Tough Day

Andrew has had a tough day.  As tough as it was, I could see God in almost everything. 
I got a call from Andrew's cell.  I was thinking about him and praying for him this morning when it occurred to me that if something happened to him, Pete's number is on his dog tags.  I thought he was calling me to answer my "how are you" text.  It was a classmate telling me to hurry over to campus - that he needed me.  I raced over with two precious nurses and ran up the stairs into the building as fast as I could.  He was smiling at me to let me know he was okay.  His class was gone (except for the WHS grad who called me).  There was an ASU police officer and Andrew's professor.  Everyone was so kind.  Andrew was okay and was able to walk down one set of stairs while one of my nurse friends pulled my car around.  He was okay and starving.  Sam was tickled to see him in the car in the pick up line.  We came home and got him settled on the couch to rest.  Dr. Zimmerman had kindly looked at him and did not see any obvious sickness.  So I ran to the high school to get Will.
In the 25 minutes I was gone, Sam felt bad; so he checked his own blood sugar.  Sure enough, he had dropped considerably in 30 minutes since I had checked him.  He just did not eat anything like he should have.  He waited until I got home to tell me that and that Andrew had gotten sick.  Sam told me that he patted Andrew and told him he would be okay.  He was okay when I got home - just very tired. 

Had to take a break...the wind is blowing like I have never heard it blow at this house!

Anyway, we have Laura with us.  She is helping me with the boys tonight.  She, Sam, and Will are having a sleepover in Sam's room. 

Andrew has not run a fever or anything yet, so we are keeping a close eye on him.  I called the non-emergency line to let them know he is sick.  They were very ugly (long story, and I will address it later with someone), but I hope they made a note of what I told them - for Andrew's sake.  That was frustrating and made me cry.

Pete sent me a text and said he may be gone a few more days.  Okay.  Well, I just asked God to help me.  My main help is not here on a bad day to be away.  But we have done this before, and I know God is right here with us.  Pete has no clue about our day.  He is too far away! 
So we are praying for a peaceful night.  And we are praying for a calmer storm than is expected.  When I had those random thoughts this morning, I know God was putting that in my mind so I would be more ready.  And He has been with us and provided for us on other tough nights. 

So we are praising Him in this storm - literally.  As the wind and frustration and fear all swirl around us, we are comforted knowing the One who loves us the most is right here in this place.

Thanks for praying for our family!

Update on the boys

Andrew is doing much better.  He tried to run Friday, and he stopped around four miles.  He was not getting anywhere, he felt.  He does not realize that his recent pneumonia takes so much more out of him.  In a lot of ways, I am glad he does not count that.  But I wish he would give himself a little slack.  He has enjoyed fall break - even rested some and ate well.  He leaves our house around 6 or a little later every day and returns 12 hours later.  Sometimes he can come home for a couple of hours in between everything.  And that helps.  He can fix his own food and rest up or study.  I am so glad he has managed his time so well this first semester!

Peter is battling injuries as he tries to finish up cross country.  I know he is disappointed, but he may run in college; so this is not the end of cross country.  We need to get him better for track.  He is enjoying his senior year and his friends.  I am thankful for all of the great people he is around.

Will is busy as usual - running and biking anytime he can.  He has not needed stitches in a while, and I am proud of him for that!  Pete leaves again soon, so I will have to keep a careful eye on him this time!  No hatchets in the field!  He has come through a little tough time and learning experience, and I am thankful for the person he is.  And I am thankful for the encouragers from different places.  He is also.

Sam is so sick right now.  He has a double ear infection, low fever, cough, and wheezing.  He is still pretty sick, so he is missing tomorrow at school.  Through all of this, his sugars have been pretty consistent.  So we are thankful for that.  He is so excited to go to a pumpkin festival in Virginia this weekend.  He has talked and talked about it.  We had a school meeting last week, and he asked when I could meet with his teachers again so he could play Legos by himself!  He also ran his second cross country meet and was 8th in the 1st through 3rd graders.  He missed a medal by one place, so we got him a Happy Meal which was much better since it came with a Scooby Doo Halloween bucket!

Pete leaves soon for his second overseas trip.  He is so excited.  I am not.  I am excited for him, and I am happy he is so excited.  But I have a dread about when he leaves.  Last time it seemed so long.  I am thankful for texting though!  He had no clue when I was getting his texts.  I had it figured out, but he never did.  I got one every morning when I woke up - starting with the second morning.  The first morning I did not hear from him and did not get a text until after lunch!  I know it will go by fast with all of the boys' things.  I am trying to get ready...

We appreciate all of the people who pray for us.  We can feel those prayers.  Sometimes we need them most when we are not in crisis mode.  So thank you.  I have had some huge answered prayers with Andrew's medicine this week.  So I know people join me in praying.

Happy Fall!

Do I Encourage or Discourage?

In recent weeks, I have been so tired.  When I am tired, I am much more sensitive.  My dear husband always (lovingly) reminds me that I say and do things that probably are not taken the way I intended them to be taken.  He reminds me that I must give others the benefit of the doubt.  And when he cannot deny there was some jabbing or mean stuff going on, he reminds me to be thankful for my many blessings and not let it bother me like it does!  So sometimes I have to call someone else (if I dare!) and try to get them to sympathize with me.  Sometimes I just want someone to say, "I cannot believe he/she said that to you!!!"  But I realize that the best way is to let it sting and then let it go.  I am working on that.  I have had to work on it a lot lately it seems!  Maybe it's me.  But it has also made me think on whether I am encouraging or discouraging.  Am I building up or tearing down?

When I was younger, I felt as if some people were the "haves" and we were the "have nots".  That did not bother me most of the time, but sometimes it hurt when certain things were pointed out to me - a lot.  So sometimes I tried to make sure that the other people knew I was not bothered by their attempts to bother me.  I think maybe sometimes I came across as a little bit discouraging myself.  I did not mean to be.  I just wanted to make the point that what was really bothering me did not.  Silly, I know.  Silly to spend time even thinking about it.  But I did.  I felt knocked down and did not want the other people to know.  I had so many people encouraging me, but the discouraging hurt; and I fought back a little bit.  I am sorry for that now.  I am sorry I was so sensitive, and I am sorry if I discouraged anyone while trying to let them know they had not discouraged me!

These days, I am most of the time different.  Things that bothered me then don't bother me now.  But things that do seem to bother me most concern my children.  I appreciate help in helping my children, but I don't need competition or discouragement.  They don't either!

So in dealing with my children, I have learned where not to tread - sometimes.  I keep a close circle of people I can trust to ask opinions or advice or for their prayers or wisdom.  God has certainly blessed me with some people who are always there with encouragement no matter what.  And I try not to talk to too many people.  As children get older, they don't want everyone to know everything about them anyway.

But lately, it's been me who feels discouraged.  I sometimes have a feeling about things, and sometimes those feelings are confirmed.  It's hard when it seems clear that someone is trying to discourage.  I am not sure why anyone would think I would need discouragement!  But it can happen in different forms - mean joking, jabs, being left out, being made fun of, not keeping a word, etc.  Sometimes we imagine it's happening, but sometimes it really is.

So there is my husband again asking why I pay any attention when I have so many blessings.  He is right.  And he is right in reminding me that even though I try to be very careful (especially in some areas) that I hurt people's feelings too without meaning to or knowing it.  So I ask myself if I am encouraging or discouraging.  I will try harder to encourage and pay more attention to things that may discourage.

Just some stuff for me to think about...