It became a family affair, and I miss how the music and the message prepared all our hearts for Easter. Keaton was never old enough to be in one, but he logged lots of time being one of the cuties in the nursery.
This past Easter was a little different. Keaton had a bad case of strep throat, so the two of us ended up staying home, and he turned our bathroom into a war zone.
Our four-year-old oven has been acting up, so our coffee cake turned out a lot toastier than usual. This was even taken out with six minutes still left to bake! It tasted a little better than it looked.
Because I didn't want to risk ruining our spiral ham and heavenly mashed potatoes, I came up with plan B and slaved over a divine meal of sub sandwiches instead.
Even though Keaton and I weren't all dressed up, I insisted that we take a few family pictures. A blog story was emerging in my head ... I just didn't know the ending yet!
Harris's dad's cancer has recently been complicated with a shingles diagnosis and lots of fatigue, so Harris decided to leave for Pella after lunch so he could accompany him on a trip he needed to make. That left the kids and I home for what we thought was supposed to be a beautiful spring day, but when the weather turned stormy, the 7-hour Risk game began. Monday morning brought week-long computer troubles, and we also said good-bye to our cousin Grant who had been visiting us all weekend. He's three months older than Haley, and they have always shared a really special friendship. He's leaving for the National Guard the same day that Haley leaves for Africa, so it was great for them to spend some time together.
Keaton stayed home from school on Tuesday per doctor's orders, and consequently I couldn't go to Bible study. Little did we know how important it was that we were home, but God knew!
At about 11:15 a.m. I was upstairs in my room when I heard Keaton yelling, "Mom, hurry! Haley has a really bad cramp, and she needs you right now!" I found her curled over, crying, and hyperventilating in the chair, and it didn't take much for me to realize that it was something serious. When I asked her if it was just menstrual cramps, she responded, "No, it's 10 times worse than that." She had been sitting in precalculus class when she started feeling some abdominal pain, and when she was driving home for lunch, it got worse. Once she was home, she felt really sharp pain in her abdomen, and then it moved to the right lower quadrant of her body. My immediate concern was appendicitis, and my quick search of symptoms on the internet and a call to the doctor confirmed that it was likely. Within 15 minutes we were headed to the ER, and before long blood was taken, morphine was being pumped into her veins, and a CAT scan was scheduled. As her tears became less and the pain subsided, doubts started creeping in, and all of a sudden I wondered if we were really overreacting. For the next little while, she was instructed to drink an ounce of "electric lemonade" every 20 minutes, and really she was pretty happy!
The waiting game continued throughout the afternoon, and we found ourselves joking about the fact that this was a pretty expensive way to have so much bonding time. Finally it hit me that we hadn't really prayed together about the results, so we did. My prayer started out with, "Lord, I really have no idea what to pray for right now," and ended with "I give my daughter to you and totally trust you with the outcome." No sooner had we said "amen" than one of the medical personnel popped her head in and simply said, "It's not her appendix. She had a large cyst on her ovary that ruptured." What??????? They had mentioned this as a possibility, but we had been led to believe otherwise by this point. We had come to the conclusion that surgery wouldn't be fun but that losing an appendix in America would be much better than in Africa! She would have that behind her early in life, and we'd have one less thing to cause trouble! But a ruptured cyst? What did that mean, and how would that affect her future plans? This threw us for a complete loop! An ultrasound confirmed that it was 4cm in size. No wonder she was in so much pain!
Through a follow-up visit with my OB-GYN the next day, we have learned that these ovarian cysts are somewhat common. Hers was not cancerous or dangerous, but now that she's had one, she'll be more susceptible to having this happen again in the future. When we shared our concerns over her travel plans with him, he devised a course of treatment for her that will include medication to hopefully prevent this from happening while she's gone. The really cool God thing in that whole visit was that the doctor had just actually been in South Africa and Zambia himself, so he personally knew the regions and could totally relate to her. He looked her in the eyes and said, "You're young, you're white, and you're a pretty girl, and don't you EVER go anywhere by yourself!" We left feeling pretty good overall, but my prayer list for her has just been lengthened.
When I was working on my Bible study lesson one morning this week, I read this sentence: "Submission is a conscious day-by-day (often minute-by-minute) decision to lay down your will and to acknowledge God's sovereign right to rule in your life as your authority." Wow! Have I learned that this week or what?!? Everything from letting go of the "picture-perfect" Easter ... letting go of my plans when sick kids needed me ... finding myself praying over my stove and computer in sheer desperation ... letting go of Haley and trusting God's plan for her life ... attending my college friend's dad's funeral visitation ... continually learning how to let go of my oldest who just turned 20 yesterday.
It's definitely been a week full of raw emotions. I'm just so thankful that God is in control of our lives and that when I let go, I can trust in His plan.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
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