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Showing posts from December, 2014

learning to walk.... again

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When we were in China I noticed that Elie's hips were not okay.  In the course of our two weeks together prior to traveling home, I tried to get in pieces of a physical exam whenever it worked.  It may seem odd but that's what you do when you are a nurse.  I realized the first time I rotated her legs that her hip joint was not okay.  The first week we were home an xray confirmed my suspicions... her femur and her pelvis were not functioning properly.  The orthopedic surgeon said surgery was not an "if" but a "when".   And I began to dread the time the "when" would arrive. The idea of going through surgery with Elie was not appealing.  Our relationship was often rocky and her emotional health at times unstable.  Would she regress?  Would the surgery trigger old memories?  Would the anger and screaming take over?  Would our other children survive another change, another season of stress?  Would the surgery make things worse?  And on and on the ques

a scrapbook made of ornaments

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When I was growing up, I was the girl who had pictures cut out of magazines, posters and photographs decorating my room.  At college the wall of my dorm room was a collage of memories and pictures of things that made me smile.  I have never been one to feel comfortable living in a space that looks like a magazine.  Carpets vacuumed into straight lines make me feel like I can't breath.  From what I have described I'm sure you can start to imagine what my Christmas tree looks like.  Full from top to bottom with memories.  I love getting all the ornaments out each year.  And now I have four little ones (i'm sure London will join in the anticipation next year) that look forward to it just as much as I do.  Our ornaments tell the story of our family.  It is like a scrapbook made of ornaments.  A favor from a Christmas wedding, a cloth bell handmade by their great-grandmother, a bear on a snowboard from a trip to WV, the hand made ones with pictures from years past, each one te

lessons of christmas: joseph and mary

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In the wonderful busyness that surrounds this time of year it is easy to loose sight of the reason behind all the celebration.  The enormous gift of God.  The sacrifice of love.  The importance of those three words: God With Us.   And so for the days leading up to Christmas, I like to go back to the the original story in the Bible and to try to read it again.  Not as a memorized story, but one that holds new life and meaning.  This year as I have read and reread, I am captivated by Joseph and Mary.  Over and over again the story tells of their obedience resulting from their faith.   God says.  And they do. No hesitation. I believe God chose them because He knew their character.  He knew their love for Him would outweigh any of their fears.  This calling from God put them on a crazy, wild adventure away from the home they had known.  To Bethlehem where Mary would give birth in a cave with animals then fleeing to Egypt to protect their new son's life then