June 6, 2010

We had a really nice weekend overall. We celebrated Kathy’s birthday Friday night with family and she had her special day just about her. Garrett had really bad nightmares the past few nights, but short of having bad headaches and nausea on Saturday, has felt relatively good all weekend.

It’s very clear that the past few months away from home have impacted Garrett a lot. Because he’s limited on what he can do, he finds it naturally easier to sit around watching t.v. instead of running all over the place chasing dogs, hitting balls, riding his bike, climbing hay stacks, playing with kittens and generally having the summer fun of a country boy. Living downstairs in the “man cave” with his baseball cards, wrestling and bull rider toys is fine, but it’s not what summer is about. So I decided to build a toy for the kids so they can have a little of “home” with them while they’re stuck here. Some PVC & cement, some 45 and 90 deg. Connectors, a roping dummy head and some paint…….voila! A backyard roping toy. The kids cracked it out today and had a lot of fun. Of course it had to be painted the Rockies’ colors, so we named him “Rocky” the roping dummy. I posted a few pictures. They can drag it around and not hurt a thing. The perfect backyard cowboy kid toy!

I was telling a friend this weekend that it seems like this time in some ways is even tougher mentally than two years ago when he got his third heart. When he needed a heart transplant we were devastated, but hopeful. As soon as he got his heart we were able to set little goals to reach. Now we are living with this situation of more questions than answers. Everything is so uncertain. Hope still exists in its most precious form, but the wait is different. I guess that’s just the way it has to be, as Garrett would say.

I sprung a surprise on Kathy today. Some incredible folks from a local church, led by a very special couple, the Axtons, took on a huge project at our place while we’re gone. They cleaned, mowed, planted flowers and even got rid of my manure mountain that had been growing exponentially over the past year. With my weak glass-back, I’ve been putting it off until I could secure a skid steer. They approached me a little while back and teasingly told me we “didn’t have a choice” in the matter. They wanted to help. My only real request was that if they were going to do this, make it pretty for Kathy. When she comes home, I want her to see a beautiful home where she can sit in the mornings enjoying her coffee and let the troubles drain away. They didn’t disappoint.

They sent us a few photos and the place looks amazing! I can’t wait to see it. As embarrassed as I am to have someone else do my chores, we’re humbled and blessed beyond common words. I can tell you this, Kathy and I have already talked and we look forward to the day when we can pay this kindness forward for another family in need. When I showed Kathy the photos, she was excited but also quickly became very melancholy. She misses her home so much. Kathy hasn’t been there since this rodeo started over two months ago. Garrett, too, saw the photos and nearly started crying. I need to get my family home.

But as I lay here tonight thinking of this little bump in our trail I realize that life cannot be judged only by a single season. When we walk the halls of The Children’s Hospital, every season of life is there. We’ve been blessed to have experienced and/or seen all the seasons from the cold and grey to the warm and colorful. I tried to explain to Garrett tonight that our season of spring will come. We must get through the winter of this journey in order for God to present us with new life and the colors of our summer.

It will get better. As you can see from the photos, Garrett’s already feeling better. His heart rate is bouncing up again, but we have to remember it may take a year for his heart to heal completely. On nice days like this it’s hard not to let him run around a lot, but it was much too hot to let him play until it cooled down this evening. With time we pray his strength and endurance will only flourish and bring back the health he’d become so used to for a few years. Everything is in the hands of the One who brings us the spring and summer that we long for. He has the perfect plan and though it doesn’t make sense sometimes, I can’t help but think of the lyrics of one of my favorite songs from church; “Glory and Praise to our God, Who alone brings light to our days”.

May your days be well lit with the presence of our everlasting God. And please don't forget to keep praying for our troops. So many years ago today we lost many soldiers on the shores of France as they fought to preserve our freedom. I'm grateful for their sacrifice and to their families who shared them with us.

JD