06/03/2023
If you have been waiting on me to do glass work this week or waiting on me to respond please read the following about the last week of our family life. I will get to you this coming week! Thanks for understanding!
Blessed! That's all I can think of on this Saturday morning. Blessed by God, blessed by amazing family and friends, blessed by an amazing wife and blessed by wonderful kids. Some of you have followed the last week of our family life and what a wild ride it was. (One of the nurses we had listened as I gave instructions to our little people on what all needed to be done at home and said, “I would love to watch a show about your family. You guys are entertaining to listen to! Your lives are crazy!”) We knew that this was going to be a huge week for our family and we had a plan in place to make it all happen but it didn't quite go as we had planned. A week ago we started off in Smith Center with the conclusion of an amazing spring show circuit and our kids did awesome. But we came home to find Ella unresponsive, alive but couldn't respond to us. (The most scared I've been since Mya’s entrance into this world!) We rushed her to the hospital and then on to Children's Mercy in Kansas City. Ella was supposed to represent the Northwest District in Creed Speaking and receive her award for her FFA grant. But instead she was stuck in the hospital recovering from Toxic Shock Syndrome. Blessed to have the medical team that we had at Children's Mercy Hospital. They were amazing! Blessed to have the youth pastor that we have. Dustin and Erianna you were amazing!!! Thank you! Blessed by my sister Vicki who was here visiting my parents and who drove me to Kansas City Saturday night. I would not have made it to KC without her as I was running on 3 hours of sleep. So blessed that she was here and could do that!!! God had her in the right place! Thank You!!! Blessed by my brother Steve and his wife Jo that met the helicopter in KC at dark thirty in the morning and made the best phone call I could have received that Ella had recognized them and talked to them. That was a huge relief. Thank you Jolene for staying with her overnight and for bringing her to Jesica on Friday. Blessed by Kaleb who took a day off of work to go to Kansas City to stay with his sister overnight and a whole day. Blessed by neighbors who came to help do chores one morning. Blessed by our niece who came to see her in the hospital. Blessed by my parents who fed the little boys and watched over them and got Esther off to camp. (Also, blessed by the example my parents have been as today they have been married for 65 years!) Yes, in the middle of this Esther left for camp. Which left Mya (who got a severe migraine and was out for a day) and Joshua and Tucker to run the farm. Thursday morning Joshua says, "So I'm in charge of this whole operation now , huh?" I told him, young man you are the only 8 year old in the world that I would trust to run this place for two days by yourself. His response, "don't worry Dad I got this." Blessed! Blessed by my bosses who let me have Friday off so that I could go to Manhattan to be there to watch Karli. Blessed by Dustin and Nick who mowed for me this week! Blessed by Kurt and Paula, thank you! Blessed by friends who called, texted and messaged us all week who truly cared about us and our kids. Sorry if we didn't get everyone responded to. Forgive me if I missed someone, the blessing of people overwhelmed us this week!
Blessed that the end of the story was amazing for Ella. She got out of the hospital on Thursday and was able to make it to Manhattan in time to watch her sister Karli get a State officer position in the FFA. Blessed to have a daughter with so much drive and ambition to go after something that she wanted so badly. Blessed by all of the people who helped her prepare during this past year from interviewing her to listening to her speeches and for encouraging her along the way. Thank you Mrs. Winter for helping her and being a role model for her. She has been working for a year to make the state officer team and she was blessed to get that position. Her life and ours changed for the next year! She will get so many cool opportunities meeting people from all over the country. Serve well young lady!
Blessed by so many that prayed for us this week! I believe that your prayers changed the outcome for Ella, her quick recovery was so much faster than what the doctors told us last Sunday to expect. Thank you so much for being diligent in prayer for her and us. Thank you Jesus for listening to us and answering our prayers. All I can say is THANK YOU. We have been blessed, hopefully we can return the favor and be a blessing to others.
