I've thought about writing several times and then....life happens!
What a year this has been. Addie, she is just as awesome as ever! She is healthy, smart, healthy, growing, FUNNY and our little buddy. She loves to travel, hotels and swim! We got a nice little family pool this year and she swam her little heart out. She's still sad that it had to be drained and put up.
She's also been a great nurse to her dad. Greg went to the ER on February 15 around 5:00 am for shortness of breath and general ick feeling. Yes, I said Ick. About an hour later our world was changed forever when he got the diagonsis of Congestive Heart Failure. Nothing prepares you to have a doctor say something so scary and so .... I can't even put it into words. Now, please know that I thank God every day that Greg has received top notch medical care and that by the true grace of God he is still here with us on earth. I don't take that lightly and I am so thankful.
That day of Feb. 15 we went from a diagnosis of CHF to pnemounia to possible blood clot back to pnemounia. Greg was treated for pnemounia for a few days and he didn't get better, as a matter of fact he got worse. Fluid filled up in his lungs and he was basically drowning to death. I remember being at the hospital with Greg and watching him sleep at all hours of the night. He struggled to breath and his body was so weak. After a few days of being treated for pnemounia he had tests completed and they ("they" the general medical community at St. Francis!) caught that his heart wasn't pumping well at all, it was only pumping at roughly 10%. I remember feeling like I had been punched in the stomach when the Cardiologist told us that. Then he said that it wasn't good BUT that he would do everything he could to figure it out and fix Greg up.
What sticks out to me even more about that night was everyone that was in the room with us. So many people were there that even the Cardiologist made a comment! Our dear friends and family wrapped their loving arms around us and I'll be forever thankful for that. I always knew we were loved and blessed with some incredible people but I really saw what our crew was made of! To this day Greg tells me that he doesn't ever have to worry about anything happening to him b/c he knows Addie and I will be taken care of. I know that too. I also know that God was there with us.
We had so many visitors and people praying that it overwhelmed us at times! Overwhelming in a great way. Hueste and Libby brought me lunch and carried a case of water to the room! Kirby bringing FMLA paperwork to me. Tim, Chad and Brandy coming to the hospital every day and calling. Julie texting and calling and praying. Aunt Dee and Uncle Bill driving over an hour to visit. Grandmomma coming by several times a day. Andrea flying across the country to make sure her brother was okay. Our parents being there with us every step of the way and making sure our precious girl, Addie was taken care of. I never once had to worry about her or her well being. Friends and family bringing gifts and food to us when we got home. Countless phone calls, cards, emails and facebook messages. All of those things were so incredible (and mad thanks to all you people, you know who you are!!) but the one that sticks out so much to me were the people from various churches that came to pray with us. Complete strangers came to pray for Greg and my family.
I'm not going to lie, I felt pretty lost and empty during this time. Some pretty serious personal things had happened with my family the previous month, I had recently had surgery and then Greg was hit with a life threatening diagnosis. I always had believed in God, Jesus, the whole sha-bang but I didn't put Him first. I was selfish for so many years and my soul felt empty. I pleaded to God to save Greg but I knew in my heart and soul that God, Greg, my family, myself deserved more. Greg also has always been very spiritual and we agreed that we wanted to raise Addie in a Godly home but neglected to take some of the spiritual steps in doing so!
Greg was released from the hospital and the first Sunday after being released he finally took up T & J's offer up to go to church with them. They had told us about this amazing church, LifeChurch.tv, and promised that we would love it! We were so excited to attend! Addie had never been with left anyone but us and the grandparent's before but we were ready to put her in Sunday School. Thanks to a lovely stomach bug that hit Addie and I, Greg had to take one for the team and went to church by himself that Sunday. Weak and sick he went. Not just physically weak and sick but also spiritually weak and sick. I stayed home and wallered around on a air mattress with Addie. We were both sick and vomiting (lovely I know!!) and I really could have cared less about church at that moment! But when Greg came home, he was lit up! He had a pep in his voice and seemed so alive! He told me that it was nothing like he had ever expierenced but he thought he really liked and I thought I would too!
That is basically the beginning of this new beautiful life. We went as a family the following Sunday and never looked back! This is the first time in my life that I've reguarly attended a church and I was baptized 9/11! The emptiness that I once felt is no longer there. I have learned to forgive those that have hurt me and learned to live for God and not myself. When people ask how we/Greg are doing I love to tell them that this has been by far the hardest year in our lives but also the best! A new life has been born in us and although life is still hard and challenging, I know that God is there to protect, guide, lead, love and help us. Greg and I have grown so much this past year. We've always had a fantastic marriage (no, seriously, it's always been pretty great!) but we've grown up and together this year.
We pray with Addie, for Addie, to Addie, about Addie. We pray for our precious Compassion child and her family, church and community. We pray for our friends, family, church and community. We pray for each other. We pray for you!
I'm so thankful for what God has done in my life and what he is going to continue doing in my life! For the first time in a long time I'm so excited about the future. I'm excited to share this new found excitement with all those special people in my life and to continue to grow and evolve.
To close things out...here is a picture of my pretty cool little family :)
