“Is that paint in your hair?” He grinned. I think I glared. He knows perfectly well that even though I am the one to get paint in my hair while painting, that none of this has been going on for a few months. He kept grinning and then said, “I LOVE your grey hairs.” He actually gets kind of giddy about them. I guess they are factual of our journey from teenagers to pushing forty. It is a beautiful thing to grow old with someone and know your grey hair makes them excited. He’s actually getting a tiny swath of grey himself, which I find very attractive.
I could name a handful of reasons for a few extras which may have popped up this month.
Earlier in July, Nadine came downstairs one morning with an incredibly stiff neck. We had done massage, chiropractor, essential oils, and more, but she steadily got worse. More sore, feverish, and absolutely exhausted. A few doctor’s visits later and bloodwork drawn, I noticed a nice red circle on her leg. And her shoulder. And her arm, and torso and so on. The number hit 17 bullseye rashes. Her body felt and looked like it was shutting down. We had spent so much time in prayer over her and Lymes kept running through my head. As horrible as those bullseyes were, at least they showed up to confirm my thinking and get us on a path of treatment for her. Just 24 hours later of being on strong antibiotics, she was sitting, standing up, and walking without having to collapse into bed. She even swept the floor! If people think I am anti-medicine because I’m a crunchy-granola-Plexus-mama, then they’re misinformed. There is a time and there is a place, and I thank God for the ability to research and choose and make informed decisions. I do not take antibiotics lightly. So thankful too to have a quality probiotic to counter the nasty effects it will have on her good gut flora!
A few days after she started feeling nasty, I was grabbing some groceries and meeting my mother-in-law to pick up the youngest two who had been having a week at grandma’s. We were waving goodbye as we backed out of our parking spot when all of a sudden the gear shift popped out of place and the whole gear shaft just started spinning around. Thankfully, Linda hadn’t driven away yet, so we pushed the van into a safe spot and we all piled into her car where she drove us home! Thankfully, it was not a huge fix! Yesterday something else happened and we had to tow it again, but it’s fixed already. We’re getting to know our local tow-truck drivers!
I spent a lot of time sitting still and being quiet that first week of July. Not my strong point. Our front porch is my summer haven, and it gets a lot of love. Between a broken arm, a broken vehicle, and a broken down body… I was pretty broken myself. But God. He’s in the business of fixing and providing and healing.
One of the biggest blessings of this trial was seeing the rest of the kiddos rise to the challenge of taking over Nadine’s chores and jobs and serving her in many different ways. From getting her icewater, to cleaning the kitchen, to hanging out with her while she couldn’t do anything but lay there. It was refining for us all! We also saw her faith grow in Jesus by leaps and bounds, as she audibly thanked Him for the sickness, and acknowledged He knows what’s best for her. Do you know how hard that is to do?
As her body started to heal, God did another amazing thing for our family. Because of the many broken things which needed money to fix them, we had to tell the kids they weren’t going to be able to go to soccer camp this year. It was super difficult to tell them that, but we reminded them how God had the power and ability and means to provide for them if He wanted them to go. So we laid it before the Lord without telling anyone else about the need. On Saturday, one week before the camp would be starting, Elijah said to me, “Mom, camp starts in 7 days.” I told him to keep praying and trusting God would provide if they were to go. The next day, we recieved a phone call from someone who wanted to pay for our kids to go to camp if that was something they were wanting to do. Seeing their faith grow when we told them the news was incredible. At that point we weren’t even sure if Nadine could go! We didn’t shop for her, until two days before they had to leave, when she was showing signs of having enough strength to handle a week at camp. God provided in more ways than we could imagine!
Now camp is over, and we are on our second day of school!
We are still celebrating summer, with later nights and a bit of sleeping in, but I always need a week or two of slowly easing into what our year will be looking like for the next ten months. This gentle beginning also gives me room to purge from last year. The last couple of days have seen six trash bags exit our house, lockers cleaned out, shelves re-organized, new books introduced, and a general feeling of newness and anticipation for the year ahead.
I’m incredibly thankful for these amazing blessings entrusted to us for a time. For the five independent ones downstairs eating icecream, and the one who is sending me love kicks from my womb. We actually decided to find out whether “Baby Chip” is a boy or girl. Here is the video of the kids’ reaction to the news:
There is so much more I could write, but I have a few things left to do with my quiet evening, which my greying husband gifted to me tonight. Thank you, love!
Grow Old With Me 