Greetings from Home

Peter and I have been in Indiana for a week now to be with Mom. After over a month, she is still in ICU and still in critical condition. These have been trying days to say the least. Nonetheless, it has been good to be home and among family. It's instances in our lives like these that remind us just how important family is. I'm working to keep faith alive and not to be too affected emotionally by her up and down progress. However, I understand that I am afterall human, and it is very difficult not to be on an emotionally charged roller coaster with good the good days and bad days. God created us all with emotions and limits of time, and that is how we respond. We respond to the circumstances around us (especially when those circumstances involve someone you are so intimately connected with) with a helpless vulnerability.

If you are interested in keeping up to date with Mom's progress, my dad has put together a blog called How's Barbara Doing? in order to post updates. My dad has been posting and maybe someday I will post or maybe my aunt Stephanie too. Peter and I are here for now, but I think we might be trying to slip away to have Christmas with his family in Oklahoma for a few days. No doubt, it will be hard to leave but we leave with every intention of being back soon to see her and the family.

Merry Christmas and all that stuff

Those of you who know me know that the last month has been pretty hectic. My mom has been in ICU for almost a whole month. She had surgery on her neck and ended up developing a severe case of pneumonia as well as septic shock. You can read about that one right here. She is currently still under the effects of two weeks of sedation and is breathing through a trachiostomy in her throat. At the risk of being repetitive and actually quite tired of talking about it, please pray for her and the rest of the family. Peter and I are traveling home to be with them on Wednesday. We'll be there for a while...most likely until it's 2007.

I've gone through the whole range of emotions of being anxious about the possibility of her death, being upset, angry, depressed, grieving in advance, etc. On a good note, it is looking more hopeful as she is making small amounts of progress. Her road to recovery will be long, however. I've been in Kentucky finishing up the semester and have had muchos difficulty concentrating enough to write my papers. I feel like I am running on steam. With one paper to go, I have been the queen of procrastination today. Here is one small piece of that procrastination. This thing can be addicting. You upload a picture and it will match your face up with celebrities' faces. I've done it about a half dozen times, and surprisingly no Drew Barrymore.

http://www.myheritage.com

I hope everyone has a happy holiday. I am going to try to have one too. It's funny how this time of year is supposed to seem so happy and warm and fuzzy, but it is just not turning out that way this year. Thanksgiving was spent in the hospital and it is looking like Christmas will likely be there too. And while I know that Christmas is not about all the things we usually think about like presents, and Christmas trees and such- it is difficult to escape. I am at a weird place I guess and it is hard to describe. That's why I haven't written much on here. Right now I think I am at the crossroads of wallowing in self-pity and finding the peace of God that passes all understanding. Christmas is about Emmanuel- God With Us. And thank God that he is with us.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.


MERRY CHRISTMAS!