grateful april - day 4

so this evening i was having a hard time figuring out what i was grateful for. i know, probably a bad thing considering it's monday, the beginning of a new week, i have a sweet family, good friends, yadda, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah........but i was having a hard time BECAUSE it's monday and b/c the time w/my sweet family is greatly abbreviated until the next wknd. BUT, as i was texting w/my mom tonight it dawned on me that yesterday was 4 yrs since my surgery - FOUR YEARS!!!!! count it with me......1-2-3-4!!!! holy cow, really? and i realized it as i was asking about my dad who is 4 1/2 yrs out from his surgery (granted our surgeries were very different, though both pretty darn big). so as i was talking to ed and trying to figure out my "grateful" for today, i realized today i am very grateful for these ppl. these people (family and friend) gave up their time away from family and listened to the Lord before we had ANY idea of the help we would need after this surgery. call us naive - or just downright clueless - but we had no idea of the need during and after the surgery. thank you Lord for speaking to others while those in the thick of it might be a little more clueless.
for the actual time of the surgery my mom, dad, and sister came out to be w/us - SUCH a blessing!! this was the first surgery - or time in the hospital - i had ever experienced, so being so far from home during that was not a fun time. they came up a couple of days before the surgery. chardel was able to stay a couple of days after the surgery, mom and dad were able to stay until i got home 8 days later (needless to say all of these pictures are from different times as i wasn't AS inclined to get pictures after my surgery):

 at ed's graduation party (and little miss aud just a bun in the oven!)

at chardel's house last november

WHILE we were at the hospital our sweet house group at church had set up a meal schedule - they had done this once before when my dad had his surgery and i had just gotten back from being in chattanooga for 2wks w/my family. such an incredible ministry to us - they truly will have no idea! they had asked us before the surgery what would be helpful and, not really knowing what to expect, i really didn't want ed our families to have to think about meals while i might be in the hospital. i was thinking they (my family) could eat at our house and then maybe come back in the evenings BUT these precious, precious friends took it upon themselves to take the frozen meal, heat it up, and bring it TO THE HOSPITAL for my family so they would not have to leave. EVERY night i was in the hospital my family was brought a hot meal (and the nurses benefited from any leftovers, which they were extremely grateful for). the planning and time that took, the generosity of those that made the meals ahead of time, greg and jill taking the time to bring it to the hospital and bring it up to my room w/plates and utensils - that was a huge blessing to us all. the fact that my family did not have to leave the hospital for meals meant the world to them, and me, and their generosity and sacrafice of time is not taken lightly - never will be!

greg and jill stokke with their daughter, kate, who is now 2yrs old!!

next my sweet mother and father-in law came up to help. they arrived the day before i was released to come home and they stayed a week with us. SUCH a blessing as we had no idea what to expect when we got home. my sweet mother-in-law sat with me as i had to learn how to manuever a feeding tube, eating when it didn't feel good, and keeping with a schedule that - as i look at it 4yrs later - was VERY intimidating!!!!

next my sweet sister-in-law came up to help. she was incredible to help me speak up for myself (i had/have this thing of not really saying exactly where i am or how i am REALLY feeling). she went to the doctor with me one time and i was pretty quick to have dismissing answers - sweet anna would remind me, gently, to let him know how things really were. she was strong yet sweet with me during that week. not to mention the sacrafice her family made being a week without her (thank you talley, mary jane, garrison, and anabelle)!!

next to come up was my best friend, leslie. that girl - i LOVE that girl!!!!!!!!! she was so insistent on coming up here, even though i was very resistant to any help at all. she was precious to be here and was such an encouragement (and good comic relief!).

after leslie left my sweet mother-in-law came up again to help. we had in-home help for 4wks after i was home from my surgery, which was so much more than we ever expected (or knew that we would need)!!!

today i am grateful for God's provision - that He knows what we need before we need it and He lays it on the hearts of others as needed. i'm grateful for the sacrafices made by friends and family to care for us and support us through a really difficult (and long) period of time. those listed here are just a few of those that ministered to us during that time. we are extremely grateful for Christ in them and will always be humbled by the generosity and love shown to us.

thank you Lord that You DO provide - help me to cling to this when a situation may seem hopeless or lost. You are still aware and in control!!