and wow...30. my 20s are over. they were quite a decade. in the past ten years, i've graduated from college, bought a house, met and married jeremy, worked full-time nights as an RN, said goodbye to two parents, given birth to two kids, become a full time mom, and moved across the country. whew! i entered my 20s as a single college student and left them as a wife and mom. i hardly recognize the twenty-year-old me as i look at myself now. what a lot of change.
this last one, 29, was a hard year. lots of tears, questions, anxieties, and trying desperately to trust God's plan for our lives. on my birthday this year, i think i was mostly celebrating the fact that i survived this past year and hoping that this next one is better. even so, as hard as it is to say, i wouldn't trade this past year of life for an easier one. we have learned valuable lessons, seen God's faithfulness, testified to God's work in our lives, and grown closer to each other. at the same time, i do hope this next year will involve fewer tears and more laughter. so far, it's looking good.
after visiting a church on sunday, we came home for coffee, nap-time, cards, and a couple of gifts. after jobot woke up, we headed downtown for a father's day/birthday lunch. the dads shared a steak-for-two dinner.
we spent the rest of the afternoon at the zoo, with plans to come home for homemade birthday cheesecake. unfortunately, just before we left the zoo, jobot dislocated his elbow. the whole event involved lots of tears (not only from jobot), concerned parents, and a poor boy who couldn't use his arm.
we brought love and dad home and spent the evening in the ER. it was our first trip to the ER with one of our kids. (funny timing, as i was just saying the other day that we are probably going to be taking jobot to the ER quite often...such a rough and tumble, daring, climber that he is). before we went, i had already diagnosed him with a dislocated elbow (i just knew), but he was officially diagnosed after a med student and resident looked at him. some arm manipulations and screaming later, it was popped back into place and jobot was immediately back to himself again. we had taken him to the hospital where jeremy works, so we even got a visit from the on-call chaplain (a friend and colleague of jeremy's). ha!
sad little boy.
all fixed and back to his old self! happy boy and happy mama!
jeremy works in the children's hospital and sees very sick kids every day. already this summer, we have both realized how easy it is for us to take our children's health for granted, and how it could just as easily be us sitting in those hospital rooms, wringing our hands and pleading for our child's healing. it is always hard to see your child in pain, even if it is something as simple as a dislocated elbow, and it gave us a tiny bit of perspective about what some people face every day under far more serious circumstances.
i ended the weekend thankful for good medical care and healthy children, and thankful for a fresh start on a new year.
here's to 30!
Poor little Jobot! I can't imagine how upsetting a dislocated elbow would feel. I dislocated my knee in 10th grade but I knew what was happening and I knew the pain wouldn't be forever.
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed your birthday, and I'm sure that this year will be better than last: your kids are growing up and the winters should be better (fewer colds?) and it's a fresh start with lots of opportunity. Is there anything you're looking forward to doing this year?
Rebekah