The God Who Sees and Hears

I wrote this last Sunday as I flew home from a weekend of reprieve.

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” Gen 16:13

Who is like the Lord our God,

Who dwells on high,

Who humbles Himself to behold

The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?

He raises the poor out of the dust,

And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,

That He may seat him with princes—

With the princes of His people.

He grants the barren woman a home,

Like a joyful mother of children.

Praise the Lord!  Psalms 113:5-9

This weekend I was able to take a break, thanks to my parents in-law.  Yesterday I read in Genesis 16 about Hagar pregnant, thirsty and alone in the desert.  The Lord spoke to her.  He heard her cry in her affliction and He saw her need.  This morning I opened my Bible to Psalm 113 and it went so well with what I read yesterday.  A God Who sees, hears and knows.  He humbled Himself and became a man, a servant, tempted in all points, afflicted and wounded for our transgressions.

Sometimes it’s very hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel.  It’s hard being a caregiver for the long haul with no end in sight and not much real respite.  Most people care for elderly for a few years or someone with a terminal condition, so although the “end” is not exactly welcome, there is a foreseeable end.  But there are many of us caregivers that care for a child, spouse or other loved one for an indefinite time (obviously death comes for all) because the injury or condition happened early in life and isn’t necessarily terminal.  Sometimes, just that thought is overwhelming...so I try not to dwell on it and take one day at a time.

I dream about having vacations that are actually vacations.  Where I would get to be with my husband and not have to worry about whether bathrooms are big enough or if there’s too many steps or if a doorway is too narrow.  A vacation where I could enjoy his company without straining all of my concentration on figuring out what he’s saying.  A vacation that I don’t have to plan every little detail around brain injury.  It’s just a dream though.

He sees, hears and knows.

That’s comforting. I’m not alone.  There are many reminders of this for me.  Whether it’s a stranger paying for our meal anonymously, packages of coloring books for the girls, a kind word or a random man offering to plow our driveway when he saw me struggling to move a huge snow “boulder” out of the front of our driveway. 

Hello again

Hello all!

I know some of you have posted a couple comments on here. I do read them.  Thank you to all who continue to pray for us.  We are still here.  I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I’ve written a blog post!  I guess with 3 kids, life kind of runs away.  My inspiration for writing has been buried in lots of sleepless nights.

We welcomed a sweet baby boy, Lucas David, into our family on July 18th, 2018.  The girls just adore him and the feeling is mutual.  He is crawling everywhere and wants to be in the middle of everything.  We got a robotic vacuum and he loves to try to catch it and even get merry-go-round rides on it when it is on its spot clean mode!  Jocelyn started kindergarten last Fall and is excelling and loving school.  We are so blessed to have a Christian school she can attend right around the corner from us.  We are so grateful for this option for our family, as the homeschool option would be a difficult one for me to do well at.  Abi follows in Jocelyn’s footsteps but has a big enough personality that she won’t stay in the shadows.  She loves the extra attention when Jocelyn is at school.

Our caregiver situation rises and falls but has been pretty sparse for several months.  David’s dad decided to get hired on at the agency we use, so when there are gaps and he’s available, he can just take the shift and help with David’s cares.  It’s been very helpful.

David’s health is good, although we haven’t noticed much changes this last year.  He only had one ER visit.  He tried to be independent and take his foot pedal off.  He lost his balance and fell head first into to bathroom tile.  I can get him off the floor by myself but I was holding his head so I decided to let some firemen pick him up this time.

 I was so impressed by Abi.  She kept calm and was able to get gauze for me.  He has been in PT for some trunk control and strengthening his left leg .  He also stays in touch with his neuro optometrist in Chicago.  We just made a visit a couple weeks ago the day after a big snow storm.  As we were driving down the freeway, it was quite sobering.  There were dozens of cars, trucks and semis that had slid off the road into the median.  The optometrist noted improvement in acuity in  his left eye and ability for his left eye to work in conjunction with his right eye.  He will be getting eye glasses to wear soon.  She uses prism glasses to optimize brain function.  It has been discovered that the retina is actually brain tissue.  I’m copying a link to an interview with her if anyone is interested in listening to her explain some of the things she knows and applies with people with brain injuries.  It’s really fascinating. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/facesoftbi/2017/02/16/understanding-how-the-eyes-are-affected-after-a-brain-injury-w-dr-zelinsky

We’ve had record-breaking amounts of snow, especially in the month of February.  We also had some extremely cold temperatures so Jocelyn had lots of snow days and I had to figure out how to squeeze in snow blowing and shoveling our driveway into already busy days. I’m so grateful for the help I’ve had on a couple days.  The combination of piles of snow and very cold temperatures has done a few things to our house.  I wish I’d paid more attention to my dad’s work because I’m turning out to be a terrible handywoman.  But I am learning a lot...and making many trips to Menards.  I am so thankful for YouTube videos and Pinterest tutorials.  At these times, I really feel my inadequacy as a parent, wife, homeowner, etc...