Birthdays and broken bones....

January 31st was Lachie's 5th birthday.

It was a very exciting day because don't you know? Life begins at 5.  Well that's what Lachie thought anyway!  In Australia, he would have started school last week.  In America, he has to wait until September.  He is pretty bummed about that, he cant wait to start.  That being said, he can already read Sam's 1st grade readers with confidence and expression, count to 100 and write his alphabet.  Can someone say 'genius'?  He gets that from me.  

Anyway, back to his birthday.  Before he asked for anything in the way of presents for his birthday, he asked for lasagne and chocolate pudding to be his birthday dinner.  He loves his tucker.  Our wonderful friends the Millikan's threw him an impromptu birthday party after school on his birthday.  It was lovely and Lachie felt very special to have friends around him to celebrate.  Mummy felt very special to have a friend like Ali who is organised and generous, to throw her son a party.  Note to self; get your act together next year.

We had our wonderful Aussie friends, Tony and Karna here for the week so they got to join us for our delicious birthday feast that night.  They gave Lachie the game 'Uno Attack' which has been in play constantly since coming out of the box.  Teaching the boys to follow the rules and be gracious winners/losers has been interesting but they are getting the hang of it.  Being a good sport is very important to an Aussie.  And its very important in life.  Proverbs 29:23 says 'A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honour'.

So the 'birthday' part of this post title is covered.  Now onto the part you are really wondering about.  Broken bones.

Last Saturday, at 3:30pm, Hannah broke her left femur.

We were just about to leave to go home from the park when Hannah fell in the bark chips and began to scream.  All you parents out there would know the cry that only comes out of your child's mouth when something is seriously hurting.  She lay on her back, looking very shocked and not breathing right.  We thought that perhaps she had just been winded so we picked her up which brought more screams.  She was inconsolable.  We tried to figure out where she was hurt as there were no scratches, bleeding or bruising.  We asked Sam if anyone had bumped into her or if she had fallen off of the play equipment.  He said he was sure neither happened and told us that she had simply fallen over.

With Hannah still screaming we made it back to the car and had concluded that something was wrong with her left leg.  We were with some friends who gathered around her and prayed.  Not that she let anyone come within arms reach of her leg!  She was not a happy girl.

Hannah cried all the way home and I knew something was seriously wrong.  She is a super tough kid and usually the hurting cry only lasts a few minutes. This was on another level we'd never experienced before.  We got her inside, gave her some ibuprofen and laid her flat on her back on the couch with her legs on a pillow.  She eventually calmed down but would not let anyone touch her leg.  She was still very shaky and in pain.  It was so sad to see her like that.


After some discussion with a doctor friend, we decided to take her into get checked out in the ER.  We left the boys in the care of Karna and Tony and took Hannah to Shasta Regional Hospital.  We had been advised that their waiting time was less than the other hospital in town, Mercy.  We were seen quite quickly and in a few hours, Hannah had been X-rayed and the diagnosis of a broken femur had been given.  Hannah did so well.  She was up way past her bedtime, licking lollipops and playing with a balloon.  She was pretty happy except when anyone wanted to move her.

The doctor informed us that Hannah would possibly need surgery and that she was going to contact the orthopedic surgeon at Mercy.  After a while the doctor returned to tell us that Hannah would be taken in an ambulance across town to Mercy Hospital for further treatment.  More waiting.  Two very kind paramedics came and managed to get Hannah into the ambulance with minimal fuss.  God bless ambulance officers.  I was able to ride with Hannah and to be honest, I was a little bit excited to be having a trip in an ambulance.  A first for me and I wasn't even ill, bonus!  Ben followed in our car and met us there.

We were put in another small, white room and Hannah was assessed and I told what felt like 10 people her details.  Stumbling every time with saying her birthday because it was 11:30pm and Americans say the month first, then the day, then the year but Aussies say the day, month then year (makes sense, don't you think?).  Anyway, Hannah had an IV put in her hand which was not a pleasant experience for anyone and eventually everyone left, the light was turned off and Hannah was able to go to sleep for a little while.

Around 1am, we made it up to the pediatric ward and Hannah was weighed and given her first pain meds.  Finally.  We got her settled as best we could and she fell asleep quite quickly.  I spent the night next to her on a fold out bed.  I was so tired it felt amazing.  Ben went home to sleep and be with the boys. At 7:30am we were collected for surgery. Hannah and I were taken down to the operating room and I met the surgeon. A no-nonsense guy who gave me the run down on what they planned to do with Hannah's leg.  I felt at peace and was sure that he was going to do the best for my precious girl.  I said goodbye to Hannah and I could still hear her screaming for me as I walked down the corridor.  I waited in the lounge and cried.

After about an hour, the surgeon came and told me that Hannah had been put into a 'spica cast' and he was hopeful that the bone would heal just fine.  As he described the cast to me, my heart dropped.  It was awful.  I was soon taken into recovery and reunited with a very groggy, cranky, thirsty Hannah.  She was desperate for a drink of water but ice chips were the best I could offer.  She was not impressed.  Eventually we were taken back to the ward where Hannah projectile vomited.  So much for  keeping the cast clean and dry.

She was miserable.  It was not a fun day.  We were able to take her home later that evening.  She was still very sore and not happy with being moved at all.  Getting her into the car was tricky and Ben ended up holding her on his lap as she did not want to let him go.  We got home and tried to make her as comfortable as possible on the couch.  It was late and we were all very tired.  Thankfully, Hannah slept all night through without waking.  Such a miracle.  She did wake in a lot of pain though in the morning and had to be bribed to take her pain meds.

Since then Hannah's pain has dropped every day.  She has slept soundly every night and woken relatively happy in the morning.  She is more able to be moved as her pain lessens which means she can sit up in the pram and even in her carseat.  She is quite frustrated by her cast and had been throwing some rather intense tantrums but I can't guarantee I wouldn't do the same in her position.

 

During this whole ordeal we have felt loved, supported and covered.  It is a wonderful and special thing to be on the receiving end of the concentrated care of the body of Christ.  We felt the peace of God over our home and His grace for us to do what needed to be done.   We rest in His goodness and are continually praying and declaring healing over Hannah.  We are believing for a miracle.  We know that God is Healer.

Thankyou to everyone that has prayed, sent messages, provided meals, visited and loved on us.  We appreciate it all and are so blessed to have each of you in our lives.  Hannah is doing so well, thankyou for loving her and us.

Time Flies!

Well well.  If it isn't a blog entry.

It's been a while coming, I know.  Things here are rather busy to say the least.  And now so much time has passed between posts, I feel a little swamped by the prospect of attempting to cover it all in one go. The natural consequence for procrastination I guess.

So, here's what's happened in the last few months.

• Thanksgiving:  This year we were invited to spend Thanksgiving with our wonderful friends the Millikan Family.  They are a family of 6 from Seattle, whom we got to know when their son (also named Sam) was in our son Sam's class last year.  When the 'new' Sam arrived, our Sam was a little put out. Who was this boy with the same name? What did he think he was playing at, trying to steal his thunder?  It was a new phenomenon for our Sam but it didn't take long before the threat of usurpation became a novelty and the boys became firm friends.  As the boys grew closer, our families also got to know each other.  We had a wonderful meal with them late afternoon on Thanksgiving, too late to be called lunch and too early to be dinner.  Apparently that's tradition.  It was loud, slightly chaotic and rambunctious but it was also fun, happy and relaxed.  Perfect.

• The Turkey Trot:  Earlier in the day, Thanksgiving morning, Ali Millikan (the amazing matriarch of the afore mentioned Millkian family) and I ran the 6 mile Turkey Trot.  Looking back, I probably shouldn't have dragged her along seeing as she had only given birth 6 weeks earlier.  Anyway, she did great and we had a grand ol' time trotting along the Sacramento River trail with a couple thousand others.  If anything, it made room for the meal which was to follow later.

• The Holiday Feast:  This is an annual community event run by Bethel Church to reach out to the poor, homeless and people in need of Redding.  It is a free sit down lunch with three courses entirely done through volunteers.  The aim is to give these people a Christmas meal and experience they otherwise would not get.  It was held at the Redding Convention Centre and I think over 1000 people were fed.  Every table was hosted by a volunteer, who decorated the table with their best china, ornaments, treats and cheer.  The meal was served to the people by hundreds of servers, all dressed in black pants and a white shirt.  Outside the main dining room was an area reserved for kids to meet Santa, have a photo with him and choose a gift.  Outside in the carpark was a huge marquee with tables and tables of secondhand clothes, sleeping bags, blankets etc.  When each table had finished eating, each person was given a bag to go and fill up with whatever they wanted.  There was live music, a drama and powerful testimonies of God's goodness and love.  The gospel was preached and people gave their hearts to Jesus.  It really was a demonstration of the Father's love.  Watching these people being treated with honour and love was truly incredible. I was privileged to serve in the kitchen and spent time preparing food the day before and then plating up the dishes on the day.  It was so much fun.  What made it extra special is that right in the middle of the meal, it began to snow outside!  It was so very pretty and made the day seem extra special.

• Sam's 7th Birthday:  December 21st saw Sam turn 7!!  Wow.  Time really does fly.  I cannot believe that my first baby is growing up so fast.  That being said, with each year that passes we get closer to the age when all the kids want to do on Saturday morning is sleep in.  I'm looking forward to that.  Sam had asked us to buy him a watch for his birthday so I went searching for one that fit all his criteria.  It HAD to have a stop watch function.  I managed to find one and he was pumped to be able to tell the time.  And tell me the time, and tell Ben the time and anyone that came within 3 feet of him.  For a while there we knew what time it was every few minutes.  It was both irritating and quite handy.  Sam would also time us doing various things, without our knowledge.  For example, I'd go to the loo and come back to be told, 'woah Mum, you took 10 minutes and 37 seconds in there.  Why did you take that long?'.  We also invited the Millikan family to join us for an afternoon at Chuck E Cheese's.  It's an arcade type place where you buy tokens, the kids use the tokens to play games and the games spit out tickets with which you 'buy' a piece of rubbish toy at the end.  Whoever thought it up is a genius.  It totally feels like a casino for kids.  You pay $50 for a bunch of tokens and end up with a plastic cockroach whose legs snap off on the way home in the car.  Genius!!  The kids had a blast though and Ben had fun figuring out the machines and making them spurt out ribbons and ribbons of tickets.  The kids loved it!  Oh and it snowed on his birthday!!!

• Christmas:  Christmas without family was a little harder this year.  Last year we were blessed to have my parents visiting us at the time and so Christmas felt a little more normal.  This time it was just us.  It only hit me on Christmas Eve, as I was looking at the Christmas tree and thinking about what our extended family were up to.  Feeling sad didn't last long though as I began to be thankful for being here in this place at this time.  God reminded me of His goodness once again and I felt much better.  We spent the day together as a family enjoying Christmas music, presents,  the odd scream fest as the tired kids lost their mind over their new toys, food and cider.  We were blessed to have hot chocolate with friends in the afternoon and then on the way home from that we stopped and checked out some outrageous Christmas light displays.  All in all, it was a long but wonderful day.

• Randy Clark Healing School:  Ben had the honour of serving two of his heroes, Randy Clark and Bill Johnson at the Healing school/conference.  Randy is a teacher of the Word and has a strong gift in healing the sick.  He has a well known ministry called Global Awakening, which takes him to many nations teaching about healing and doing the stuff!  Hundreds of people were healed from all kinds of ailments and illnesses.  Even without being prayed for!  God's goodness and Presence is that powerful.  People were healed from deafness, blindness, cancer, heart disease.  Some people had metal dissolve from their bodies and freedom of movement in joints return.  One man testified to being healed of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  It was very very powerful.  I don't think there was anyone not moved by the goodness of God who was listening to this man describe his new found freedom.  Ben had the honour and privilege to serve Randy and Bill as they ministered.  Ben ran the mike and helped out with whatever they needed assistance with.  He had an absolute ball and loved being able to watch these great leaders move in their anointing.   He learnt a lot in those few days about how God moves and how we need to be so sensitive to what He is wanting to do in a room and how He wants to do it and partnering with Him in it.

• Gearing up for Mission Trip:  This year Ben has the opportunity to travel to central Asia for his mission trip.  Their team has been given open access to places and communities that would not normally welcome westerners.  Many of the details will not be disclosed to Ben (or me) until he gets there to protect those they will be meeting with and those on the team.   Thankyou to everyone who has so generously sown in prayer and finances for this trip already.  We so appreciate your support.  Please keep praying for the trip and covering the team while they are away during the first 2 weeks of April.  We are excited for what God is going to do in central Asia!!

• General Going's on:  The kids are loving school and we are so very blessed to be able to send them to Bethel Christian School.  They are happy and healthy and learning each week about who God is and how much He adores them, not to mention all the maths and reading etc.  The kids are flourishing and it is a pleasure to watch them grow in awareness of how much they are loved by the Lord and how that knowledge empowers them in the day to day.  Sam is cruising through 1st grade and seems to be a hit with the ladies, always bringing home drawings of hearts and rainbows that have been given to him.  Takes after his Dad in that way.  Hannah loves dancing and singing and anything pretty.  She is such a 'girly girl' and yet has this raw power that comes out when she's challenged that is not really lady like.   She is hilarious and we love her sense of humor and her funny faces and jokes.  I am often blown away by how much personality she has for an almost 3 yr old.  She's a little fiery gem and we love her!

Well, thats about it I think.  Hopefully it won't take me so long to write next time.  It started to feel as though I had a uni assignment to do that I was avoiding, which is a horrible feeling!  Who knew blogging came with such pressure!