Prayer and Country Music

I've been listening to country music for about four years or so now. I like to listen to it when I'm working on the car, or on my bike, or just tinkering with stuff. Country music helps remind me that my life really isn't all that bad. It makes me smile. I heard this song, Pray for You, the other day and it made me laugh.

How We Play

I am taking a class this summer called Counseling Children and Adolescents. Jean is taking the class, too, which makes the class much more fun.

Our professor encourages us to draw and use Play-Doh during class, and play on our breaks. Julie made these flowers out of Play-Doh during class, and many students used sidewalk chalk during the break to have fun.

Beautiful Girl, Big Cat

I Don't Remember When

I don't remember the last time I have felt this sick. Jean and I are both really sick. We slept for 19 hours yesterday. I got up yesterday afternoon to go throw up. The next thing I know I am lying in the doorway of the bathroom, with my head out in the hall. Jean was standing over me. I asked what happened. She said she heard a thud, then I was snoring. I had passed out while throwing up.

I sweat. My skin hurts. My kidneys hurt. I am so tired.

Holy and Unholy

The literal Hebrew translation for the word HOLY is "Intensely Alive."
The literal Hebrew translation for the word UNHOLY is "Yet Filled with Life."

Are you HOLY, intensely alive, or UNHOLY, yet filled with life?

Rob, His Wife, and Baby Number Four

Rob is continuing to respond to yes and no questions with head movements. But, Rob's wife went into labor last night. Currently doctors are attempting to stop the contractions with medications. The baby is currently breach as well, which means if the baby does come and does not turn a C-sections will be necessary.

Rob is Improving

Rob is moving his head to indicate yes and no. He is also able to squeeze with his hands. The doctors are planning to move him to a step down room soon.

Thank you for your prayers!

Mothers Day

In the words of Trace Adkins, "You're One Hot Mama."

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas

I love this painting.

^{JOHN 20
24}Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."

²⁶A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

How Rob is Doing

Rob has been unresponsive since his stroke a week and a half ago. His respirator has been removed and he is able to breathe on his own, though. While the doctors say that there is little brain activity, we still hope.

New Bed

Our new bed arrives today! We can't wait. We've had our current mattress and box springs for all of our marriage––and we're just weeks away from our 15 year anniversary. We've both not slept well for awhile. We are hoping the new mattress does the trick. About 4am every morning I wake up with severe muscle spasms in my back. I begin each morning feeling more tired than when I went to bed the night before.

A few weeks ago we tried out mattresses at the mattress store. We went back this past Monday afternoon to make sure we still liked the same one, and to buy it. As we re-tried out all the mattresses again and confirmed our selection, Sam fell asleep on one. I hope we fall asleep as easily on our new as he did in the mattress store. We are dreaming of rest.

Best Friends

I get to go on a lot of class field trips with Alina. Thursday's field trip was to Seattle's Woodland Zoo. I "chaperoned" Alina and her best friend May. They were so excited to be together. They were so excited, in fact, that they walked with their arms around each others' shoulders for the first half-hour of the day.

They are a perfect pair. They love playing the same things, and they love playing together, and they love each other. May came over last Saturday. They had fun playing together the whole afternoon, and the day went too fast for the both of them. Alina wishes May was her sister, but they pretend to be cousins. They are so sweet. They are best friends.

Last Night

Last night Rob had a quiet night. A good thing.

Post-Op

Rob's surgery was supposed to last 2-4 hours, but it only lasted 50 minutes. The doctors found and removed a small blood clot. The doctors also reinserted the drainage tube to his brain, and inserted a line into his neck in order to record Rob's vital signs. The doctors said that the surgery went well and are hoping that this calms the agitation Rob has been experiencing.

Please continue to pray for Rob's wife, as well, as she is crumbling under the weight of all of this.

Surgery Pending

The doctors plan to take Rob into surgery between 4pm and 5pm Eastern time this afternoon in hopes to relieve pressure on the brain.

Grim Doctors, Hopeful Family

I am a day behind in relaying information about Rob. I haven't gotten an update this morning, but yesterday's report was grim.

The doctor's have been treating Rob for pneumonia. His fever returned and they packed Rob in ice Wednesday evening to reduce his 104º body temperature. Since the stroke, Rob has been agitated and unresponsive. The medical staff are giving him morphine because they know he is in a lot of pain. The triage doctor said that they do not expect for Rob to get any better than the state he is currently in. Yet, we still hold out hope because the doctor's have already been wrong once. Rob wasn't supposed to live, yet Tuesday evening he was responding to commands of raising his arms, legs, and head. Today is a new day.

Stroke

Rob had been progressing really well. Tuesday he was able to move all of his limbs. The doctor's could not tell yet what the extent of the long-term damage was, but this was a great sign. For a man that wasn't expected to live, he was doing amazing.

Much of Wednesday Rob was agitated, and then yesterday afternoon Rob had a stroke and it affected one side of his body. At this point the doctor's don't know how severe the stroke was.

On the investigation side of the assault, witnesses in the neighborhood haven't been willing to talk because most in that neighborhood don't trust police or police detectives. At this point there is not enough evidence to make a case against the seven 13-year-olds.

Update on Rob

Thank you so much for your concern and prayers for Rob.

Yesterday was a good day for him. He was able to respond by opening his eye. He has been on a respirator in order to help aid his breathing. Many of his muscles responsible for his breathing are relaxed, so the respirator helps override those relaxed muscles and keeps him breathing. They took him off the respirator for a couple of hours yesterday and he was able to breathe on his own. Breathing became labored and they put him back on the respirator.

Last night and today Rob has been unresponsive. He hasn't been able to open his eyes when asked to. He has been off the respirator again, though, for much of the morning. They are hoping his unresponsiveness is due to him being tired. His being unresponsive has been really hard on his wife, who is 7 months pregnant with their fourth child.

The stolen bike wasn't the first time the seven thirteen-year-olds have caused problems for Rob's family, or the neighborhood. A few weeks ago the same group knocked his wife to the ground––remember she is 7 months pregnant. A neighbor said that the main boy of the group knocked a 74-year-old man out of his wheelchair last summer and stole it.

And, apparently, the beating Rob received was captured on video by one of the group-member's cell phones and has been posted on the internet. The detective working the case at this point has refused to confiscate any of their cell phones.

Please keep praying for Rob, his wife, and his family. Thanks.

A Heavy Heart

Picture Order: 1) Me holding Rob. My cousin Scott, Rob's brother, behind us. 2) Rob's school picture. 3) My cousin Scott, my dad, me, and Rob at Silver Lake Sand Dunes. 4) Rob fishing with our favorite aunt Sue. 5) Me, Scott (behind), and Rob. 6) Rob grown.

I received a terrible phone call this morning about my cousin Rob. Two weeks ago some kids had stolen his daughter's bike. Last night while walking home from work he saw two kids with the bike. He walked up to them and said that he didn't want any trouble, he just wanted the bike back. His wife saw him and she came, and he told her to take the bike home. Another kid blindsided him. With what he was blindsided with we aren't sure. It may have been a baseball bat. There were seven thirteen year olds in all.

Rob later went into seizure, then into a coma. Last night the doctors weren't sure that Rob would make it. They operated on him, taking out a piece of bone from his skull, as well as a very large blood clot.

The last information I had was that he could––when asked by the doctors––wiggle his toe, grab the bed rail, and give a thumbs up sign. The doctors are encouraged by that, but have given him medicine to sleep in order to keep him calm.

He currently has a tube running from his brain so that the blood to will flow in order to reduce the brain's swelling . The doctor's said that the next four days will be hard, and that things will get worse before they get better.

At this point they had only found six of the seven 13 year olds. The seventh is the one believed to have made the blow to Rob's head. The other six have been released back to their parents.

Rob, his wife, and their children would certainly appreciate your prayers.

Dryers and Sam's Feet

During the kids' spring break I fixed our dryer. I am the family launderer. I was noticing that the dryer was leaving long, thin brown marks on my dress shirts and on Jean's blouses. After taking it apart, upon further inspection, I noticed that one of the roller wheels was very worn. You can see just how worn the inside edge of the wheel is in the photo. The worn wheels were causing a gap between the dryer drum and seal. The rear seal of the dryer was also very worn. Clothes were then getting caught in the gap caused by the worn wheels and getting dirty when they rubbed against the worn rear seal in the dryer drum.

When we were leaving for the appliance parts store Sam said, "My feet really itch!" I told him that he probably had athlete's foot. I asked when he had last changed his socks. He said, "I don't think I've changed them since spring break started." It was now Thursday. Spring break began the previous Friday.

I ended up replacing both dryer wheels, the belt, and the front and rear seal. Dryer repair is pretty simple, and I could probably keep this unit going indefinitely. It is SO much quieter with the new wheels. So much quieter that it is often hard to tell if the dryer is still going or has ended.