Last Race of the Season

The Last Race of this Season

Andrew just finished his outdoor track season.  His last race was Friday – Good Friday – in Charlotte.  Thankful for the GPS that got me there, and, more importantly, showed me the way out in pouring rain!  It was a tough race to watch.  He was going for a PR.  We are thankful for the bests he has had in the 3000 and 5000 this year.  He had a slight knee injury and did a lot of pool running.  He also had some respiratory illness that we cannot seem to stop even when we watch and know it’s probably coming!  But as his mom, I wanted this last race to be the best.  After the first couple of laps, it was obvious it would not be.  His arms were stretched out far pulling his legs along – legs that just would not cooperate.  Thankfully, Andrew just knew it was a tough race and kept on going.  He was disappointed but had a great attitude about it.  His time was not his best, but it was not terrible either.  I told him later that he had no idea what it took for him to run that race like that and that I appreciated that about him.  He just smiled and told me thanks.

 It was pouring rain, and I would not have wanted to be anywhere else.  Just before he started, a dear friend slipped down the bleachers and stood beside me and prayed and yelled and encouraged while Andrew ran.  She is a mother too, and a nurse.  She could sense what he needed – what I needed – and her presence was very timely and appreciated.  We were also able to talk about what I could see in his running.  She is a nurse who has “counseled” me a lot through Sam’s diagnosis and treatment of his diabetes and other things, so she is a treasure and a gift.  At least I have some words (medical terms) to start asking with when I check on his legs…again.

I have gone back and read some of my earlier posts and like the ones that are not negative.  I can remember how I felt writing some, and then I wonder how I felt writing others.  I think my heart is leaning more towards thankful – even though so many thing still seem unsettled.  Maybe I am adjusting to being in this waiting room of life – where I can truly put down the worry and let God handle it.

Just last night, I cried as I told Pete one of my deepest fears and frustrations.  It’s not a secret, but rarely do I speak it out loud.  And of course it affects one of my children and my concerns for his future.  I have worried about his future years ahead of time and every step of the way.  I know I have to keep turning him over.  And I do.  It’s taking it all back that I need to try harder to keep from doing!

We have been studying Joshua in Sunday School and took a quick break to have an Easter study the week before Easter.  With Joshua, we find all of the promises that God is with us and not to be afraid or discouraged.  The promises assure us that He goes before us.  (Deut. 31:6, 8, Joshua 1:9 are just a couple).  Then we studied and talked about what God did for us.  As I read something from a book, I got so emotional, I could hardly talk (much to the dismay of my children who were in the class!).  But thinking about the night right before Jesus was arrested and how much He endured for us, I think an emotional response was the only response because I was really thinking about what I was reading.  I had read it before so I had already pondered it, but the stark reality of what He did just rose up and hit me.  What a blessing. 

So days can be hard, for many reasons.  But I can choose to be thankful and trusting and faithful.  And I need to remember to do that always in every situation. 

Andrew will take a little break and then train for cross country in the fall. 

The other boys are good.  Sam has had some little illnesses off and on.  I read his doctor report from cardiology and let the thankfulness just flood me.  I did not take that report for granted. 

We are looking forward to Peter being home soon.  And Will is still busy outside doing whatever he can.  I am thankful for the days he is not climbing trees and pray harder on the days when I know he is. 

Thanks again for praying.  We feel it and appreciate it!

 

 

Quick Update!

Today is my grandmother’s 89th birthday!  I am very thankful for her.  We are celebrating at her house in Abingdon tomorrow from 4-6 if anyone wants to stop by!  First, we have the MS Walk at Sugar Hollow.  We are walking on my mom’s team in support of her and so many other friends who live with MS every day.

I am also thankful today for a very good (great, actually) visit to the pediatric cardiologist with Sam.  The story is quick but has a lot of twists and turns, but the outcome is wonderful.  We don’t have to worry about his new heart murmur, and we don’t have to go back.  The doctor was great and so good with Sam.  He knew what he was doing, and I watched as he made sure Sam’s heart was pumping as it should.  His EKG was normal.  He told Sam he has a great heart, and Sam beamed.  He really liked the doctor and talked about him a lot after we left.  We are glad to be home and watch the new episode of Shark Tank tonight with that burden fully lifted!  Thanks to those of you who prayed.  Not many knew, but I know they prayed.

We actually found this when Sam was at our pediatrician last week sick.  He was sick again this week and has missed most of the last two weeks of school for snow or illness.  But he cannot go with a fever or strep.  My boys never run fevers, but two have been doing exactly that lately!

Andrew is sick again.  He ran such a great 5000 at Wake Forest, and then his knee hurt after a good workout the next week.  He has been running in the pool but has been outside the last couple of days feeling much better.   In the meantime, he ran a slight fever and ended up with bronchitis but seems to look much better than he did a couple of days ago!

We are looking forward to spring and prettier weather.  Winter is great, but we are excited to be outside without boots and coats!

Thanks to all of you who pray.  We hope Andrew will just pick up where he left off with his PR and jump right back in.  Spring is always hard for him – it has been the last several years.

Thanks again!  Have a great weekend!

Love,
Wendi


P.S.  If you need a great new CD, my aunt got one for me at Lifeway that is Easter with different artists.  I am so glad Easter is later this year – more time to reflect and celebrate and think.  Of course, it’s good to do that all year, but Easter is such a special time.  #8 is my favorite right now – Kari Jobe’s “What Love is This” – you can google it too!

Happy Birthday to...my Grandmother!

How can she be turning 89 on April 4th - this Friday?  She does not look a day over 65 - which goes well with my aunt who is stuck at 32 in my mind.  I tell her I passed her in age a long long time ago!

As I think back to my childhood, I remember people laughing when I told them I had "lots" of grandparents. But I did.  I had grandparents and great-grandparents.  I was so fortunate to grow up with lots of people to love me.  I have lost all of them except my grandmother.  We have always called her Grandmother.

I remember riding on the bus or taking a taxi from downtown Bristol to the Cameo or Paramount to see a movie when we spent the night with Grandmother.  She did not drive, so going somewhere with her was very exciting indeed.  Sometimes we walked places.  She lived in town near Krispy Kreme.  But better than Krispy Kreme were The Giant doughnuts that my mom got sometimes on our way to Grandmother's house.  What a treat!  Anyway, fun was somehow linked to Grandmother.  We saw movies that had Dick Van Dyke or Don Knotts in them.  I remember one was The Apple Dumpling Gang.

As I grew up, I appreciated the compliments and encouragement that came from Grandmother.  As I got older, my appreciation grew even more.  Grandmother and I share a love for Christian fiction.  She was the one I called a few years ago when I saw Beverly Lewis in person at Lifeway in Chattanooga while traveling for work.  She was happy to find out she is much prettier in person than on her book covers!  Grandmother and I do NOT share a love for "Murder, She Wrote", my favorite TV show of all time.  I think maybe she was hung up on something about Angela Lansbury's earlier works and not Jessica Fletcher (who, by the way, writes fiction and does not drive either!).  That is definitely one thing I cannot figure out!

I called Grandmother the time Pete flew to Texas, and my house almost flew apart hours after he left!  I had a water pipe burst, my furnace messed up, my car battery died, a blizzard was coming, and I was almost out of milk!  Just one of those days with three very small boys - who thought stamping in the water puddles in the dining room seemed like fun while Mommy frantically searched for the switch to turn off the water.  Fortunately, one of our good friends knew where to tell me to go in the basement; and his phone number did not contain a "4" which decided not to work on my phone on that same day.  The plumber came.  My brother came.  All was set to rights.  Grandmother laughed with me and told me it sounded like "Little House on the Prairie."  We laughed about all of the things that went wrong and how they were made right.  It's important to give credit to God, because we know He was behind all of the fixing!

A few years later, I called Grandmother to tell her about one of the boys and his medical problems.  I told her I felt more like "Marcus Welby, MD" than "Little House" - she agreed, and we were still able to laugh.

We had a great Christian Book Warehouse in Bristol, so I got Grandmother gift cards there for Christmas.  Then I would try to come over and take her to shop myself.  Once, the lady at the cash register (who had struck me as someone who maybe should not be left alone at the cash register) took Grandmother's card that still had a lot of money on it to throw away - instead of the empty one.  Don't ask me, but we thought THAT was funny too!  But we were happy we caught the mistake.  Those cards were like gold to Grandmother.

I have other funny stories, some even more recent, but I cannot share them in case they would get Grandmother in trouble!  She likes to do a lot - she probably shouldn't - at her age.

A huge blessing last year was her hip surgery.  She had been in pain for months and months.  I told her, when I found out she was having surgery, that I did not think they would do hip surgery on an 88 year old woman if they did not think it would help.  Too much risk.  She had a great doctor and came through surgery better than most people who are much younger.  She woke up without the pain that plagued her for many months.  I felt like a gift had been given back - not just to her but to us as well.  Sam and I went to check on her, and he talked to her more than he ever had.  It was fun to see the delight on her face as she listened to the quiet little boy talk.

Grandmother has always been encouraging to me.  She tells me things that others don't - things that give me a different perspective and make me appreciate my family more.  My brother once called her the glue that holds our family together.  She certainly is!

She has had some serious illnesses in the past and has overcome them and kept on going.  She has so many great stories to tell.  And sad ones too.  I know she shakes some because her left hand was tied back when she was in school so she would use her right hand.  Sam is left handed - as is my sister.  She also will pull up her face a little to give me a better look at  her dimples - which Sam has too.  She tells of her brother using dish detergent instead of hair oil getting ready for a date and then seeing bubbles form on his head as he walked through the rain.  We laugh and giggle.

Last fall, driving back alone from a cross country meet in Raleigh, I listened as Grandmother told me how she rolled over to sit up in bed because she hurt so badly in the morning.  A little bird walked by her bed.  It stopped and looked at her and kept on walking.  She said she shook her head and rubbed her eyes, but there really was a little bird!  We laughed until we cried.  Hearing how my dad came and got the bird (safely) out was quite another story!  What a treat for me.

What a blessing to have my Grandmother.  What a blessing to have had her here for 89 years.  It's good to know she is there.  I cannot wait to share my new Robert Whitlow book with her that is pre-ordered, or was that an Amish fiction author?

I know she is a blessing to the rest of the family too.  My sister has her own book of stories.  She has ongoing jokes with two of her daughters where strange things end up in their houses.  It's kind of like the rug my brother and sister pass back and forth.  It's so good to laugh and make others laugh.

We love you, Grandmother, so much!  Happy 89th Birthday!  (Even though you don't look nearly old enough to be having such a birthday!!!!)