He Give's Me Peace

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

    Last Summer our family went through one of life's "little" storms. We were in it before we had even realized it. You know the tale of the frog in luke-warm water and how it keeps heating up, but it's so gradual the frog didn't notice till it was too late. Well that's pretty much how it happened with us. When it all hit us we were able to look back and see that it had been building.

    You're probably super curious what happened, I know I would be if I was reading this so lets jump into last Summer.....  

    The big stuff all started in early July, that's when my husband started to lose mobility of his right leg. It was the weirdest thing, he just couldn't straighten it out all the way. He limped everywhere and me being the super sensitive and caring wife that I am ;) told him....well for starters to get himself to the doctors....but that he shouldn't let his leg control him, it's probably a muscle issue or something and if he doesn't start trying to straighten it there will be bigger issues coming. Boy was I wrong.

    So, he did start going to the docs.....and yes that came out right, he went a lot. They were having a very hard time figuring out what was wrong. Meanwhile, N8(my hubby), was getting worse....less movement in his leg, losing weight(a lot!!!), missing work(also a lot!), not sleeping well, fevers and chills....just a whole bunch of crazy things, so at one of his appointments the doc was so concerned he called an ambulance to take N8 into a bigger hospital. Once there, it was discovered that my hubby had an abscess in his hip area and that is what was keeping his leg from full movement. So they put a drain in it. Thus began the next three months of major storm-age because you see, that wasn't the issue, it was just a part of it.

    I'm gonna condense all the craziness for you because this could be long but the next three months looked sorta like this....N8 was off work for all of it(thank goodness for a good disability package), 3 separate stays in the hospital, a few trips into the emerge for incredible back pain, Lot's of drugs(and good ones), doctors scratching heads, seeing a specialist from the States, having surgery to remove part of his bowels, having a drain in his abscess the whole time....it was a CRAZY time let me tell you.

    But, and boy do I love buts, we had some great times together in that storm. Some amazing times in fact, I would have to say I look back upon that time and I am thankful. You guys probably think I'm crazy for saying that but how often in life do you get 3 and a half months together as a family. And the craziest thing is I never got sick of N8 being around all the time...in fact I loved it. Even now I can't say that. If he is home sick for a couple days I am like, get better and go back to work you are driving me nuts, but God blessed our little family with the best time ever. The Joy and Peace and Love that surrounded and engulfed us was absolutely incredible.

    The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.....the God of me, my husband......and you is so perfect in everything that he does. He truly carried us through a storm, that in the eyes of the would was big but, through his eyes was so small. That is why when I look back at our Summer I am so grateful for every moment because we spent it so close to our heavenly father and he brought us through unscathed.

    So, I can testify to this, if you are going through a really rough time......a storm.....please, please let God carry you through it. I'm not saying you wont cry or feel pain or be worn out but those moments will be just that, moments. For me I remember those "moments" and they were few and far between. Our God is bigger, our God is stronger.....
   

   In the end my husband was diagnosed with crones and what had happened was a hole had formed in his intestine and that was what caused the abscess. He takes some pills everyday(the lowest form of the many treatments out there) and has appointments with a specialist, I think, every 6 months. We have also changed a lot of our eating habits and it's been really good. Eating more natural, trying to stay away from anything processed(can be hard). But life is a gift, and a precious one, so enjoy ever moment of it......the good and the bad!
Xo, TinaMarie