By Monday morning, Roger could hardly move his hand. He decided to go to the clinic while I held our one-hour Christmas program practice. The clinic prescribed a pretty intense antibiotic to help with the infection and pain. He picked me up from school, and we went to get that prescription. By the time we picked up Emma at 11:30am., Roger was practically white from the pain. We went home and he rested while I worked on finishing up some auction details. I picked up kids from school, and we made a pumpkin roll for Mr, Kevin’s birthday, which was on Tuesday. After school on Tuesday we were planning to go out to the airport to have a small party for Mr. Kevin’s birthday. Roger spent Monday afternoon soaking his hand many times, and trying to make sure no one touched it.
Roger was supposed to work on Tuesday, but if you can’t squeeze your fingers, it’s difficult to fly the plane! The weather wasn’t great either, so Roger stayed home with Emma on Tuesday. Although I know Roger wanted to be at work, it did work out really well that Emma could stay home while Allison and I worked on auction projects. We had several errands to run before getting started on organizing all our auction donations. Neither of us were especially eager to work on that project! We had coffee together, went to the bank, picked up some groceries we needed for hot lunch and the auction dinner, went to get the bidder cards from the auctioneer, and then finally...when we couldn’t come up with anything else that needed doing except the job of organizing, we headed to school. We were both just a wee bit tired of this project! However, once we did motivate ourselves, we got a lot
done in a few hours. I was actually able to go home and check on Roger and Emma, make a pan of
Mac n cheese for the auction, and then come back to pick up our boys. The boys came home and
immediately started creating birthday cards for Mr. Kevin’s birthday. It was so sweet to see them all
at the table coloring, writing and drawing out cards. Garett and Travis both took money from their piggy banks and gave Mr. Kevin a dollar. I know, right?! A dollar? Yes, and since they were so eager and willing to give, I certainly wasn’t going to discourage that. Chandler and Wyatt didn’t have any dollars at home as their money was in the bank, but they were very supportive of the other brothers giving money. Emma scrounged around and came up with two cents to put in her birthday card for Mr. Kevin. It’s so great that he’s such a good sport, and the boys were delighted to give him their cards. Roger came with us to the airport for the birthday party, but he was pretty miserable all day. His hand had actually gotten quite a bit worse over the day, and we were worried about the spreading of the infection. We only stayed a short while at the airport due to Roger’s hand, and it being a school night, and the week of the auction. After putting the boys in bed, I told Roger that I thought he should
just go ahead and go to the Emergency Room. In our area, we don’t have an urgent care clinic or
walk-in care. Basically, it was either go to the E.R. on Tuesday night or go on Wednesday morning. His hand was basically getting worse by the hour and the pain was spreading into his finger joints and up his arm. I would’ve gladly went with him, but since all our kids were in bed, off he went on his own. The pain was getting to the place where Roger couldn’t sleep, eat or think, so it was time to do something. I don’t relish the idea of owing the hospital, but I like the idea of Roger losing his hand even less! God has always shown Himself strong, and He is going to continue to do so. I tried to wait up for Roger, but I couldn’t stay awake. I finally went to bed, and heard Roger come home around two am. He was exhausted, and he needed sleep. I asked him on Wednesday morning what they had done at the E.R. He said that they had give him pain medicine, done an ultrasound to make sure the blood flow was good, taken lots of samples of blood, prescribed another antibiotic, and the had lanced and drained the infection. I’m thankful for numbing medicine because I can’t imagine getting that thing lanced and drained!
Roger was running a fever on Wednesday morning, and I didn’t really want to leave him while I taught music class. I gave Roger some pain reliever, and the fever did go down. Roger decided that he would just drop me off at music class, and then he would get his medicine filled, and he would rest in the car until I was done. Roger hasn’t been able to drive his car this week since you can’t drive a stick shift car with one hand! I taught music classes, which is a challenge to do when you’re tired! I finished a bit early, and Roger was taking a nap in the car. We needed milk (no surprise there), so we decided to go to the grocery store and pick that up before getting Emma. Roger stayed in the truck, and I ran in for milk. I came back out, Roger tried to start the truck, and it wouldn’t start! Frustrating! The truck has been limping along for a while now. Every morning the boys have to go out and put air in the tire and make sure the truck will start. Two of the windows won’t roll down, one of the doors has a broken spring, but it’s still drivable! Usually we have our little battery pack in the car, but today it was at home on the counter. charging. Poor Roger! He only wanted to go home and relax and we were stuck at the grocery store! Well, I called Allison, who was at church. She came over, tried to help us jump start the truck, and when that didn’t work, she took us to the airport. I called the school to let them know I would be late picking up Emma. Kevin loaned us one of the vans, and we picked up Emma. Then back to the grocery store to try to get the truck out of the parking lot! We were able to get it jumped since the van has a bigger battery, and finally...home! Roger fell asleep as soon as we got home, and Emma and I worked on a few things around the house. I went to go get the boys and left Emma and Roger at home. After school on Wednesday, the boys helped with making Chex Mix for our baked goods table. Wyatt talked me into making Chex muddy buddies for him. We already had such a big mess in the kitchen that it really didn’t matter, and it’s not been an easy week for our kids either. We spent time making that together, and then cleaning up our big mess! Roger is a bit short in patience this week since the pain has been so intense. He definitely doesn’t like being dependent upon someone to help him with his socks, shoes, zipping up his coat, etc. I’ve been driving most every where because Roger hasn’t been able to drive his stick shift car. His hand is healing, but it is a slow process. God is giving us strength to get through one day at a time.
Thursday was another very full day. Allison, Claire and I planned to spend most of the day at the school numbering and organizing our auction items. Allison needed to go to the grocery store before we got started, so I went with her. A the grocery stores, she said, “Aren’t you going to get a cart?” I replied that I didn’t really need anything and I had just come along to spend time with her. She gave me a surprised look and said, “Aren’t you supposed to buy rolls for the lobster tomorrow night and the hotdogs?” Oh yeah! That would be me! Yes, I’ll get a cart! We went to get coffee (yes, it’s that kind of week to have two coffee dates in it!) and headed to the school. Thankfully once we got moving in on the project Claire, Allison, and I were able to get a lot done. It was a day for a lot of heavy sighing as we were all tired, but we got it done! Claire supervised and helped with the picking of 70 lobsters. Another school mom, Annah, helped with that job along with two folks from our church Sharon and Neal. It was a big job, but they got it done quickly! The best part was that we had enough done that when school was over, none of us had to stick around after school! Hooray for home!
Friday...auction day! Oh, and our first snow day of the school year was also on Friday! Now what? Since school was cancelled due to snow should we try to reschedule the auction?! Claire, Allison and I had many, many texts going all morning, but around nine am. Allison got ahold of the auctioneer. He suggested we go ahead with the auction as planned. Since all weather reports seeemed to indicate that the weather would get better throughout the day, we decided that we should move forward. After all....we had a lot of lobsters already cooked! Once it was decided to go ahead with the auction, God just gave peace at every turn. We knew that He had already helped us get this far and that He would bring the right people to the auction. We met at the school at a bit afte one of, and worked hard on setting up chairs, auction items, a few decorations, getting started on kitchen work, printing out the auction lists, writing out bidder cards, and preparing for the evening. A few other parents came a bit later to help set up the kitchen and get the Mac n cheeses baking, and by 5:30, we were ready! The fellowship hall was full! We had to set up extra chairs for folks to sit in, but we had plenty of food and plenty of fun! God showed Himself strong in a way that only He can do! It made the hours and hours and hours of prep work, chasing down donations, and being exhausted seem worth it. God provided enough funds to supply our needs, to be able to give the teachers a Christmas gift this year, and to continue on with hot lunch. I am so very thankful for the parents that helped, those who bought our auction items, and those who came to show their support...we couldn’t have done it without them!
Saturday was a day to just relax. My kids were so excited about the auction, but also that the auction was behind us! We spent the morning talking, drinking coffe, and taking trash to the dump...exciting times! We wer invited to a friends house for supper on Saturday evening, and that was a big blessing. It was nice to have fellowship with Nick and Hannah and their little ones. It was especially nice for me to not have to think about having a plan for supper. After a crazy week, it was a nice way to unwind.
On top of Roger’s hand, the busy week with the auction, the vehicle problems, the looming Christmas program, also Roger’s grandpa is dying. Just a few weeks ago his grandma passed away (Rogers Dad’s mom) and this week his grandpa is dying (Rogers mom’s dad). To say that it’s been a rough month would be a gross understatement! God has been faithful and strong, but it’s not been an easy month for our family. We are thankful that both of these grandparents know Jesus as their personal Savior. They both were and are ready to meet Jesus. While we do and will miss them, we know that we will see them in Heaven again some day. One of my favorite memories of Roger’s grandpa is from about six years ago at the family reunion. Grandpa had come along to Roger’s family reunion, and it was my first opportunity to really get to know him. We often found ourselves the first ones up that week and sat together in the kitchen over many cups of coffee and studying God’s Word. Grandpa lived out his life for Jesus. Through his life , he pointed people to Jesus. I don’t think he would want people to just say he was a great guy or a wonderful person , I think he would want them to know that he’s different because of a personal relationship with Jesus. I’ll never forget that week at the family reunion where an older man encouraged my walk with Jesus, took time to listen to a young mama, and encouraged my heart. I look forward to seeing him in heaven someday.
In closing, our family could use your prayers. Every week brings new challenges, but this past month has seemed that satan has just brought one obstacle out in front of the other. It brings to mind the verses from 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;”
We serve a great and amazing God! I can’t imagine my life without Him. At the end of my life, I don’t care if people think I’m crazy (probably I am), but I do want them to know that I had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that I had confessed my sins to Him and asked Him to come into my heart, and that I was passionate about serving and loving Him.
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