So, I have been really busy. I know that seems like a given, but really I have been REALLY busy. Brian has been gone all summer during the weekdays, starting at the beginning of May. His work has taken him away during the weekdays to live in a hotel for four months. He drives the 3 hours home every Friday and drives back in the wee hours of the morning on Monday to get back to work again. This was, of course, when my 6th baby was due, smack in the middle of this. I hired some babysitters to help me a couple evenings a week while I was pregnant to help buffer this less than ideal situation.
Then as my due date approached I got so excited that my mom was coming to help with almost the rest of this trying time with Brian gone. Seriously, I was giddy that my mom was finally coming when I got the bad news. The bad news was that my dad had cancer and needed a surgery to remove it on the Wednesday after my mom was scheduled to arrive here. A double whammy, if you ask me. Maybe even a triple since the children and I were so counting on that time with my mom before having to move to another country. The decision was made that my mom would still come, but would possibly have to return early depending on how the surgery went. My brother and sister stepped up and agreed to take time off work to help dad with the day surgery. It was supposed to be an easy recovery and a day surgery.
The surgery went well, but his bleeding was much more extensive than they had planned for and he wasn't able to get the single local dose of chemo that he was supposed to get because of the bleeding. The day surgery turned into, "We'll keep him for one night," which then turned into three nights. He was in incredible pain and my poor mother was on the phone constantly getting updates and worrying about my dad. When he finally did go home, he had to return to the ER with more complications. He was readmitted to the hospital and that was when my siblings started asking for my mom to come home. Bobby was almost a week old at this point and my mom decided to switch her flight and head home, three weeks early. This was a very hard decision for her because she knew that she was needed in both places, she was desperate to spend time with her grand kids, but my dad was in so much pain and my brother and sister were heading back to work.
Saying goodbye to her was certainly not easy. The day she decided she needed to go back early was the day I came across this quote in my book, Perpetua. Couldn't have been better timing.
"It is agreed. I hold you loosely. While you are here, you are God's gift to me; when you are gone, it is my privilege to send you without complaint."
I read this to my mom and burst into tears halfway through it. It is something that is much harder to live out than to say, and I could barely say it.
This was just all around bad timing. However, blessings did come. My dad's pathology report came back with great news. They got all the tumor with clean margins and the type of tumor it is is a slow growing, non-invasive one. He is cancer free and just needs close monitoring to catch any recurrences before it gets too big.
Then a friend from college, Barbara, who had been praying for my dad found out that my mom was going home early and volunteered to come up and stay for a week and a half. I totally took her up on that! I barely thought about it before replying to her that we would start looking for flights. She has been a tremendous help! We were sad to see her go on Sunday. But then just a couple of days after her departure another blessing will arrive, Brian's mom offered to come and help out for the remaining time. God has truly put so many people in my life to help out this summer. That's not even all of the people that have stepped in to help. So many friends locally have brought meals, run errands for us, taken kids to VBS or the pool, and don't forget the incredible act of virtually delivering Bobby for me! I am so blessed.
Plus, I was struck later by the mercy God showed me by having Bobby be born only 2 days past my due date, making him almost a week old when my mom had to leave. I had fully expected to be in the hospital still when my mom had to leave if Bobby had followed in the footsteps of his older brothers. I am so humbled by it all.
We have less than two weeks until this nightmare of Brian's traveling for work is over. I cannot wait to have my husband back full time. Then the real preparations for the move begin, and chaos of a new kind starts it's engines.
Then as my due date approached I got so excited that my mom was coming to help with almost the rest of this trying time with Brian gone. Seriously, I was giddy that my mom was finally coming when I got the bad news. The bad news was that my dad had cancer and needed a surgery to remove it on the Wednesday after my mom was scheduled to arrive here. A double whammy, if you ask me. Maybe even a triple since the children and I were so counting on that time with my mom before having to move to another country. The decision was made that my mom would still come, but would possibly have to return early depending on how the surgery went. My brother and sister stepped up and agreed to take time off work to help dad with the day surgery. It was supposed to be an easy recovery and a day surgery.
The surgery went well, but his bleeding was much more extensive than they had planned for and he wasn't able to get the single local dose of chemo that he was supposed to get because of the bleeding. The day surgery turned into, "We'll keep him for one night," which then turned into three nights. He was in incredible pain and my poor mother was on the phone constantly getting updates and worrying about my dad. When he finally did go home, he had to return to the ER with more complications. He was readmitted to the hospital and that was when my siblings started asking for my mom to come home. Bobby was almost a week old at this point and my mom decided to switch her flight and head home, three weeks early. This was a very hard decision for her because she knew that she was needed in both places, she was desperate to spend time with her grand kids, but my dad was in so much pain and my brother and sister were heading back to work.
Saying goodbye to her was certainly not easy. The day she decided she needed to go back early was the day I came across this quote in my book, Perpetua. Couldn't have been better timing.
"It is agreed. I hold you loosely. While you are here, you are God's gift to me; when you are gone, it is my privilege to send you without complaint."
I read this to my mom and burst into tears halfway through it. It is something that is much harder to live out than to say, and I could barely say it.
This was just all around bad timing. However, blessings did come. My dad's pathology report came back with great news. They got all the tumor with clean margins and the type of tumor it is is a slow growing, non-invasive one. He is cancer free and just needs close monitoring to catch any recurrences before it gets too big.
Then a friend from college, Barbara, who had been praying for my dad found out that my mom was going home early and volunteered to come up and stay for a week and a half. I totally took her up on that! I barely thought about it before replying to her that we would start looking for flights. She has been a tremendous help! We were sad to see her go on Sunday. But then just a couple of days after her departure another blessing will arrive, Brian's mom offered to come and help out for the remaining time. God has truly put so many people in my life to help out this summer. That's not even all of the people that have stepped in to help. So many friends locally have brought meals, run errands for us, taken kids to VBS or the pool, and don't forget the incredible act of virtually delivering Bobby for me! I am so blessed.
Plus, I was struck later by the mercy God showed me by having Bobby be born only 2 days past my due date, making him almost a week old when my mom had to leave. I had fully expected to be in the hospital still when my mom had to leave if Bobby had followed in the footsteps of his older brothers. I am so humbled by it all.
We have less than two weeks until this nightmare of Brian's traveling for work is over. I cannot wait to have my husband back full time. Then the real preparations for the move begin, and chaos of a new kind starts it's engines.
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