Glorious Day

Today has been a glorious day! Obviously, not what I would have chosen or asked for, but God is faithful regardless! His plan...not mine! Worship was amazing this morning! I was once again reminded of how blessed I am even when I think things are bad! We are continually told in Scripture that "when" bad things happen we mist cling to our hope-Christ. He is the one & only way will be able to stand under the pressures, trials & heartaches of this life. I mentioned that Shawn & I participated in the first ever Good Friday service which was a very reflective time focused on Christ's sacrifice & death on the cross. Today we celebrated the life & hope we have in Christ in the power of the resurrection.

Daddy had therapy this afternoon from 2:30-3:30 so we all meet in the garden to have Easter dinner together. I made mashed potatoes, green beans & 4 Layer Delight then we picked up chopped beef brisket from Famous Dave's. Those are all some of Daddy's favorites & I wanted to make this a special meal for him as well as all of us.


He smiled a lot & kept eating so I think he enjoyed it. Shawn & AK hunted eggs in the garden after we ate. It was a gorgeous day to be outside & to be together! I know Daddy was tired, but he did well staying outside for a long time then he, Grant & Shawn headed back up to the room. We had some visitors today that helped make the day be even more special. Thank you to all of you who have taken time to come by to say "Hi!" We really appreciate it. (I'm sorry that I don't have pictures of everyone that has come to visit, but we did get one of Faith w/ Mrs. Helen for her to share w/ Mom's class tomorrow.)


We hung out in the room for a while then started saying good-bye. AK crawled up in the bed w/ Grandpa & really didn't want to leave. It was so good for all o us to see them do something normal together. She & Shawn neither one wanted to leave so we persuaded them w/ the bribe of driving through Krispy Kreme (works every time) Haha!!!!! ;-)





Thank you so much for your continued prayers, words of encouragement, visits, cards & calls. We appreciate each of you so much. It is by God's grace & Him alone that we have made it this far & will continue each day.

I hope all of you have experienced the love, forgiveness & hope of the empty tomb this Easter weekend! One of the songs we sang Friday was "Glorious Day." It's a newer version that's been released, but a very old hymn. I just love the message of this song-hope you do too.

Glorious Day

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises
One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He
Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected

Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He
Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now He’s ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him
From rising again

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day, my Beloved One, bringing
My Savior, Jesus, is mine

Every Day Is A Good Day...Some days are just better than others!

Since Shawn was out of school for Good Friday, I had told the kids we could go to BRI & see what Grandpa does in therapy. Shawn was there for speech on Wednesday, but he was really interested in Physical therapy & exactly what they involved. So we were able to experience Physical & Occupational therapies while we were there.

When we got there, Daddy was in group speech so Mom met us down in the garden to eat her lunch then we all headed back inside for therapy time. The day was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous!!! I think the sunshine did us all good!


Daddy was so excited to see Shawn & Anna Kate!!! He was more interactive w/ them than he has been so far. He was trying really hard to talk to AK & she looked at me & whispered "I can't hear Grandpa." I know that's hard for her to understand, but she knows he is trying! He worked really in OT to put his own shirt on all by himself...one handed! His OT has also started taping his right shoulder to pull it back up instead of it dragging due to the weakness. It seems to be helping...it at least in lime w/ his left one. They also put on the BioNess stimulator machine. He's not real fond of that & after a few minutes was pulling it off. They encouraged him NOT to do that or he would get a really bad shock! Ouch!! In PT, his therapist worked w/ him standing while bracing himself on the table. He had worked really hard that morning so he was worn out, but the more they worked the easier he seemed to move. They worked on him shifting his hips back & forth to shift his weight the same way we do when we walk.

When therapy was over, we asked if he wanted to go outside & he said yes so we headed back to the garden. Daddy seemed to really enjoy watching the kids play on the rocks & in the water. Again, the day was gorgeous so it was definite therapy for everyone. Is this just not the sweetest thing?!? AK needed to help get Grandpa where he needed to go. She walked right beside him w/ her hand on his chair the entire time we walked...inside or out!


While we were in the garden, Grant came up also & we were all there together. When Grant sat down to eat his lunch/snack/supper, Daddy started moving his chair bc he wanted to be at the table w/ him. Daddy was very involved & interactive w/ all of us yesterday. It was amazing!!! Mom goes down to McBride's Cafe almost every day to see what kind of homemade desserts they have so she can get Daddy a treat for after therapy. Yesterday was Chocolate Four Layer Delight! He ate his dessert while we were in the garden & AK wanted to give him a bite.


She also shared the cream from her mall cookie w/ Grandpa! It felt so good to do something kinda normal as a family (we did miss Daniel though)!








AK didn't want stand still very long so I didn't have a lot of luck w/ a pic of her :-( She had a blast though!

Shawn & I went to the Good Friday service @ church last night when we got back to town. It was incredible & we both needed to be reminded how wonderful our Savior is!!! He is our hope in the good times & bad! He is Faithful!!!

Today seems to be a little of a downer for us all though. Dr. Kiser told Mom this am that Daddy wasn't progressing as fast as they had hoped. He said we have to get the speech! We aren't real sure what to do w/ that information & what all that means for now or the future. Even though we don't know what tomorrow holds, we know the One who holds tomorrow. He has been faithful every day of this journey & will continue to be. I am constantly reminded of how a day can't go by w/out my total dependance on Him for every need! Please pray for progress that no one can explain except by the hand of God. (Dr. Kiser is a believer & has ministered to mom this week. He has worn a different "Christian Faith" tie every day this Holy Week. What a testimony & opportunity to share his faith! I pray that I do the same in my world!

Also, please continue to pray that Mom will be able to stay. They are very full @ BRI so she is constantly aware of the fact that they could walk in & say they need her bed! Probably her biggest worry & fear! I hope you all have a wonderful Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Savior!!! Christ is Risen!

Every Day Is A New Day

I'm sure some of you are wondering what has happened to me not posting for a couple of days & want to know what's been going on in Daddy's world the last couple of days. I've been back to work this week so I'm trying juggle spending time w/ Daddy, getting things done @ church & my household people. Mondays are my hospital visitation days so I was able to spend a couple of hours at the hospital w/ Mom & Daddy. I introduced Mom to McBride's Cafe on the first floor @ BRI. They have such good food that doesn't resemble hospital food at all!!! Mom said she had found her new favorite place! Haha!

Daddy didn't feel 100% Monday bc his blood pressure was really low so he was having trouble standing & doing some of the things they wanted him to do in PT. I think Dr. Kiser has that leveled out now though so he is feeling much better. Please continue to pray that they will be able to keep his meds where they need to be so he can get the most out of his therapy.

Yesterday, his speech therapist enrolled him in a reading/writing group therapy session as well. We don't know much of what happens during that time since we aren't allowed in the group bc of HIPPA rules. He has is going to the "SIP" program that is when he has a specialist watch him eat & basically in her own words "nags" him about slowing down, taking smaller bites, etc. He is doing well w/ eating & today they started him on chopped foods instead of pureed. He ate it all! We are seeing little things everyday where he is improving, but we also have to remember that we are still in the early stages of the marathon so we can't get discouraged!

Even though he is "technically" not supposed to be eating regular food, where there's a will there's a way! Daddy had a student nurse w/ him during all his therapies yesterday so Mom decided to run home to get cleaned up, do some laundry, etc. Well, she got back & Daddy was already in his room looking @ himself in the mirror by the counter. She looked down onto the counter & this is what she saw...


Daddy had managed to get his wheelchair over to a gift basket that someone sent & found what he wanted to eat! Thankfully, he didn't actual choke on either item since he was alone in his room! Whew!!!! Mom asked him if he got choked on that apple & he shook his head yes! Lovely! When Mom told Dr. Kiser this am, he just laughed! She promised that she was taking it home so he wouldn't get into again!

Today, I checked Shawn out of school @ lunch & we headed up to see Mom & Daddy. Daddy was glad to see Shawn but had just finished lunch so he was ready for a quick powernap before heading back to therapy. While he rested, Mom, Shawn & I headed down for lunch @ McBride's. (I told you we really liked it!) We then headed back upstairs to get ready for therapy. The staff has started moving Daddy from his chair to the bed w/ holding onto him as he stands instead of the sling that they were using. He doesn't have lots of control but can help some. Every little bit helps! Mom had stepped into the restroom as once they got into his chair he looked at me & motioned his arm in the air to let me know he was ready to roll! I asked him if I got to drive today & he shook his head yes! He wouldn't let me on Monday. Haha! Shawn was asking but I told him I didn't think that was a very good idea! We had hoped for Shawn to experience PT, but we went to speech instead. Daddy did well & worked really hard to voice his numbers while counting w/ his therapist. He was getting some sounds out so he just has to keep working. It was really good for Shawn to see first hand what Grandpa does every day & how all the therapists are helping him get better.

Several of you continue to ask...Mom is eating & taking care of herself. She is still able to sleep @ BRI. Grant has been coming up in the afternoons & e evenings some to stay while Mom leaves for a little bit.

I think that pretty well sums up the past couple of days...besides the weather which has been ridiculous!!! Thankfully, we have remained safe!

Thanks again to everyone for continuing to keep up w/ Daddy's progress & your continual prayers! They truly mean so much to us! Hope everyone is having a blessed Holy Week as we look towards Easter! Praise God Christ is risen! He is our HOPE!!!!

Standing Strong

Even though I haven't seen Mom yet this morning, we both seem to be a little emotional today. As Frances just said, "wearied, worn & worried.". I think that pretty well sums it up. God is still good...no, He's great & the same yesterday, today & tomorrow. 

As I read my devotion this morning from "Jesus Calling," it was talking about God's DAILY grace being sufficient bc He wants us to depend on Him every day. If He gave us more than we need for the moment, then we would depend on ourselves not Him.  We see throughout Scripture where God gave His people only what they needed for that day.  When wondering in the wilderness, the people tried to store up manna & it spoiled b/c that was not God's intent.  He wants us to trust Him in every second & moment when we are needy not just when we feel like we need a refresher.  We are trusting Him day by day.  Pastor Rick always says, "Every day is a good day, but some days are just better than others."  How true is that???

Mom sent me this picture of Daddy from therapy this morning & it definitely made me smile! I think will for all of you also.  He is making daily victories which we praise God for every step of the journey.

WOW...how far we've come since Friday, April 8!!!!  Mom sent me a text just a few minutes ago that Daddy was in Recreation therapy & guy was playing a guitar.  She said he was really enjoying that!  Please continue to pray for physical, mental, emotional & spiritual strength for all of us.  Also, pray for Daddy's blood pressure.  Dr. Kiser is working to get his med just right b/c it seems to be staying low which greatly affects his energy level when doing therapy.  They need to find that perfect balance for physical safety as well as energy.

This is a great way to start of the week & I'm looking forward to sharing more exciting victories!  Thanks once more for your continued prayers & support!

We love you all!

The Road to Recovery

This is the road is filled with hills, valleys and twists & turns. The journey is different for everyone, but the desired outcome is the same...healing, complete recovery & independence. As you travel this road, you rejoice in every victory & just try to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

On Thursday, Daddy moved to BRI to begin his first stint of rehab. We don't really know how long this part of our journey will last, but probably a couple of weeks. The transition was difficult for several reasons, but things seemed to have smoothed out now. Over the weekend, Mom has raved about the staff (attitude & care). I am so grateful for people who feel called to serve in healthcare positions that are not the most prestigious but could be some o the most important.

Friday was filled with therapy evaluations & a glimpse of what is to come. The BRI facility is amazing & their therapists are incredible. I was able to observe part of his occupational therapy Friday when they were fitting his right arm with a stimulator machine called a BioNess. It fits around his hand & comes up his arm giving shocks/stimulations to the muscles which reminds the brain to start working that part of the body again. His weekend speech therapist has worked with them on singing "Amazing Grace." Mom said he tried to mouth some words but no sounds yet. We just have to remember to be patient!!! He also had a very exhausting time in physical therapy Saturday when they used a "frame" to help him stand. It locks his knees in place & helps him stay upright. He stayed up for 7 minutes which they said was really, really good & were planning on 10 minutes today. I can't imagine how tiring that must be. Makes sense why babies & toddlers sleep so much...learning all this stuff is really hard!

Saturday was a big day for our family since Shawn has Regional Bible Drill & we determined that would be the day for Shawn & Anna Kate to finally go see Grandpa. We all went to Sherwood for the drill & ate lunch with our entire group. Shawn did great & passed the Regional Drill (means of 24 calls he had less than 8 mistakes-he actually only had 4-5). He is qualified for State later this month. It was a great morning & day together. When we finished we ran to Kroger to get some surprises & treats for Grandpa. They picked out vanilla & chocolate pudding (since we couldn't find banana cream in sugar free) & applesauce. Then it was time to head to see Grandpa...

We didn't time our arrival very well since he was just heading to supper. We let the kids entertain themselves for a few minutes & waited in his room. When Mom wheeled him into the room & he saw them, he smiled big! They both hugged & loved on him them showered him with his gifts of food ;-) AK proceeded to dance around for him some & Shawn showed him his new Monster truck he finally found that they had been on a search for during Shawn & Grandpa Days! Daddy seemed to be glad they were there, but at the same time I could tell that it made him sad too that they had to see him not talking to them or doing whatever they wanted! We tried not to overstay our first visit & left when he was ready to get into bed. They thoroughly enjoyed watching the sling & lift which moves him from the chair to the bed. All seemed to have gone well until we were saying our byes & Shawn asked Mom when he was going to get to go home. Of course, we all started crying & that was the first real emotion we have seen from Shawn through all of this. I think the reality of what was happening & him seeing it for himself. We wanted to stop by & see a friend that is also in BRI bc a tree fell on her. Phillis has pretty much everything broken on her right side except her hip. Her daughter, Kris, has been staying with her & they had visited Daddy so we wanted to repay the favor. I'm so thankful that Phillis can encourage Daddy to keep pushing through even when therapy is hard! Mrs. Phillis was one of AK's MDO teachers for about a year when she was a baby so she is pretty special to us!


As we were heading downstairs, Shawn asked if we could walk through the garden. We said yes which was really good for all of us. Just outside the BRI entrance & by the parking lot, there is a beautiful garden area. It is called the Psalm 91 Garden. It is absolutely gorgeous right now with all the azaleas blooming! It was perfect bc we read the marker that was placed with Psalm 91 on it. We definitely needed to hear those words & promises! I took a few pictures of the kids while we were down there. Not really where you would plan a photo session, but I am thankful to catch a few pics of my cuties! They are just from my phone so not great quality, but they make me smile!


How sweet is this with her looking down into the water?


Love all these flowers around Shawn!



I turned around & AK was try to climb on top of the Scripture marker!


She made it!


Well, that was our weekend & now we are getting geared up for this week. It's a short week with Easter next weekend, but I can't believe that April is almost over!! I do have to say that I will not really be sad to see it go! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend & thank you again for your continued prayers! God is faithful & will continue to be each & every day. Thank you for allowing Him to bless us through each of you!

Today is the day that Daddy is moving to BRI (Baptist Rehabilitation Institute)!!!  He is scheduled to be transported at 1:00 p.m.  I know several of you are wondering what happened to the early morning post, but I was laying in bed typing on my phone almost half way finished when I accidently erased the entire thing!  I actually cried!  Writing has been an emotional therapy for me through this process & it just really hurt my feelings that I did that.  I’m better now so here we go!

Yesterday, Uncle Ronnie (he would prefer I call him Uncle Ron, but old habits are hard to break…sorryJ) came to visit since he was working in Russellville.  While he was here, PT sat Daddy in a chair where he stayed for almost an hour.  While Uncle Ronnie was here, Frances came to see Mom.  They were able to go sit outside & enjoy the beautiful weather.  We have tried to go outside at some point every day since she admits it does make her feel better.  And yes, she is eating (for those of you who are keeping tabsJ).  Thanks Uncle Ronnie for letting Mom have that time with Frances & to be out of the room.  She really appreciated that!

Daddy is continuing to eat more & more every day.  He was very anxious for lunch yesterday b/c as soon as I put the tray in front of him he grabbed a spoon & started eating.  It is so good to see him wanting to eat & the desire to do it himself.  As I have said so many times, this is going to be a physically, emotionally & mentally grueling journey, but we know that God will give each of us the grace & strength for each day.  For PT in the afternoon, he was tired from the day that they only helped him stand on the walker a couple of times.  We are seeing some small movements in his right leg & I have been told that these weight-bearing exercises are great to stimulate the brain to relearn the movement commands.

Mindy, his speech therapist, was working with him yesterday on saying his numbers.  He was moving his mouth to say them, but no sound.  She started pointing at me asking him what my name was.  He was moving his mouth & trying, but not quite getting it.  We have had some pictures of Shawn & Anna Kate for him, but he has been interested in looking at them.  Well, Mindy showed him a picture of Anna Kate (it was on top) and he broke down crying.  Then I started crying.  Mom had stepped out to visit with someone so I told her to get back in here.  He calmed down, but it was hard to see that emotion.  I know that stroke victims are very emotional & I can’t even imagine how he feels right now not being able to communicate or express himself.  Mindy did give us a picture chart so he could point at various things to help him & us.  We know we will get there just one day at a time.

I talked with Jessica at their apartment yesterday & she has reserved them a first floor apartment at the beginning of May which is a huge relief for Mom about when he is able to come home.  She said that she just had one come available & that she would let them transfer without paying any type of fee!  Once again God provided!!!

Just one more thing that you may want to grab a Kleenex for…I have to share a special story.  Barbara, a member of the family that I mentioned earlier in this post, shared a prayer that her grandson, Mason, had prayed for Daddy Friday night.  His mom told him when he was getting ready for bed that they needed to pray for Mrs. Laurie’s dad b/c he was very sick.  He said ok & proceeded to pray.  He said, “God” then stopped.  His mom reminded him to say his prayers so he could go to sleep.  So he said, “God, Mrs. Laurie’s daddy is really sick and please make him better.”  He paused for a moment then looked at Holly & said, “God said yes!”  The faith of a child!  I am so thankful that they shared this story with us.  I know that there are lots of prayers from children being said for Daddy & I have to believe that God smiles when a child boldly comes before the throne on behalf of another.  What an example to us as adults to never forget that God is in the miracle business & He wants to come to Him with every need.

“Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.”  Psalm 105.4

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we could think or ask.” Ephesians 3:20

New post coming soon!

I wanted to let you know that I've multiple technical difficulties. I deleted the first post then decided to write once I got to the hospital & now can't get on blogger :-/

Daddy is transferring to BRI @ 1pm today. I'll get the other post on as soon as I can get online.

Thanks for keeping up & praying!