Hello to everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates...again. ONce again, as if this is news to you, my life has been taken over and things are crazy. Emily and Erin both made it home last week. Emily left school early so that she could be with Papaw for his surgery. He had come major surgery and she wanted to see him before he went under. He did GREAT and has blown all of us away with his recovery! Both Erin and Emily hit major snow storms on their trip home. But both arrived home without any problems (just much later then expected). Emily got home and ended up in bed for 2-3 days with a horrible cold; I suspect more from exhaustion then anything else.
Erin got home in the evening and we were at the orthopedic center by 6:00 the next morning. She had her first surgery that morning and we were home again by 10:00am. The surgery went well. The doctor said she needs to stop tearing her meniscus (with a huge smile on his face - knowing that there is no way of stopping her nor stopping a tear from happening). Evidently she doesn't have much meniscus left. If she keeps tearing it, she is looking at arthritis setting in. As for the patella tendonosis, he said her knee was in pretty bad shape. He went in and cleaned it up. He said she did well and he seemed happy with the surgery. I am praying that it relieves her pain. She is in a brace that nearly covers her whole leg. She is on crutches, but has to be off them by Wednesday in order to be allowed to have her shoulder surgery. Today is the first day she has put any weight on it. She is feeling ok, but hesitant to push it so quickly today. She plans on trying to walk some without crutches tomorrow.
She is not going back to Houghton for the Spring Semester. Instead, she is going to take online courses at Columbus State and then transfer back to Houghton in the fall. There just isn't way she can manage everything; physical therapy, showers, and more surgery. We did alot of thinking and came to the conclusion that she would be better being here. After experiencing the surgery and watching her, I am confident that we made the right choice. I asked the doctor what he thought and he assured me that we had made the right decision.
Well, I am very busy right now. My niece and nephew are here with us. We are heading out the door soon.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Five years ago, in October, we received this picture of our little girl:
Five years, on December 5th, our little girl was placed in our arms. This is a video of that day (the first 5 mintues are of Elizabeth's gotcha day. The 2nd half is Ri's.
This is our first family picture:
Five years ago, our family was in China. We were sharing our first days with our daughter, Elizabeth. She was 10 1/2 months old. On December 5, 2005, she became our child. It was an amazing day for all of us. Our life has been more fulfilled and much more blessed because of her. I can hardly believe that 5 years have gone buy already.
We have watched her grow leaps and bounds. It is so hard to describe all the changes that we have seen in her. I wish I could put it all into words. Our little girl is growing up. Once, a little girl who became terrified when I left the room... is now jumping up and down as she waits to step onto a bus and wave goodbye to me. She still shuts down with strangers and visits her own little place when she is apprehensive about things... but oh how much she has grown and developed! She is full of life. Her imagination is amazing; often grabbing a stuffed animal or a toy figurine and carrying on an entire conversation. She loves to play with animals though she is beginning to let go of the stuffed animals and is now focusing on littlest pet shop figurines. I even caught her playing with a Mulan Barbie doll. Wow - now that is a change! She still enjoys the leapster and will sit through ANY cartoon I let her. If I do not monitor her TV time, she would sit there all day. She is discovering the joy of having friends and has excitedly announced with whom she will marry. She has asked over and over if she can marry Kyle (from school) because he says that she is her girlfriend and he is her boyfriend. Wow - never thought I would have to have the "boyfriend" conversation at the age of 5!!!! So, I have shared with her the rules of dating (not allowed until you are 16) and the fact she can not date/marry someone who does not know Jesus (of which she went straight to school and asked Kyle if he knows Jesus). It may be a long road that we face.... filled with lots of boys chasing my girl (and, as I am beginning to discover - filled with lots of boys that she may be chasing as well!).
As for her health, we are truly blessed. We have discovered what I knew was possible. I thought about the day we recieved the referral and how we prayed for a healthy little girl. I remember thinking that we would at least know that she was healthy but always be reminded that anything could happen and that we would love her despite any health issues. But I knew that she was a "healthy" child and not a special needs child. I was happy about that.
But God has a way of reminding me that HE is in control and He has a plan. I originally didn't want to adopt a special needs child because I wanted a healthy child. But it never set well with me. I kept thinking that at any time, my children who were born healthy could end up with some disease or some injury that could effect them forever. I felt guilty for wanting a healthy child (just like I felt guilty praying for a healthy child during pregnancy and even saying "I don't care if it is a boy or girl, just healthy". What... what would I have done if one of my kids had not been "healthy" when they were born? Would I have loved them less? Oh the silly and stupid things we say at times.
Well, Elizabeth has ended up to be our special needs child. And there is not one thing about her that bothers me or makes me love her any less. I am so thankful for her and for the lessons God teaches me through her life.
Well, I am realizing that I am rambling on and on. I praise God for my little girl and for choosing us to be her family. We are blessed beyond words.
Five years, on December 5th, our little girl was placed in our arms. This is a video of that day (the first 5 mintues are of Elizabeth's gotcha day. The 2nd half is Ri's.
This is our first family picture:
Five years ago, our family was in China. We were sharing our first days with our daughter, Elizabeth. She was 10 1/2 months old. On December 5, 2005, she became our child. It was an amazing day for all of us. Our life has been more fulfilled and much more blessed because of her. I can hardly believe that 5 years have gone buy already.
We have watched her grow leaps and bounds. It is so hard to describe all the changes that we have seen in her. I wish I could put it all into words. Our little girl is growing up. Once, a little girl who became terrified when I left the room... is now jumping up and down as she waits to step onto a bus and wave goodbye to me. She still shuts down with strangers and visits her own little place when she is apprehensive about things... but oh how much she has grown and developed! She is full of life. Her imagination is amazing; often grabbing a stuffed animal or a toy figurine and carrying on an entire conversation. She loves to play with animals though she is beginning to let go of the stuffed animals and is now focusing on littlest pet shop figurines. I even caught her playing with a Mulan Barbie doll. Wow - now that is a change! She still enjoys the leapster and will sit through ANY cartoon I let her. If I do not monitor her TV time, she would sit there all day. She is discovering the joy of having friends and has excitedly announced with whom she will marry. She has asked over and over if she can marry Kyle (from school) because he says that she is her girlfriend and he is her boyfriend. Wow - never thought I would have to have the "boyfriend" conversation at the age of 5!!!! So, I have shared with her the rules of dating (not allowed until you are 16) and the fact she can not date/marry someone who does not know Jesus (of which she went straight to school and asked Kyle if he knows Jesus). It may be a long road that we face.... filled with lots of boys chasing my girl (and, as I am beginning to discover - filled with lots of boys that she may be chasing as well!).
As for her health, we are truly blessed. We have discovered what I knew was possible. I thought about the day we recieved the referral and how we prayed for a healthy little girl. I remember thinking that we would at least know that she was healthy but always be reminded that anything could happen and that we would love her despite any health issues. But I knew that she was a "healthy" child and not a special needs child. I was happy about that.
But God has a way of reminding me that HE is in control and He has a plan. I originally didn't want to adopt a special needs child because I wanted a healthy child. But it never set well with me. I kept thinking that at any time, my children who were born healthy could end up with some disease or some injury that could effect them forever. I felt guilty for wanting a healthy child (just like I felt guilty praying for a healthy child during pregnancy and even saying "I don't care if it is a boy or girl, just healthy". What... what would I have done if one of my kids had not been "healthy" when they were born? Would I have loved them less? Oh the silly and stupid things we say at times.
Well, Elizabeth has ended up to be our special needs child. And there is not one thing about her that bothers me or makes me love her any less. I am so thankful for her and for the lessons God teaches me through her life.
Well, I am realizing that I am rambling on and on. I praise God for my little girl and for choosing us to be her family. We are blessed beyond words.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
I would post pictures, but I am having a hard time finding my camera that I use to transfer my pictures onto the computer. When I do, I will post.
It has been awhile since I last posted. Thanksgiving has come and gone. The girls have both been home and are back in school. We thoroughly enjoyed having them home with us again. Our house is full of life when they are around. Mark and I are still learning to adjust to the coming and going of the older 2. We don't get a lot of time with the entire family together anymore. Even when we do, the dynamics are different. I think there was only one night when we had all of us together and even during that one night, Erin's boyfriend shared it with us. We didn't mind, though. He is a wonderful young man who treats all of the kids well. We all enjoy him. Even though it was only one night, it was one of the best I can remember.
We spent Thanksgiving with Mark's family. It was such a nice day. I love spending a day with the entire family around. My parents always travel to Florida for Thanksgiving. Both my brother and sister live there. It has been nice because Mark and I don't have to worry about which family we spend which holiday with. It has been very easy on us.
News on the kids.... Well.. when Emily was home, she raised up and hit her head on a shelf. Evidentally she hit it very hard. That was on Saturday night. Sunday, she spent as much time as she could sleeping. SHe had a horrible headache and a very tender head to the touch. We all felt it was just from the hit. Sleeping really isn't something we concern ourselves with. Emily and Erin are both power-nappers. Monday, she had planned on leaving for school. She was excited to spend the morning with me. She woke up around 8:00 to say goodbye to the kids. Then she laid down on the couch. The entire morning, she slept. I was a bit concerned, but felt if she was that tired, she needed to sleep (especially since she would be driving nearly 8 hours). She kept waking up and telling me she was sorry, but she was just so tired. He head was still in a great deal of pain, but she insisted it was just because of hitting it on the shelf. At noon, I said goodbye. By 1:30, she was calling me telling me that she didn't know what was wrong but she was fighting with all she had to stay awake. She stopped and got caffeine. She was stopping by a friends an 2 hours, I was relieved because I knew she could rest there or they could take her to urgent care or something. Long story short... she struggled staying awake for the entire drive, got to school safely and went to bed. She failed to tell me that she was dizzy, nauseous, and shaking a LOT more then usual (she told me she was shaking). The next day, she called me from the nurses office. The nurse wanted her to go to the ER. Once again, Mark and I were faced with decisions to be made 8 hours from our daughter. The doctor was not in, but called and told the nurse to just let her rest one more day. In the meantime, the nurse was very insistent that she would advice considering the ER, but the doctor was the boss. Em's roommate called and told me that she couldn't walk up stairs without holding onto something and when she laid down, her legs shook uncontrollably. Her head was throbbing, there was a "mushy" spot behind her ear and it was swollen, and she felt as if she was going to throw up all the time. So... a dilemma! Do we go with the doctor who said wait (but never saw her) or with the nurse and the scared roommate? So I called my doctor and got his advice. His was to send her to the ER. So we did. She went through a CAT scan and the conclusion was: concussion. So the first doctor was right... rest and sleep it off. As of yesterday, all symptoms were the same. She isn't any better, but she isn't any worse. I am so thankful that we know for sure there is no bleeding internally. I am so thankful that the next semester is her final one at BBC!
As for Erin... well.. that is another story. They won their game in Indiana. We LOVED watching her play. She did an amazing job. She scored the first goal in a very, very tough game. They made it to Nationals and traveled to Alabama. She was able to come home (Emily picked her up). We met the team in Ohio and put her on the bus to Alabama. They played their first game Tuesday. It was very exciting. We were able to listen to it. Due to technical difficulties, the video was not working. She gave it all she had (the team did too), but they lost by one. My heart ached for her! Our team dominated nearly the entire game... but that is how it falls sometimes. Anyway... they headed back to Houghton Tuesday night but stopped in Louisville Ky for sleep. I was able to make an appointment with the doctor for her knees. We have been trying to see him for the past month. If we couldn't get her in then, we would have to wait until Dec 29th just for the evaluation. Then we would have to try to fit things in before she went back to school. As it panned out, it was a huge blessing for her to be able to be seen yesterday. I met the bus on an exit near our home and grabbed her. It worked out perfectly. We saw the doctor and found out that she has a torn meniscus (again) so she is facing surgery in that knee. But ... worse and far more complicated.. is the issue she has in both knees. She has patella tendonosis in both! Normally, the doctor would take platelets our of Erin's blood and inject them into the tendons in hopes to promote healing. But.. Erin's are in or near the "severe" case. The doctor came in with a smile on his face and said "do you want to see the MRI?". Then as we walked out of the room, he looked at another patient and said "these are fugly". I guess he was excited because they were cool to look at. He showed us were the tendons have huge amounts of scarring from tears. Behind the patella, there should be a completely empty black space (between the patella and the tendons. In Erin's case, the first couple of views are black, but as he began to rotate the knee (on the MRI), the completely black spot began to show white "hairlike" images. As he further moved, the entire spot began to fill up with the image. It was that way in both knees. He looked at me and said "she isn't faking it, mom". She is in A LOT of pain. He confirmed it all! So... the answer isn't simple or even at the point of trying the injections. The answer is to make in incision in the front of the knee, cut the tendons, go behind them and scrape it clean, bleed the patella (I guess the bleeding helps for healing of the tendons), then sew the tendons back up and then be in a straight leg brace for 1 month and therapy for about 6 months total.
Well, did you catch that she will be in a straight leg brace for 1 month? And did you catch that this is in both knees? And did you catch that it is a 6 month recovery period? Well.. with soccer and school... we are on a pretty tight schedule. AND.. if you remember, she has to have her shoulder worked on. Let's talk about crutches and a shoulder that is completely immobile?! This will get tricky! But what a blessing that we can get it figured out and started now.. and before the shoulder surgery (otherwise she wouldn't be able to use crutches for the first 4-5 days that he wants her on it.
So, at this point, here is the plan: Surgery on the meniscus tear and the incision to repair the tendonosis of the same knee on December 16th (if he can schedule it then and she can get out of her final exam for that date. That will give her 6 days of being able to use the crutches before her shoulder surgery. At that point, she will have surgery to repair the shoulder and will be in a sling (unable to use that arm at all) for 6 weeks or so (total recover - 4 months). She will be home and will not have to return back to school until the 10th of January. She will go back in a brace and will have to deal with her room on the 3rd floor (elevator not working) and the ice and snow of Houghton (carrying books). If she hadn't been seen yesterday, she would not have that long break at home to recover at least a partial amount before having to face all that. 2 months after the first surgery (sometime in February), he wants to repair the 2nd knee. That means a trip back home and send her back to school dealing with a great deal of discomfort and facing the same thing. He has to wait 2 months so that the first knee can heal enough to be able to deal with supporting her body with the other knee in a straight leg brace.
And all this needs to be done so that by soccer season next year, she can be ready (as ready as possible) to play. The doctor is amazing. He is the doctor that works on the knee of the CREW soccer team. So we hate to have anyone else work on her. It will just not be a lot of fun for her. It may mean we run into issues with her being in New York, but I think the doctor will work with us as much as possible. So.. prayer is the only thing I can think of. Please pray for her body, her surgeries, her healing.
Erin ended up taking my van back to school. She is only there 2 weeks before coming home for Christmas break. It seemed the most logical choice in order to get her to be able to see the doctor yesterday. But.. when she began heading back, there were snow storms that the entire route seemed to be bracing for. It was snowing as she left. Time wise, she would be traveling through Erie at the exact time they were expecting 4-8 inches of snow. And... she would be doing it alone... at night. It was a stressful night for us. But God is faithful. I had a lot of people praying for her. She never faced any real amounts of snow and only ended up adding an extra 1/2 hour-45 minutes to her trip due to traveling at a slower rate. God is so faithful. I am confident He will be faithful with her surgeries as well.
It has been awhile since I last posted. Thanksgiving has come and gone. The girls have both been home and are back in school. We thoroughly enjoyed having them home with us again. Our house is full of life when they are around. Mark and I are still learning to adjust to the coming and going of the older 2. We don't get a lot of time with the entire family together anymore. Even when we do, the dynamics are different. I think there was only one night when we had all of us together and even during that one night, Erin's boyfriend shared it with us. We didn't mind, though. He is a wonderful young man who treats all of the kids well. We all enjoy him. Even though it was only one night, it was one of the best I can remember.
We spent Thanksgiving with Mark's family. It was such a nice day. I love spending a day with the entire family around. My parents always travel to Florida for Thanksgiving. Both my brother and sister live there. It has been nice because Mark and I don't have to worry about which family we spend which holiday with. It has been very easy on us.
News on the kids.... Well.. when Emily was home, she raised up and hit her head on a shelf. Evidentally she hit it very hard. That was on Saturday night. Sunday, she spent as much time as she could sleeping. SHe had a horrible headache and a very tender head to the touch. We all felt it was just from the hit. Sleeping really isn't something we concern ourselves with. Emily and Erin are both power-nappers. Monday, she had planned on leaving for school. She was excited to spend the morning with me. She woke up around 8:00 to say goodbye to the kids. Then she laid down on the couch. The entire morning, she slept. I was a bit concerned, but felt if she was that tired, she needed to sleep (especially since she would be driving nearly 8 hours). She kept waking up and telling me she was sorry, but she was just so tired. He head was still in a great deal of pain, but she insisted it was just because of hitting it on the shelf. At noon, I said goodbye. By 1:30, she was calling me telling me that she didn't know what was wrong but she was fighting with all she had to stay awake. She stopped and got caffeine. She was stopping by a friends an 2 hours, I was relieved because I knew she could rest there or they could take her to urgent care or something. Long story short... she struggled staying awake for the entire drive, got to school safely and went to bed. She failed to tell me that she was dizzy, nauseous, and shaking a LOT more then usual (she told me she was shaking). The next day, she called me from the nurses office. The nurse wanted her to go to the ER. Once again, Mark and I were faced with decisions to be made 8 hours from our daughter. The doctor was not in, but called and told the nurse to just let her rest one more day. In the meantime, the nurse was very insistent that she would advice considering the ER, but the doctor was the boss. Em's roommate called and told me that she couldn't walk up stairs without holding onto something and when she laid down, her legs shook uncontrollably. Her head was throbbing, there was a "mushy" spot behind her ear and it was swollen, and she felt as if she was going to throw up all the time. So... a dilemma! Do we go with the doctor who said wait (but never saw her) or with the nurse and the scared roommate? So I called my doctor and got his advice. His was to send her to the ER. So we did. She went through a CAT scan and the conclusion was: concussion. So the first doctor was right... rest and sleep it off. As of yesterday, all symptoms were the same. She isn't any better, but she isn't any worse. I am so thankful that we know for sure there is no bleeding internally. I am so thankful that the next semester is her final one at BBC!
As for Erin... well.. that is another story. They won their game in Indiana. We LOVED watching her play. She did an amazing job. She scored the first goal in a very, very tough game. They made it to Nationals and traveled to Alabama. She was able to come home (Emily picked her up). We met the team in Ohio and put her on the bus to Alabama. They played their first game Tuesday. It was very exciting. We were able to listen to it. Due to technical difficulties, the video was not working. She gave it all she had (the team did too), but they lost by one. My heart ached for her! Our team dominated nearly the entire game... but that is how it falls sometimes. Anyway... they headed back to Houghton Tuesday night but stopped in Louisville Ky for sleep. I was able to make an appointment with the doctor for her knees. We have been trying to see him for the past month. If we couldn't get her in then, we would have to wait until Dec 29th just for the evaluation. Then we would have to try to fit things in before she went back to school. As it panned out, it was a huge blessing for her to be able to be seen yesterday. I met the bus on an exit near our home and grabbed her. It worked out perfectly. We saw the doctor and found out that she has a torn meniscus (again) so she is facing surgery in that knee. But ... worse and far more complicated.. is the issue she has in both knees. She has patella tendonosis in both! Normally, the doctor would take platelets our of Erin's blood and inject them into the tendons in hopes to promote healing. But.. Erin's are in or near the "severe" case. The doctor came in with a smile on his face and said "do you want to see the MRI?". Then as we walked out of the room, he looked at another patient and said "these are fugly". I guess he was excited because they were cool to look at. He showed us were the tendons have huge amounts of scarring from tears. Behind the patella, there should be a completely empty black space (between the patella and the tendons. In Erin's case, the first couple of views are black, but as he began to rotate the knee (on the MRI), the completely black spot began to show white "hairlike" images. As he further moved, the entire spot began to fill up with the image. It was that way in both knees. He looked at me and said "she isn't faking it, mom". She is in A LOT of pain. He confirmed it all! So... the answer isn't simple or even at the point of trying the injections. The answer is to make in incision in the front of the knee, cut the tendons, go behind them and scrape it clean, bleed the patella (I guess the bleeding helps for healing of the tendons), then sew the tendons back up and then be in a straight leg brace for 1 month and therapy for about 6 months total.
Well, did you catch that she will be in a straight leg brace for 1 month? And did you catch that this is in both knees? And did you catch that it is a 6 month recovery period? Well.. with soccer and school... we are on a pretty tight schedule. AND.. if you remember, she has to have her shoulder worked on. Let's talk about crutches and a shoulder that is completely immobile?! This will get tricky! But what a blessing that we can get it figured out and started now.. and before the shoulder surgery (otherwise she wouldn't be able to use crutches for the first 4-5 days that he wants her on it.
So, at this point, here is the plan: Surgery on the meniscus tear and the incision to repair the tendonosis of the same knee on December 16th (if he can schedule it then and she can get out of her final exam for that date. That will give her 6 days of being able to use the crutches before her shoulder surgery. At that point, she will have surgery to repair the shoulder and will be in a sling (unable to use that arm at all) for 6 weeks or so (total recover - 4 months). She will be home and will not have to return back to school until the 10th of January. She will go back in a brace and will have to deal with her room on the 3rd floor (elevator not working) and the ice and snow of Houghton (carrying books). If she hadn't been seen yesterday, she would not have that long break at home to recover at least a partial amount before having to face all that. 2 months after the first surgery (sometime in February), he wants to repair the 2nd knee. That means a trip back home and send her back to school dealing with a great deal of discomfort and facing the same thing. He has to wait 2 months so that the first knee can heal enough to be able to deal with supporting her body with the other knee in a straight leg brace.
And all this needs to be done so that by soccer season next year, she can be ready (as ready as possible) to play. The doctor is amazing. He is the doctor that works on the knee of the CREW soccer team. So we hate to have anyone else work on her. It will just not be a lot of fun for her. It may mean we run into issues with her being in New York, but I think the doctor will work with us as much as possible. So.. prayer is the only thing I can think of. Please pray for her body, her surgeries, her healing.
Erin ended up taking my van back to school. She is only there 2 weeks before coming home for Christmas break. It seemed the most logical choice in order to get her to be able to see the doctor yesterday. But.. when she began heading back, there were snow storms that the entire route seemed to be bracing for. It was snowing as she left. Time wise, she would be traveling through Erie at the exact time they were expecting 4-8 inches of snow. And... she would be doing it alone... at night. It was a stressful night for us. But God is faithful. I had a lot of people praying for her. She never faced any real amounts of snow and only ended up adding an extra 1/2 hour-45 minutes to her trip due to traveling at a slower rate. God is so faithful. I am confident He will be faithful with her surgeries as well.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
If you are at all interested in watching Erin playing soccer, you will have an opportunity on Saturday!!!
The big game is coming up! Saturday, Erin's team will begin competition in the national tournament. 32 teams will battle to go to Alabama. Houghton will compete against Indiana Wesleyan University (ranked #8) at 2:00 at IWU's campus. Mark and I are planning to go. We won't be able to make it to Alabama if they make it that far, but we can at least try to make it to this one. For many of you, you have heard me talk about Erin and soccer, but have never had a chance to watch her play. Evidentally, the game will be televised via the IWU website. Here is the link:
http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10&StartGameDay=11/19/2010&EndGameDay=12/2/2010&tab=3#WSO_anchor
(I think!) If you can't get it that way, then just go to www.indwes.edu and click on athletics and then find women's soccer and eventually you will find it. Erin was told that there is no cost to this telecast. If they make it to Alabama, you can watch her live but it will cost $10.00/game or $25.00/for the whole tournament.
If you do chose to watch Saturday, she is #10 and is a midfielder.
Here is a link to an exciting game in the qualifying tournament (Erin scored the winning goal):
http://athletics.houghton.edu/news/2010/11/13/WSOC_1113100650.aspx?path=wsoc
I took these pictures from the Houghton Website. I believe the copyright belongs to Mike Wise. His website with all the pictures from the Houghton Games is: http://mikewise07.smugmug.com/Houghton-College-Soccer/2010Women
The big game is coming up! Saturday, Erin's team will begin competition in the national tournament. 32 teams will battle to go to Alabama. Houghton will compete against Indiana Wesleyan University (ranked #8) at 2:00 at IWU's campus. Mark and I are planning to go. We won't be able to make it to Alabama if they make it that far, but we can at least try to make it to this one. For many of you, you have heard me talk about Erin and soccer, but have never had a chance to watch her play. Evidentally, the game will be televised via the IWU website. Here is the link:
http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10&StartGameDay=11/19/2010&EndGameDay=12/2/2010&tab=3#WSO_anchor
(I think!) If you can't get it that way, then just go to www.indwes.edu and click on athletics and then find women's soccer and eventually you will find it. Erin was told that there is no cost to this telecast. If they make it to Alabama, you can watch her live but it will cost $10.00/game or $25.00/for the whole tournament.
If you do chose to watch Saturday, she is #10 and is a midfielder.
Here is a link to an exciting game in the qualifying tournament (Erin scored the winning goal):
http://athletics.houghton.edu/news/2010/11/13/WSOC_1113100650.aspx?path=wsoc
I took these pictures from the Houghton Website. I believe the copyright belongs to Mike Wise. His website with all the pictures from the Houghton Games is: http://mikewise07.smugmug.com/Houghton-College-Soccer/2010Women
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I hate it when God works on me with 2x4's. I recently found myself in a position that lead me to some serious assumptions. Before I knew it, I began assuming that my assumptions were right and all of a sudden, my "mama bear" instincts kicked in. God, very quickly, revealed to me some serious character flaws. I really do hate be humbled. The only good thing is that I refuse (at least for now) to make any assumptions anymore. Never assume anything. There are way too many times when things appear one way simply because we can't see the whole picture. And to make things worse, our own biases nearly always will cause us to see things in the wrong light.
As for life around here.., it is pretty crazy. I have watched unjustness occur, or at least my perception of unjust actions towards one of my kids. Thus.. the mama bear. I have battled wills with teenagers and head strong kindergartners; trying to figure out what is the best response to help train my kids. And now I am struggling with some things that are going on in our community. Serious things that have shook me at my core. Fear has begun to set in and despite my knowledge and faith in God... I'm finding myself looking around every corner and wondering about the worst things that could happen. Oh.. I know about trusting in God. But right now I am feeling uneasiness; once again shaking my thoughts about blogging.
As for the health of my kids. They are doing great. Ri's surgery has been moved to January. Erin's surgery is December 22. This one is for her shoulder. We jsut found out that her knees are not in good shape. The MRI report indicates some "relatively complicated" things. It isn't a simple fix and will require at least 6 months recovery. She is facing 4 months after her shoulder surgery. The doctor has only seen the report; not the actual films from it.. so he can't really make an accurate diagnosis just yet. We will know more as soon as we can get her back home again. In the meantime, she is in a lot of pain, but playing through intense games. Houghton just became the AMC Conference Champions and have advanced to the top 32 teams competing for the National Title. The teams all compete this Saturday. If they win, they will be in the sweet 16. That begins November 29th in Alabama. Erin wants to make it to the nationals badly. I am just praying that her body holds out. She is in some serious pain.
Emily just met with an advisor at BBC regarding an apprenticeship/intern program at Skyview. For the first time in her life, I think Emily knows... for sure...what her call is. She is consumed by camping. God took her experience at Skyview to change her from the inside out. Her thoughts are focused completely on camp. So.. she is planning on taking 18 credits this next semester so that she can begin at Skyview in the fall of next year. She will spend a year as an intern and then will finish her senior year online. She will graduate with a focus on camp ministry and will seek a position in a camp. She is so excited that she can hardly stand it. It is an answer to prayer. Far more then I ever realized. As I sit and type this, I realize that during the summer... when I was praying fervantly... I had prayed about Emily having an opportunity to stay at Skyview and that God would miraculously provide in ways that I couldn't imagine. I honestly didn't think...at the time... that God would answer a prayer about finances. I couldn't imagine any scholarships available nor any other way of Emily being able to meet the finances for school. But I kept praying about. And... to my complete shock.. he has answered it in ways far beyond anything I ever dreamt! By being an intern, Emily instantly removes room and board. And by taking online courses her senior year, she will not have to pay for room and board and the cost of online is much less expensive then course on campus.
So.. when I speak of the fear I spoke of above... all I need to do is remember how God answers prayer and it is in that moment that I am filled with peace. I just wish I could remember that continually!
As for life around here.., it is pretty crazy. I have watched unjustness occur, or at least my perception of unjust actions towards one of my kids. Thus.. the mama bear. I have battled wills with teenagers and head strong kindergartners; trying to figure out what is the best response to help train my kids. And now I am struggling with some things that are going on in our community. Serious things that have shook me at my core. Fear has begun to set in and despite my knowledge and faith in God... I'm finding myself looking around every corner and wondering about the worst things that could happen. Oh.. I know about trusting in God. But right now I am feeling uneasiness; once again shaking my thoughts about blogging.
As for the health of my kids. They are doing great. Ri's surgery has been moved to January. Erin's surgery is December 22. This one is for her shoulder. We jsut found out that her knees are not in good shape. The MRI report indicates some "relatively complicated" things. It isn't a simple fix and will require at least 6 months recovery. She is facing 4 months after her shoulder surgery. The doctor has only seen the report; not the actual films from it.. so he can't really make an accurate diagnosis just yet. We will know more as soon as we can get her back home again. In the meantime, she is in a lot of pain, but playing through intense games. Houghton just became the AMC Conference Champions and have advanced to the top 32 teams competing for the National Title. The teams all compete this Saturday. If they win, they will be in the sweet 16. That begins November 29th in Alabama. Erin wants to make it to the nationals badly. I am just praying that her body holds out. She is in some serious pain.
Emily just met with an advisor at BBC regarding an apprenticeship/intern program at Skyview. For the first time in her life, I think Emily knows... for sure...what her call is. She is consumed by camping. God took her experience at Skyview to change her from the inside out. Her thoughts are focused completely on camp. So.. she is planning on taking 18 credits this next semester so that she can begin at Skyview in the fall of next year. She will spend a year as an intern and then will finish her senior year online. She will graduate with a focus on camp ministry and will seek a position in a camp. She is so excited that she can hardly stand it. It is an answer to prayer. Far more then I ever realized. As I sit and type this, I realize that during the summer... when I was praying fervantly... I had prayed about Emily having an opportunity to stay at Skyview and that God would miraculously provide in ways that I couldn't imagine. I honestly didn't think...at the time... that God would answer a prayer about finances. I couldn't imagine any scholarships available nor any other way of Emily being able to meet the finances for school. But I kept praying about. And... to my complete shock.. he has answered it in ways far beyond anything I ever dreamt! By being an intern, Emily instantly removes room and board. And by taking online courses her senior year, she will not have to pay for room and board and the cost of online is much less expensive then course on campus.
So.. when I speak of the fear I spoke of above... all I need to do is remember how God answers prayer and it is in that moment that I am filled with peace. I just wish I could remember that continually!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
For the first time in a very long time, we had our entire family back together. It was wonderful! It was kind of a last minute thing. We decided to have Erin's surgery in Ohio rather then New York. Because of that, we had to get her to Ohio to have a doctor evaluate her so that we could schedule an appointment. Instead of us traveling to New York and back twice in 3 days, Emily offered to go get Erin and come home as well. It was a blessing. Emily has made it back to Ohio 3 times in the past 3 weeks. It was quite a sacrifice for her to make the long trip again. We were very grateful!
After seeing the doctor for her shoulder, we saw a different doctor for her knees. It ends up that she may need surgery on both of them. We will know more on Thursday. I am not sure the dates for any of this. Ri's just got changed to January 5th. Erin's will be during Christmas break.
There is much of our life that I haven't shared. I guess I have slacked off quite purposely; not being able to pull the plug though. Part of me wants to stop my blog and part of me just can't imagine it. For now, that is the part that is winning. But, I have seemed to be a little more reserved about posting.
But... for now.. I will continue to post. If I do quit the blog, I will let you all know. Bri and Sherri... Of course I will keep you on!! I am thrilled you are following.
So.. what is new? Well, Sam had a wonderful soccer season. He played both varsity and JV. He is really looking forward to playing his senior year next year. We just attended his banquet. We are very proud of our son! He had some difficult things happen today and he has shown himself to be quite a man in the way he is handling them. I have recently been in awe of how much he is growing up and what a fine young man he is. I am amazed at his strength and determination. He is treasurer of his class, on student council, involved in soccer, marching band - a section leader, jazz band, pep band, youth group, and is in the top 10% of his class. To top it off, he is an absolute amazing big brother.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
I have posted in the past that there are times in my life when I know I have seen the hand of God. There is no doubt whatsoever. Those moments are not often. Oh.. I know God is working and I know that He is there, but so often and without knowing it, I can justify some other thing. With my head, I acknowledge God, but somehow I think I do it more often because I know God is real and working rather then really KNOWING and believing that it is God who is working. So many things can be "justified" through some circumstance.
I was talking to my mother-in-law Friday about prayer. I was really struggling about my prayer with God regarding the water situation. My words said "I know that God is able and can supply the water we need", but in my heart I was wondering if he would. Because of my walk with God, I am very aware that God's answer to prayer is often NO. I am ok with NO. But because I know that he says NO to things I pray about, I began to wonder if his answer would be no to providing water through digging our well deeper. We have questioned for a long time if we should dig deeper or dig a new well. There is no guarantee of finding more water when you dig...either way. The only thing we knew was if we dug a new well, it would cost us, possibly, over $4000 more. We have wrestled with this quesion for a few years,.. especially this past year. That is one thing that has kept us from doing anything - not knowing the right answer.
So.. after praying about this for months and because the expenses of 2 surgeries and 2 college tuitions are just around the corner, we opted to dig deeper. But once our digger began digging, he shook his head and said "it doesn't look good" but kept saying... "we're going to dig and see if we can get you a little more water". Now our digger is of the old school. He says it like it is,... with a lot of "gruffness" behind each answer. He doesn't tip-toe around anything and doesn't soften his answers (which I always want him to do) so you have to be careful not to get totally depressed when he shakes his head or says something like that.
All that said... on Friday night, I began to wrestle with my faith. I wondered if I was just saying that I believed God could do it. Did I really believe he could? Sure, I knew his answer could be no, but was I ... at all... believing that he could give me water or was I just trusting in the digger and the ground below? I couldn't decide if I was a Pharisee or like the disciples. Was my faith only through words and actions (like the Pharisee's) because it was the right thing to do or say? Or was it like the disciples of whom Jesus said had little faith? Oh how I struggled with my heart. As I fell asleep, the well was on my mind. I had a fitful night sleep - getting angry that we were digging deeper and not a new well... wrestling with my faith.... not believing that we could ever find water again... and feeling trapped in a house that we could never sell because it had no water and never would. I laid awake for hours (it seemed)... wrestling with my thoughts and my prayers to God. I cried out several times only to be faced with my own doubt on whether God would answer it with more water.
So, I shared my heart with my mother-in-law. In her wisdom, she listened and helped me work through those thoughts. Within 1/2 hour, my digger shared with me that he had seen water 20 feet from the surface in the morning. I had hope.. again. I started feeling stronger in my faith (see... circumstances effected me!), and as the day progressed,we had hope. At the end of the day, the well had been dug 50 feet deeper and we had more water. The digger pumped the well out and after 25 minutes of running the water at 10 gallons per minute, it ran dry. I was happy to see much more water... but sad to see that it ran dry in 25 minutes. But the digger put a flow valve on it that slowed the flow down to 5 gallons per minute. We only waited 10 minutes from the time the well ran dry to trying it again. At 5 gallons per minute, it ran for 17 minutes or so. We watched it slow down. I began to run to shut the pump off when the digger told me to wait. We watched it slow down... almost stop .. and then go back to the normal pressure. What was happening was our well was able to catch up. The flow had been slowed down enough that the well wasn't running out of water and was able to replenish itself before it ran dry. So.. he hooked a hose up to it, slowed it down to 2-3 gallons per minute and ran the how ALL NIGHT LONG! After experiencing what we have experienced for the past few years... that was a shock to me. I woke up and checked the water in the middle of the night; fearing that the well had run dry and our pump would burn out. I was in complete awe of God. The hose never stopped pumping water out of the well! I couldn't help but praise God over and over and over again! It was a moment where I really felt like the hand of God was right there; almost visibly.
Since then, we have been able to run our softner, do as many loads of laundry, take showers, and run our dishwasher twice a day..... and haven't had ANY water issues at all. Our softner is a little out of whack and we are getting some water that is a little salty now and then... but we have water and I am still praising God! Hopefully, we can work out the softner problems and be in great shape.
I was talking to my mother-in-law Friday about prayer. I was really struggling about my prayer with God regarding the water situation. My words said "I know that God is able and can supply the water we need", but in my heart I was wondering if he would. Because of my walk with God, I am very aware that God's answer to prayer is often NO. I am ok with NO. But because I know that he says NO to things I pray about, I began to wonder if his answer would be no to providing water through digging our well deeper. We have questioned for a long time if we should dig deeper or dig a new well. There is no guarantee of finding more water when you dig...either way. The only thing we knew was if we dug a new well, it would cost us, possibly, over $4000 more. We have wrestled with this quesion for a few years,.. especially this past year. That is one thing that has kept us from doing anything - not knowing the right answer.
So.. after praying about this for months and because the expenses of 2 surgeries and 2 college tuitions are just around the corner, we opted to dig deeper. But once our digger began digging, he shook his head and said "it doesn't look good" but kept saying... "we're going to dig and see if we can get you a little more water". Now our digger is of the old school. He says it like it is,... with a lot of "gruffness" behind each answer. He doesn't tip-toe around anything and doesn't soften his answers (which I always want him to do) so you have to be careful not to get totally depressed when he shakes his head or says something like that.
All that said... on Friday night, I began to wrestle with my faith. I wondered if I was just saying that I believed God could do it. Did I really believe he could? Sure, I knew his answer could be no, but was I ... at all... believing that he could give me water or was I just trusting in the digger and the ground below? I couldn't decide if I was a Pharisee or like the disciples. Was my faith only through words and actions (like the Pharisee's) because it was the right thing to do or say? Or was it like the disciples of whom Jesus said had little faith? Oh how I struggled with my heart. As I fell asleep, the well was on my mind. I had a fitful night sleep - getting angry that we were digging deeper and not a new well... wrestling with my faith.... not believing that we could ever find water again... and feeling trapped in a house that we could never sell because it had no water and never would. I laid awake for hours (it seemed)... wrestling with my thoughts and my prayers to God. I cried out several times only to be faced with my own doubt on whether God would answer it with more water.
So, I shared my heart with my mother-in-law. In her wisdom, she listened and helped me work through those thoughts. Within 1/2 hour, my digger shared with me that he had seen water 20 feet from the surface in the morning. I had hope.. again. I started feeling stronger in my faith (see... circumstances effected me!), and as the day progressed,we had hope. At the end of the day, the well had been dug 50 feet deeper and we had more water. The digger pumped the well out and after 25 minutes of running the water at 10 gallons per minute, it ran dry. I was happy to see much more water... but sad to see that it ran dry in 25 minutes. But the digger put a flow valve on it that slowed the flow down to 5 gallons per minute. We only waited 10 minutes from the time the well ran dry to trying it again. At 5 gallons per minute, it ran for 17 minutes or so. We watched it slow down. I began to run to shut the pump off when the digger told me to wait. We watched it slow down... almost stop .. and then go back to the normal pressure. What was happening was our well was able to catch up. The flow had been slowed down enough that the well wasn't running out of water and was able to replenish itself before it ran dry. So.. he hooked a hose up to it, slowed it down to 2-3 gallons per minute and ran the how ALL NIGHT LONG! After experiencing what we have experienced for the past few years... that was a shock to me. I woke up and checked the water in the middle of the night; fearing that the well had run dry and our pump would burn out. I was in complete awe of God. The hose never stopped pumping water out of the well! I couldn't help but praise God over and over and over again! It was a moment where I really felt like the hand of God was right there; almost visibly.
Since then, we have been able to run our softner, do as many loads of laundry, take showers, and run our dishwasher twice a day..... and haven't had ANY water issues at all. Our softner is a little out of whack and we are getting some water that is a little salty now and then... but we have water and I am still praising God! Hopefully, we can work out the softner problems and be in great shape.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
I promised myself that my next post will be all about Sam. I want to take some time to focus on him... but instead, I need to ask for some prayer. As I write, we have someone digging deeper in our well, in search of more water. My prayer is that he will hit a huge vein of water and not have to go more then 50 feet to hit it. God has certainly taken care of us and we have had all the water that we have needed. Sometimes, we think we need more then we have, but God has truly been gracious to give us what we have had. We have wrestled with whether we needed to spend the money or not. We have tried to make due and have learned to conserve. But, we have felt that we really wouldn't be wise waiting much longer. Our water has decreased so much that I can't do more then 2 loads of laundry in a day and each of us take showers and do the dishes by hand. REcently, we have ran out even sooner and it has taken much longer to replenish. So, if you will, please pray for success. My God is able to do anything.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
My daughter asked me why I hadn't posted anything about our weekend. I simply ran out of time and hadn't gotten back on. I was more consumed by my thoughts on rejoicing and I completely forgot my thoughts on the weekend. We had an amazing time with the girls over the weekend. It was way too short, but it always is.
We arrived on campus just a few mintutes after Em arrived. Erin's game was ready to begin, so we immediately headed for the field. It was fun to be there together. Sam was the only one missing... and boy did we miss having him. It just didn't seem complete. Houghton played the Naz and won! Erin starts every game, though she is usually taken out during the first half for 10-15 minutes. Sometimes less, sometimes longer. The first half, she was out for 15-20 minutes (just after we got there). But the 2nd half, she played nearly the entire half. She is looking very strong. It was fun to watch her making plays. She is so gifted with her footwork. I haven't quite figured out if she is taken out for rest, because she isn't playing well, or to protect her from injuries. Her body is taking some beatings and it is not holding up as well as we all would like for it to. She seems to be taken out more often when the team is ahead. On Saturday's game, she was left in nearly the entire game (and it went into 2 overtimes). But during Saturday's game, her shoulder popped out. None of us could figure out what happened (the coach included). We all figured she got hit hard, but all that happened was she turned quickly. It came out while she was running! Yikes! So... she has an appointment with a doctor tomorrow and, hopefully, we should find out what damage we are looking at. In the meantime, I think the coach is using her when he needs her and taking her out when they are ahead. I could be wrong, though... Houghton is a very good team with excellent soccer players. I could just be a proud mama who is giving excuses for her girl. In my eyes... She is the best! But I am kind of partial! :)
Emily was amazing. She looks fantastic. She looks at peace and excited about life. It was so much fun spending time with her. She makes us smile. I have missed her smile and her tenderness. 8 weeks is just too long! It is so cool to see what God has done in her life over the past 6 months. Whenever I doubt prayer, I need to look in the face of my little girl. God has done amazing things in Emily's life.
The girls were precious with Elizabeth, Ri and Jaoob. Mark and I both were in awe of how much Emily and Erin have grown up and developed into beautiful, Godly young women. Wow - Just when I think that I have ruined their lives by being a horrible example/ mom ... God reminds me that He has them in His hands and HE is molding them to be the woman HE desires! I really have nothing to do with it.
We arrived on campus just a few mintutes after Em arrived. Erin's game was ready to begin, so we immediately headed for the field. It was fun to be there together. Sam was the only one missing... and boy did we miss having him. It just didn't seem complete. Houghton played the Naz and won! Erin starts every game, though she is usually taken out during the first half for 10-15 minutes. Sometimes less, sometimes longer. The first half, she was out for 15-20 minutes (just after we got there). But the 2nd half, she played nearly the entire half. She is looking very strong. It was fun to watch her making plays. She is so gifted with her footwork. I haven't quite figured out if she is taken out for rest, because she isn't playing well, or to protect her from injuries. Her body is taking some beatings and it is not holding up as well as we all would like for it to. She seems to be taken out more often when the team is ahead. On Saturday's game, she was left in nearly the entire game (and it went into 2 overtimes). But during Saturday's game, her shoulder popped out. None of us could figure out what happened (the coach included). We all figured she got hit hard, but all that happened was she turned quickly. It came out while she was running! Yikes! So... she has an appointment with a doctor tomorrow and, hopefully, we should find out what damage we are looking at. In the meantime, I think the coach is using her when he needs her and taking her out when they are ahead. I could be wrong, though... Houghton is a very good team with excellent soccer players. I could just be a proud mama who is giving excuses for her girl. In my eyes... She is the best! But I am kind of partial! :)
Emily was amazing. She looks fantastic. She looks at peace and excited about life. It was so much fun spending time with her. She makes us smile. I have missed her smile and her tenderness. 8 weeks is just too long! It is so cool to see what God has done in her life over the past 6 months. Whenever I doubt prayer, I need to look in the face of my little girl. God has done amazing things in Emily's life.
The girls were precious with Elizabeth, Ri and Jaoob. Mark and I both were in awe of how much Emily and Erin have grown up and developed into beautiful, Godly young women. Wow - Just when I think that I have ruined their lives by being a horrible example/ mom ... God reminds me that He has them in His hands and HE is molding them to be the woman HE desires! I really have nothing to do with it.
Oh how I love fall! Yesterday, I was waiting for the kids to come home on the bus and I was just struck with the incredible beauty all around me. Wow! Hasn't God blessed us? It was then that I began to think of some things. I run out of water every day. We even stopped recycling our water automatically and only recycle it once a week or so. I have now stopped using my dishwasher and wash my dishes by hand. Our showers are short and sweet. But after 4 showers over a 2 hour period and 2 loads of laundry, I am usually facing an empty well. It used to take only 1/2 hour or so to fill up... but now it is taking a much, much longer time. Even then, it usually stops if I do much at all. And... recently... I have been faced with much more laundry then usual. So, I have found myself with more moments then I care to admit... tempted to break down sobbing rather then rejoicing. But yesterday, I found myself beginning to think about God's true gifts. Sure - I could complain and grumble... but really... why? God has given us plenty of water. We have just what we need to survive. Warren Barfield came to our church a few months ago and shared a story of a mission trip he went on in another country (can't remember the country). A small boy (5 or 6 years old or so) had a job for his family. He had to travel miles down (and back up) a steep hill to a place in the mountain that everyone in the valley got their water from. There were lines of people, everyday, who stood for their turn to fill up a gallon jug of water just so their family could survive. After waiting hours to fill up his jug, he would have to walk back up the mountain to take it home... only to turn around the next day and do it all over again. Now I may not be remembering the details exactly accurate... but you get my point. All I have to do is turn the faucet on and my water is there. And when it isn't, I just have to wait a few hours to have more come. But how can I complain? There are so many people in the world who don't have even one blanket to keep them warm. Who am I to look in the face of God and grumble? I am humbled and ashamed at that thought. I complain at the little inconveniences in my life rather then rejoice in them. I am so blessed to have the laundry that I have, to have the water that I have, to have the things I have. Even in the darkest of any moment in my life..... I still have far more then the millions who face "real" darkness in their lives. Those who are fearing for their lives, daily, due to war or poverty or sickness; those who have no fresh water or have to travel miles to retrieve any, those who have no shelter over their heads or those who are facing broken homes or the lost of a loved one. And even in all these things I mentioned, there are believers who are rejoicing and not complaining. Believers who have found their strength in Christ and who have found true peace. Their circumstances have not caused them to give up; instead, they have drawn nearer to Christ. Just look at Paul and his life. Read about Paul and Silas in Acts 16.
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