God's class, Perspective 101, is back in session...

I have to apologize again for my lack of posts this week.  There are a couple of reasons for my absence, one of the heaviest on our hearts being that our poor Gracie Doo is STILL going through nasty withdrawals, for which I didn't want to sound like a broken record.   The other reason, being related to the withdrawals, is that once we get Abby and Andrew down for the night, David and I scramble to lay down as quickly as possible because there is no telling how long it will be before Grace is up screaming, vomiting, and then partying for hours in the middle of the night (it's like we've been in the "newborn stage" for 16 months :-).

So, God's class, Perspective 101, is back in session…  Two Friday's ago, I took Andrew for his 5 year old "well check" visit first thing in the morning and everything went great except he barely passed his eye exam (not sure if it's because he was not taking it very seriously or if we are in store for glasses down the road), but if he does need glasses…  bring it on!  As long as it doesn't require anesthesia, an incision, or a bypass machine, it hardly appears on my radar…. anymore :-).  In case you don't remember, my major change in perspective about the prospect of glasses, you can always check out a previous post titled The Lord's Prayer that I wrote back in October of 2012.  The more concerning issue with Andrew's Dr's appointment was his urine sample.  They found ketones in his urine, however, there wasn't glucose with it (which would indicate diabetes) or another marker that points to dehydration.  Since it didn't really make sense why there would be just ketones, they decided to retest.  Great, except this was a Friday, so I couldn't bring in another urine sample until Monday.  That means that I had all of Friday- Monday to consider the possibility of Andrew having diabetes.  I'll tell you what, it brought me to my knees.  With everything that we have been through with Grace, you would think that I could handle any "pass" that God threw me (that's the only analogy that I could come up with, I guess I've got football on the brain), however, this hit me where it hurts.  You see, we knew before Grace was born that her journey was going to test our faith in a big way because the journey was going to be hard.  I had no idea that it would be THIS hard and that God is THAT good, but never the less, we knew it would be far from easy.  When all of a sudden "my boy's" health was being called into question, it brought me to my knees just thinking about a life changing diagnosis happening to "my boy" (I would feel the same way about Abigail of course).  He doesn't have any symptoms of diabetes, but it felt so real, such a huge possibility because we know all to well what it feels like to always be a part of the very small minority (if there's a 3% risk of something, then that will be Grace :-).  I couldn't help but picture what life would be like if Andrew had diabetes and one of my many crazy thoughts was "how can I be an advocate and cheerleader for another cause."  Those of you who know me well, know that I'm a cheerleader at heart, so I love all things Up's (Down's Syndrome) and CHD (congenital heart defects).  How would I do the diabetes community justice too?  Crazy thoughts, I know :-). Above all of course, I pictured all of the risks and hardship that "my boy" would experience if he had diabetes (or any other disease for that matter).  It was on my knees that God reminded me that ALL of my kids are not mine at all, but they are ALL His and His grace is sufficient for ALL circumstances.  PRAISE THE LORD, Andrew's urine test on Monday revealed no ketones (or glucose)!!!  (Oh yeah, I also found out this week that people with a PFO, which is a tiny hole between the top two chambers of the heart that doesn't close at birth, are at an increased risk for stroke and Andrew has a PFO).  I talked to a cardiologist (one of my customers) about it and he assured me that the risk is low and that they don't currently do any sort of intervention (anticoagulation therapy or a patch via heart catheter) unless the patient has symptoms and there is a chance that it can close over time (I pray that is the case for Andrew).  All that to say, God's lesson was a powerful reminder that seems obvious to most of us, but I learned that my heart missed out on the practical application of that lesson.

I heard a speaker this week say that "God is in the interruptions in our life" and I couldn't agree more!  It is those God ordained interruptions in life that strip us of the comfy plans that our flesh desires, but they leave us changed and passionate about Kingdom business.  So, I continue to be a permanent fixture in God's classroom and am learning to find great comfort there.

Please excuse this interruption for some randomly caught snuggle photos from the week (I love catching sweet snuggles in time for a picture)…

Andrew is watching a cartoon before school and Grace is happily snuggling away...

Sweet Sissy snuggles...

Today, Abby cheered at a basketball game (they are so stinkin' cute) and Andrew had his second basketball game ever, where he got a medal for being a great listener!

Grace's funny face looks a whole lot like her happy face...

Will you please continue to pray for all of us as we shepherd Grace through these withdrawals?  Thank you!  We love and appreciate you sweet Village!

In case you don't have a team to cheer for tomorrow, please join us on the 49er band wagon :-).