Saturday, January 3, 2009

The Holidays

Don’t you just love this time of year? It is by far my favorite. Starting with the beginning of fall; all of the smells and sounds associated with it and the air gets a little crisper. I love all of it. This year was a unique one. It was a fall full of lessons to be learned about the wonderful mercy, grace and power of my Holy Father. If there was one thing my parents did especially well, it was to teach us the true meaning of Christmas. Since we were on the mission field most of my growing up years, we spent most Christmases with just my immediate family, and we established many traditions. One of those traditions was to begin reading the nativity story in sections each night for the week leading up to Christmas Eve. The younger kids always got to hold the piece of the manger scene that was being told that night. And then on Christmas Eve we would read it in its entirety and then sing carols. We opened our gifts on the 24th and it always felt more authentic to me that way because I imagine the stable at night with the stars shining above. Christmas was then a family day. Luke and I are beginning to establish some our own family traditions (most of which we were unable to do this year,) but this year Christmas was a true reminder of the gift God gave the world of new life. I hope that in your precious prayers for my family this year, your Christmas was made even more special as well.

As the week went on and we approached 2009, I couldn’t help but thing of that hymn…count your many blessings name them one by one, count your many blessings see what God has done!... and I began to count. God has given me a wonderful husband who loves Him more than me. He has given us a ministry to serve Him in. He has blessed us with five beautiful, unique, healthy, irreplaceable children. He has given us a roof over our heads, a car to drive, food to eat, and clothes to wear. He has provided us with wonderful friends and family members who have proven themselves to be true prayer warriors and has used them to spread the news worldwide uniting the body of Christ in one cause allowing Him to display His unlimited grace and show His loving-kindness and power to so many believers and lost alike. He was in complete control every instant of my journey these past months, He brought mom home at just the right time. He gave many doctors wisdom on just the right decisions to make (not to mention the quality of doctor care He alone provided me with.) He spared me the majority of the pain by allowing me to be unaware during those first few weeks of recovery. He watched over my family better than I ever could. I could keep going and going and going because there is no end to His goodness, but I am aware that not everyone wants to read my blog all day J so I will finish with this…HE brought me home to my family before Lily’s birthday. He gave me the gift of watching them grow a little longer and for that I am eternally grateful. And He has let me understand that nothing He does is in vain or out of cruelty. Everything He does has a purpose and He has given my family the honor of being a part of bringing Him glory. May I never forget! (fortunately I have a pretty big reminder that goes from the top of my abdomen all the way down, it’s kind of hard to missJ)

I hope your holidays were as wonderful as ours.

In the way of an update; I saw Dr. Spak on the 29th and he was very pleased with my progress. He still wants to see me in two months again at which time I’ll have to have another CT scan. This is just to continue monitoring the reduction of the fluid and hematoma in my abdomen. My lab work came back very good. All it showed was some borderline anemia so they have me taking iron. I know mom has already written some of this stuff. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. God bless you all.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Emily,

Thank you for taking the time to share with us even though you are trying to recover. Your thanksgiving has reminded me how grateful I am for the many blessings in my own life. Please know that you and your family are still in our prayers. God bless you and we are so thankful for what God has done!

Tarah and Chris Jenkins

Sandra said...

Emily,
Thank you for being so open and allowing us to be a part of your journey. It has been amazing to see God working in and through your family these past few months. I will continue to pray for you during this time of healing and reunion with your sweet family!
Sandra (Becky's sister)

Linda Clark said...

What a blessing to hear from you. I have been hoping soon to hear from you and see how God is continuing to work in your life. I know that you feel grateful and so blessed. From time to time I would love to keep up and hear how you are doing. I have a feeling you will discover new teachings from this experience most often and we will be blessed by it. Keep in touch, love in Christ, Linda Clark

The Burk's said...

Emily,

I'm thrilled that you are home with your family and doing so well! God is so faithful! Thank you for opening your heart and sharing things about your journey, and all of your sweet words of wisdom. Emily, you are such an awesome example of what a Christian should be. Thank you for encouraging others in their walks. May God continue to bless you and your family by giving just what you need each day and when it is needed. Your family is precious! God Bless You!
The Burk's

Becky Dietz said...

I've just been WAITING for you to make this blog your own----I LOVE it! You're doing great! We need to see if we can get you hooked up to DSL so it's easier to get online and blog.