Blessed by Servant Hearts

As many of you know, our last few weeks have been stressful around our house to say the least.  Two weeks ago our little Vaeh became very sick with a bacterial infection in her bladder that moved into her kidneys and eventually to her blood.  As an infant, before she came to live with us, she suffered many untreated infections that eventually shut down her left kidney.  After lots of medical treatment early on and continued monitoring, she has been infection free for over two years.  For those of you who know Vaeh she is very happy most of the time and her smile is contagious.  She has high pain tolerance and by the time she shows the effects of being sick she is often very sick.  We spent a few days in the hospital and then returned home with and I.V. still in her arm and returned to the hospital daily for I.V. antibiotics. We were only released with the promise and threat that we would return if we could not keep her hydrated or control her temperature at home.  She continued to run a fever for over a week but God's hand was on us as we barely reached the doctors criteria each day to stay out of the hospital.  At least at home we were all together as a family but it was a juggle to meet Vaeh's medical needs and appointment schedule along with all of the other children's emotional needs and keep up the house. 

Just as she started to get better and it felt like we were coming up to the surface for air, our baby boy broke his elbow.  Now this was far less serious than Vaeh's medical needs but it was another issue thrown into the mix and another hurting child.  As a mama watching your children hurt breaks your heart and between that and the exhaustion that pregnancy brings I was on the verge of a melt down. 

This is the point where I started to look for the blessings in the mess.  Vaeh was home and slowly getting better, Gracen's elbow was broken but everything was still in alignment and we already had a favorite and familiar orthopedic doctor, our little guy who needs his routine and structure so desperately was handling our crazy schedule and exhausted mommy well, and then there were those people with servant hearts.

God has blessed us with both sides of our family nearby and a treasured church family.  The grandmas and grandpas pitched in throughout the ordeal and stepped in to take care of the other children so that we could focus on Vaeh's care and later take Gracen to all of his appointments.  Many texted, said or sent kind words of encouragement.  Then the meals started pouring in.  Our family was fed for almost a week by some very special people.  Even before we knew how badly we needed it, a dear friend brought over not one but two meals and on Sunday when Gracen needed to be taken to immediate care for his arm, her meal was in the crockpot feeding all of the other children and grandma and grandpa while they waited at home to hear the outcome.  Now there is something about making sure that your family is fed that makes you feel like you are doing your job as a parent and it made me feel good to know that they were eating a home cooked meal when I couldn't be there.  It seems so trivial but its not.  The food that was made for us, those yummy homemade rolls, casseroles and the fruit and veggies cut up with care, along with those yummy pizza hut gift cards, not only fed our bodies but lifted our spirits and helped us to feel that we were not alone.  We felt the love of those who had prepared it but we also felt God's love through them.

Being a Homeschool Mom, this experience would become nothing less than a character lesson.  First of all what would I learn from this experience and what could I teach from this experience?  We started with a family conversation about the people who had provided our food.  They had servant hearts.  They were the helpers in the midst of our upside down world.  Now having a servant heart doesn't come naturally to me.  It seems that I always have an excuse for why I am to busy to help or why my help wouldn't be helpful.  But...I can cook...I love to cook and even when people say they are doing fine (like I did at first *wink*) a meal or even a kind word is truly appreciated.  In the midst of the chaos I didn't know what I needed.  I talked with our children about learning to stop and think...what can I do to help?  They struggled with seeing mommy and daddy so little and when they did see us, knowing that we were under so much stress.  They were worried about their little siblings and felt helpless.  We talked about what being a helper meant for them, seeing a job around the house and doing it or even just making sure that their own assigned chores were done without even being asked was a huge help to keeping our house running smoothly.  Helping the grandmas and grandpas take care of their siblings, not fighting, and helping around their houses was having a servant heart.  This morning I saw the character lesson lived out when I returned from an appointment and found the dishes done.  I assumed that Monte had done it but when I asked was told that our oldest daughter had seen that they needed done and did them.  So I will learn from her and I will learn from our experience to stop and think what can I do to help?  Even when it doesn't come naturally, I will work to have a servant heart because I couldn't have made it through the last few weeks without those who did.  For all of you we are truly thankful!