The next season....

Here we are in the dead of winter and just around the corner is SPRING!!!  Please hurry, I cannot wait!  I am also on the verge of a new season of health as well. 

It all started a few years ago.  I visited my best friend in FL and she mentioned I was leaning forward when I stood or walked.  I went home and started looking a pictures and I saw it too.  Now that I was paying attention, I noticed that I couldn't do what I used to be able to do anymore.  My stamina was declining and I ended up having to sit on the couch by the end of the night with an ice pack or heating pad on my back and neck. 

I started researching for reasons, tried physical therapy (3 months each time with 2 different clinics), used all sorts of prescription pain relievers, exercised, wore braces, chiro care, hot tubbing it (my personal favorite :) and just about anything else we could think of to help bring relief, turn back the clock or gain strength. 

After a set of xrays last February, it was recommended I see a surgeon to repair my Harrington Rod placement that had failed from my original surgery in 1985.  I was sent to a reputable spine/neurosurgeon.  He gave me a grime prognosis without surgery and a risky surgical plan to correct it.  It was so risky in fact, that after gathering more information and while developing my surgical plan the surgeon changed his mind and cancelled the August surgery in July. 

I was back at square one.  I was very depressed and confused.  Now what???

Not too long after the surgery was off the table, my current physical therapist asked me to call the Orthopedic Brace specialist, Patrick Flanagan.  She thought he could help.  I did and he has helped me.  He even knew about my case before I ever walked in the door and was hoping I would come in to see him!  He has developed a bracing system that is in a clinical trial and is now using me as a test case.  I love my brace.  It doesn't reverse the clock, but it gives me the support and rest my muscles need to make it through my busy day.  I count him and his invention as a blessing on this journey.

Not long after I started working with the brace, a Chiropractor called me.  Dr. John Merkling had heard about my case through one of my close friends and wanted to help.  He has helped me more than I ever thought possible and I count him as another blessing in this journey.

Today I met with a new surgeon, Dr. Dewald at Rush University.  I was not sure what to expect after all we have been through, but was pleasantly surprised.  He did agree I need reconstructive surgery on my spine, but did not think it needed to be as extreme as my first surgical consult did.  He knew exactly what I needed and has done it many, many times before.  He didn't give me a grim future, but cast a vision of hope and help that seems manageable - not extreme.  I am still considered 'high risk', but for some reason this time we all have peace about it. 

My surgery is scheduled for May 20th.  I will be in the hospital for 5-7 days post op, and will be recovering home for several months.  I will not be able to drive, lift or do simple tasks around the house for months (God help us all :) I may need a second surgery, but it will be smaller and not as difficult, but we will not know about the second until the first has happened.  When the 6-12 months are over I will be straight, strong, and looking forward to many years ahead of mobility and activity that I crave!!!  YAY!!!

So here is the update I have promised.  Thank you for your prayer thus far.....and please consider prayng for our family in the days ahead.  It is a season full of challenges, but most importantly of hope. 

“A voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.

 And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’

Luke 3:4-5 and Isaiah 40:3-5

If it isn't IMMEDIATE....then, it isn't OBEDIENT!

Have you ever asked a child to do something, once, then twice, three times.....? Have you ever said, "How many times do I have to tell you to........?"  They say kids learn by repetition.  Okay, I get it.  We have to keep repeating the lesson of where your shoes go when you take them off and why you don't leave the sink running after you wash your hands.  But, how about when you ask them to do something and the flat out say, "NO!!!".  It happens. 

It has happened a lot in our house lately.  I fear the kids are testing the boundaries again.  I have noticed it isn't just my kids, but all kids.  Recently a friend come to pick up her child who refused to get into the car.  I experienced a blank stare last night with our oldest after her Daddy asked her to please go read a book to her sibling.  This morning one of the clan told me he would not help take laundry downstairs (unless I paid him in jellybeans!)  When I just pulled into the driveway a few minutes ago 2 of my darling children refused to put their seat belt back on for the last 200yds.   So.....I stopped the car and made them get up and walk to the house!  What in the world is going on??????? 

How can we explain to our children (without screaming or spanking them) that they should listen? Here is what I am focusing on today with mine, and I pray it helps you too!

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Ephesians 6:1

as defined in the original Greek:
to Obey: to listen, to harken to a command, be obedient to, submit to. 
Obedience means: compliance, submission; obedience rendered to any one's counsels, an obedience shown in observing the requirements of Christianity.

Romans 1:5, Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

Romans 5:19, For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

John 15:10, If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

How to abide or remain in Christ’s love: obedience. Obedience and love go hand in hand. Christ has provided us the perfect example of both. 

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. " John 14:15

So here are a few truths I am sharing with our children in teaching them the concepts of obedience:
1. When you don't respond the first time you are already in disobedience.
2. When you respond, "NO", you miss the opportunity to obey all together.
3. When you do obey you get the chance to show God that you love Him.
4. When you do obey you show the person you listen to that you respect them.
5. When you do not obey you are responsible for the negative consequences that follow. 
6. It is impossible to disobey your parents and obey God at the same time.
7. To stay walking in step with the Lord requires your obedience.

That precious bundle that told me NO this morning.....well, he sat on the couch until he was ready to listen.  It took 45 minutes.  Then he said, "Okay Mom, I will do it without the jellybeans!"  I explained to him that he missed the opportunity to obey, because now the laundry had all been taken downstairs by his sisters.  I told him that he missed a chance to listen to me and to show God that he loved Him.  He started to cry and told me he was really sorry.  I forgave him, gave him a hug, and told him there would be more opportunities to listen and love God today.  Hopefully next time he will not miss it, but jump at a chance to show his faith by acting the first time.