Month: April 2008
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Tulip Fest
Wooden Shoe Bulb Co.
Iverson Farm
Southeast of Portland, OR
Photos by Jann ~ April 26, 2008
What a gorgeous day!! 68 degrees. The Tulip Fest was extended to this weekend because we have had such a cool spring.
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My brother, Carl, sent me an email this morning with a great writing by Paul Harvey. He sure tells it like it is. Since Carl and I are farm kids from North Dakota, we definitely relate to “Dirt Roads”. Enjoy.http://famguardian.org/Subjects/FamilyIssues/Articles/DirtRoads/DirtRoads.htm
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A personal update…What I just blogged on my page at SparkPeople.com
Today I started my Spark People plan for sure. I adjusted my weight and weight goals. I updated my goals, program, personal information on my Spark Page. I invited a few friends to join me with Spark People.Today I also started a new Ladies Bible Study at my church. It’s Beth Moore’s “Stepping Up”. It looks like it will be excellent and timely for me.
Today I also heard from my doctor’s nurse the results of my knee xrays taken last week. Good news is that the degeneration in my knees is minimal and sounds like it has not increased in the last 9 years… last time I had xrays. (May still call it degeneration instead of arthritis.) The nurse said he wanted to make sure we weren’t missing something so he wants one more xray. May do that tomorrow. He has referred me to get a patellofemoral brace for my left knee which has the most pain and swelling intermittently. I will continue to pursue progress with my knee by getting referred to physical therapy to strengthen my quad muscles and establish a new water exercise plan. I still want to get an MRI and sounds like that would come after getting referred to an orthopedist as the physiatrist I saw last week could not do that. The journey continues. Meanwhile my motto has become
“Be kind to my knees, lose some weight!!!”
(I find it is fun to sing this phrase to John Phillip Sousa’s rousing “Stars and Stripes Forever”. What other words can I come up with after this first phrase? If anyone is a poem/song writer, please jump right in!!)
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“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matt. 11:28-30 (The Message) -
Monday morning ~ Homesick
Monday morning. Somehow Monday morning will not be the same… for some time…maybe forever. After a long weekend of praying for a miracle and yet surrendering to God … Monday morning (March 17) is when our son, Peter, called to say their daughter, Grace Kathryn, had gone ahead to Heaven. Monday morning (March 24) is when we joined together with others to honor Grace’s life and laid her to rest in her little casket at Greenlawn Funeral Home North in Springfield, MO. Now it is again a Monday morning and I pause to think of all that has transpired in our lives. We are not the same because of our little baby, Grace. We are comforted that she is in Jesus’ arms though our arms ache to have held her and be able to watch her grow. We received this same sketch* on a card from Aunt Susie and it was also on the front of her funeral bulletin.Some of you have only heard over my blogging about our first, anticipated granddaughter. To those who learned via blogging and others who became aware already that weekend….words cannot fully express how much your kind, understanding comments and prayers have meant to me and us as a family. Thank you so much for taking a moment to acknowledge Grace Kathryn and our loss.
You may wonder, “What happened??” The Saturday before, Rachel’s water broke. Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes - PPROM – is somewhat of a mystery as to what causes it. (It happens in only 2% of pregnancies.) The medical field merely has statistics from those who have suffered PPROM. There was a 15% chance Grace would make it to 34 weeks when she could be delivered with a fair chance of being adequately developed. The first 48 hours was a 50-50 chance and then 15 % chance during the first week. Babies must have amniotic fluid for their little lungs to develop. At almost 21 weeks (Grace’s age), the little alveoli were not developed…not even enough for steroids to be administered to speed up lung development. Somewhere between 39 hours and about 45 hours her little heart stopped beating. Our little treasure is in Heaven, safe in the arms of Jesus. Heaven is sweeter.
This morning I happened along a blog I wrote, with it reposted, called Being There ~ Listen. This is the core of my ministry, Walk Alongside Ministries, and this blog conveys the pain we felt with our other son, Andy, when his friend’s wife died in a car accident. The song mentioned in that blog Homesick by MercyMe is what I have watched/listened to on YouTube this morning. It captures my sentiments well. We will see you soon, Grace Kathryn. But now it is time, and our privilege, to keep walking alongside Peter and Rachel besides allowing others to walk alongside us. Thanks to those who have been/are there for all of us.
*In searching the internet, I amazingly found the same sketch of Jesus holding a baby in His arms at this site where you see another Baby Grace honored. Even the file title of the sketch is BabyGrace.
Tuesday update: Pencil art is by Jean Keaton. This sketch is “Christ Comforting Infant”.
