What I Learned on my Summer Vacation

In honor of school starting this week, I thought I would share some lessons I learned on my summer vacation. Although most back to school essays are "What I DID on my Summer Vacation" most of you already know I spent most of it caring for sick family members or being cared for myself. These are the lessons I learned during that time.

1. I am willing to take boatloads of medicines to get better when necessary. Usually I avoid drugs and take a more natural approach, but I am thankful for modern medicine when the need is there. Our family doctor of 10 years actually said she felt like she should apologize for giving us so many prescriptions! Below is a sample of some of the meds we took over a two month period. Positive benefit (besides getting better) - we racked up lots of Kroger points at the pharmacy and saved 20 cents a gallon on 4 fill-ups :-)


2. Flowers are a balm to a sick body. They make you feel loved and cared for. They remind you of the beauty in the world outside your hospital room. Thank you Sandi and Bruce for the beautiful bouquets.

3. I recover better when I can be in the presence of my family. Smiling is good for the soul and my family makes me smile. I get joy watching Seth and Elsia toddle through the room. Random hugs as children pass by make me happy. Willa cheers me as she enters the room with exuberance to share her latest creation, song, project, finding, or joyous random dance. Olivia and Emma lift my spirits as I watch them serve our family and Bruce fills my heart just knowing he loves me unconditionally. Below - one of my heroes.

4. My plans are not God's plans. Birthday parties, tennis/swim lessons, playground visits, hospitality, school - all good plans I made, but God decided were not what we needed this summer.

5. It is possible for a garden to grow fairly well with virtually no care. By the time I was able to weed the garden, the weeds were 4 feet tall! The tomatoes, which had been planted, but not staked, survived well. The peppers, eggplant, and cabbage didn't fair so well, but may rally now that they have sunlight again. Strawberry plants, however, must be planted in order to survive.

6. The ability to hear well is a great gift not to be taken for granted. I have a new understanding after my short time of hearing loss for those who deal with it permanently.

7. I am willing to do just about anything to improve my hearing. While I was in the hospital, the ENT doctor offered to perforate my eardrums so I could maybe hear a little better (remember one had already perforated on its own and healed back up). Since I was going home the next day to a house full of people, I decided it was worth it. After the doctor numbed each eardrum, he sliced (okay, carefully made a small incision in) them and then proceeded to suction the fluid out of my inner ears. Imagine you are at the dentist and instead of suctioning the saliva from you mouth, he decides to do it through your ear. That's pretty much what it was like. Not pleasant, but in the end worth it.

8. It is a blessing to have a church family that cares for you, prays for you, and brings you meals even though we are 45 minutes away.

9. It is a blessing to have friends who will visit with you even if you are contagious. Our pastor and his family brought us food and stayed for a visit. They even accepted our invitation to stay and celebrate Willa's birthday with us. They helped make her day special and for that we are grateful. This was the day before I went into the hospital. Below is a picture of Willa with Hannah and Clare, two of the pastor's daughters.

10. It is a blessing to have homeschooling friends who come around you and offer prayers, encouragement, and lots of food. Thanks especially to Judi who took a special interest in making sure Willa had all her special food allergy needs met.

11. I'm glad I have a husband who is actively engaged with our children and enjoys playing with them even if it means he will occasionally dislocate his shoulder or have some other such injury :-) Below is a picture of the fun being had a the playground before the accident.

12. I am thankful for a mom I can call everyday just to talk about how things are going and who will patiently listen to all my ramblings and help me laugh about my day. Below is a picture of my sister, my mom, and me at my mom's birthday party about ten days after I got out of the hospital.

13. Online movie rentals are a great thing. Television, in general, is not.

14. It is not so bad to have a roommate at the hospital. It makes you come out of your cacoon and think of others. HOWEVER, when she is being prepped for a colonoscopy, it is best to use the bathroom down the hall.

15. Olivia is extremely mature and capable and handles herself well in difficult circumstances. She goes with the flow and accepts things as God brings them to us. Like needing to ride in the ambulance to the hospital with Bruce, stay with him there, go back and forth between him in the ER and me in my hospital room so I could stay updated. She did great. Here is a picture of Olivia at the Good Zoo with Elsia just before the accident.

16. Emma is a servant through and through and a great back-rubber (that was a good thing to find out !) She selflessly kept things running around here. Here is a picture of Emma in a rare moment this summer when she had a chance to sit down.

17. Willa has great empathy and is learning how to anticipate the needs of others - "Mommy, can I rub your hands for you?", "Daddy, can I unpack your suitcase?", "I put fresh flowers in the apartment for Da."

18. Elsia can learn to sleep through the night in just 5 days. This was necessary because I wasn't home to nurse her back to sleep at night. Why didn't I do this earlier?

19. You should not assume that everyone who cares for you in the hospital knows what they are doing. A four year bachelor's degree in nursing and years of experience in hospital work was a handy thing to have as a patient.

20. Simple acts of kindness make the heart glad. I am extremely thankful for my friends who brought full meals, but I am also very grateful to those who dropped off fruit, or pumpkin bread, or popsicles, or contributed money to buy groceries, or sent cards. It was all appreciated and helpful. I need to remember this when it is my turn to give rather than receive.

21. I am thankful for a mother-in-law who willingly stepped into the role of caretaker during her visit to us. It was her first chance to meet Elsia and it would have been nice to have a relaxing visit together. Instead, she accepted God's plan for this time, rolled up her sleeves, and cared for everyone while I was in the hospital. She spent lots of time doing laundry and dishes. Emma was especially thankful for the help. Thank you, Sandi!

22. Lots of fluffy pillows are a must when spending weeks in bed or on the couch.

23. I don't know scripture well enough. After 25 years of being a Christian I was saddened at my lack of knowledge. When Olivia was in the hospital I was trying to find passages that would encourage her and all I could think of the Psalm 23. I need to hide God's word in my heart so it will be there when I need it.

24. Cyberfriends are encouraging in difficult times too. Thanks Donna in Texas for all your great words of advice about my diet and for your prayers and encouragement. We also had some friends we met during the Vision Forum treasure hunt and then in Jamestown who actually called to see how Olivia was doing when they saw the post about her being in the hospital. We were very touched. Thank you Bartons!

25. I wanted to find 25 things I learned, but I think number 25 will be that thing that I still haven't learned. This will be the thing that causes God to continue to bring trying situations our way so I can learn to lean on Him more and more.

I learned a lot this summer. It all comes back to the basics. God is a good God - always. My job is to glorify Him in all that I do - always.