Monday, March 4, 2013

At Home

Kristi and I on the plane
Yesterday I (Amy) had the Honor of escorting Kristi home. As Danina mentioned the day started off with an array of emtions for all of us.  As I awoke I felt the overwhelming sense  of joy at getting to board a plane that God had provided just two days ago, yet I also had an irrational fear of this plane crashing! I certainly recognized this as Satans tactic to rob me of my joy and asked my husband to pray with me and over me. At the conclusion of our prayer Rory Hosteter the pilot called to tell me we needed to take the smaller plane!  Oh MY! I told myself  "Here we Go Jesus!" You, me and Rory, and a good dose of Dramamine due to the fact that turbulence has a way of making me nauseous real quickly!  Rory himself was a gift to me as I know he and his wife personally, and have had the privilege of flying with him in the past - God knows about all things because two days earlier when we were attempting to connect with an Angel Flight pilot a sequence of events and phone calls led us to Rory and he was available.  Thank you Jesus for that gift to me and to our Family - I found myself from here on out being Grateful!
Grateful for the honor to fly with Kristi on her trip back home, grateful for a small plane that worked far better than even the bigger one in getting Kristi in and out of the plane with ease, grateful for sunny skies, grateful for a mainly smooth flight and for dramamine when it was turbulent, grateful that all my fears vanished after the gift of prayer with my husband. Grateful that God cares about all details.  He took care of the right plane, the right pilot, sleep for Kristi on the flight home, and even a hug for my mom! That morning my mom was struggeling being at home and not apart of either end of this trip with Kristi and told dad she needed a hug and he wished he could give it to her.  He prayed before leaving the apartment that God would show his love to her on that day.  That morning at church a young man came and gave mom a giant Hug and told her he felt she needed a Hug today!  God cares about all the details!
at her own sink
We arrived back in Arkansas safely! and I had the joy of escorting Kristi through her first night and day at home. We were nervous about how this day would unfold since it took her a couple days to recover from her day long visit last Wednesday to MD Anderson for follow up appointments. What we've all found along the way is that when we are with Kristi there is a sense of Peace that comes with that and it feels very natural to work alongside her to care for her needs.  We rolled into the normal rythym of taking care of her night time needs and we both crawled into bed being grateful that we were "home"! Today she awoke with antsy legs and tendon pain, all things we feel are due to the medication she is on, but she also awoke with a smile.... something all of us have come to appreciate through this journey with her.  Pain and trials can rob us of a lot of things, but it doesn't have to have the power to rob us of our smile or the inner peace that comes from Christ alone. We moved on through the day at a comfortable pace of taking care of drains, medicine, baths, walking, phone calls to home health care, rubbing legs and applying ice packs. It felt right to see Kristi standing at her own sink today.  This was her exercise for the morning to walk to the sink to brush her teeth and wash her face. Something she has not done for five weeks since leaving home. Just getting to brush your teeth at the sink and not in cup at your bed is a gift.  So many things we take for granted that she is gaining a whole new perspective about, as are we, as we walk beside her. All in all today was a Good Day to be at Home, physically and emotionally.  To be at rest in this place and at this time on the road to recovery.

As I left today I passed the baton of care to Terrie, a friend of Kristi's from the cancer posse. Thank you Terrie for filling the gap between myself and Katy, Josh and Dad as they arrive this evening to do their part of taking care of Kristi while Billy is gone to work.   I sure find myself often counting my blessings for this large team of care takers and that mom and dad decided years ago to birth themselves a basketball team worth of kids and to teach us the importance of making assists to one another in the game of life.


3 comments:

  1. I need to buy stock in Kleenex LOL So beautiful, the words He gives you to allow us in on this journey with your family. LOVE LOVE LOVE how He provides. So sovereign and perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep, God is good...all the time...All the time God is good! This s wonderful to see the details. Just like I see the details in the flowers on the blog here! Continuing to pray for you ALL.
    Cathy S

    ReplyDelete
  3. Onwards and upwards!

    Not only is this living day by day, but more than that....in the moment!

    God bless you all

    With Love, Sue (JJs Mom)

    ReplyDelete