A little Bit of Thanks

 Rejoice always;  pray without ceasing;  in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

As Thanksgiving approaches I think more and more about what I am thankful for. I don't have to think very hard to come up with a long list of what to be thankful for. This year was not an easy year by any means. Last Thanksgiving if I had been asked to predict the next year I never would have guessed the trials we would have encountered. What does James 1:2-4 tell us? Consider it all joy knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and to let endurance have its perfect result so you may be perfect  and complete, lacking in nothing. So, with those words in mind I worked though the trials of the last year. I wasn't always precisely cheerful, and I didn't celebrate our bad situations, but I was thankful to the Lord in all of our circumstances. I held on to the realization that He was moving in my life to place us in a better situation, on a better path, to put new people in our lives, to put us in the lives of new people as well. Those dark moments were teaching times, moments of introspection as well as retrospection. For those times I am thankful. We are constantly evolving, never fully complete always growing. 

This Thanksgiving week I have the opportunity to look back on a year of growth. Tonight Brittany handed me the date of her High School graduation, her early graduation. Tonight I had a conversation with a typical competition cheer coach about Heather Riley actually competing in January with the other girls, I look at my grown girls and I know they are on the paths to becoming adults that will make a difference in the lives of those they touch in the world. They are all four beautiful young women, with pure hearts. I am thankful God has allowed me to be their mother. 

I am thankful for the amazing friends I have in my life, those far and near. Both old and new. Over the last year I have gained at least one new friendship that I cherish more than this person may realize. Friendship is a vital part of the human condition. I let very few people into my life, I talk to many people on a casual basis, but very few on a personal level. I have marveled over the entrance of certain people into my life. This was one of those instances.

This Thanksgiving we turn to the Lord with praise for what is right, and ask for guidance in the other areas. This thanksgiving we are going to be quiet, just us at home. This year is a time for quiet reflection, a turkey and stuffing, some time on the couch just holding on to one another. Reminding each other of what is important.

 Life and love. 

Over the years I have come to the realization that I have very few needs in life. The girls too, the three of us are simple, while it is true there are things we enjoy in life, those are not things we require to be happy. The only thing we need is love, it doesn't matter where we live, or what we consume. We could eat rice and beans, as long as we are secure with love nothing else matters.


For this sense of security I am thankful. 

There are so many things I am thankful for, I could continue, I could list things until the sun comes up, but I will stop. I encourage each of you to take time to think about the things you are thankful for, the relationships in your life that are meaningful, the people you love;  Do those people know just how much they mean to you? Have you thanked the Lord for your blessings? 

There is no time like the present to let them know.

Three Years Later

Tonight I sat at the elementary school where YCOA meets for practice each week and watched Heather do things that this night three years ago, I never would have thought possible. This night three years ago I had resigned myself to there not being "in three years" with Heather.

Three years ago on this night Heather went into a 3 hour convulsive status seizure. Not only did she seize for more than three hours, but she had high fever caused by sepsis. The video embedded here was taken that night, short clips taken between 6 and 8pm on November 5th. I don't like to watch this, I haven't watched it more than a couple of times since that night, this moment was the start of a nightmare I never could have imagined.

 As I watched Heather tonight at cheer practice I thought about these things, and went back to this hospital room and that moment in my mind.

Three years later Heather Riley is in an amazing place. She has opportunities and strength that I never thought would be available to her. I sat on the bench and choked back tears for 40 minutes as I watched the girls treating Heather like any other girl on the squad (these girls have no idea she is any different) Heather was doing stunts like the other kids, I watched Heather assist in holding another girl up in the air. I had to hold my breath, and thank God for the determination she has, for the strength we have all been able to find to take the next step each time we had to. It is amazing what a difference your attitude makes.

In the darkest of moments we have always chosen to live and not simply exist. This is why Heather is successful, this is why she is doing what she does.

 Heather still has Lennox Gastaut Syndrome, but truth is that does not define who she is and what she is capable of doing. Sometimes we bite off more than we can chew, but in the end we look at the situations and say "we tried" We are all given one life and we must honor that life and live it to the fullest. Not constantly looking back into the past; retrospect is good as long as you are balancing it with introspection so you learn and grow. Never wallowing in "poor me" "oh, how we suffer" Learn from where you have been. As a family we look at November 2011 as not only our darkest hour, but also our greatest blessing.

Heather recovered from the status seizure after several doses of ativan, a phenobarbital load and a load of dilantin. She would  crash in the ambulance and arrive at the childrens hospital in critical condition. Her heart and kidneys failing, unable to breath on her own. Within 48 hours she would open her eyes and start to recover. And today, three years after that ordeal here she is. Standing in a room, a room here she is part of a competition cheer leading squad learning cheers and stunts as though she was just another girl.

She is just another girl, three years later, just another girl, and that's all I ever wanted.