Mom Being Vulnerable

I woke up this morning with a strong sense that I need to share my heart with you, our faithful supporters and prayer warriors.

Bill and I looked at a few models of ranch homes last week. I walked in one and "knew" that Dan needed this type of house. It was all open -- living, family, dining all spacious for Dan. (Other ranch houses we look at tend to have smaller rooms and narrow halls.) I dismissed my feeling as just being the fact that I probably wanted a new house, and because of financial concerns anyway.

We got back to RIC to see Dan and share with him about house hunting. He said to me, "Just make sure it's open so I can get my chair around." I almost started crying because of his sweet spirit of acceptance of his situation. There was no demanding in his face, just a realization of fact. I know that other quadriplegics live in not brand new ranch homes just fine, but it has recently hit us that unless the Lord frees Dan from being vent-dependent, he will not be free to go anywhere by himself. He won't be able to use public transportation alone. He will be home a lot. He loves change of scenery. As I mentioned a few days ago, we walk around the RIC hall just because he gets bored in his room. I long to make his environment as friendly and useful for him as possible. Since Dan's accident we have already learned how unimportant houses and material things are, and yet I so want Dan to be comfortable. I treasure your prayers for us in this decision-making process.

Thank you for listening to a Mom's honest heart. Bill is looking at a few homes and lots this week. We know that the Lord will direct our steps to just the right place for us. Dan will be released from RIC way before we have a new house ready, but we will make temporary changes in our current home until we get in the new house.

Please continue to pray for us as we embrace, not just hold on to at a distance, but embrace, our divinely assigned portion. I thought the burden would get lighter, but it's actually getting heavier, especially as we think about being home soon, without all the respiratory therapists nearby. God is faithful and He will never give us more than we can bear!

Thank you again for all the help fixing up our present house. It is absolutely beautiful. (Oh, that reminds me -- so many people have talked to us about Extreme Home Makeover. New sounds wonderful, but so many friends and family have put too much into our house to undo their hard work. I know that the Lord will bless the work of their hands. But thank you!)