Sunday February 11

Last night a sweet neighbor from Stonehedge, our last hood, came by with her daughter that babysits for us probably once a month. If I have myself together, she is usually here about that much! It was such a thoughtful gift, a spatula that says "Let's Whip Cancer" in the pink coloring for breast cancer, along with some tasty mini cupcakes! I like the mini ones, even if you end up eating more I feel like it's less of a mess for kids for some reason! But I have just been blown away by the love from so many people that we have been connected with through different ways. For about $10, they served us in a very simple way, but it's not the amount of money spent. Just coming by is worth that much to say hi to us and see how we are doing.

Which, I do have some thoughts on that. A few weeks ago my friend Tara loaned me a book called "Even This" by Emily Belle Freeman. It was much better than I had anticipated. I've been reading a lot of historical fictional books and just didn't fit into the genre, but I wanted to give it a try! It chronicles her life and the lessons learned, mainly from a spiritual stand point. Two main points I remember from her book (there are a lot of gems, but to me these were the big ones!) were about her three year old son being diagnosed with diabetes and being bedridden for 4-5 months of her pregnancy.

The diabetes issue is probably my worst nightmare. Poking your fingers multiple times a day, shots, doctors, trying to balance a diet for a real important reason like staying alive...that is just a big deal to me. I am so impressed with anyone who manages this and continues to live a normal life. I had gestational diabetes with Lux and it was the worst! Thankfully, I managed it through diet and I had no distractions (like kids) to make sure I was doing it right and got a good rhythm down. But now Emily has to force this upon her son, and he keeps looking up at her and asking why. Why are you hurting me mom? To keep you alive, son. And maybe that's exactly how we can feel with God. Why does he hurt us? To make us stronger and improve and have that empathy for others who will go through some of the same things we already have. Which is why we come in contact with so many different people throughout our lives and why we should not hide and talk to those around us. Learn about them. See how they can help us. See how we can help serve them.

Leading to the other story she talks about, being bedridden with their miracle baby. That's exciting, having a child you wanted desperately, but just waiting for that miracle and it finally happening. She mentions her family coming and getting her other children in the morning and bringing them home at night for bed. And that was her only contact with humans. She was allowed 10 minutes out of bed a day. 10 minutes!! I can't manage getting much accomplished in 10 minutes. How lonely those 4-5 months must have been. Reading, tv and napping can only occur so much in ones day. You get tired of it, your head hurts from too much media stimulation. And it is downright depressing and lonely. How many times have I received the thought to visit a friend and declined the impression? Then I find out why I had the prompting and only begin to feel guilty because I didn't follow through. That's my goal for the rest of the year. Follow through. Show up. Go to their house, knock and wait. Just wait a few minutes. See what happens. Maybe they're gone and you send a text saying "I'm thinking of you." Not hard. Maybe you go inside and find the house in shambles (typical of mine), a crying mother and a helpless child that needs assistance. How much better of a day would you have if just a simple hug would set the world straight for that mother and child? I think I can manage that.

But in other news. Chayse comes home today!! He's been in Idaho Falls all week. Kids are ready to have him back. He got to miss out on all these fun side effects. Jealous. I'll make him feel the pain soon enough. Once he did get home, he offered a back & foot rub, but in all honesty, that still sounds painful. I think I'll pass. But the kindness is what matters. I'll let you do that sometime this week when the aches have subsided!

And the kids had fun at great grandmas house with their cousins and grandparents from both side. Lucky kids to be around so much family, often. We are blessed.