saltines and chocolate milk...

Hi Friends...

I was supposed to talk at our Bible Study leaders meeting yesterday morning about what God has been teaching me lately. I really felt God pushing me toward the topic of planning. I used to be a pretty scheduled person and wasn't overly thrilled when our plans would change. When Lyla was born I loosened up a little, and when Evie was born I apparently lost the brain capacity needed to make plans (: What God has taught me over the past year and a half, is that when our weeks and days are strictly planned, we always feel rushed, and miss so many opportunities to love people. God commands us to love Him with all of our hearts, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. By not having plans, I have learned to take time for others. To genuinely care for the people we run into at our routine places. To learn their names, things about their families, what they care about. To forego a much needed nap to spend time in God's word, or take a mental break and just "be still." My unplanned life is more flexible, less stressful, and full of joy in the small moments of caring for others.

The reason I bring this up is because I intentionally "planned" this week to be an easy week. Didn't make many appointments, figured we would keep Lyla out of any germ infested play areas, and get our laundry and cleaning caught up before Evie's surgery next Monday. Well that changed when Evie got a fever on Sunday. She slept quite a bit and felt generally lethargic. Monday I knew we needed to be on the lookout for seizures, and she had some jerky unusual movements during naptime. We gave her an extra dose of her meds, but around 11:30pm she had a long, 5+ minute seizure and we just couldn't get her to stop. With fear that she would stop breathing, we took a short ambulance ride to the hospital, and upon arrival she was our normal smiley Eve sitting eating saltines and chocolate milk. I tried to tell her if she wants crackers and milk she just needs to ask for it!!! No more scary stuff (:

It's so hard to know what's going on in that little body of hers, so we chose to err on the side of safety this time. We are going to increase her seizure meds until she is recovered from surgery, and keep all of those brain waves going the right direction. She had one funny number on her blood draw come back high (BUN) so we had a redraw today and are looking into what could cause that, but with Eve we just may never know.

Yesterday was recovery day, although I am still in a bit of a fog today. I DID make it to Bible study Tuesday morning, but NOT early enough to share what God has been teaching me (: So you all got to hear it! My plan for this week to be easy and smooth was definitely derailed and I've been a bit of a mess the past few days, but I think we're getting back on the right track.

I have tried uploading pics the past few days, but am still having difficulty, I will try again before I log off tonight. I am not liking this picture-drought we are in!

Love you friends, prayers for Evie to be healthy and STRONG for her surgery would be much appreciated!!! 5 more days to go (:

Lindsey