In his sermon titled “Care to Share,” Jeremy, our preacher, challenged us to share our stories because our stories are how we make Jesus known. He says – “You know, I may post the beautiful sunset seasons, but I don’t post the raging storms seasons. But you know what? That may be the very stuff […]
Feeling all the Feelings
Pretending to be a bug when taking a snack break! Josiah has started intensive therapy. Intensive = 45 hours of physical therapy, 40 hours of occupational therapy, and 20 hours of speech therapy in 20 days. It’s been a good week so far. Our weekend was full of late nights and early mornings, so he […]
Seeing the hand of God
I love that on different apps, we can see photos from “this day” in past years. I love getting to see my now 12, 10, 7, and 5 year old children as babies and toddlers and preschoolers. And this time of year, I see their back to school pictures, proof of how much they’ve grown […]
The Nightmare
Have you ever had a nightmare? You know, the one where you wake up in a panicky sweat, short of breath, convincing yourself it was just a bad dream? Yeah, one of those. If you’re like me, you take some time to breathe and calm yourself down until you’re able to relax and settle back […]
Faith Wins
It has been almost 6 months since Josiah’s last MRI! Wednesday, December 2, he goes back for another. I hate the anticipation. I hate the anxiety that creeps up during the weeks prior. I hate the constant stream of dreams that fill the nights, starting about two weeks before. I hate the feeling of being […]
God’s Peace
A friend of mine recently asked me, “Did you ever, even for a second, think that Josiah might not make it? And if so, how did you overcome that?” I am so glad she asked this question. The easy answer is, “yes, I did” and “I overcame that with God’s peace.” I know you’re looking […]
Everyday Struggles – Part 4
Going out to eat at restaurants is sometimes a challenge with Josiah. It’s definitely getting better, although when we do go out, it’s usually fast food (Chic-Fil-A where he can play or the drive through) or HyVee where we can leave and get groceries when Josiah’s done with sitting at the table. Going to a […]
Everyday Struggles – Part 3
Why church was hard: Following Josiah’s surgery, he fell back into somewhat of a newborn’s sleep pattern. If he was overstimulated (which was often) all we had to do was take him to his dark room (ok. It was our master closet-completely dark and very quiet as it’s away from the rest of the house.), […]
Everyday Struggles – Part 2
In my first Everyday Struggles post, I mentioned that Mondays (chemo days) were the easy ones. I also shared that Tuesdays were another story. Chemo days were on Monday, and our normal time to be home was anywhere from 8-10pm. Josiah had never slept the best, but Monday nights seemed to be worse. He needed […]
Everyday Struggles
When thinking about a brain tumor, surgery, chemotherapy, doctors appointments, and medication, you may think one of these items would be the hardest things about Josiah’s journey. They’re the obvious struggles. I’m not wanting to give the impression that any of those things are or were easy. I think I was in survival mode and did […]