chest.

(You can probably tell from that comment where my sense of humor must come from.) ;)

I have always heard that our attitudes through difficult situations are half of the battle, so when he was making jokes the day after surgery, I realized that he was going to be just fine.



Psalms 100

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."