Many Thoughts

I feel so behind in my posting, but one of these days I will be caught up! I have wanted to do a girl update so I don't forget their changes and growing, but that will have to wait for another time.

This past week was a tough week. A week I never thought would happen, and I felt like I was living out a dream or character in a book. Unfortunately it was all too real.

Last Saturday began as a good day. Brandon was out turkey hunting, and I got the clothing switched over for the big girls. They played so well together while I worked. I got out the inflatable hippo and filled it with balls, so all the girls loved it. And I loved the feeling of getting things cleaned and organized.
That evening we got together with rest of the family for a dinner together while we waited for the hunters to come home. By the time they arrived I noticed Sadie wasn't acting quite right. Her cough sounded different, she was breathing rapidly, she was retracting, and her pulse was fast. I've learned enough in the last year to know these are not good signs...esp. for Sadie with her small lungs. My dear sis in law, who happens to have a nursing degree, agreed that I should call the doctor. 30 minutes later we were headed to the ER. Welcome home, hunting husband! My dear mom in law came home with us to put the girls to bed and stay with them. We got to the ER around 9:00 and didn't leave until after midnight! She had to give blood, take an x-ray, have her nose swabbed, all while it was way past her bedtime. She was such a trooper. She fussed only a little and slept in her daddy's arms. Thankfully her oxygen levels were good. Sadie was diagnosed with viral pnemonia, but she was able to get an antibiotic shot and sent home with an order to give her breathing treatments. We were all weary when we got home.
When we got home, my mom in law told me I was to call my friend, K, back home no matter the time. She knew it was about our mutual friend, Rachel. I knew something wasn't right if I was calling K at that hour. Never would I have guessed what she was about to tell me...
Brandon had gone to bed, and I was giving Sadie an extra bottle when I called K. She had to break the news to me that Rachel had gone into the ER with difficulty breathing and no heartbeat, and she didn't make it. I couldn't believe what I had heard. My dear friend of 12 years, only 31 years old, was walking on streets of gold. Her baby was only a week old! Today was her 6 year old's birthday! How could this be? Why????
Needless to say I didn't get much sleep that night. Wretched grief...
I went to church the next morning with the older girls knowing it would be hard but also knowing I needed to be with the family of God worshiping together. I had dear friends pray with me, cry with me and offer to help in any way imaginable. Sisters in Christ living like God intends.
This tragic news put our upcoming week into a slight tailspin. Dealing with the loss, grieving for S and the kids and trying to make plans that would include a child with pnemonia. God went before us and we were able to make the best plans we could...those of which will come in the following post. I close with asking for prayer for Rachel's family. Her husband, S, and three kids: A (6) B (4) and C (now 2 weeks.) (Those really are the kid's initials...cute, isn't it?)