Fearless

This post could have had many titles. I finally decided on this one for several reasons. We have had some interesting weeks again with a trip to the hospital by ambulance, enduring a night in the hospital, sickness, busy work days, and trying to get back on our normal schedule. Last week started out with the kids having runny noses... spring colds I thought. Tuesday morning they both woke up looking "junky" (that is a medical term by the way) so we decided to stay home from Tuesday Biblestudy. When Samuel woke up at 2 he was having trouble breathing and was very clingy. David was in Boston on a business trip so I decided to take him to our clinic where I thought they would know him better and would not "panic." I did not think he was as bad as he had been in February. The Pediatrician we saw was VERY concerned and while she wanted to try 2 nebulizer treatments thought for sure he should go to the hospital again and this time by ambulance. I of course had Amelia with me and the paramedics did not feel comfortable taking her with them so we took our van and quickly dropped Amelia off with Aunt Cari and Uncle Jim. Samuel rode in the ambulance by himself. I will forever remember the picture of him laying on the stretcher, holding a little ugly bear the paramedics gave him.
Talk about FEAR.
We then spent several hours in the ER waiting to see if Samuel again needed to be admitted (and where, the clinic MD had thought he needed to go the ICU) We ended up going to the medical unit again. David landed at 8:15pm and had a message on his phone that we were at the hospital. Imagine the FEAR.
We spent another night in the hospital with oxygen being monitored, blow-by oxygen as he slept and one time of suctioning. FEARful to have all that done to you when you are so little. We did get to go home Wed. evening, and though Samuel's lungs are still congested he is getting back to himself.
The above picture was taken after we got home and were trying to find quiet activities to do. I suggested reading some books and this is what Amelia decided would be a good idea.

This week has hopefully started a new week for us. The temperatures will be warmer. The kids are doing better and other than swimming lessons we have no activities. I often marvel at how kids especially do not seem to have much fear... they try new things and they trust their parents to catch them, carry them, and help them through.

You can tell he still has a little cough as evidenced by this bottom picture where he is coughing.
He loves playing outside and it is hard to get him to come in. He also loves playing with balls.

So why the Fearless post. I have been reading Max Lucado's book Fearless after we watched the video series in our Sunday school class. I love his books, but his may well be my favorite. Maybe it's the subject matter. He asks "What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? The other night I was reading a chapter on Fear of not protecting my kids. He talks about how the reality of parenthood hits you quickly and you wonder how you will do it. He talks about the parents of the bible... Jairus, Abraham, the Canaanite mother and others. He encourages us to take our fears to Christ. "Prayer is the saucer into which parental fears are poured to cool." "Each time a parent prays, Christ responds." I thought this fit in perfectly with our weeks events. We may not always have all the answers and feel frustrated with the day to day, but we can bring our fears, questions, doubts to Jesus and know he hears them.

"Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children." Lam. 2:19