One Blessed Life

I realize it has been awhile, and alot has definitely gone on in the past few months. What, you ask? Well, I will tell you.

For one, God has been doing a major work in mine and my husband's marriage. Toward the end of August, we came to what looked like the end of the road for us. Our problems seemed insurmountable, and the "world" was telling us to give up...there was no hope for such a broken relationship. However, we didn't listen to the world, we listened to God and valued the sacred promise we had made to each other before Him. With the help of an amazing Christian counselor, we have worked through our problems. Through God's grace, I can truly say that our marriage is stronger today than it has ever been, and I have a new found love for my husband and for my Savior. God took two selfish, cold-hearted, angry individuals, and molded us into one loving, compassionate, and forgiving couple. Praise His Name!! I am not saying that our marriage is perfect or that we will never encounter another problem or argument, but what I am saying is that we have learned what a biblical marriage should consist of, and we both conspire on a daily basis to fulfill God's purpose in our marriage. And what is the purpose of our marriage? To glorify Him. And, we are learning how to every single day.

I also had my brain surgery to insert the VP shunt on October 29th. I can honestly say that I had never felt God's peace and presence in my life as much as I did on that day. The burden and fear was just too much to carry myself, so I gladly gave it all to Him. Chad prayed over me before they wheeled me out of the room, and I have never seen him look so scared. While they were wheeling me back to the OR, I had a sudden realization. In that moment, I couldn't rely on my parents, my friends, my children, or even my husband...God was all I had, and He was definitely all I needed. Though I would have liked to, I couldn't take my hubby back to that OR with me. My loving Savior was the only One who could accompany me every step of the way, and I wouldn't want it any other way. The surgery went as well as expected, and it was obvious to my neurosurgeon after encountering so much spinal fluid inside my brain that this shunt was definitely necessary. I cannot describe the pain that I felt for the first few days after, and to be honest, alot of the time in the hospital was a blur. I somehow got an infection in my neck where they had threaded the shunt tubing through, and the infection kept getting worse. Dr McG came in one Sunday afternoon and gave me the awful news that if the infection didn't go away by the next morning that they would have to take the shunt out and redo the entire surgery. I was devastated, and called Chad (who was out to lunch with some of our friends who live close to the hospital) to let him know. I think he texted everyone he knew requesting their prayers, and our church had special prayer for me as well. God answered those prayers, and when I woke up the next morning, the swelling had decreased tremendously and the doctors said the infection was rapidly healing. I was in the hospital for five days, and Chad took such good care of me the entire time. He never once complained about anything he had to do for me, and he so lovingly and willingly met my every need. It has been a long recovery process, but God has been with me (and He will continue to be with me) every step of the way. I am still having severe headaches, and the doctors are not sure that the shunt is working as it should be, so I will be going to see Dr McG on Friday, and he will be sending me for some tests afterwards. Please pray that they can figure out what is going on with this crazy shunt so that I can start feeling good and get back to my old self. Chad is still doing most everything around here, and as strange as it sounds, I can't wait to get back to my cooking, cleaning, laundering, errand-running, shopping, loafing, and kid chauffering!! I will post some pics later of my awesome scar and shaved head.

I have so much to thank God for. This was truly a Thanksgiving full of thanksgiving. I do not deserve all of the blessings He gives me, but I will gladly take them.