A few pics and a few thoughts...

Wow, another week has somehow managed to fly/drag by.  Not sure how that happens but somehow the hours of each day just fill up with visits and emails and texts and appointments and before you know it, the first full week of being at home is nearly complete.  It has gone relatively well, pain has been pretty well controlled and I'm trying my best to work off of some of the medications that I've been on.  Sometimes you just keep taking something because you don't think about it but all medications have side effects and some of those side effects are none too pleasant so the less meds, the better in my opinion.  

And so again, day by day the plans change.  We read tonight at devotions from Matthew about the wise man building his house on the rock - and Martha piped up that she knew a song about that so a raucous version of the wise man built his house upon the rock broke out, followed by "How Firm a Foundation" (my choice) and I was struck by the words of that song - how much they relate to our theme verses from Isaiah and how beautiful the words are - I don't have the Psalter within arms reach at present and I'm happily ensconced in my arm chair so I'll have to wing the words... "when through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace all sufficient shall be thy supply.  The flames shall not hurt thee, I only design, thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine."  I wonder how my gold will be turning out - hopefully 100 carat gold (probably not even a carat number, right?).  I pray that all the false and extra stuff that hangs around in our lives gets melted away and I am reminded to focus on the important and lasting things in this life - how God can be praised through this trial and how He is molding me to be the person who He wants me to be, even if it hurts so much.  And through the trials, He sends the comfort and balm that help to salve the wounds of spirit and body - visits from friends new and old, those who have gone through experiences akin to mine and those who lend arms of support and wash windows and bring meals and flowers and know when to listen and when to give a hug.  How I love this community that has grown up around us - how sweet their love is as it rains nourishment and comfort on our parched souls.  How blessed we truly are, we are able to reflect on that daily and share that encouragement with those who care for us, our nurses and doctors.  

I'm not sure how much more i'll babble on for tonight - i thought i'd leave you with a few pictures from our last few days so you see a little of our world.  Remember that the garden is open for tours and for coffee/tea time and you are most heartily welcome!  

Our little cool dude hanging out under the pine trees at Opa and Oma's place - she loved spending time with her American family and getting to know her cousin better!  And she learned a lot about selfies, I see!

I've always loved little soldier figures and Timothy and I found these handsome fellows at a new second hand store just down the street from us on Concession Street.  I felt compelled to bring them home and now they stand at attention on my kitchen windowsill to guard our home and lift our spirits!

For the uninitiated, this is a picture of my new permanent IV line called a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter - in case you ever wanted to bust that knowledge out at a local trivia game). The biggest pain  in the neck is that it needs to be kept dry and that's not an easy feat to complete on your own.... so the last week I've had to rely on the kindness of visitors to wrap me up so I can take much needed showers... So this is what it looks like after we've saran-wrapped things up!

And last but not least, here's our little Ava Grace.  You heard her last night, and here she is, doing yoga as per the ultrasound tech.  You can see her head and profile and she's curled up with her feet hanging over her head - unbelievable - my Mom remarked tonight that we might at long last have a gymnast in our family!  So special to see her again today - I think the tech spent a bit of extra time showing us different angles of our precious girl.  I feel her kicking a lot more today and it's getting stronger - so wonderful that she is being cared for in my womb by our heavenly Father even as much as I'm being cared for!  

And here's one last one... if you can figure it out, her head is on the left of the picture and she's actually looking straight at you - a slightly less "cute" image and a little more "alien" in quality but it was neat to see nonetheless.