Day 2- We Learn Something New Every Day

Today was a good day in Skip's recovery except for two things. One, he was told he would have to have a one time radiation therapy to prevent H.O. What's H.O? I had the same question so I had to do some further research. Basically, heterotopic ossification is is a process by which the soft tissues around the hip harden into bone. We don't want this to happen or another surgery could be required. Obviously Skip's surgeon felt it extremely necessary after looking at his situation up close and personal. There is a slight chance for the development of a tumor (1 in a 1000) from the radiation, but we felt that another hip replacement is not a route we want to take in the next oh say, 100 years or NEVER.

The second rough patch was the radiation experience itself. Since I was across the street in Target searching for a blanket that didn't feel like industrial strength sandpaper when they came after Skip, I missed going with him for the treatment. He was gone about 3 and a half hours. I might or might not have alerted every staff member in the hospital of his long voyage and of my worry. I thought 30 minutes tops, but apparently they have this thing called a waiting room. Therefore, Skip waited 3 hours for his 20 minute procedure. They took him by wheelchair about two blocks away (it's a big hospital). In only his hospital gown. For all to see. He had an experience with his vacuum suction thingy falling off his wound in the radiation office, and he said a neat freak attendant was scrambling trying to clean up the mess. She couldn't get his bloody gown untied to change it, so she just cut it off with scissors. He said the site looked like something out of The Shining. I tell you what, with my man there is never a dull moment.

It looks like we will be making our escape tomorrow. I hesitate to put that in writing because of all the hoopla we went through two years ago. It was pretty crazy looking back at this post in July of 2006. Actually, all of July and August 2006 was pretty crazy. Things are going to look up! If you look closely in the picture of Skip at the top of this post, there are crutches in the background. Day 2 Skip is using crutches! Last surgery he used crutches on the 14th day. Ooh, I'm so excited. Skip is also excited because there is very few restrictions compared to the last surgery. More news tomorrow..........

Day 2-The Morning After

We are both having surgery hangover. Living on an hour sleep here and an hour there is hard. Skip believes I am somehow a qualified nurse so I am called for every need. I keep telling him my degree is in education, but he refuses to listen. I cut off beeping alarms, reattached the crazy ice machine attached to his wound, and failed miserably at putting on his foot pulsors after each trip to the bathroom. Sorry if this is way too much information. I'm bored in a hospital room and Skip's had already used his all his words for the day by 3 AM and won't hang out. He said something about needing sleep and wanting some quiet time. Whatever...

Skip's fever broke in the middle of the night. I don't think I have ever prayed so hard for him. I take that back. I have definitely prayed that much for him too many times. Seriously, God is so faithful to come to our need when we call on Him.

I have to thank ALL OF YOU again for the prayers and constant support we are receiving through emails, texts and comments. I want to send a special thank you to my in-laws for watching my three precious children. I know it's not easy, but you do it without complaining and with such love and patience. Thanks also to Skip's Aunt Alannah and Uncle Tommy for coming and sitting with me during the early morning surgery. We had such a great time visiting and keeping my thoughts on Truth.

Lastly, the love and support from Skip's coworkers at Real Life has been over the top. Thank you guys (and girls) for making us feel like family. Love and peace!

My home away from home.

Quick Update

It's getting late (11:20p.m.) and we are TIRED. Skip is beginning to run a temperature which can be totally normal after surgery, but we are praying it goes away soon. My tendency is to worry, but I am giving this to God. The nurses are on top of things, and don't seem too concerned. After the staph infection Skip had a week or so after the last hip replacement, I am not going to hesitate to keep a close watch on him.

He is having some shoulder pain and a headache right now, but is able to catch some z's between the constant checks and monitoring. Please continue to pray for Skip. I would love for him to heal quickly and get home soon.

On the Mend

Surgery was a success and I am so RELIEVED!!! Skip checked into the hospital at 5:30 AM and then the surgery took place about 8:30AM. It only lasted about an hour and a half, and the doctor said he did remarkable. Can I just say, "OUR GOD IS AWESOME!!!"

This picture of me with Skip was taken right after they moved him out of recovery and into his room. He was still a little loopy and said he wanted to get up and walk. The PT walked him down to the end of the hall and back. He was doing great until he realized he was about to pass out. His blood pressure dropped dramatically down to 65 over 36, when just a few moments before the walk it was 120 over 90. Yikes! It totally freaked me out, but once he laid back down it went back to normal. This surgery is so different from the one 2 years ago. He feels so much better, well other than the fact I almost lost him after his show-off walk a couple of hours ago.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and love you have shown us. We love each and everyone of you, and thank God for such wonderful friends.

What's Fun?

Shopping with a Caramel Mocha Frappuccino is fun.

Shopping with a Caramel Mocha Frappuccino and a friend is more fun.

Shopping with a Caramel Mocha Frappuccino, a friend, and finding cute, comfy, matching slippers is even more fun.

Shopping with a Caramel Mocha Frappuccino, a friend, finding cute, comfy, matching slippers, and paying only $2.81 for the slippers because you had a $10 Kohl's cash coupon is The Bomb!

My foot ................................... Tiff's foot

As a Gift To Me

Hi Friends! Well the final countdown in on for Skip's surgery. He is going in Monday morning in Houston, Tx. for his total hip replacement.

To surprise him with prayers and well wishes, I hijacked his blog today. If you get some time this week (or how about right now), stop by and leave him some love and prayers. It would mean so much to him to see us all joining in prayer for a successful, NON-COMPLICATED, speedy surgery and recovery.

I know God is going to finally free Skip from hip pain with this surgery and allow him to live life more fully. Thanks everyone!

My Weekend in Pictures

I woke up a little early this morning with a tinge of sadness on my heart. I'm not sure why because this past weekend was full of activities and get togethers. I think it is because I am in that strange place of "newness". I am making lots of new friends, but it is hard to explain feeling like the new girl.

I am definitely going to do a bible study this fall for women called "After the Boxes are Unpacked". It is about moving on after moving in. Even though I have moved back to my former city after just one year away, it is still tough. We are constantly meeting new people and for some reason, I have become much less outgoing. Once I start a conversation, I'm fine. It's the getting started that freaks me out a bit.

Here are some super sweet pastor's wives at a staff pool party our pastor and his wife hosted at their home on Thursday. I already have a long time friend in Laura(in the blue), and the other ladies have gone way above the call to make me feel welcome. I just know over time, the friendships will grow strong and it will feel more and more like home.

Here is my girls with our new pastor and his daughter Allie. My kids have made a great transition back home, and are enjoying all the new kids they are meeting.

This is Lori our LifeGroup pastor's wife. She has two beautiful children, and I can tell that she is jewel!

Donald is our Calallan campus pastor. His wife Cheryl has been so sweet to me personally. She has such an outgoing personality and her husband is just as great!




Skip and I celebrated our 16th Anniversary with dinner out. He hates this picture of himself, but I think we look fine for 40 yr. old lovebirds.

Now, we come to last night's baseball game. Real Life Fellowship had reserved seating in the grassy area, so Skip decided to let me and the kids go it alone. His hip wasn't going to hold out sitting for that long on hard ground. I was pretty bored, and I'm not sure who actually won, but my kids had a blast. Well, at least 2 out of 3 did. Annie said, "I'm bored about 1000 times." I have no idea where she gets it. I only said that 600 times to her.

I guarantee you that Ashley did not watch a single inning of the game. Three of her friends were there to hang out with. They were too busy texting each other even though they were inches away. I just don't get it.

Annie did have about 30 minutes of fun while hanging out with her friend Meg eating $10 sour patch kids candy. Okay, they weren't actual that much, but still they were EXPENSIVE.

Yes, I know my son Seth needs a haircut. Doesn't every 11 year old boy these days? He and his new friend Heath enjoyed walking around the park looking cool. He wanted nothing to do with sitting with mom. I'm not ready for my baby to grow up and act cool.

Leaving the field, we snapped a quick photo in front of Whataburger Field. Hopefully, next time we go we will be in the comforts of our friend Bart and Michelle's box seats. Maybe then I could give you a recap of the game, and maybe even tell you who won. Sad, so sad.

IN THE ZONE

Have you ever been in the zone? It may sound like a strange question if you've never actually been in the zone.

I am in the zone when I am sharing with a group of ladies about how God has worked His mighty hand in an area of my life. I am in the zone when my fingers frantically type to get feelings out on a blank page before I forget them.

For my husband, it is when he is leading worship before God and before a congregation. Last night was the first time in over two months that he has led worship at our new church. It was amazing! He was SO IN THE ZONE! It is what he was designed to do, and even though he is great at so many facets of media and worship, leading worship is where I see him shine the most.

Have you found a place where everything suddenly clicks? A talent that is so God-given and needed in this world? If you have, share it with others. In fact, begin to ask God how this "zone" can be lived out for Him and to His glory.

16 Years Ago...

It was 16 years ago today that I gave a pledge to God to love this man for the rest of my life. I seriously thought that things were going to be perfect. Who thinks these things? Well, I did and I found out that quickly that wasn't the case. Over the years we have struggled with many issues that kept the perfect marriage stamp off our certificate. HOWEVER, we have worked through every single obstacle as it came along with one thing. The power of Jesus Christ. We really can do ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS US!
This past two years have been the toughest for our marriage by far. We never knew trials like the dreaded, financial, house woes trials. It almost took us over the top! Two job changes in less than a year was another huge adjustment. God knew we could handle it, and that he had something wonderful waiting if we would just trust him. Don't even get me started with the hip replacement fiasco and the one looming in less than two weeks. The fun never stops around here. Prayer doesn't either!


I guess the thing that I want couples, singles, MY CHILDREN to know is that life will happen. It certainly has for us. It is how you choose to respond to life that makes all the difference. We have always tried to respond in a way that will honor God and our family first. If we fail, then we fail. God sees our hearts and sees our obedience even when others may not understand.


Happy Anniversary Skip! I love you and thank God for the man you are to me and to our family. Thank you for putting up with my insecurities, my sometimes crazy woman talk that happens at a certain time of the month, and for my Beth Moore lectures I might have given once, twice, or 97 times. In turn, I will forgive the time you spend with mistress one, mistress two and mistress three. Without these girls, you couldn't keep your wife living in the lap of luxury that I'm accustomed to in my 1380 square foot rental. Hee Hee. Just kidding.

My Sweet Girl

It seems like only yesterday I spent 3 solid hours pushing to no avail to get this little girl into the world. She finally gave up after forceps and a mighty vac. A seventeen hour labor produced one of the most special gifts God has ever given to me. I love this young lady with all my heart and even though she is 14 and over 2 inches taller than me, she is still my baby.

Proud is the first word that comes to my mind when I reflect on how awesome she is as a daughter. Loud, fun, creative, and sweet are also in her DNA. She is probably my complete opposite (Skip's personality twin), but she does share a few characteristics of her mama. She loves to write, and she cries at the drop of a hat. Last Christmas we had to keep it off the christian radio stations that played Christmas Shoes. We would ruin our mascara every time it played. Then we would start laughing so hard we would start crying again. Don't even get us started listening to Butterfly Kisses or Steven Curtis Chapman's Cinderella.


Well tonight, this beauty asked for her special birthday dinner to include just one member of the family. She chose her handsome prince, Daddy. Skip was honored and I'm sure he will treat her like a princess. I'll just go drown my sorrows with a Little Debbie swiss roll and watch a lifetime original. Just kidding. A little. I'm so glad she loves her daddy so much. Pasta is over rated anyway. Here is a quick snapshot of my girl. I did the pic in black and white because Skip was wearing a very colorful shirt that looked horrible next to Ashley's. As they were leaving, my 8 yr. old Annie shouted out, "When you take me out for my birthday, you're wearing a tux. NOT A GEEK SHIRT." Let's all start praying for that girl.

She Speaks and I Listen

FABULOUS! The She Speaks Conference was truly fabulous! I hesitate to write a post about my experience for fear that my words will be inadequate.


The first thing I learned is that THIS GIRL HAS A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF HER IF SHE EVER WANTS TO BE A WRITER. I guess I thought getting my words down on paper was the hard part. Oh no my friends! That is the easy part. Basically every thing I have written thus far on my blog should be deleted from the blogosphere. My grammar stinks! My sentences stink! However... do you know what doesn't stink? My GOD! He is completely capable of transforming my amateur attempts into works of significance. It will happen as soon as I get my booty in gear to study, write daily, research and remember that it is all about bringing glory to God.


One of my favorite speakers at the conference was Lysa TerKeurst. Remember here when I first mentioned her book When Women Say Yes to God. I finished the book before I went, and then had her sign my very worn copy. It is so strange that when I handed her the book to sign, I realized that the colors of her book cover reminded me of something. Take a look at my blog design done two years ago. Very similar except for the flowers. Pretty wierd since I had never seen this book before a few months ago. Lysa words spoke so close to my heart. I was encouraged and inspired.


All the speakers were real women with extraordinary stories of God's amazing grace on their lives. One of the women I met in RL was not a speaker, but instead my roomie. We have been friends for almost 2 years via blogging. She is an amazing godly woman and a gifted writer. We enjoyed our one on one talks as much as the conference. Springs of wisdom and God praises were constantly pouring forth from her mouth. Her name is Julie and she IS a writer! A published writer at that.

My other favorite new RL friend is Lynn. This beautiful lady is a dance teacher who has owned her own studio for many years. We met on the shuttle bus coming into Charlotte and became fast friends. She roomed with us the first night and we quickly became the three musketeers. She from TEXAS which helped us to form an immediate bond!

I could talk on and on about this wonderful conference and why I WILL be back next year, but I'm saving a little fun for future posts. This last picture sums up what first brought tears to my eyes as it was handed to me. It's just my name, but the 6 letter word under it represents the desires of my heart.

Reunited and It Feels So Good

I was in Victoria for just shy of 7 months, and during that time I only had a hair cut twice. That was out of complete desperation. The reason being that I hate to cheat. On my hairdresser, that is. It is difficult enough to find a hairdresser that you like, but even more difficult to find one that highlights and colors as well as they cut. I've completely given up on cost. It's expensive for quality. After being back in Corpus for a month now, I finally could not wait another week. I went in to see Kristyn (AKA- Wonder Woman), and got a cut and highlights. I'm not sure it's the highlights I love most, or just the way she cuts to make my hair work when I have almost given up. Either way, Kristyn, you are the BEST! I mean it when I say, "I was a fool to ever leave your side. Me minus you is such a lonely ride. That breakup we had has made me lonesome and sad. I realize I love you 'Cause I want you back Hey, hey!"

Need Some Prayer?

I have been so caught up in my own agenda lately, that my prayer time and bible study have been pretty minimalistic. I have also not had much inspiration to write either. Wonder why...hum? I know it is because my time with the Father is what gives me inspiration, ideas, and desires to write things to pass on to others. I know it is difficult to do a structured study this summer, but I am going to try to read a devotional or two each day. I found several unpacking a box the other day, and they are perfect.

During my time of prayer earlier, I felt the need to lift up a couple of things to you. First of all, my dear mother-in-law has had some stomach pain and issues for over a week now, and is still not feeling better. We are hoping to hear some news from the doctor soon. She is such a wonderful lady, and our family needs her healthy and well. Second, I was able to spend a lot of time with my daddy in Victoria yesterday while awaiting the arrival of his first great grandchild, and my first great niece. He asked for prayer for my grandmother who is struggling with the illness of my grandfather which has never improved. She does not want to let him go, but he is really suffering and he may not have much longer. We continue to pray for healing. Lastly, I pray for financial provision for so many I know struggling to make ends meet right now. I wish I could say that it is not a worry of my own, but everything keeps going up in price. I pray for God's provision for our family and for your's. If you have a special prayer request as you are reading this, I would love to pray for you today.

Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

*Please also pray for my sweet friend Julie who is suffering from pluerisy and wants desperately to make it to the She Speaks conference which starts on Friday. She is also going to be my roomie. I am praying for quick healing!

Here He Comes...

*Update: Here is baby Deacon. He is a healthy 7 lb. 4 oz. boy with dark curly hair. She had him without any real complications. Steph's iron count was pretty low, so she was given blood today to get her levels up. We are so thankful that Deacon is here and that he is doing great. We are praying Steph can go home very soon and start enjoying that precious gift from God.

My niece Steph

7:00am.

Phone call.

Accidentally hang up the phone.

Phone rings again.

Scream!

Calm down and listen.

My niece Steph is in labor.

Pray with her.

Shower, dress, throw kids in the car.

Head to Victoria.

We have to get there in time to greet baby Deacon!!!

C'mon Fess Up

You probably would never guess how I spent the last two evenings with my husband. I sat enthralled watching this. What an awesome tournament. Skip and I have laughed, cheered and cried a few tears together watching such amazing competition this weekend. And, we aren't done yet. The playoff is tomorrow! I haven't always been a huge fan of golf, but I have my favorites. When my favorites are on the leader board, I am glued to the set. This has become something we enjoy watching together, and I hope one day to join Skip on the course when time or finances permit. This sport is often geared more towards men (at least in my family), but I love that we sit and experience it together. What do you do with your husband or wife that most people would be surprised to hear? I'd love to hear!