We had fun at the barn today. Brett brought Nate and Evelyn over after I finished teaching a lesson. I saddled up Riff and took Nate for a spin. He loved it! He wanted to "go fast" but we saved that for another time. Riff shook his coat at one point and Nate laughed and laughed. "Again, again!" he said. I explained that Riff does not know how to shake on command.
Rose is doing great also. I rode her on Monday, worked a lot on leg yielding at the trot and finally felt like something clicked at the end. I love that feeling! I am looking forward to following up on that ride and seeing if we can make further progress. Our progress is generally pretty slow because everything we are learning at this point is totally new to both her and to me. At least I am able to get in some saddle time!
Riff and Nate both look good in pink, don't they? At least the helmet is camo! =)
This past month has been a crazy one around here. February 2nd we were in eastern TN visiting our dear friends Richie and Suzanne when Brett woke up with a headache. Over the next couple hours, it progressed to being extremely severe. He also had chills and threw up. I know him, I know how tough he usually is, and I knew that something was very wrong. Richie drove us to a nearby ER, where Brett was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.
Some other time I may tell the whole story but for now I just want to record some of God's many kind providences to us in the midst of this very difficult providence.
- We were visiting friends. I think that if we had been at home, Brett would have simply gone to bed and tried to sleep it off and I may not have recognized the severity of his symptoms as quickly.
- Brett was not alone on a business trip somewhere.
- Due to other circumstances in my life, I am very familiar with the symptoms of meningitis and suspected it immediately. At the emergency room, I told them right away that I thought he had meningitis so they promptly did a spinal tap.
- The hospital ER had no wait, and Brett was seen and correctly diagnosed immediately. Apparently meningitis is frequently misdiagnosed and early detection is critical. Brett only went about 4 hours from when his headache became severe to being on antibiotics.
- The doctors and nurses were very kind and took good care of Brett.
- We were blessed by the hospitality of Suzanne's parents, who had only met us once before, for the duration of Brett's hospital stay. They allowed all of us to stay in their home, fed us sumptuously, comforted me, and rocked my babies to sleep when I stayed late at the hospital. Not only are they some of the most hospitable, kind, generous people I have ever met, they live about 1 mile from the hospital. This was so incredibly helpful because I had to run back and forth several times a day to nurse Evelyn.
- The best part is, though, Suzanne's dad is a doctor at the hospital where Brett was staying!!! He could pull up Brett's chart in the middle of the night and check his vitals which was reassuring to me. He could go anywhere in the hospital at any time and take me with him. He knew many of the doctors and his medical knowledge was reassuring to me at many different points throughout Brett's illness and recovery.
- Brett's parents and sister Leah arrived Sunday morning and my mom and brother Ben arrived Sunday evening. Of course, their presence was a huge blessing.
- My mom was able to spend time loving on her grand babies. =)
- We passed around the stomach bug. I am not really sure how this was a blessing, but God says that He works all things together for our good, so I will include it. Thankfully only about two people had it at any one time, so we were all able to carry on. Also, I am thankful that Brett did not catch it. *edited to add: Suzanne suggested that this sickness allowed Brett to receive prayers around the clock, as several people were up all night on the critical nights!!!*
- Many, many, many people, even people who did not know Brett, were praying for him. There were thousands of people praying. Knowing that so many prayers were ascending on his behalf was a great comfort to me. My prayers consisted mostly of, "Please God, please God, please God" and as time went on, "Thank you God, Thank you God". During the first night, which was a long scary one, I could feel the "peace of God which surpasses all understanding" and knew that it was due to the prayers of His saints.
- Most of all, I am thankful that God saw fit to restore Brett to me. I am so thankful that my children still have a daddy. I am thankful that there do not seem to be any lasting effects of the meningitis, though full recovery will probably take months.
I do not want to blithely "thank God" simply because I am happy that things went my way. I hope that He would have given me the grace to thank Him even if He had taken Brett from me.
Even though we do not know why He called us to go through this difficult time, we can clearly see His provisions along the way. It is so easy to remember the pain and the fear and forget the grace. I want my overwhelming memory of this time to be how God carried us through and that is why I am recording these specific mercies.
Brett has been home from work this entire month and he is recovering amazingly well! He reports that he feels about 80% back to his normal self, though he has lost a lot of weight and muscle. If you have been praying for us, thank you!!! Praise God with us for all of His mercies!!
