A long day....

Brief recap of the week: Monday, Jim went in for outpatient surgery on his abdominal hernia. After a 2 hour operation, Dr. Fu came out and said they were going to admit him to the hospital for recovery. After a day of excruciating pain, he got an epidural and will be on that for a few days. Hopefully he will begin to heal quickly and come home Friday.
Here is a few things I am grateful for today!

1. The awesome, all encompassing word of my heavenly Father and the One True God.

"Consider it pure joy my brethren, WHEN you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of you faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him." James 1:2-5

I awoke this morning to go to my usual place..the bathroom and then went on to change Elijah's diaper. As I was half awake on the floor changing Elijah, the kids were screaming running up the stairs..."the water's on somewhere and it's raining in the living room." Now wide awake, I run to turn the water supply to the master bathroom toilet off. Carter and Emma have grabbed the towels and bowls downstairs and we are playing a jumping game of catch the streams of water. (Some of you may remember we have done this drill a few times before!)
2. I am praising God that the damage is not greater and the carpet is only damp and not soaking. Thank you God for quick thinking children and for once not letting a single cuss word escape my lips.

Kids are screaming, whining, crying and this mom is a little bit unnerved. Thoughts abound in my head ..."Do we need a new toilet, is that in the budget...oh yes I better check on the sweet husband in the hospital" I call Jim and he is doing fair with his pain. In the middle of the conversation, I yell at Elijah not to touch the wall vent as he rips it out of the wall (wall anchors included) then I tell my hubby I will come see him at lunch. Next I began to clean up the pile of towels, blankets, bowls, buckets, and some interesting other objects the kids had pulled out to help soak up water (my clothes :). I decided this would be a great moment to re teach Emma how to do the laundry.

3. I am thankful for a good night of sleep that God allowed that prepared me to handle the morning! I pull myself together and we head out the door and I begin to drop off kids before I take Elijah to his 1 PM appointment with Dr. Holland Sr. I take Hope to Laura Jones, Emma and Carter to Nana and Papa. I chatted with Marci and Christy on my cell phone and remind myself of the blessings of Godly friends in my life. I listen to a voice mail from Kristen and others and it makes me smile! I love my sister's in Christ. (By the way, Kipplyn I dearly miss you friend!) http://www.eightsummers.blogspot.com/

4. Thank you God for friends and family who love you and love on my children. Thank you for Grant and Erika who cooked us an awesome dinner and ran carpool. Thank you for Grant and dad who undid the chaos of my Christmas lights outside to make my sweet children happy. Thank you for Nana, Papa, Grandma Jo, and Peapa (as Elijah now affectionately calls him) who have taken children, made meals, ran errands to the hospital, and sat with Jim. I love you all and am blessed to be in this amazing family!

Elijah in tow with his green nose we drop by KFC for chicken lunches, caffeine, and then head up to the hospital to see Jim. When I walked in this morning he was nauseated from the morphine. I noticed that the drain needed to be emptied from his incision and I called the nurse. He told me that he had waited an hour already for them to come change it. I put on my charge nurse hat and hit the call button repeatedly until they came and emptied it. The drain immediately filled back up with fluid and the nurse emptied it again. I think the nurse will be checking on Jim more frequently now.

5. Thank you Lord for keeping Jim in the hospital where nurses and doctors can keep watch over him and help his body to heal. We couldn't have done all this at our house. Thank you Jesus for protecting him as he heals. Thank you for the many who have visited him and spent time with him as I can't be there all of the time.

After cleaning up Elijah's bowl of green beans that he threw in Jim's hospital room, it is time to head to Dr. Holland's. Realizing I had no diapers in tow...my in-laws rescued me and met me at the Dr's with a new diaper. We had met the time limit on the previous one by over an hour . Dr Holland Sr (can I tell you how much I adore this man...full of the love of Christ...and so warm and kind) looked down Elijah's throat...."yep, big nasty tonsils...tonsilitis" then he looked in Elijah's ears...took out the tube sitting in one of the ear canals and said "and an ear infection too!". Hmmmm, I think I let this go on a bit to long as mommy guilt washes over me. I had been thinking it was allergies for the last month or so. Wondering if I want to do surgery for a tonsilectomy and tubes before Christmas, I call Jim who says um yes it will only cost us $50 if we do it before the New Year. I'm thinking it will cost more emotionally and physically. (By the way all of the other Robertson crew have had their tonsils out and 3/4 have tubes). Prescription in tow, I head to Food Pyramid to see another awesome Godly man Mark Jones who begins to work on filling it for me.

6. Jesus thank you for awesome Godly men who love you and are trained as care givers for our family. Thank you for Dr. Fu, Dr. Holland Sr., Dr. Jelley , and Mr. Jones who all take such great care of our family! Most of all thank you that you are the Great Physician and the ultimate healer of the one condition that can't be cured by man...our sin!

Back in the car from the freezing cold...Elijah all buckled up I turn the keys in the ingition and the car doesn't start. Radio is on, lights, heater...but not the engine. I try again and nothing. Hmmmm what should I do now. It is to cold to walk home with Elijah. I laughed out loud while silently praying and then looked up as God provided my inlaws to be in the parking lot of Albertson's! Isn't God good! Anyways, I remembered that the alternator/starter was replaced a few months ago, but my dad had showed me a trick on how to place the car in neutral, remove the emergency break and then literally rock the suburban back and forth on it's wheels to move the firing wheel. SO I tried my handy dandy rememdy and the suburban started. Praise God! I went to pick up kids and didn't turn off the car until it was in my garage. I have an appointment on Friday with Malone's...since they "fixed" it two months ago!

I am home...exhausted. I give Elijah his medicines and put Elijah and Hope down for a nap. Then the Lord provides sweet blessings of a fresh baked pumpkin pie from the Pott's family and hot ham and bean soup from my next door neighbor Shari Lee. I got in a short nap as well. Thank you Lord for your sweet provision. "Yet You are Holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In You our fathers trusted; They trusted and You delivered them. To You they cried out and were delivered; In You they trusted and were not disappointed."

Isn't it good God doesn't give us anything more than we can handle or endure. That God wants us to turn to Him with our every need. Looking out at this broken world and the overwhelming needs of it to KNOW the Lord Jesus Christ weigh heavily on my heart. I think daily of the hardships of orphans, widows, and families in other countries that are persecuted and forsaken. Perspective. My day was a tad bit crazy but pales in comparison to the real chaos that Satan stirs up in this world. Lord may our lives honor you in everyway. May the abundant blessings of living in this country not dull our senses and lead us away from you. May our hearts burn passionately to share your message with those around us and may we be used by you to make a Kingdom impact. Help us to be bold and shed off anything that keeps us from being used by you in this world for your glory.. Thank you Lord for the ultimate gift of your Son and the sacrifice of his life for my sin.

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. 1 Chronicles 16:8
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.1 Thessalonians 5:16-18