Sunday, September 22, 2013

thank·ful [thangk-fuhl]

thank·ful

[thangk-fuhl]

adjective
feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative.

Finding the correct way to say Thank You is generally difficult for me.  Quite often I want to re-pay someone to show my thankfulness.  Other times I want to come up with some insane words to convey the depth of my emotions.
 
But, finding a way to say Thank You to an entire COMMUNITY I am finding difficult.  I am struggling to keep up with Thank You cards.  We kept a list going and I was good at staying on top of it...for a bit....Then the list got longer, and longer and I found myself getting further and further behind. 
 
For those who don't follow on Facebook, Sadie had an incredible journey starting in July (July 24th to be exact) of us going into ER for what I had thought (or maybe just hoped) would be a virus, to finding quickly that her shunt had failed.  It over drained her ventricles causing a collapse in her brain.  We were inpatient for 2 weeks and a day with bilateral drains for subderal hematomas and then a shunt revision.  We were discharged and went to Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital for an week of intense Physical, Occupational and Speech.  6 short hours after returning home from Mary Free Bed, we found ourselves back in ER with Sadie having a 104 temperature.  Her shunt had become infected.  The course of treatment was having her shunt externalized and IV antibiotics.  Once the infection cleared, she had a new shunt from top to bottom put in.  After another 3 weeks and 5 days in ICU, we were home!  That was 7 weeks of hospitalization.
 
Today Sadie is better than ever!!  She is back to doling out her smiles and spreading the joy that only she can.
 
Just another testimony to the miracle God created her to be.  What a blessing.  She is such an inspiration to us.
 
So, heavy on my heart are the long over due Thank Yous I really want to get to, but just cannot begin to cover everyone, as it was an entire community that carried us.  From our family and friends to church, school, people I have met only on facebook , our immediate community we live in and those surrounding.
 
Our other children were loved on and cared for, meals were brought, gift cards given, prayers said, songs sang, bible verses read, vigils held, blankets made, lawn mowed, weeds pulled, house cleaned, laundry washed, practices made, lessons given, visits made, flowers sent, balloons recieved, even tuition assisted.  Many of these acts of unbelievable kindness were done by anonymous people and people we do not even know.  For each and every single one, we can only say, THANK YOU.
 
Romans 1; 8 "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for ALL of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world."

We pray that each of you know just what a blessing you are to our family.  We are so very thankful.