Parenthood sure has been full of surprises. Here are few representative sample comments from the past 8 1/2 years.
"Mom, this is my favorite hospital." (as we drive up to the largest of the four locations we visit on a regular basis)
"We have to offer you the option of terminating the pregnancy." (After we learned we were expecting a boy and that he had complex heart defects just like his oldest sister. I look at him strutting around our house now and cannot imagine...)
"Your daughter is in what we call 'precocious puberty.'"
"I love you, Mom." and "I want a hug from Mom." (from my nonverbal daughter, using her communication device)
"The amount of funding we believe it will take to support your daughter on a daily basis is $120,000 per year." (I had no idea the care that we provide our oldest child alone is worth that much money!)
"We love your family, you're great people, but you can't bring your daughter here when she's sick. She's too complicated. You have to take her to the main hospital." (the staff at the urgent care we went to, trying to avoid another Emergency Room visit.)
"Your daughter kept driving her wheelchair into the boy's bathroom. On purpose. She was laughing the whole time."
"I believe your daughter can learn to really-truly read!" (phone call last week from our amazing support educator)
"We voted to appoint you to the hospital board of trustees."
"The pictures show that a large vessel is adhered to her sternum, so we can't just open her chest without rupturing that vessel and losing her. We have to put her on bypass using the large vessels in her groin. She will be very sick when she comes out of surgery. Expect her to be in the hospital for at least 3 weeks."
God has done some amazing, unexpected, and unexplainable things. We look forward to seeing what else he has in store as he makes himself large in our lives. And we pray for other families who are walking through similarly unexpected and unexplainable situations to hold fast and walk well, for the sake of Jesus' name.
