He is HOME!!!

Mrs. Nurse Boy here.

What an exhausting week it has been!!!  This was one of those weeks that we shall never forget.  And, one I hope to never have again!

Sunday night our family was celebrating the kick start of VBS at my parents' church.  My parents were supposed to be joining us for the family celebration, complete with dinner and games for the kids.  We thought it was odd that they didn't show up.  Pretty soon we noticed a voice mail on our cell.  Mom left a message saying Dad wasn't feeling well and they were going to stay home and rest.  No big deal. 

Or, so we thought.

During the worship portion of the night, Nurse Boy's phone kept ringing.  Somehow, I knew something was up.  I left the service to check to see if there were any more messages on the cell.

Indeed there were.

Mom said she was driving to the hospital and she was certain that Dad was in the beginning stages of a stroke.

My heart sank.  I couldn't breathe.  I felt helpless.  I prayed for HEALING.

I ran into the service and grabbed Nurse Boy, the 3 kids, and my parents' pastor.  I am pretty sure I made quite the scene.  I was most certainly too scared to care.

The rest of the evening was filled with miracles!!  We had 5 churches (that I know of) praying for my dad.  You see, Dad had a stroke 14 years ago.  That first night, 14 years ago, we were told not to expect him to make it through the night.  He was only 46 years old.  We weren't prepared to relive that moment.

When we got to the hospital, Dad was still talking and moving both sides of his body.  He was indeed having a stroke, but he looked much better that first night than he had 14 years ago.  Pastor Dan joined my brother, my mom, Nurse Boy, and myself at the hospital.  We all prayed together and took turns sitting with my kids in the ER waiting room.  Including Pastor Dan!!  He sat with my kids and listened to their knock, knock jokes and whatever else was on their minds.  (Pastor Dan probably knows WAY too much about us now!  My dad always says that Nurse Boy and I have NO secrets, thanks to our 3 kids.  If only that weren't true.)  What a comfort Pastor Dan was to all of us!!

But, our Lord and Savior was the biggest comfort of all!!

Through prayer and medication, my Dad's stroke was reversed within hours of it starting.  By the next morning he was almost back to normal!!  Less than 2 days later, his MRI was CLEAR!!  He had NO permanent damage.  Less than 3 days later, he was discharged and even cleared to drive!!!

We are talking about MIRACLES!!!

Today he is home.  The kids and I took him lunch this afternoon and he had just gotten back from running errands.... he just had a stroke on SUNDAY!!!  You would NEVER know it to look at him!!  We are so thankful for his healing! 

Now, we are all EXHAUSTED and BLESSED. Yes, you CAN be both! My kids spent the week doing a lot of this:

Hospital trips galore.  (No more of those, please.  Got that, Papa?)

Hanging out in the ICU waiting room.  With smiles!

And, there was a little ottoman racing... but, what can I expect?!  The kids were bored and, quite frankly, some of those people in the ICU needed to giggle a little.  Life can be hard.

AND, Nurse Boy couldn't even tone down his own sense of humor and wore this t-shirt to visit Dad:

No, I am not kidding!

What a week!  And, what a reminder that we NEED a Savior!!  He heals and restores our hearts, our bodies, and, in my Dad's case, our brains!!!  Thank you for those of you who prayed for Dad!!  We all felt those prayers.  Now, we are praying for life to become a little more relaxing and restful.  ;0)