Learning to Serve

In the words of a friend, "This week was NUTSO!"

On Monday, I had terrible abdominal pain that was not like anything I'd ever experienced. I lived with it for a day, but on Tuesday, I checked myself into the ER where they did a u/s (checking for ovarian cysts), and eventually a CT scan, which identified my pain as a 3mm kidney stone! UGH!!! So needless to say, I was out of commission (despite being at work) for much of the week.

On Tuesday at 11pm, Dominic cried out in his sleep, "I frowed up." Great. Since I was awake anyway (due to pain), I hobbled into his room, tossed him into the bathtub, remade his bed, got him back to sleep. Oy.

Oh... and in Jon's words, "This is my busiest week of the year."

Mommy in pain and Daddy in ultra-busy mode translates into lots of frozen pizzas for dinner.

The stoned passed on Wednesday afternoon (thank you!), and the rest of the week brought just a little bit of tenderness, but much better overall. Dominic, on the other hand, didn't fare so well... he had more middle of the night vomiting on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. We think it's just post-nasal drip, as it's only a single vomit, his appetite is normal, his mood is normal, and he's completely fine both before and after he vomits. At any rate: I'm tired of washing bedding!

So the first lesson in serving came as a result of my kidney stone and the ensuing chaos. It was quite humbling. Jon mentioned my pain to his Board of Directors on Wednesday. He plays softball with the son-in-law of one of the board members, and she mentioned it to her son. Her son then forwarded it as a prayer request to the whole softball team. The softball captain took it upon himself to say, "In times like this, people need to have meals brought to them..." and proceeded to bring us some chicken lasagna. Another teammate brought meatloaf, mashed potatoes, fruit, and salad. Way above and beyond what was necessary -- but so very welcomed and humbling nonetheless.

Also this week I decided that the kids' car seats are getting too small for them. I went on Amazon and ordered them some booster seats. They came in the mail on Thursday. I took them out of the shipping box and the kids instantly asked for the big box. They were pretending to be baby chicks in a next. The box later was torn apart and made into an airplane which they took turns piloting. Who needs toys when big boxes are more fun!? More creative, too!

The second lesson in serving came on Friday night. Jon's organization was part of a local homelessness rally. I bought a huge bag full of canned goods and the kids and I took it down to the front of the stage. Dominic was happy to be a part of the event -- and more happy to play in the dirt BEHIND the theater. He was also happy to see is Daddy up front speaking to everyone, and just tickled when I finally let him run down the stairs to sit in Daddy's lap... in front of everyone... milking the attention for all its worth!

The guest speaker was Mark Horvath of InvisiblePeople.tv He's a former TV producer who became homeless and is now working has come out of homelessness. He has recently lost his job and is driving cross country to raise awareness about homelessness and what we can do to stop it. One of the things he's doing on his travels is interviewing homeless people -- giving them a voice and a name. Making them visible again. At the conclusion of each video segment, he asks them what their three wishes are. The event coordinators asked each participant to write their three wishes on paper, and we held them up for Mark to read at the conclusion of his speach. Here's Amara's three wishes for the world....

As I wrote last week, we just filled up the bird feeder the former owners left. We have a lot of wildlife in our backyard. Amara's particularly captivated by the cardinals. However, they typically stay pretty far away -- up in the trees (go figure). Imagine my surprise when I saw this little pesky squirrel eating from the feeder on Sunday morning! I tried to throw a cherry tomato at it, but it jumped (literally from the second story to the ground) before I could hit it. Every time he came back, Amara urged me to go get a tomato! HA! We did see some nice birds though -- the tufted titmouse (top left), Carolina chickadees (bottom left, our most frequent visitors), and the beloved cardinals. The blue heron you see is actually sitting on a tree across the lake. He doesn't come to the feeder. He does sit on our dock from time to time though!

And there you have it! That's our week!