A NEW Year!

The Christmas holiday was filled with family and I do believe that although sedate and adult, we enjoyed our time together. Thanks to Katie and Cam, we got the shopping done and things taken care of that there was not time nor energy for Rick and I to do. Thanks to them....we even had our gifts wrapped :) AND, our Christmas was white, lots of snow reminding us of times past when the winters were always packed with snow and ice....I could do without the ice part.

As we approached the new year, there was some exhaustion on the side of the parents in this house and by Monday, Rick was incredibly ill. We arrived at the emergency room to find that he had an overwhelming infection going on and was septic. The rest is almost history. He is about to experience day 7 in the hospital where we have been trying to treat the infection (that turned out to be originating in the gall bladder) without surgery. He experienced procedure #2 yesterday, hopefully we are on the road to recovery today.

So what have we learned this week? That even though there are tremendous bumps in the road, there can always be more...so for now, we will be happy to keep the ones we've got. I am sure that there are many more important lessons that I have yet to see clearly...but I am watching carefully. Sometimes I think that I am a slow learner, so more opportunites tend to come.

Above all we are grateful for family and friends who continue to support us and love us, even when we aren't too loveable. May the Lord bless them all for doing so.

So off we go to experience a new year, my hope for our family is that we become refined and sensitive to others' needs so that when we are again able to put forth great efforts to serve, we can do so with strength and understanding.

Happy New Year!