A better day overall

In case you couldn't tell from the entry yesterday, I was feeling pretty down, bruised, and battered after the events of this past week.

My friend Melissa came to visit today. As we were sitting chatting about the different events of the past week, I was talking about Monday and how the x-ray showed air meaning a perforation in his colon (which would have been really horrible for him) but when they got in there to do surgery it was miraculously healed and not leaking. She said, "A God-wink." "A what?" I say.

She says, it's one of those things that can't be explained that is God's way of showing you he's there and supporting you. A surprising answer to prayer. She walks over toward her bag and says, "I have the book on it with real stories with me that I'm reading right now. Here, I want you to have it. You'll definitely like it."

So I start reading the book "When God winks at You" while Jenson is napping, and realize how badly I needed this book. I am reading about real stories of unexplainable circumstances in people's lives that can only be explained by God's goodness, grace, and undescribable control over everything.

He often works in your life in small, simple ways often accompanied by His signature - godwinks.

I start thinking about the godwinks we've received even this week, the week I never want to repeat again in my life:

- How the x-ray shows air meaning a leak of the colon and after much fervent praying for our little boy when the doctors open him up to repair it, it is already miraculously repaired
- How when I got the news of the biopsy results I wasn't alone, my incredibily compassionate best friend was there to comfort me
- How when Jenson hadn't peed yet and the doctors said we would need to put a temporary catheter on but we asked to wait for a couple hours and prayed for him to pee and then less than 30 minutes before that time was up he peed (even though he hadn't gone by himself for several days)
- How when we've been feeling discouraged about his struggle to walk only 6 steps, that he gets up and walks all the way out of the room, down the long corridor and back
- How when I was feeling so down today and not as hopeful as normal that this is the exact day my friend Melissa came to visit, mentioned this book, and just "happened" to have it with her in her bag and gave it to me in that exact moment without hesitation

I keep reading the different stories and the quotes/Bible verses sprinkled thoroughout the book ..."I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future" - Jeremiah 29:11

Hope for Jenson's future. That is definitely what we all need right now, and my hope is slowing being re-newed through the "godwinks" I've recently experienced and by reading about stories of the "godwinks" in the lives of others.

"Godwinks" also came today in the form of really good progress for Jenson. He drank water (which counts as a clear fluid) and kept it down. He FINALLY got that tube out that runs from his nose down to his stomach that has been draining fluid (you don't even want the detail on what this stuff looks like... as Sydney would say "yucky"). He hated getting it out... imagine a long tube snaked from your nose down to your stomach and the way it would feel as it's pulled out slowly, but once it was out he couldn't stop talking! "Mommy drink water too. Cheers mommy (as he clanks his sippy cup to my cup and drinks more water). Need toys. Need animals here. Where cup? Need Ernie diaper. Ernie!! It's Ernie. Where Grover diaper?" That's a sampling of what all came out. He's much happier. "Where'd Sydney go?" he then says. "She's coming to visit later today buddy", I tell him.

Sydney and Grandma & Grandpa Jo (my parents who are called Jo because my mom's name is Joan and Sydney decided if it was going to be Grandma Jo it should also be Grandpa Jo) came for a visit which also brightened his spirits. He did more walking and went to see the trains again.

Then he pooped. Pooping is good because it means his GI tract is now "waking up" as they describe it. But, this poop is very bloody. The GI doctor told us when a hematoma (the blood clot from the nick during the endoscopy) passes out of the GI tract it will be bloody. He does 2 more poops and they look the same. They decide just to be safe to sent a sample of the stool for further evaluation and to check to make sure it's just the hematoma passing and not c-diff.

I know "enough to be dangerous" about c-diff because it's a common hospital acquired infection that only bleach based cleaners can kill... I know this because Clorox sells bleach based cleaners to hospital that work on c-diff. I do some more research on-line and also find out it can be caused by antibiotics in the GI tract. We'll find out the results of it today, but are hoping and praying it's just the passing of the hematoma and for now I'm chosing not to spend time in the "rocking chair" worrying about something that may not be an issue.

Hoping today will have some "godwinks" coming our way as well.

Kristin