Wherever You Are...

...Be All There.

"Wherever you are, be all there" is something I have said to myself for years.  When I am at work, I have to remind myself to be mentally completely at work.  When I am at church, I actively fight the urge to think on the rest of my day.  When I am home, I have to hold myself accountable to not  be pulled in several directions but to focus on my family.  After all, my kids don't want to relate to me from the other side of my phone or computer screen.   Truthfully,  I think my fear is that if I am not all there, I may not give it my best or remember it later and I don't want to live like that.

But as true as that statement has been the last several years, it has never been more true than now.  Trent and I switch hospital duty every 24 hrs now.  We take turns spending a day at home with the kids (or at work) and a day with Maggie.  Switching is hard because you are always leaving someone behind.  Furthermore, with every switch, I am leaving Trent behind.  It is easy to focus on what I am missing at the other location, but I can't.  So when I lay my head down at night and wonder what the other 1/2 of the family is doing, I repeat to myself, "wherever you are, be all there" because I know that is the capacity in which I can be most useful.

So that's where we are and now for the important part.


An update:  Maggie is continuing to improve everyday.  Her speech appears to be back to normal.  Her left side is improving but still has a ways to go.  She is showing more personality every day too and that is fun to see return.   She loves the ice cream sundaes at McDonalds so when we get a chance we take a stroll downstairs to watch the trains and have a treat.

I had a great conversation with one of the physicians today about mission work in China.  I was able to pass on my Chinese therapy training material and she plans to use it at an international conference in August.  God is definitely using this to impact the world in ways we never imagined.  I am thankful for that new friendship and hopeful it leads to more opportunities.

Prayer Requests:
1. Maggie has an MRI tomorrow at 3:30 to look a the abscess on her Thalamus.  It did not shrink with the last MRI and if it hasn't shrunk this week, they will likely need to go in and drain it.  This would put us back on a regular floor or maybe even in ICU.  Please pray the abscess is gone and everything is looking better.

2. Maggie is having some separation anxiety.  She cries when I have to step into the restroom or out to get a cup of water.  She didn't want to sleep last night or take a nap today but just wants to be held. I am not sure the 24 hour switch off has been best for her.  Pray she feels secure and learns that we always return.

3. Please continue to pray for the big 3.  They are growing weary of the back and forth to the hospital and spending every other day at dad's office.  Pray for peace and understanding for them.


Thank you again for holding us up.