Weekend Reflection # 19

Oh the things that I have seen this week! Whew! I'm glad to see this week come to a close and a new one begin. It's been a rough one around our house this week and while I am thankful for each and every day, I'm anxious to get started on this new week!

The week began last Sunday with a wonderful worship service with our church family. The Lord's Day is my favorite day and I love that it is a day devoted entirely to worship, rest, and reflection. We did just that on Sunday and enjoyed every minute of the day. Monday and Tuesday were relatively normal days. Jeff's cousin passed away on Tuesday night. He had been sick since February with lung cancer. Docs told he and his wife on Tuesday that he had no more than two weeks to live. An hour later, he fell asleep and his heart stopped. He has a wife and three grown sons and they are all doing well. They miss him but are glad that he is no longer suffering here on earth.

Caroline had ballet on Tuesday and Jeff had bagpipe practice. Tuesday night he started to feel bad but wasn't quite sure what the problem was. By lunch time on Wednesday, the real fun began! Jeff was so sick that he could only work about half the day. The rest of the day, he was in bed feeling pretty nauseous. I don't think he ate a bite that day. Thursday was pretty much the same. He ate a bowl of soup the entire day and the rest of the time he went from his computer (trying to work) to bed.

Fast forward to 6am on Friday morning. We were awakened by a sound that would make small children run and hide! I sprang out of bed to find Caroline hugging the toilet seat giving it all she had. Thanks to her daddy, she now had the same symptoms that he had. Mind you, he was still sick as a dog. She didn't move from the bathroom all day and even slept there Friday night. Saturday morning was much the same. I was tired from being up and down with Caroline and from sleeping in the hallway floor just outside the bathroom. She spent the entire day in the bathroom floor again. She did manage to get her big sis to read to her because she was so bored from just laying in the floor. She didn't have the energy to get up and do anything! Thanks to her big sis for being a good sport and spending some quality time with her little sis! I think the dog enjoyed the Cat in the Hat books! LOL!

Before the sickness hit our family, we did manage to get out and get the furniture for our covered porch. We searched and searched and ended up getting a set from Walmart. We are happy with it. It does just what we need it to do!

We also had a pretty scary lightening storm this week. Logan happened to be outside when it started and she made a run for the house. Just as she reached the deck stairs, lightening struck a big oak tree in our back yard not far from where she was. She managed to make it up the stairs before a pretty good size limb fell down onto the stairs. We are thankful that she was unharmed and our deck was not destroyed. It was pretty scary and one of the worst lightening storms I have witnessed. I was even more afraid because not too long ago, Shawna's FIL was struck (indirectly) by lightening while standing in his kitchen!

Here's the branch that almost got Logan:

Here's a picture of the tree. Lightening hit the top of the tree and then it went all the way down the tree and blew bark off of it everywhere. Notice the big strips of bark that are missing. There are plenty of big limbs in the top of the tree that are broken and threaten to fall on our deck. We'll have to call someone to remedy that within the next few days!

It left a real mess in the yard. You can also see our new addition! We added the screened porch (where the siding is) and also the uncovered deck to the left of that.

I'm thankful for:

• God's grace and strength in my life.
• That Jeff is feeling better.
• That Caroline ate 5 chicken nuggets for supper tonight! This is the most she has eaten in three days!
• That Logan was unharmed in the lightening storm.
• That our home was unharmed in the lightening storm.
• The peaceful passing of Jeff's cousin, Mickey. His suffering is over and his body is healed. He is spending eternity with our Father in Heaven.
• That while I deserve the wrath and curse of God for my sin, He has chosen to be my Father and love me, in spite of myself.

I hope your week went well. Through all the sickness that is going on around here, I can't help but be thankful for the position God has given me. As a wife and mother, it is wonderful to be able to serve my family when they are too sick to care for themselves. I love every minute of it and wouldn't trade it for the world!

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