This blog post is part of a series that I began for telling our story. You can read the first post here.

From this point forward, I’m going to be sharing the text of posts as they were written at the time. Some will come from this blog; others, from our CaringBridge site. I may from time to time write my own reflections after re-reading, but mostly I will just be sharing words as they were written. So much of this journey for me is revisiting what happened, and realizing just how difficult the journey was for us. And now, seeing how far we’ve come since that time.

I really want to catch up with the dates on the calendar, but to do that means I need to double-up my posts even more than I already have. So bear with me as I will post twice a day for a while, in an attempt to get better caught-up. Thanks for your patience. 

This post is from my blog, originally written on the last full day spent at Health Bridge.

We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of so many people during this time. The prayers, obviously, have been the biggest help, and we are blown away by how many are out there praying for us. But then we get monetary gifts from some of the most unexpected places, and it humbles us so much.

And then there are the people who are caring for us in so many ways. One person offered to mow our lawn – I was almost sad that we had to tell him that our house is a patio home, so the neighborhood association fees we pay include lawn care for our tiny piece of land. We’ve had countless offers from people to run errands, or asking if there is anything we need. Truthfully, we don’t really need anything right now. HealthBridge takes care of all of Samantha’s needs, and we are pretty much set with our meals. Company is something we desire most, and it tends to come from unexpected places too. Today someone stopped by while I was in the shower, but waited outside the room until I was done. Just so you know, if that happens to you, I have no expectation of privacy outside of the bathroom since medical staff are constantly coming in. So feel free to sit with Samantha until I can come out. 🙂

Food-wise we’re doing pretty good. Currently I’m snacking on “tempting trail mix” from Trader Joe’s courtesy of a friendly care package from DC-by-way-of-Nebraska. And sitting in the fridge in the kitchen with our name labeling it is homemade Chinese food from our pediatrician’s office. We have vending machines for sodas, though the selection is sparse, so if we go out to lunch I try to refill my cup before we come back.

Several times over the course of this past weekend (when we were daddy-less) I found myself sitting with Samantha resting on my chest after feeding her and feeling total peace. As far as those moments went, Samantha wasn’t sick and we were just enjoying mommy-daughter time together. I’ve been trying to play more music, too, and this Newsboys song came up on the shuffle that makes more sense to me now than it ever did before:

Lord (I Don’t Know)

You are the author of knowledge
You can redeem what’s been done
You hold the present and all that’s to come
Until your everlasting kingdom

Lord, I don’t know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead me to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

You are the God of tomorrow
Turning the darkness to dawn
Lifting the hopeless with hope to go on
You are the rock of all salvation

Lord, I don’t know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead me to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

Oh, Lord, you are the author
Redeeming what’s been done
You hold us in the present
And all that is to come

Lord, we don’t know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead us to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

Everything about our situation fits into these words right now. It’s an older song but one I’ve always kept on my playlist. Thank you Lord for keeping it there for this time.

Next post coming this afternoon.