Good Night

Jeffrey had a good night.  He slept for about 9 hours straight through breathing treatments and all.  He did just fine having treatments every 4 hours.  Jeffrey did vomit once in the night, but a lot of mucus came up so that is good.  At 5am his O2 state was 98 and his heart rate was 102--all very good.  So now we wait to see the doctor and hopefully go home today.  Thanks for all your prayers--God hears us!

Jeffrey Update

O2 stat and heart rate are staying about the same.  We are going to try and go 4 hrs. between breathing treatments tonight.  Pray it goes well.  If Jeffrey can get to 4 hrs. we can go home and do breathing treatments. 

As, we were reading books earlier tonight I read the word peaceful.  Jeffrey asked what peaceful meant.  I told him and he started to cry and said it was not peaceful here and he wanted to go home.  Pray that Jeffrey will feel God's peace tonight and sleep well.  The poor little guy is so tired.  He is sleeping now, but they will be in at 11pm for the next breathing treatment.

Also, pray for Jackson.  It is hard on him to not have mommy at home and having so much attention focused on Jeffrey. 

Jeffrey's Hospital Stay

Friday morning about 3:30am Jeffrey woke up with breathing difficulty.  He was wheezing and coughing up mucus.  Josh and Jeffrey sit in a steam shower and it help a little bit.  We debated about going to the ER, but choose not to after Jeffrey fell back to sleep.  Jeffrey and I were up and down a lot that morning and I don't think I slept much because I was just watching Jeffrey breath.  Later Josh heads to work, Jackson to school and Jeffrey and I to the doctor.  When we were called  back to the room the nurse took one look at Jeffrey and said just a minute.  He walked out of the room across the hall and got Dr. M from another room.  It was all hurried and a little scary.  Jeffrey was started on a breathing treatment and given steroids.  Dr. M said they were trying to stabilizes him so I could take him to the ER by personal vehicle instead of ambulance.  After two breathing treatments Jeffrey's O2 stat was about 94 so we headed to the ER.  Once at the ER Jeffrey had two more breathing treatments, Tylenol and Motrin for his 101 fever, O2, and a chest x-ray.  The x-ray showed clear lungs--YEAH!  But we would still be staying the night.  Jeffrey had bronchialitis.  By late afternoon Jeffrey was doing so much better.  We had a friend bring him a special treat--a corn dog, Tatar tots and a slush.  He was playing and talking.  When we finally got up to a room Jeffrey was switched to a puffer.  Into the night though his breathing became more labored and he was switched back to breathing treatments at two hour intervals.  At some point during the night Jeffrey pulled out his nasal O2 tube and did fine-YEAH!  Currently, Jeffrey is having breath treatments every three hours.  We have to get to every four to go home--mostly likely tomorrow.  Dr. G believes he has asthma, but Dr. M, our reg. doctor, will have to determine that in a couple of weeks. 

Please pray!  Excuse the typos and such I haven't slept much since Thursday night.

Every Bit Counts

The dicussion begans.  If you are reading The Resolution for Women along with me great if not please read through the questions and join in the discussion anyway.

The Resolution for Women

Part I: This is who I am.

Surprisingly Satisfied—A resolution to be content

Every Bit Counts

Carefully consider what the Bible says about contentment.

1 Timothy 6:6-10

If you go back and read the first of chapter 6 Paul is saying to stay away from those who argue, who envy, have corrupt minds and view godliness as a mean for personal gain. Then in vs. 6 he says, “now godliness with contentment is great gain” (NKJV). So, what can one gain? First let’s define contentment. Webster online says contentment is “the quality or state of being contented.” Webster says contented is “feeling or showing satisfaction with one's possessions, status, or situation.” I do not think I feel satisfaction with my current situation. I know what I have going for me is great, but I am always thinking about how things would be better if _____ was different. If I was content I would gain a thankful heart, the ability to receive more from this time in my life and the mind set to give of myself more. Verse 8 goes on to say we should be content when our basic needs are meet. I don’t know about you, but I want more than food, water and shelter. I desire purpose. I don’t think the desire or need for more is wrong. I think the question we have to ask ourselves is why do I want _______. Is it for personal gain and glory or to reach others for Christ. Verse 7, 9, & 10 talk about “stuff” and money. I don’t struggle with wanting the newest and best of things, but I do catch myself thinking if we had more $$ we could do more for others. However, I know God has blessed our family with a lot and I have plenty of resources, time and talents to give---I may just need to get a little creative.

Hebrew 13:5

This verse reminds me of what I say to the boys all the time, “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” I need to say that to myself.

What have you been hurrying through?

I feel like we are always in a hurry. It would help if I actually got out of bed when my alarm goes off. But that’s not the hurrying we are talking about here. I hurry through the boys’ bedtime routine. I hurry through prayers and singing so they can get them to sleep and I can do whatever it is I feel is so important, but in reality the boys’ bedtime routine should be top on my list. The nights I’m not in a hurry have been great--snuggles from Jeffrey and deep talks (for a six year old) with Jackson.

What have you been hurrying to get to?

This is odd to me, but I feel like I am in a hurry to get through this season of life where the boys are so depended on me. The days are long when all you hear is Mommy I need, Mommy I want, Mommy help me, Mommy he did ____, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy. The odd part is that I desire to have more children which would keep me in this season longer.

What are some of the good parts of your experience that you’ve missed in your attempt to rush through the more difficult ones?

I know I have missed out on good things because of my hurrying, but I can’t recall what it was or maybe I haven’t realized what I missed yet.

What can you do differently today to “scrape the plate”---to gather up all the good things around you and begin enjoying the journey of your life?

Well, since I read this last night and am doing the questions tonight I can tell you what I did earlier today. I flew kites with Jeffrey and one of his friends. Now I play with the boys and their friends all the time, but in my head I usually can’t wait for the game or activity to be over. Because let’s be honest 4 yr. olds games can be mind numbing. Today, however, I chose to see the joy in Jeffrey’s excitement as he got his kite high in the air. I chose to be thankful for the sunshiny day, the wind and the time to fly kites.

The Resolution for Women

Last month our Sunday School class got together and watched the movie Courageous.  If you haven't seen it rent it from redbox it is very good.  I was either laughing or crying the whole time.  The movie is about a group of men, husbands and fathers, that decide to make a resolution to live by God's Word. 

Yesterday, Jeffrey and I were at the library and I just happen to look at the new arrivals and saw The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirer.  So, I checked it out and began reading it last night. 

This morning as I was on my run a thought pops in my head about having a book discussion group about this book.  I then began to think about when would be a good time to start something like that and I had many reason to say not now.  Then the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and I recalled what I had just read from the book last night.  Be content in the season of life you are currently in, live in this season and stop focusing on the next. 

Thus, I am going to be reading The Resolution for Women and posting my thoughts and answers to the discussion questions.  I encourage you to join me in this book study and pray that we all will grow in our relationship with Christ.

Head on over to amazon and purchase a copy of the book.  http://www.amazon.com/Resolution-Women-Priscilla-Shirer/dp/1433674017/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328719996&sr=8-1

I would love to be able to meet with each of you and talk about what we are learning, but since my season of life doesn't have a lot of extra time right now I will utilizes the Internet.  I do not have a plan on how fast I will go through each part or how often I will post.  So just keep checking back and keep reading.  I really want you to share what you learn so I can learn from you so leave a comment.  If you receive an email of each of my post please go to my blog and leave a comment so that others can read them as well.

SMILES

Things that have made me SMILE today:

1. Jeffrey's excitement about chocolate chip pancakes
2. Volunteering at school and seeing Jackson (Today is the 100th day of kinder)
3. Left over fajitas for lunch (Thanks Josh for grilling the yummy meat)
4. Flip flops in Feb.
5. House cleaned (Mon) laundry done (Tues) which means I sat and had hot tea and read this morning after getting the boys off to school.
AND THE BEST FOR LAST
6. God's Word--I have been reading the Psalms of Ascent (Ps. 120-134) love how they tell a story of so many years ago and still speak to me right now.

Singing!

This morning I was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the boys when I heard some happy little voices.  I assumed that Jackson and Jeffrey were playing instead of getting ready for school.  I walked down the hall getting ready to firmly (aka yell--I'm working on that) remind the boys of one of our morning rules "no playing till everything is done."  As I walked into Jeffrey's room I heard him singing, "I'm so happy so very happy I have the love Jesus in my heart" while making his bed.  By the way he does great for a 4yr. old with a queen size bed.  I quickly backed out of his room and just listened for a minute in the hall.  What an excellent reminder it was to hear Jeffrey sing this morning.  So often I complain as I go about doing the every day things that have to be done over and over again.  But I should be happy and singing because I do have the love of Jesus in my heart.