News

We took the kids to the nursing home to see Dottie this morning.  We were there until about 9:30 and then I left to take them to school.  Garth stayed for awhile, and then came home to make some phone calls.  The plan was to go back to see her very shortly.  However, while we were here we received a phone call to come back quickly.  We made it just in time for Garth to take Dottie’s arm and feel her last pulse.  She took her last breath as we walked into the room.  It was a beautifully sad moment.  In her room is a clock that plays Christmas carols at the top of each hour.  She died right before noon.  While we sat there quietly grieving, we heard the clock play “Joy to the World” and “Hark the Herald”.  One line of the song rang out to Garth, “Risen with healing in His wings.”  She is no longer in that falling apart body, but is healed and whole.

God did a miracle with that clock.  Later when Garth looked at it, he saw that the song for the noon hour is supposed to be “We Wish you a Merry Christmas.”  Yet, God blessed us with two joyful Christmas songs of angels welcoming in the new arrival!

Another neat thing that happened was when Garth was typing on his phone “Mom’s gone”, it came up as “Mom’s home.”  It’s true, isn’t it?

The kids are dealing with this as best they can.  Wyatt is still sick, and now Cale is feeling quite bad.

We have family coming in tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.  Emma will turn 12 on Thursday.  The funeral will be on Friday-visitation at 1 and the funeral at 2:30 at Calvary Community Church.

Thanks for the prayers.

Rachel

Dottie

I haven’t written you all for quite some time.  My heart has felt so heavy and I haven’t felt like writing.  There seems to be so many big things going on in our family right now, that at times I feel overwhelmed.

The most pressing matter at the time is the health of Garth’s mom.  She went downhill quickly from Sunday to Monday.  There is a chance she may have had one or two strokes, she has had about four seizures, and is on oxygen to help her breathe.  Her bone marrow disease has turned into leukemia, and her trouble breathing may have turned into pneumonia.

Garth’s sister and two girls were here last week to see her before she got real bad.  It was such a great time with them.  Now our family is struggling through the stomach flu, and trying to plan a 12^th birthday for Emma on Thursday.  Please pray for all  of us.  I took the kids to see Dottie this morning and then made them go to school.  Of course, school was the last thing they wanted to do, but I am hoping the distraction will do them good.  Wyatt is home with the flu.  He is hopefully the last one to get it.

We do know that Dottie is a Christian.  I clearly found written records of when she gave her heart to God June 1, 1951.  So there is much joy to be had at the thought of how wonderful her heavenly body will be compared to this earthly body that has caused her so much trouble.

Here are a few pictures:

Heaven

As I am writing this we are in bumper to bumper traffic in Chicago headed back to Wisconsin.  This past week the kids were off school and we took a trip to Virginia to visit Garth’s sister and take the kids to D.C.  We decided to leave at 3 am on Saturday morning and drive straight there.  The whole trip has so many signs of God’s blessing upon it.  We were given money for the trip, a friend donated his suburban, we were able to stay with family the whole time, and while were there, we were given money for gas by a very generous family.  It was a great time of catching up with family and exploring the history of our country.  We took the kids to the Manassas battlegrounds, did two of the Smithsonians, and most of the other monuments and memorials in D.C.

However, on the way there we received word that Garth’s mom was taken to the ER.  Her bone marrow disease is progressively getting worse.  So either today when we get home or tomorrow we will be moving her into a nursing home.  This whole time has brought up discussions of death with the kids and those around us.  I remember as a child sitting in church watching my Grandma up in choir singing a song about Heaven that said something like, “Just think of stepping on shore, and finding it Heaven, of touching a hand and finding it God’s, of breathing new air, and finding it celestial, of waking up in Glory, and finding it Home.”

What a beautiful picture of the life God has prepared for those who love Him.  The most breathtaking sights we see here on Earth that feel like “a little piece of Heaven” don’t even compare to the vast beauty we will experience in Heaven.  The kids are praying for God to do a miracle and heal Grandma Dottie, yet in my heart I feel like I shouldn’t ask for more of the struggles of life instead of the peace of Heaven.  So instead I pray for God’s will.  Pray with us all through this time.

Love you all

Rachel

A Bonfire and a Boy with a Gun

So yesterday Garth and I were working around the yard and had a bonfire going.  I saw Cale go in the house and then come out with something.  I wasn’t sure what he was up to until a little later when I saw him standing by the fire with his squirt gun.

Now, I knew the fire was large in comparison to his tiny gun, and was not in danger of going out.  But  if Cale had come to the fire when I lit the first spark, and would have sprayed water on that spark, he may have been able to put it out.  But he waited until the flames were really going.  There was no way his small stream of water would have any effect on the flames.

The same idea is true in life with sin.  We need to stop it right when it starts.  The longer we entertain it, or let it grow, the harder it is to get rid of.  Especially, our tongue.  It can get us in a lot of trouble.  One lie, or interaction with gossip, one sharp comment shot at someone can be the spark that ignites a forest of trouble and heartache.  And then, often we need a lot more than a tiny stream of water to help us patch things up.

The Bible says:

James 3:5
Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

Speaking of tongues (pun intended), I don’t think there is any fire that is too big to put out.  Nothing said can ever be taken back, but it can be healed, over time, with God’s help.

Love

Rachel

Ecclesiastes 6:11
The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?

1 Corinthians 14:9
So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.

Angels, anyone?

I think I need to keep my children home and duct tape them all to chairs!

Sophie had an accident at school last week and broke one of the joints in her foot, Saturday Cale fell out of the wagon while being pulled behind Wyatt’s bike, and we had to take him to the ER only to find out that it looks like he has a concussion, then today Emma came back from Operetta practice with ice packs taped to her leg and foot.  One of the kids bumped a large ladder and it fell down onto her.

Gracious, me!  I had half the gumption to keep Wyatt home from soccer tonight.

If anyone isn’t using their guardian angels right now, we could sure use them.  Send them right over!

Love you

Rachel